How many of you break the cardinal rule of hiking alone?

[ellehcim]

At this point I am 100% guilty!!! I have nobody to hike with as of yet... Also, because of my schedule (unemployed) I am hiking during the daytime weekdays where it would be hard to find a partner anyway...

How many other people do this and what precautions do you take? ER: leaving a note or telling someone where you went and when you should be back, etc....

[olesma]

So far I have not participated in Hooli-bashing, but that open you just left out there is very tempting. Still I'll leave it for GTG and Olesma.

mike t, I gotta leave myself wide open for GTG and Olesma; they ain't bright enough :idea: to to spot anything subtle
Goes for the other mike, paintninaz and teva as well :GB:

Lordy! How did I miss this topic? It must have gotten lost in the shuffle. Oh, well.

Too late to bash on Hoolie now - gotta start tracking while the droppings are still fresh if you take my meaning....

As far as the topic - I only hike well traveled trails alone (Squaw Peak, Camelback, Flatiron, etc.). I'm really quite cautious about that. I've gotten in trouble enough times that I don't even think about hiking somewhere I've never been alone. Besides, with a wife and kid now, I am even more cautious than in the old single days.

[Wiz]

I almost always day hike alone, I prefer the solitude. I'd be in trouble if I got hurt, but I try not to take stupid risks (too often). I don't care for backpacking alone, though. It's no fun telling stories around the campfire by yourself! I like camping with one or two other people.

[hikerfirst]

Well, there are worse ways to die - like of boredom! I have hiked alone for about 3 years all over the Western US - Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas. No problems (I did get jumped on a trail near Washington, DC - so avoid trails near urban areas). And be more vigilant in areas with large predators (Montana) and White Supremists (Idaho).
I take enough food and water and cold weather gear so that I can stay out overnight if I need to. Hasn't happened yet, but I've come close. I've had the help of the Great Spirit more than once! The joys of solo hiking - spotting wildlife, quiet reflection, long conversations with myself, flexible schedule, spontaneous cross-country bushwhacking - far outway the potential hazards - breaking a bone, getting lost.
Happy Trails,
Hikefirst

[AZHiker]

I guess we are all guilty of not adequately preparing for a loner hike. In my case, if I hike alone (maybe 50% of the time) I always stay on the trail (no bushwhacking), and on trails which on weekends are ususally well travelled (e.g. Barnhardt Trail, Peralta, etc.). Expereince has taught me to carry more water than I THINK I need, plenty of eats in the form of power bars, emergency items such as a whistle, foil emergency sack for unplanned overnight stay, quads for the area, compass, and the usual Swiss Army knife, matches,etc.

Oh, I always tell my wife where I will hike, and print out an annotated map for her from my TOPO software, and when I will return. I always call her from the TH once the hike is completed.

[shy]

Forgive me...for I have sinned. Again and again. I just cannot find folks to hike with on a regular basis. And then Who am I going to tell I am gone? I have told them at work that if I don't show up do a search for my car...they think I am kidding. This is a remote area where I live, and the dangers are real. I try to limit them.

[Welker]

On September 1 and 2 of 2001 i hiked mazatazal peak and camped on top, solo all the way. my life
is mine to live and if i die up there all is well.

[Fred Shaw]

I'm 70 years old. it's been my experience that Most men my age are NOT in shape to hike, and the younger people don't want the company of older folks. Consequenlty, I hike alone. I leave a 'flight plan' with my wife and I do NOT deviate from it. I plan my trip so that I am out of the wilderness by sundown. My wife expects a phone call, before dark, informing her that I'm out. NO CALL......she calls in the cavalry. I carry all the necessary hiking items 9water, snake-bite kit, compass, topo's, 1st-aid kit, etc.) I also carry a cell-phone. I can at least send out a signal for the cavalry to home in on. I hope to pull an 'ALL-NIGHTER' sometime. THEN......I will need a partner.[/quote]When you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter which trail you follow. :twisted: [/code][/list]

[mtoomeyaz]

Fred Shaw, speaking for at least one younger person, I would always welcome a hike with "older folks". Currently I go out semi regularly with a 63 year old fellow. I enjoy the knowledge, stories, and experience he can impart. I figure, if you're 70 and hiking around in the wilderness for fun, you've got the right stuff. Who would'nt enjoy being around that.

[MaryPhyl]

I'm 70 years old. it's been my experience that Most men my age are NOT in shape to hike, and the younger people don't want the company of older folks. Consequenlty, I hike alone. I leave a 'flight plan' with my wife and I do NOT deviate from it. I plan my trip so that I am out of the wilderness by sundown. My wife expects a phone call, before dark, informing her that I'm out. NO CALL......she calls in the cavalry. I carry all the necessary hiking items 9water, snake-bite kit, compass, topo's, 1st-aid kit, etc.) I also carry a cell-phone. I can at least send out a signal for the cavalry to home in on. I hope to pull an 'ALL-NIGHTER' sometime. THEN......I will need a partner.

When you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter which trail you follow. :twisted: [/code][/list][/quote]

I felt the same way about the younger folks What I have found out is that I never feel like they wished I were not there. Try some of these group hikes--you will find yourself most welcome.

The first hike with internet people I did was in 1999. We ranged in age from 29 to 70 and we got on so well that we are all still friends to this day.

All that said--I like to hike solo. So I do ;)

[mttgilbert]

I am 22 and generally hike solo, but recently my sister (19) has been comming along on a lot of my weekend adventures, anyway, several weeks ago we decided to try to go to the southern peak of superstitions via hieroglyphic canyon. We stopped at the glyphs to rest and met two older genltlemen who had started out about a half mile before us and kept pace the entire way. They too were on there way up to south peak. They must have been in their sixties but not only did they keep up they were just as adventurous as we were (and one of them was nearly blind). It turned out they were from canada and had hiked all over up there plus a lot on the pacific coast an dthey really had some great stories to tell. For all you younger hikers out there, don't underestimate the older hikers, they'll suprise you.

[RedRoxx44]

I too hike alone about 90% of the time just due to friends conflicts with schedules. I like it. I try to be smart; have plenty of water/first aide kit, etc. Really like that first aide kit. So far; a fall in Death Valley with a cut exposing the bone in the leg(patch up and hike out with a compression bandage- get sewn up later); a fall in Anza Borrego- banged up head and a black eye with that one ( another compression bandage) ; escaping a flashflood in Buckskin Gulch; et al. Suvived it all and still hiking. If you can build up some self reliance it can help in other ways in you life....of course stay on your feet and use trekking poles could help to.

[Abe]

Welcome to the site RedRoxx44. Sounds like you had some serious fun hiking.

[Sredfield]

I overnighted once, and it kind of spooked me. But I'm thinking I'll give it another try so I can get going on the AZT.

[Nighthiker]

For the most part, I hike, backpack and camp alone. My schedule allows me to visit out beyond the three wire quite often. I don't think it is a cardinal rule to be broken but one to enjoy.

[lweller]

I do a great deal of hiking alone, and for a number of reasons. Lots of times I can't get
any of my friends to go with me because I want to take long, hard hikes in remote
places. Other times it's because I'm scoping out a new area and don't want to be held
responsible if it's "not all that" in the eyes of others (even if the hike doesn't offer great
views, etc., it's still worth my time). And most important, I hike alone to connect with
my surroundings. It can sometimes be hard to do the latter if someone is chatting the
whole time. When I find a particularly wonderful place I share it with special friends,
but I usually go solo.

I haven't had any serious injuries while solo-ing (sp?) (tripped hard going down to
Geronimo Springs in Sycamore) and I've only seriously lost the trail on 2 occassions,
but managed to get un-lost in no time (both cases involved snow). I guess I should
consider myself lucky.

I've done some solo overnight backpack trips in and around Sycamore Canyon.
It gets easier with every new trip. I've only gone to places I'm already familiar
with - it helps. The nights are the hardest part so I try to go during a full moon
when I can see lots of my surroundings. And of course I let someone know all
the details of where I'll be.

I don't think it's a horrible thing to break the rule (obviously), but common sense
should be utilized!

[Abe]

Wow, I just noticed I have never responded to this subject except fo the above comment. Okay, first, let me say welcome to the new folks.
:twisted: And yes, I do hike and backpack alone 90% of the time. The other 10% is with my children in the hopes of developing an interest in it. Failure thus far. However, I do enjoy hiking by myself. It is my balance to deal with every day life. And besides, every once in a while I like to sun bath on the rocks or skinny dip in a clear pool of water. Of course when the opportunity presents itself, not as a practice.

[montezumawell]

Solo hiking or solo "venturing" is arguably one of life's best outdoor activities. Soloing cannot be taken lightly and should always be approached with the utmost respect for your capabilities, Murphy's Law and the Companion to Murphy's Law--The Law of Unintended Consequences.

We actually would encourage anyone to consider solo hiking (or "venturing") by day, overnight or long distance. However, we warn that planning, preparation and acute self-awareness are necessary for a successful experience.

Solo "venturing" is often a means for people to "find their limits," in more ways than one. If they "crash and burn" then at least they know the "edge of their personal envelope."

However, we personally have an "issue" with people who rely on already-overworked Search & Rescue people to "pick up their pieces." Search & Rescue doesn't exist to be a safety net for people experimenting with the "edges of their personal envelope." So, PLEASE, forget solo hiking if you think you are gonna get bailed out by Search & Rescue for something gone awry on your solo hiking or solo "venturing" or whatever want you want to call it.

The best way to forge a relationship with solo ventures is to begin very small. Take small steps, small trips and small ventures. Build confidence over time. Learn the limitations of yourself and your gear.
Learn how to live with "weather." When you see it raining really hard, put on your raingear and get out there. Test your gear under bad conditions. Practice, practice, practice!

It's really easy to be a solo "venturer" when the sun is shining, there's no wind, temperatures are in the 70's, it isn't expected to rain for days, and you are walking on a well-known, marked trail that has a maintained treadway streching for miles through soft pine forest floors within easy reach of a cell phone signal.

It's quite another challenge to be solo when the humidity and the air temperatures conspire on behalf of Hizzoner Hypothermia--when the wind is gusting over 25 mph--when there is no reasonable shelter and you are cold, tired and hungry out somewhere where no one else EVER goes and where you couldn't buy a cell signal if you were Bill Gates. Are you ready for that challenge?

Be honest. Afterall, when you are traveling solo, you only have to be honest with one person--yourself! If you BS yourself, who stands to lose?
Ain't gonna be nobody else but YOU!

Solo "venturing" is a Big Responsibility. It is NOT a lark. It is not something you do to impress anyone else. It is something YOU DO FOR YOU.
You do it because YOU want to be someplace, go somewhere, do something that only you can do by yourself, in the absence of other people.

And it will bring lifetime rewards, memories to cherish forever, and experiences to make your heart swell with the pulse of life as those who do not dare to undertake a solo venture will never know!

So, therefore, the bottom line is, as always, GO FOR IT! Take your best shot! The only thing you have to lose is your self!

J

AFter posting this note, I spent a long time thinking about "soloing." What I've done soloing isn't really relevant so it has been deleted. Just take time to think of all the great solo adventures in modern history--things like Charles Lindberg's flight across the Atlantic and all the daring solo sailors and solo sea kayak epics, the balloonist who finally made it around the world, stuff like that. Great solo adventures serve to spark the human imagination and provide inspiration for the "rest of us." So it is with each individual's own solo adventures. If you are capable and confident and willing, just go for it alone somewhere, somehow, someday. It's worth it!

REMEMBER: Be a Boy Scout--BE PREPARED!

[MaryPhyl]

I overnighted once, and it kind of spooked me. But I'm thinking I'll give it another try so I can get going on the AZT.

Shawn--Stealth camp. Get way off the trail and nothing will bother you. Be invisable:)

[hikngrl]

Never hiked alone.... I am very directionally challenged and don't even like doing the freeways of AZ by myself let alone the mountain trails... I spose if I were prone to stay on the trail it wouldn't be a bad thing but I have a hard time convincing mself to stay on trial. I guess if I really want to get lots of good hiking in I will eventually have to start going out alone cause like others here have said my schedule is wierd and I can't do a lot of hiking on the weekends so I have to go out during the week.

Even when going out with others I always take my cell phone with me (don't know if it would work up there if I needed it to but I always have it with me just in case!). I always tell my family where I am going so they can know where to start if need be.

Sounds like I need to get a first aide kit if I plan any alone type hiking... where would be a good place to look for one? And do they make them spacific to the needs of hikers or would you just take any average first aide kit and just make it work?

[MaryPhyl]

There must be a thread somewhere here on first aid kits. Don't buy one--you probably already own everything you need. The object of first aid is to stay alive until help comes. Soooo you need ways to summon help. A signal mirror, a loud whistle and a cell phone if it works are ways to do this.

Think through what might happen to you. You might get a broken something and be unable to hike out--perhaps even be stuck out for awhile. It might rain. You might be stung by something and have a reaction. You might get lost. You might get dehydrated or hypothermic. Think of the simplest method to take care of yourself in these emergencies.

I am going to do a search for a thread because I am too lazy to write all of this--can't type you know.

http://hikearizona.com/dex2/viewtopic.php?t=820 see if this helps