Hiking Alone
There are some unique benefits to hiking alone but some very real dangers also.Most everyone will tell you to
never hike alone. The reality is we have all done it at one time or another and many of us either enjoy it or cannot find anyone to go with us.
If you find your self wanting or having to go it alone, here are some tips to being safe and yes, staying alive. First of all, no matter what
else you do tell someone where you are going.
I don’t mean “in the general vicinity of” or anything like that, but specifically
where and for how long and at what time they should call out the troops if you
do not return. If you do not have a close friend or relative nearby, go to a ranger
station nearest to where you will be going. Tell them on the map where you intend
to go and for how long you will be gone. Ask them where you can park your car or
tell them if you already know. Give them the license number, make and model and
exactly when you will check back with them on the way out. and then do it.
Now you may ask, why all of the bother? I will just go. I have never had a problem
before. That may be true and you may go your entire life without having to use
any of this information. However ,the one time you need it is the one time you
will be so glad you were careful.
You see hiking alone presents many more problems than hiking with a partner, any
partner. If you are with someone and you hurt yourself, say a snake bite or a broken
leg, at the very worst they can hike out and get help. If you are by yourself you
are stuck, maybe for a long, long time. Can you survive?
I have a friend,Mexican Bob, who I have hiked with for years and he lives away
from me now ,but we used to hike together all the time. I am lucky in the sense
that I can tell him where I am going and he knows exactly where that is. He even
has topo sheets for the sheriff if needed. (or exact gps co-ordinates)
So when I am going on a hike I e-mail him and tell him which way I am going.
We have a few routes we take, so I don’t have to go in a certain direction, but
he knows all the trails and he could walk them all in a few hours all told. He
knows exactly where I will park, where I start and where I will end ,how much time
it will take me and I e-mail him again when I come back. I will probably never
have to rely on him to send someone after me, but if I got hurt I know someone
would be coming for me.
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