The world’s holiest people have done it. Moses hiked Mt. Sinai, the Buddha crossed the Himalayas, and Jesus went into the desert. St. Francis roamed the forests of Assisi, while Joseph Smith had his “First Vision” in the woods. Pope John Paul II hiked the mountains of Poland, and the Indian holy man Ramana Maharshi loved one mountain so much that he took up residence in it. They had options: Temples, churches and monasteries. Instead, they chose nature.

Hiking has even proven useful for those spiritual people with a political statement to make. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. led marches for civil rights, while Gandhi walked across India to protest British imperialism.

Undoubtedly, the deep breathing that hiking encourages helped process their emotions. Being in nature tends to lead to relaxed brain wave states, helping them think through problems. Physically, it certainly kept their bodies in shape. Best of all, nature’s abundance nudged them to dwell on the divine.

Demonstrating that saintly people hike doesn’t prove that we too will become saintly if we start.

But it couldn’t hurt to try.

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