People who take long walks on trails, usually through natural areas like forests or mountains.
From 'hike,' which may derive from dialectal English or be imitative of the motion of lifting legs. The word became popular in the 1900s for walking trips, distinct from the older 'ramble' or 'tramp.'
The word 'hike' became trendy only about 120 years ago—before that, people just called it 'tramping' or 'rambling.' The shift in vocabulary reflects how industrial societies rediscovered nature as leisure, creating new words for old activities.
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