One hike I am eternally glad I took was a two-week solo in the deep backcountry of Banff Park in Canada. This was in 1977. It took me into wilder places than I have ever been in the lower 48 states.

It forced me to learn how to deal with situations such as the trail disappearing for half a mile at a time (you read the map contours, your compass and the terrain - very carefully).

It took me to a spot where the ptarmigans and pikas ignored my presence as if I were nothing more threatening than a big old clumsy herbivore. I think I could have caught those birds in my bare hands, if I'd been hungry. I sat after supper and watched the pikas gathering grasses and socializing a couple dozen feet away. It was a bit like Shangri-La, except colder and cloudier.