About Peak Of My Life
Welcome! My name is Ashoka Upadhya. I was born in South India and moved to the U.S. in 1998. I’m currently living in the Bay Area, California, USA.
I picked up hiking/backpacking as a hobby sometime in September 2021. It just happened out of the blue. I began walking long distances as an exercise to reduce my weight (and also my tummy 😀 ). I started with 3 miles, then 6, 8 and more. Then out of curiosity, I thought of trying hiking. My first hike was in Lake Del Valle Trail; it was one of the worst experiences. I made a rookie mistake in all aspects of hiking. First of all, I went with an office backpack and picked a long and high elevation trail. On top of it all, I went on a hot day. After that hike, I crashed — I slept for 16 hrs or so and couldn’t walk for a couple of days. Luckily, I didn’t stop. I realized I had made a few errors, so I started doing research on proper hiking gear and began exercising to strengthen my legs.
As I started walking, I realized I can walk longer distances as days and month passed. We have to train our bodies. I realized I needed to hike more to make my legs and body stronger, and also do appropriate exercises to strengthen the muscles in my knees, ankles, etc. So like Forest Gump, I started hiking 😀.
Also, psychology says, “ You become unstoppable when you realize that you can do it alone.” Hiking is one of the things that I can do alone and that makes me feel unstoppable. So I started hiking, hiking, hiking until I found a new meaning for my hiking.
Why I hike?
As I started hiking, the aches in my body disappeared (not literally but it didn’t bother me), and I started to enjoy hiking. I also do mindful meditation (I admit it, not regularly) and soon realized hiking felt like walking meditation. As you immerse yourself in the nature, you just forget everything. Every path that you walk in nature is a spiritual path. The following quote from John Muir says it all.
Hiking is no longer an exercise (though it is a byproduct), as it is a spiritual journey. You don’t need a prayer or reading of religious text once you are in nature.
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I may stop hiking (Just like Forest Gump stopped walking 😀 ) or not, but the knowledge, experience, learning, and journey is something that I will cherish forever.
Why Solo?
Solo hiking is not my preference but as a fellow hiker said in this video,
“Our time is limited that our days might be spent working at our computers or handling responsibilities, but we must make time to venture out and see the world now while we are able”
So I hike whenever I can rather than wait for someone to join me.
If you want to join me on my hiking journey or you want a company on your hikes, feel free to contact me. It doesn’t matter whether you are a slow or fast hiker, each will hike in their own pace. As they say “ Hike your own hike.”
Happy hiking!
