Question for solo hikers

[jeremesh]

Your wife must know my wife because its the same thing.

But back to solo... I have gone on a group backpack once. Every other time it is solo. At first, my wife didn't want anything to do with it but after she went day hiking with me a few times, she got to feel more comfortable that I knew what I was doing out there.

Also, the big thing that makes her comfortable is my planning. Before I go, she gets a printed out map of the trail I plan to hike with a list of emergency numbers to call in case I dont call her by a pre determined time, also noted on the print out. And she knows that if I cant follow the route for whatever reason... I dont go.

Had a trip planned in Shenandoah in February a couple years ago, had high winds and cold temps. When I got to the park entrance, they had the road closed. So I called the wife, told her I couldn't hike the trail that I had printer for her so I was coming home. She encouraged me to hike into the park from a different place but I refused and after that, I noticed that she was much more comfortable with me going out.

Now it turned out that just as I was getting ready to turn around and head back, the ranger came and told me they would be opening the road so I ended up getting to go anyway so it was a double bonus :-)

Also, my wife got me a Brundt battery pack so my cell phone would never be dead... this way I keep the phone on all the time and while I'm hiking if I get coverage, phone makes a noise and I can call or send a text message to her... again.. helps with her comfort level.

I actually have the opposite problem. My wife is okay with solo adventures, but soon as I mention going out with my online buds (that's youguys BTW) she freaks out. She thinks everyone online is an axe murderer or some such.

[SkyPainter]

You guys contemplating solo excursions should drop on over to the other forum I belong to ....BushcraftUSA.com. Same vibe as here, but with a focus on woodsmanship, survival techniques, camping, and preparedness. The combination of HammockForums and BushcraftUSA can get anyone ready for living in the wild!

See ya there!

~ Sky

[ag1024]

My wife was leaving a friends house just after dark, and was walking down the sidewalk steps with her cell phone in her hand. She went flying, and when she landed she found a broken leg and the cell phone somewhere in the grass out of reach. Her friends in the house had no clue she was fallen. No one was on the residential street, and she got no attention from yelling. She finally found her car keys and hit the lock button over and over, causing the car horn to beep each time. After twenty minutes of that, the people across the street came out to see if someone was steeling the car, and found her.

If I, an experienced camper, wanted to go on a solo trip through the woods, she would bring up all aspects of her fall, and how easy it is to be stranded, and then she would lash me across the hood of the car to prevent me from going. And I am not sure I would blame her a bit. She has too much invested in me.

[rockerZ71]

Chicks are good at worrying about stuff. Just take a gun and a dog and tell her you'll be fine, see her in a couple days.

[SilvrSurfr]

I'm more like - what part of "I'm getting away from it all" don't you understand? If my wife was a customer, I might be inclined to let her know my whereabouts. But a spouse? Ain't gonna happen.

[ljcsov]

I hike about 50% of the time by myself.

I am very lucky to have a GF who enjoys the outdoors, but she isn't as fond of the cold seasons as I am. For some sick reason, I enjoy trekking when it's below freezing.

That being said, I tend to be more of the lone wolf type and don't have a ton of friends I hang out with. When it's time to go on a hike and my girl can't come, I just go on my own and tell her where I'm going. At this point, I've limited my solo hiking to day hikes. Just recently I accumulated all the necessary gear to do overnights (full hammock set up / tent). But, I don't have a ton of buddies who are into this kind of thing and still need to find some to go out with until it warms up enough to get the GF out with me. (That's why I have a tent ).

My experience lends me to think that day hiking is pretty harmless solo. From time to time, I'll get the creepy vibe and might not be down for a certain trail. On the whole, it's a lot of fun to get out and experience that heightened sense of things. Most people you run into are really nice and will give you a "hello". However, I dread running into weirdos by myself especially since I'm the type who has the patience to listen to them ramble on about nonsense.

For me, my security net has always been my cell since the ridge that the AT runs on near me also serves as an ideal spot for cell towers. Always getting that 4G! Also, I carry some easily accessible pepper spray in case I run into a pissed off bear or a deranged hermit. So far it's remained unused and dangling from my waste belt.

I guess my best advice would be to...
1) Tell someone where you are going and when you plan on leaving/returning
2) Carry "extra" stuff sometimes, such as clothing or survival stuff to give you the confidence to go alone
3) Take it easy in areas you aren't used to - When I first go through an area I'm not doing any trail blazing, I tend to go slowly to get a feel for the surroundings and reference my map often.


Maybe someday I'll make some friends with overnighting gear. My attempts at persuading some to get the gear have proven fruitless. Oh well!

[sturgeon]

One of the sad things that is occuring today is that perceived risk is not accurate. As a result children are locked up in houses, people are afraid of their environment. Read "Last Child in the Woods." The author describes how our perception of the risk of abduction has caused us to keep our children contained in our homes with hovering parents, when in reality, the rate of child abductions has actually decreased over the last several decades.
Because the media hammers the stories of abduction, or animal attacks, or whatever over and over and over, we develop disproportionate fear responses.

Don't want to derail the thread, just wanted to thank Canoebie for recommending this book. Got it at the library and ripped through it in a day. A great read, thought-provoking....

[ljcsov]

Chicks are good at worrying about stuff. Just take a gun and a dog and tell her you'll be fine, see her in a couple days.

I wish my current apartment allowed dogs! I'd be all over that!

[Arson]

Solo can be fun, but to be honest, it can be extremely boring as well. after dinner is made, and I'm sitting by the fire, all I'm doing is waiting to fall asleep. No one to talk to about the day's activities, the beautiful scenery, the good times.
I did a solo in the fall, and made a video about it (Shocker!). At the end you see me sitting by the fire. I was just waiting for morning so I could pack up and leave. I could have made it a day trip and had just as much fun.

[Crocodile Sanders]

I do everything just about solo unless the wife is with me. And that is not very often. I hang my stands like a monkey from the tree, alot of stands each year,,and move them often deer hunting. In my lifetime, I have owned alot of boats, big and small,,I fished Lake Mich, and Erie and other G. Lakes by myself, almost every lake in the North and south and midwest, a few in Mexico years ago, by myself,,I still fish day and nite by myself on big lakes in a 14 ft jon boat with a 10 hp kicker by myself, I hike by myself lot only because when i take off its always on the spur of the moment without setting anything up. Been doing it all mylife. I even kayak a few rivers around here bymyself and I know that is a wrong subject to bring up. I have even taken a few trips out west in the mountains by myself backpacking as far back in the backcountry I could get in. Age 62. Time waits for nobody! And I just have to when I get time to do it as I have always lived with my fav. saying from Vietnam.."life is too short to be a bioch". Besides,,if I had to go,,might as well be doing something I liked anyhow. Life is good

I fully agree with this. We are not here for a long time, just a good time!