Discover Your Own Backyard
Las Vegas, Nevada
It's astonishing that many people either don't realize, don't acknowledge, or don't take the time to discover the many incredible opportunities to go outdoors that they have close by and easily accessible to them. Instead, too often they denigrate their nearby outdoor opportunities and think that in order to go on a hike, bike ride, etc., they must journey to a distant land and scale the summit of a lofty mountain peak.
But when you tell them that they have an incredible greenway system nearby or that the neighborhood park is simply gorgeous, so often they look at you incredulously, as they've spent more time researching hikes in Yosemite National Park than they've spent learning about the trailheads just 15 minutes down the road from where they live. In my case, I've often spent, say, less than a month in the town in question, and when I talk to locals about what I'm doing there and say, "ah yeah, I just did the loop around Jones Peak," or, "I dropped off the north side of the mountain into the Candy Trails," they'll look at me incredulously because, in spite of having lived in the area for one year, several years, or sometimes their entire lives—not only have they not hiked or ridden those trails, many times they haven't even heard of them.
I do have a nose for sniffing out the best trails in an area, and even sometimes, the undiscovered gems. Actually, it's a well-developed talent that's been honed over many years. Regardless, 99% of the time, the information about these trails, routes, and parks is not hidden or hard to discover. Most of the time, it's out in the open on government websites, posted in popular apps, written up on blogs, you name it.
All it takes to uncover these incredible haunts is a little initiative. All it takes is the willingness to download a map (or better yet, buy a paper map) and head down an unknown trail in the woods for a few hours.
The incredible irony that arises is that many locals, having not taken the time to discover their own area, are shocked when I tell them that actually, I've traveled to their hometown specifically to ride, hike, and camp.
"You're vacationing HERE?!" They ask me incredulously. "You're spending a month doing WHAT?!" The shock is palatable, the incredulity downright humorous.
It's possible that getting that response of incredulity means I've adequately gotten off the beaten path. Potentially, it means that I'm actually uncovering some true diamonds in the rough.
But most of the time, I think it just means that many of the locals haven't taken the time to discover, to explore, to break from their everyday routines.
Even within the outdoors community, I find that locals tend to land on a certain set of routes and trails that they enjoy, and then they ride or hike them to the exclusion of all others. This means that even if I find a rider who mountain bikes five days a week, in just one month of exploration I am almost guaranteed to ride a trail or discover a zone that this individual has never pedaled before.
Too often, locals can get lulled into a sense of complacency, never venturing far from their tried-and-true routes. Heading out into the woods with obstacles and challenges unknown can sometimes feel daunting, and yet it's the most rewarding pursuit I know of.
If you think you might fall prey to this trap, I challenge you today: commit to discovering your own backyard. I can guarantee you, even if you've explored widely already, there are still hidden gems just waiting to be discovered—new trails to be ridden, new sights to be seen. You just have to muster the resolve to brave the discomfort of the unknown.
Even More Crucial Tactics
Check out the other installments in the Crucial Tactics series here:
