solo hiking

[Burn Ban]

i was always taught that hiking solo not a great idea.  the terlingua ems t-shirt for sale in the starlight theater lists "hike into the desert alone" as a good way to give the local fire/ems some work.

nonetheless, we all have met people on trails hiking alone, and i'm wondering if this is just very common; and therefore, advice people don't care to follow.

do you prefer to do some hiking sans companion?

[01ACRViper]

i enjoy hiking alone, i just make sure i have every base possible covered. If i'm not back by a ceratin hour, someone has a route of exactlly where i'm going, and i won't stray off my original pah so people will know where to find me. We'll see how i feel after i have an actual emergency though :lol:

[Drifter]

I've been solo hiking since I was 16 years old and I couldn't find any hiking partners that wanted to go as far or as long as I did.  I grew up in El Paso and New Mexico was my backyard and I did not want to not go just because no one else wanted to sleep out 5 or 6 days.  But,  I do not go anywhere in the Bend solo without my wifeand  Jan at Big Bend River Tours having a complete itinerary of my trip and a map with my route.  If I don't call home within a very narrow window of time , the plan is for her to call SAR.  I also leave a copy of my route and itinerary in a baggie on my windshield just in case the SAR find the truck before they speak to Lorraine or Jan.  Exploring and risking solo  provides benefits that are hard to explain.  When you get back to the truck after a hard walk and sip that cold one there is just something special about having done it and relied only on your own route finding and map reading skills.  Don't get me wrong, hiking with others is fun  and now into my 50's I find my family and creditors ask me more often to not go solo, but there is a powerful pull to strike out when the mood hits and not have to wait on a multitude of other schedules and plans.  Just my thoughts.

[SHANEA]

Personally, I don't like hiking alone.  I like to share the experience with others, plus I'm afraid that I'll see the alien spaceship fly by and no one will be there to back up my claim - kinda like making a hole in one in golf, you need a witness or the fish that got away.

[presidio]

I'm afraid that I'll see the alien spaceship fly by and no one will be there to back up my claim

Yeah, but that never happens when you're not alone.

[jeffblaylock]

Virtually all of my trips and hikes are solo, and I have not encountered any serious problems YET.

I'm not a fatalist, so I don't believe it is just a "matter of time" before some disaster befalls me on the trail. However, I am a realist, and I note just how many folks listed in the NPS daily reports as having died were (1) solo and (2) experienced. I try to be as prepared and mentally sharp as possible, but I know there are things which could happen from which I would be hard-pressed to recover from as a solitary hiker: serious falls, broken bones or badly injured ligaments, poisonous snakebites, severe allergic reaction, lightning, heatstroke, hypothermia, and heart attack come to mind. These are difficult conditions for a group of hikers, one of whom has been injured. They are very very difficult conditions for a solo hiker on his or her own.

That said, I love hiking and backpacking solo and will continue to do so. Even when I am with a group I often end up doing the actual hiking solo as I stop often for photography while the others continue on to camp, the trailhead, or a better rest spot. I'll be as prepared for any contingency as I can be, and I make sure someone knows where and when I'm supposed to show up. Fear should never keep one from discovery, but the foolhardy need not apply ....

[okiehiker]

For many years I loved to hike alone.  For some reason, as the years have gone by my perspective has changed.  This is not out of fear for what might happen, but (I think) because I have enjoyed spending time in the wilderness with my children, friends, church members, etc.

Even on a solo hike through treacherous terrain, the most dangerous thing each of us does is drive to the park.  The hazards of long-distance travel are among the most commonly accepted risks we assume in life.  People are less accepting of risks associated with the wilderness as most people deem them somewhere between "unnecessary" and "undesirable."

For those who desire whatever combination of physical/psychological/spiritual/emotional experience that only the unique solitude of the wilderness can afford, the risks of solo hiking are well within the realm of acceptable.

When planning for such adventures, however, there is a considerable caveat.  Even when you are out "on your own," your actions affect other people.  Park staff are called upon to run everything on a whole different level during SAR's. People are called off of their regular duties to mount the effort and others have to double up on responsibilities.  Words cannot express the devastation a person feels when a rescue effort comes up short.

Park visitors are inevitably drawn into the emotion of the rescue.  Friends and loved ones are left with a thousand what-ifs.

So, what if a person wants to head off into the wilderness, particularly the remote wilderness for a considerable period of time? (After all this is where every prophet of every major religion, including Jesus for forty days, went to encounter God.)  

SHANEA and I might disagree on what is number one.  He would say WATER and plenty of it.  I would say KNOW WHERE YOU ARE and how to navigate WHERE YOU ARE GOING.  

Perhaps these two are both number one prioities.  There are various groups of ten essentials floating around, the idea having been canonized by Harvey Manning and the Mountaineers (no that's not a punk rock group!)

There are three things that you can make sure of to have a safer solo trip--

Adequate food and water for whatever time period you plan to be out PLUS some leeway.  I always carry an extra day's food for whatever size group I have.

Adequate clothing and shelter for the most severe conditions you may experience during your outing.

Route-finding/navigating tools and the knowledge to use them.  DON'T RELY EXCLUSIVELY ON ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY.  Drop your GPS or get it wet and short out the battery in two seconds, and YOU ARE LOST.  Have a map, a compass and know how to use them.  

If you are secure in the knowledge that you have the supplies, equipment and wherewithal to use them, you will be at home in the wilderness.

You still may be bitten by a snake, have a rock fall on your head or get struck by lightning.  But you will know in your heart, that you were still safer than on the road to get there! ;-)

Summer of 1982 I was on a two week cross-country hike in Weminuche Wilderness in Colorado's San Juan Mountains.  Ten days out I was descending from a ridge into Rincon la Osa and met a man.  The man had been out two weeks with a week left on his itinerary.  He was lying on his back, on a large rock, soaking up the afternoon sun.  He was twenty miles from the trailhead, by himself.  He was 86 years old.  I was 24.  

He had lived in Houston all of his life.  He worked and saved for forty-five years so that when he retired, he and his wife could do all the things they had always dreamed of.  Two weeks after he retired she died suddenly.  He barely left his house for more than a year.   A friend finally talked him into going on a backpacking trip, the first time he had really done anything since his wife had died.

He loved it.  For the next twenty years he had spent as much time in the wilderness as possible.  For the next several days, I worried about this 86 year old man, by himself, so far off in the wilderness.  What if he fell and broke a bone?  What if he had a heart attack?  

Finally I came to realize that he would be the blessed one.  What if each of us could live life fully, until we die, doing that which we love, finding peace, God, fulfillment, whatever it is that we seek, to our very last day?

Perhaps it was so for a seventy-one year-old man in BIBE this week.  Perhaps he could have savored many more desert hikes for many more years, with just the slightest of forethought.  We will never know.  We can only pray peace upon those who were his friends and family and those who worked on the rescue, and be as prepared as we can when we venture into the wilderness.

[Lemming_of_the_BDA]

You've probably already seen this.

[Lemming_of_the_BDA]

In the mid to late 80's, I spent five days in the park with a buddy who never shut up the entire trip. I knew he was the outgoing type, but I didn't know he was afflicted that badly. So in spite of the dangers, real or imagined, it's been solo for me. Unless it was with my kids.

[okiehiker]

My next story will be a 1992 winter trip with one of the few really awful people I have ever had on a trip.  

I'll start it after I finish posting the GUMO trip!  

It was enough to make one go solo for life!

[bdann]

My first solo hike will probably be this November, if I can make the trip out there.  Haven't decided what hike I'm going to do yet.  I'm a little nervous about getting too far off the beaten path by myself.
I'm looking forward to it though.

[Windchime]

If going solo in the park, recommend you register as a solo hiker with the Visitor Center Park Ranger.  If going out overnight you will need a permit anyway, so it is easy to go ahead and register.  They will fill out a form noting your description, any medical conditions, meds, name and number of a personal contact, route and timeline.  They will also take an imprint of your boot tread. All this is kept on file in Dispatch until you return. If you don't come out as anticipated, they will at least have a good idea where to start looking. This will save a lot of time, scarce resources, and hopefully your life.

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

I've hiked mainly solo for about 17 years now with only an occasional companion and had no real problems . I now have a 5 year old who hikes with me , so I hike about 50 yards...stop and wait , hike about 50 yards...stop and wait . It's kinda like hiking solo .

[SHANEA]

They will also take an imprint of your boot tread.

Serious?

What about a sample of DNA to aid in remains identification?   :lol:

[01ACRViper]

If going solo in the park, recommend you register as a solo hiker with the Visitor Center Park Ranger.  If going out overnight you will need a permit anyway, so it is easy to go ahead and register.  They will fill out a form noting your description, any medical conditions, meds, name and number of a personal contact, route and timeline.  They will also take an imprint of your boot tread. All this is kept on file in Dispatch until you return. If you don't come out as anticipated, they will at least have a good idea where to start looking. This will save a lot of time, scarce resources, and hopefully your life.

very interesting, i didn't know that service existed  8) i'll be filling quite a few of those out this december  :lol: