Hiking Forward Essay Contest - Winner Announcement

Hiking Forward is pleased to announce the winner of our First Hiking Forward Essay Contest. 

Mr. Trent Vickers of Hernando, Mississippi 

Trent is 11 years old and spends the large majority of his time outdoors involved in a host of outdoor activities including but limited not to hiking, camping, fishing and biking. 

As winner of this years essay contest Trent will be receiving the following items from our two essay contest sponsors Teton Sports and Tribe Provisions. Hiking Forward would like to thank both Tribe Provisions and Teton Sports for their continued support of Hiking Forward and our contest to get youth engaged in the outdoors.

The backpack and hammock are both items that we here at Hiking Forward use on a regular basis and enjoy. In addition to winning these awesome prizes for his efforts, Trent has been provided the title of "Junior" Hiking Forward Correspondent. Trent will be utilizing the gear providing by Hiking Forward and our sponsors and writing reviews on them. These reviews along with the stories of his upcoming adventures will be displayed on Hiking Forward for all too read, so stay tuned for more from Trent our first Junior HF Correspondent. 

Keep Hiking Forward!

​Scott

From Teton Sports

TRAILHEAD +20°F ULTRALIGHT SLEEPING BAG

ESCAPE4300 ULTRALIGHT INTERNAL FRAME BACKPACK

From Tribe Provisions

Compact Field Stool

HydeTech 20 oz Water Bottle

Adventure Hammock

Trent's Essay

Outdoors is the Place for Me

What would you do if someone gave you $100 and said you could use it to celebrate your birthday any way you wanted? You would put a lot of thought into it, right? The way you decided to spent that money would show a lot about your character. For my 10th birthday, my mom and dad actually handed me $100 to plan any activity to celebrate my own birthday. I planned a weekend camping and fishing trip for my entire family. Why? Outdoors means that much to me.

To me, the meaning of outdoors is adventure. Once our Trail Life group went cold weather camping and hiking. While we were hiking, it started snowing harder and harder. When we were still four miles away from the campsite, we came to a marker that said our trail turned. Now I must tell you, we were on a trail that forbid horseback riding, but it was near horse trails. As soon as we had turned right, we saw horse tracks. Then we came to another marker saying to go straight into a muddy pool of water. One of my adventurous friends climbed a log and just as he jumped onto the other side of the water, the log cracked into two. He just barely made it without getting wet. That would have been bad news as it was getting colder by the minute, but there was now no log for him to walk back across. At the same time our leaders looked at the map and realized someone had switched the marker that told us to turn, and we were on a horse trail. We found a different log and put it over the pool, so my friend could scurry back over. After putting the markers in their correct places, we happily made our way back to the campfire. Conquering those icy winds to cook great food around a warm fire was an amazing journey. What an adventure! 

The outdoors also means a huge assortment of activities. Backpacking and fishing are probably my favorite activities because in both you see a lot of animals. I also enjoy rollerblading and for several years I have been able to win a skating 5k. Mountain biking is fun because you run over lots of roots and hills and sometimes see some animals. There is always something enjoyable to do outdoors. 

My last meaning of outdoors is challenge. It can be very challenging to get up at 5:00 in the morning to break camp or fish when you would much rather lay in bed. One example I have is I was on a camping trip with my dad, and we had planned to wake up at 5:00 to get a early start on fishing. We learned it is easier said than done. When 5:00 arrived, we were pondering whether we wanted to go. Even though we felt exhausted, we went anyway and were rewarded with two of our first catfish ever. There is always a challenge outdoors waiting for me to conquer it. 

Outdoor activities and adventures always create great challenges. When my scout troop went canoeing, there was a fantastic rope swing, but my only great fear is heights. Overtaking the challenge for the adventure, I jumped. The outdoors has provided me so many opportunities similar to this one to willingly overcome my fears for the rewarding experience. There is no better place for me to be than outdoors. 

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