You Need to Get Outside and Freeze Your Butt Off

It’s cold. It’s snowing. It’s the perfect time for a hike.

Peter Cacek
5 min readJan 16, 2021

After weeks spent inside, hiding away from the world and the escalating events of 2020, I needed to get out. I needed to hike. But it was cold and windy, and everything was buried under a foot of snow. Surely I was better off staying indoors, and seeing what was new on Netflix.

I did it anyway. I moved to the mountains to be closer to the wilderness, and spend my weekends getting lost in the woods. A million trails, parks, and historic sites now made up my backyard. What was the point if I was going to spend one-fourth of the year hiding inside?

I bundled myself up with every single piece of cold-weather clothing I had and set off to see what awaited me. I expected death from exposure. Instead, I found a new way to enjoy the world around me. Despite the cold and extra effort involved, I was left invigorated and energized.

Winter hiking is an amazing experience. It’s great for your body and mind. If you miss getting out, here are some reasons why you should go out and explore this winter:

There are Fewer Crowds

As a species, we already spend a lot of time indoors, and 2020 has done little to help with that. With so many of…

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Peter Cacek

Writer. Gamer. Adopted Mountain Man. I write about games, mental health, the great outdoors, and the odd piece of fiction. @PeterCacek on Twitter.