Day Hiker Mistakes

We’re gearing up for our next 100 mile marathon, and it has me reflecting on my first day hikes. Even with other people, and doing a distance between 1 and 15 miles, there is plenty of room for mistakes to be made. I thought it would be fun and a good musing activity to contemplate the mistakes from my hiker self in my early years. What has been your biggest mistakes as a new day hiker? These are mine.

1. Over or Under estimating your speed:
   Speed is tricky. If you aren’t as fast as you anticipate, you put yourself at risk of being in the woods after dark. This is fine if you are doing a one mile hike that is heavily traveled or even just heavily traveled by you. If you know every inch and tree, you’re safer than most. But if you don’t, or if you overestimate things dramatically, you could end up spending a nauseating three miles being frightened by every possible bear (it’s a squirrel though, maybe a wren, but not a bear). On the other end, you could underestimate your speed like I have. I have literally planned a 15 mile hike and have done it in just a few hours and ruined my own plans. Bypassed my camp spot and hiked right back to the parking lot and messed up my whole evening. It’s a weird walk of shame to have to backtrack because you promised your family that you would spend the night in the woods and you kind of just leave the woods and need to go back. Don’t do that. Make a few small hikes and figure out your natural pace, do your silly wrong math from there and give yourself grace.

2. Carrying everything you own, including what you don’t understand:
   It makes sense to pack a first aid kit and extra clothes and a Garmin fill in the blank safety supervisor. Can you use any of that effectively? Can you carry all of that on a three mile hike that went sideways? Should you? Don’t carry a water filter if you aren’t confident using it. Don’t carry a tourniquet if you have only seen it used during an episode of Grey’s. It doesn’t help you or others. Of course, you might hike with someone that can use your fancy radio or med kit, but 9 times out of 10, you’re hiking with people like you and it’s just more equipment to slow you down when you need to help others.

3. Wearing the wrong shoes or clothes:
   Don’t wear new shoes on a big new hike. Don’t wear a hoodie or jacket on a trail that is short or you understand. If you are already warm in the parking lot, don’t wear the jacket. You know your body more than anyone else. If you sweat a ton, go easy on the layers. If you are cold when it’s sixty degrees, consider the layer. Either way, shoes are king. Wear shoes that you are confident in and comfortable in. If you hike in trail shoes, boots, sandals, or barefoot, it does not matter, just do what feels most natural. Don’t feel pressure to wear the fancy jacket or the boots or the trail bandanas if you hate them. This is not the runway, this is not NY fashion week, this is just the woods and whatever nonsense you bring into them. Live in it.

4. Tell people where you are! You silly goose:
   We are not the heroes of every story. You are not the main character of every situation. You are not the badass for just being alone in the woods. Tell people your plan. If you end up in a “we haven’t seen them in five days” scenario, you are putting people at risk while they shut down roads and trails to look for you. Now, not everyone has an overprotective Catholic mother complaining that it’s been five hours since they heard your voice, makes sense, get online. There are dozens of Facebook groups designed for the solo hiker that lets them leave a plan, a trail, a timeframe, and an SOS time. These will make you feel dumb. Some of these people post things like, “I’m doing the fire volcano death trail at 4 am on Tuesday, if you don’t see a respond by 1 am on Wednesday, send help, it’s only 599 miles.” Okay, these people are Gods and we need to let them live in their own way. What if you’re just doing 2 miles on a regular human Thursday? Again, there are so many groups, but if you are ever truly alone and needing a plan b, look us up or join our page. We own 12 Poles Trekking on Facebook and have connections to hiking marathon and friends of the trail groups in Tennessee. Worse case scenario, email us or contact your sheriff’s office. Someone should know where you are and when you expect to be done. Rangers are great for this if you are in a popular location. Last month, I talked to some rangers just to make sure they didn’t tow my car overnight, and I ended up with personal phone numbers and maps that I didn’t buy. They love to help. Let them help. It’s okay to have help.

5. Hiker Etiquette is a thing, don’t be a knucklehead.
   Blazes matter, read them. Kindergarten rules still exist, remember them. If you are alone and bypassing a group of twelve, think about it. Obviously, in every theory, they should pull over because you are by yourself should be faster. If you think for half a second that you might not be, pull over, yell at them to come by, smile a ton, accept any hints or snacks they pass to you because you are an angel and have all of the manners for considering others. At the same time, you can’t bully your way down a trail, you need to understand that not everyone gets the unspoken rules. Nature is peaceful when compared to the rest of civilization at this point. Be extra kind when it’s safe for you. It might not change anything for the brash human cutting ahead, but maybe you sleep better. Even if it’s just because you know that their impatience is causing them to catch all of the dewy yucky spider webs because you don’t have to. Give them the life they deserve.

6. Don’t shame others on what they view as comfort or safety.
   We all have different breaking points. Derek is definitely going to suffer if he has to go 20 miles without a snack. I will suffer if I need to eat a snack every 5 miles. We literally live together and are raising a healthy family. Everyone reacts and lives differently on a trail. We all also have different comfort items. If you need something to feel safe during a five mile hike, bring it. I want a knife and bear spray. Derek wants the option of getting water via filter/straw. Our two oldest need a nature journal to feel calm, even if they don’t have time to draw. Our youngest two want to wear crocs and carry a naked Barbie. It takes all kinds none of us are better or worse if we aren’t on the same level as the hiker carrying a naked Barbie. Just breathe. Don’t judge others. That’s the biggest piece of hiker politeness you can offer. It doesn’t help you to act better and if you aren’t coming from a place of honest and simple truth, you aren’t helping others. The hiking world is very high school and therefore, very judge-ish. Be kind, please.

These snippets are not in a certain order or all encompassing. It’s not hard to start hiking for day stretches. It’s also not easy and should never be treated as such. As long as you work to be smart, safe, and kind, you’ll be fine.