Key Hiking Principle #2: Hike Your Own Hike

Hiking is an individual sport. You get to make your own decisions and you get to live with the consequences. This is just one way in which hiking is a metaphor for life: there's no right way to hike any more than there is a right way to live.

The wide open, make-your-own-decisions nature of hiking can be overwhelming for someone new to the sport. Without experience, how does someone make a choice that will have desirable consequences for them? That's why, when I'm teaching backpacking, I give specific instructions and provide a specific list of required gear items. (I also tell them that all can change as they gain experience.)

Gear is the most obvious area for self-determination. Lots of choices to be made! Do you want to sleep in a tent, under a tarp, or in a hammock? Do you want to cook over a stove fueled by white gas, alcohol, propane, solid chemical, or wood? Do you want to treat your water by using a filter, iodine, chlorine, or ultraviolet light?

That's just the start in the "what should I carry" category. There's also what kind of backpack, clothing, sleeping gear, eating and drinking vessels, various tools, and toys. ("Toys" is anything optional, like a camera, cellphone, journal, book, music, hacky sack, playing cards, GPS, etc.)

Related to "what should I carry" is "how much weight should I carry?" In the last 10-15 years, a lot of attention has been given to this question. Before high-tech lightweight materials were available and inexpensive enough for the average hiker, you carried whatever weight was necessary to be equipped. Now, there is titanium, silicone-impregnated nylon, LED lights, and plastics in every weight, shape, and size.

So, part of the question becomes "how much money am I willing to spend to reduce the burden on my body?" But there's another aspect, too. People are changing their ideas about what is essential. Some people hike without a map and compass (two of the Ten Essentials). Some hike without boots; wearing trail runners, sandals, or even Crocs. Some hike without underwear. The list goes on. Essentially, the simpler one wishes to live, the less one needs to carry.

There are other decisions areas, too. Such as
* where do I want to hike?
* what type of campsite do I want?
* how many people do I want to see?
* in what size a group do I want to hike?
* how far do I want to hike in a day?
* in what season do I want to hike?
* do I prefer to take a long lunch break, or several short snack breaks?
* do I want to use one hiking stick, two trekking poles, or none?
* when it rains while I'm hiking, do I put on rain gear?
* when there is lightning, do I stop or keep moving?
* what are my values and behaviors related to impact on the earth and others? E.g., how closely do I wish to follow Leave No Trace principles?
* what actions will I take, or avoid, to keep myself healthy and safe? (see Key Principle #1)

As individual a sport as hiking is, we hikers sometimes find ourselves in passionate disagreements about one choice or another. Gear gets us excited--after all, we've made careful decisions about what we have in our packs. And actions having impact on the earth and others can get us riled up--that's because these decisions reflect our core values, our beliefs about what's fundamentally right and wrong.

To reduce or end these disagreements, we have a saying: "Hike Your Own Hike." Ideally, it means, "I know that my choice is the best one for me, and I respect that your choice is the best one for you." (Sometimes, I think there's an implied, "even if you just don't know any better" in there.)

Hiking is an individual sport. You make your choices and you live with the consequences. And, you hope that any undesirable consequence is minimal and affects only you.

Hike your own hike! And, happy trails!

Key Hiking Principle #1: Health and Safety

When I'm teaching backpacking, I like to share three key principles. In this post, I will speak to one of these: health and safety.

Everyone wants to stay healthy and safe, both on trail and in street life. When hiking, the risk of illness or injury is elevated as we:

• increase our body weight by 20% or more
• move over uneven terrain, often including steep grades
• have greater exposure to the weather
• rely on natural water sources
• spend time in an environment with potentially dangerous plants, animals, insects, and reptiles.
  

Furthermore, we put ourselves in locations that may require significant time between the onset of illness or injury and receiving definitive medical care.

To hike without attention to the elevated risk of injury and illness is irresponsible, in my opinion. What can we do to mitigate the risks? Preparation ahead of time, and conscious attention during the hike.

Preparation includes making care-full choices--such as about gear, clothing, food, and the trip's itinerary. It also includes education--such as about wilderness first aid, basic survival, and what to do in various weather conditions.

While hiking, it is the responsibility of each hiker to pay attention to her body to ensure that she stays well-hydrated and well-fueled, maintains a relatively constant body temperature, and is not receiving injuries such as sunburn and blisters. Care should also be taken when walking (especially off-trail where rocks and sticks hide under leaves and duff) and when putting her pack or other gear on the ground, avoiding such things as poison ivy and bees' nests.

Maintaining good hygiene practices is also an individual responsibility. "Washing" hands after going to the bathroom and before eating is perhaps a no-brainer, but I have met hikers who don't do this. On trail, we don't have as much access to soap and water, but alcohol gel (a.k.a. "hand sanitizer") is easy to carry.

A corollary to staying clean is to be care-full when sharing food. Never eat food that someone else has touched; likewise, don't offer to share food you have touched. Another no-brainer? Not! I often see hikers reach into each others' bags of trail mix, nuts, chips, etc. Get into the habit of pouring from a snack bag rather than reaching into it. (People are bad about this in street life, too, but at least our hands have a better chance of being clean when sinks and showers are available.)

Staying healthy and safe in an environment of elevated risk requires conscious attention. But it's worth the effort, as it's much easier to have fun when you're feeling well!

Permethrin to Repel Ticks

Ticks, especially deer ticks, are well-known pests on trail. In reading hikers' stories, it seems to me that the number of long-distance A.T. hikers getting lyme disease is only increasing.

Doing a tick check every day is essential, but far from foolproof. Deer ticks are the size of a pinhead, easily hidden and overlooked during a tick check.

I strongly recommend that hikers use permethrin to protect themselves from ticks.

I treat my hiking clothes with permethrin before I start hiking and then about once a month while I'm on trail. On each item, I treat only the entry points:

• tops of socks
• top and bottom edges of gaiters
• hems and waists of pants and shorts
• hems, sleeve cuffs, and collars of shirts
• leg openings and waist opening of underwear
• headbands and hat brims

In the interest of full disclosure, I will share that when I attended a talk by a former thru-hiker, I made this recommendation to the others in the audience. The speaker strongly disagreed with my recommendation. He didn't believe that treating clothes is effective and urged the audience instead to treat their skin directly with a 100% DEET insect repellent.

I can't speak to the effectiveness of permethrin except to say that in my 3500 miles of A.T. hiking, I have found only a few ticks on me, none imbedded. If there were others, I didn't find them. And I have not been stricken with Lyme. This doesn't prove efficacy; maybe I just naturally repel ticks, or maybe I have just been lucky.

(Note: For about 100 of these miles, I also used low-level DEET repellant; otherwise permethrin has been my only repellant.)

Another anecdote to support the effectivenss of permethrin... One day a tick happened across my path while I was treating clothes. I set the tick on my treated sock, and it acted like a cat in the snow, lifting each leg high off the fabric as it sought escape. That still doesn't prove anything, especially since the sock was still wet. (I haven't run the experiment on a treated item after it has dried.)

Regardless of whether a hiker uses DEET or other insect repellant, treating clothes with permethrin surely can't hurt. And it surely might help.

A Thank You to Jasmine

While hiking solo on the A.T. in November 2007, I caught my toe on a rock and did a serious faceplant into a collection of Pennsylvania rocks. As I was mid-stride at the time, my hands were tied to my trekking poles, so I landed on my side, making contact with my shoulder and my head. Did I mention the rock garden? Yeah, so my head smacked one of those rocks as I landed.

My first thought was "Oh, that was not good!" As I eased myself and my pack back into vertical orientation, my next thought was, "Angels, I need help...now!"

Solo long-distance hiking has given me an opportunity to deepen my faith, both my faith in other people on the planet and my faith in the spiritual realm. By the time of this faceplant, I was practiced at calling on angels when I needed assistance, especially my guardian angels and Archangel Michael. Practiced, because every time I called on them, they were there. This time was no different.

Not 30 seconds had passed after my request for help, when I looked up to see a woman hiking down the trail towards me. This might not have been unusual in the middle of summer, but in November there were very few other hikers on the trail.

Her name was Jasmine. Or at least that's what I remember; honestly, I'm not sure. I asked her for help and she agreed to walk with me the 1.5 miles to the next road crossing, at Little Gap. For the 45 minutes it took us to get to the road, she kept asking me questions, which not only distracted me from my injury but also allowed her to continuously assess my level of consciousness. I knew that's what she was doing, and I was grateful.

Jasmine waited with me at the road until I reached someone who would pick me up and take me to a place to stay for a couple of nights (where I iced a goose egg and endured a headache but otherwise was okay). Then she continued her own solo journey.

She was out for a four-day spiritual retreat of her own. As the ridge was blanketed with 6-10 inches of snow over the next couple of days, I thought of her often, wishing her the love and light she so generously gave me for that one hour on a Friday afternoon in November.

Jasmine, if that's your name and if by chance you ever read this, know that I will always be grateful to the angels who lead you across my path and to you for stopping and helping me. I wish I had thought to ask for your name and contact information before you hiked away; I would rather have written this note to you directly. Nonetheless, thank you. May your kindness return to you nine-fold.

Trail Dames Go Hiking

When I lived in Durham NC, my hiking buddies and I frequently hiked one of the two 6-mile loops at Umstead State Park, or the 3-mile loop around Lake Johnson. Walking amongst trees, with dirt and rock underfoot, feeds my soul at levels that defy verbiage.

Now that I live in Atlanta, I have yet to find places I want to go hiking. I live in the shadow of Stone Mountain, and have enjoyed the 2-mile roundtrip to the top a few times. And the local park's 1-mile paved loop is fun. But I'm wanting more.

I ran across an Atlanta hiking group on Meet Up--The Atlanta Wilderness Backpackers (http://backpackers.meetup.com/126/). They seem to be active, with frequent overnight trips. But in reading postings that indicate that they like to hike 10 miles a day, I know the group is too young or too fit for my needs. That's not to say that they wouldn't welcome my joining and offering to lead more modest trips, but I'm not ready to get that involved at this point.

While on that site though, I saw a "related link" to the Meet Up group for Trail Dames (http://www.meetup.com/traildames/), which describes itself as a "hiking club for women of a curvy nature." Now, that's more what I'm looking for! Yes, I'm getting curvier, now 12 pounds heavier than when I finished hiking in June. But that's not the primary draw. What I'm excited about is their hiking for the simple joy of hiking. All the photos show women smiling, having fun. That's what it's all about!

So, I've now joined Trail Dames, and am looking forward to an outing with them. Very fun!

Teaching Hiking

For the past 8 years, I have called myself a "hiker," and now that I have 3500+ A.T. miles on hipbelt, I know I have gained hiking expertise enough to share.

For all of my lifetime, I have called myself a "teacher." The teaching roles have looked different at different times, but in general I'm happiest when I'm facilitating someone else's learning or growth process.

Since 2000, I have been blessed to be both "hiker" and "teacher" simultaneously, as I've had the opportunity to teach hiking with teenage Girl Scouts. What an honor and privilege! And so much fun!

Now that I have moved 300 miles away from that Girl Scout program, I am looking for new opportunities to teach hiking. One possibility is to work with the Girl Scouts and their leaders here in Atlanta. Another possibility is to join the staff of organizations that lead people on trips. Or, maybe I'll start my own such organization. I'm not sure yet, but teaching hiking is definitely a passion, so I'll find something...

I'm open to suggestions!

Back to Blogging

My last post was in the middle of summer, and here it is almost winter. Since then I've done almost no hiking, a little bit of teaching hiking, and a lot of introspection. Before it becomes en vogue to make resolutions, I'm making one to keep my blogs more current... Stay tuned to see how well I do with that!