5 Ways to Stay Safe While Hiking and Backpacking
Taking safety precautions is super important whether you’re hiking or backpacking. Everyone wants to stay safe while hiking but some things might be overlooked. As the saying goes, hindsight is 2020. Mistakes happen and even the most experienced outdoors person can find themselves in a situation that requires Search and Rescue. Keep these five tips in mind to help keep yourself safe while hiking:
1. Know Where You’re Going
Knowing where you’re going seems a little self explanatory but, do you know if the trail has a detour? Do you know the wildlife in the area? Can you expect afternoon storms or lightning? Knowing where you’re going is more involved than knowing “I’m going to do this trail.” It’s also good to know if the area is highly used or if you’ll likely be alone. There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to a trail by yourself, some of my best hikes have been alone, but knowing there won’t be anyone around might factor into how you take precautions and the gear you’ll want to carry.
2. Carry the 10 Essentials
While having the 10 Essentials won’t guarantee your safety, it will drastically increase your preparedness. If you have the essentials you’ll likely have everything you need to last a night in case you’re injured or get lost. This will give people time to realize that something went wrong. It will also mean that you have brought enough food, water, and a way to stay warm.
3. Let Someone Know Your Plan
This is a big component to survival if something goes south while you’re recreating. Let someone who isn’t going on a hike or trip with you know your itinerary. This includes the trailhead you’re parking at, which direction you intend to travel, the trail you’re hiking on, and for good measure leave the ranger phone number with that person. Most importantly, let them know what time they should expect to hear from you and if they don’t hear from you to notify the local ranger district. If you want to be extra safe, give them a map with your route highlighted and leave the same information in your car. This might sound like overkill for a 1-3 mile heavily trafficked loop and it might be, it’s ok to scale the measures up or down depending on the remoteness and riskiness of your adventure.
4. Know Your Limits
Knowing your limits will be important when you face real-time decisions on a trail. Do you know how to forge a river? If not, maybe wait until the morning when the current is less aggressive to cross. Do you know how to self-rescue with an ice ax? If not, practice in a safer area before trying to cross a steep snowfield. Knowing limits is also knowing your risk tolerance. I am pretty averse to risk so if I see a storm rolling in, I tend to take shelter and let it pass, especially in areas with high lightning activity. There is absolutely no shame in erring on the side of caution. As you hike and backpack more often your comfort level will increase. It is better to wait and be safe than to do something you didn’t have a good feeling about and end up in a bad situation.
5. Be Prepared
Ultimately, you will be responsible for how you stay safe while hiking and backpacking. It is important to be prepared for a worst-case scenario. Be prepared for the weather and wildlife. Be prepared to have to problem solve out on the trail because sooner or later you’ll have to get inventive. Be prepared to call Search and Rescue (SAR). Calling for help when you need it is nothing to be ashamed of. In many states you won’t be fined for SAR as long as you did everything you could (check your local Search and Rescue group for details).
