[pct-l] The hazards of hiking alone

[Mountaingoat Fraser]

In Australia and especially in Japan, where I've done most of my non-US
hiking, I'd say I've done more than 95% of my hikes alone. In Japan this
amounted to over 50 trips in three years, from single- to multi-day hikes. I
got myself into a few scrapes, which were mostly the result of inexperience
and maybe even stooooopidity in the early days. I got myself out, and
learned. Non-hiking people are understandably taken aback sometimes, but the
fact is I have come to enjoy my own company and relish the freedom and
independence solo-travel provides. I'm talking about travel on marked
trails, though, not true wilderness expeditions.

In the States I have always started alone but made friends - good ones -
within days, and I relish the community and shared adventure. America has
more of a "hiking culture" and infrastructure. It can have its drawbacks but
if you don't like the herd you can find a way to be alone. I love both sides
of the coin. I certainly believe that part of the lure of hiking for me has
been learning true self-reliance and self-respect. But the community side of
long-distance hiking is not to be discounted, either.




On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 1:01 PM, Nathan Miller <erccmacfitheal at yahoo.com>wrote:

> For everything we do and every choice we make, there's always a
> trade-off--always.  Whether and how to hike is no different.  My last three
> hikes were done solo mainly because everyone who was interested in joining
> me had to bail for one reason or another and I was too stubborn to just stay
> home, despite my wife's wishes.  The first of these ended prematurely when
> blisters prompted me to make a strategic withdrawal--on this trip, I only
> saw one person in 3 days.  On the second, I had no mishaps at all (aside
> from some relatively short-lived bad weather on Mt. Hood) and met a lot of
> other people on the trail, a few of whom were also out there by themselves.
>  On the third, I encountered a cougar, a bear, a rattlesnake and then
> subsequently crashed the car on the way home--I saw a few people the first
> two days, but no one the rest of the time.  Good times, good times....
>  Anyway, my wife, understandably insists I don't hike alone.  In fact, most
> people to
>  whom I talk about hiking -- section or through -- say, "Oh, you're not
> going alone, are you?"
> After reading this list and hiking, I've come to conclusion that hiking by
> one's self isn't really any more dangerous than doing anything else by one's
> self.  I'd be interested in hearing about y'all's attempts -- successful or
> not -- to convince others of this.  I fear I'll miss out on some great
> hiking because I fail -- through my own fault or not -- to secure hiking
> companions.
>
> -Nathan Miller
> Newberg, OR
>
>
>
>
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And That's All the Goat Wrote