Before I hurt my foot two years ago I was riding a mountain bike trail that is 8 miles round trip. I would ride it twice. I was feeling really proud of myself one day and while taking a break this little old lady (think 70’s) came walking by. She stopped to talk and rest. She was wearing a back pack and walking in big clunky boots. While talking she told me she hiked that trail every day, the whole 8 miles. I was REALLY impressed. She had an accent so I asked her where she was from and how she was able to walk that far that often.
She said she was born and raised in the French Alps and spent her younger years hiking and traipsing around in the Alps on foot. They had a farm there and she spent a lot of time tending her animals. When she immigrated to East Tennessee she kept hiking the mountains and any trail she could find.
Shortly after that I hurt my foot and haven’t been back on the trail but I bet she’s still at it.
I guess once you’ve hiked the Alps, everything else is going downhill…