Hiking and other Nerve Racking Fun

Exercise is a wonderful thing, don't ya think? I used to hike in the mountains of Wyoming, ski the Rockies; exercise that didn't require I sign a membership and enter a club where machines lined in front of mirrors reflected back to me my movements.

My form of exercise required that I labeled it a "fun"  thing to do and joining a club to "workout" in a room filled with other people was not my idea of "fun".

I hiked through the woods, alone many times, and aware all of the times of the dangers of doing this. If I heard other voices and at high altitudes voices carry for miles, I would step off the trail and slip behind a big tree or bush to wait until those that were in the woods passed by. I listened for crackling branches, long dead and dried that could warn me of someone or some thing's approach. Bears were a huge concern and something that kept a healthy amount of fear in me to keep me alert. A mama moose with her young offspring was to be avoided. There was a beaver dam on this hike and those beavers never posed a threat. I know when to be scared.

This is all leading to one question.

I  hiked in a place that had it's dangers. It wasn't on the border of a country that I could be perceived as a spy. It wasn't on the border or close to a country that was where I would be considered a threat. It wasn't  in an area where I could be beheaded for even being there or locked away in a prison for a year should I be found  and yet that seems to be where 3 Americans decided they needed to hike.

This I do NOT understand. I have no desire to vacation right now in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia. They don't like us. Don't ya get it? We are not looked upon as friends. That is not a good thing.

In this whole wide world, three Americans decided to hike in hostile territory; an area torn by war, bombed and blasted and shot and this is where one chooses to do some on foot exploring with identification denoting them American citizens? I'm not making a judgement on these countries but simply saying the world is aware of the conflict there.

I find it very difficult to emit sympathy for these 3 Americans and should they  return back to the 'States, someone might want to test their intelligence levels and point out a few safe places on this planet that has plenty of space to accommodate their appetites for hiking.

I'm done.