Hiking Haiku

I have always journaled my hikes and I recently started sharing my hiking observations through haiku. I have written 70 haiku since starting in early December. I am excited that one of my first haiku has been published online in the January 2025 issue of Sense and Sensibility Haiku Journal!

I always try to be as descriptive as possible in my journal entries and posts. While reading about hiking culture and values, I came across the Japanese concept of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. There I also found a few haiku. I started thinking of hiking haiku as an extension of practicing shinrin-yoku and journaling. Since rediscovering haiku, my senses have awakened even more during my hikes. Before, I watched for natural objects or scenes to photograph. Now, I see something and try to imagine it in words. Writing is part of my hiking; they do not exist separately in my mind. Haiku are simply word images of what I see, hear, feel, while hiking.