Metro to Mountain Journal

Last Thursday when I hiked Mount Le Conte I started early in the morning and made a fast climb to the top of the mountain. On the descent, I began to meet the hoards of hikers still climbing the mountain. It was getting very hot and I felt sorry for them. As I continued, I soon found that I was very popular. The hikers I met were wanting to stop and talk. Perhaps it was just because they wanted an excuse to rest or because they thought I could answer their question. Oddly enough they did not seem that interested in how far it was to the top, instead they had another question - "what time is it?"

At first I gave the time away without thinking but then, after so many requests, I began to wonder why no one else had a watch. My observation was this: you had to have gray hair to wear a watch!

So how does the watch-less generation tell time - by their phones, naturally (or they ask me - I am very good at telling the time : ) ). A watch is an important instrument for hiking. A watch is a navigation tool. I am constantly using my watch, along with a map, to help measure speed and ETA. It is a bit of a game with me as I try to arrive precisely at the predicted time. I am almost always on time, but I might have to run or walk very slowly to arrive at the predicted time.

Other tricks that can be done with an analog watch are: finding the direction of north, and even determining the angle of a slope. The new digital watches are multi-functional. Some of their features include time, alarm, GPS, altitude, temperature, rate of travel, heart monitor, etc.

Maybe when the phones become miniaturized to watch size (Dick Tracy) then everyone will return to wearing a watch. In the meantime; if you have gray hair, just be prepared to answer repeatedly the timeless question - "what time is it?"

Happy watch trails