To photo or to hike: that is the question!

Are you out there to actually hike the trail and reap the benefits of the hike?

Or are you out there for the pictures?

Different goals of different folks. Which are you?

In for the hike. I'll take a few pictures, but not the primary goal.

It might depend. If I were on a quest to a particular overlook or natural feature, the hike would be secondary, so yes, I would take my camera prepared to take a lot of pictures. I probably wouldn't take too many until I got to the main attraction unless I saw something of interest along the way. If I were just out hiking on a trail with no particular destination as a goal, on the other hand, I would still take the camera since you never know when you will run across something photogenic when you least expect it.