[pct-l] Sierra Solo

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

Hiking solo is great. I did the entire PCT solo and only hiked with  
other people for about 6 days total. I was outside of the herd for a  
large portion of my hike and often went a whole section without  
seeing a single other person.

When you hike alone, you get pretty conservative. I would not do  
things that seemed risky to me. I had all kinds of little rituals to  
make sure I never lost or left anything behind. The safest thing  
about being alone, in my opinion, is that there is no pressure to do  
things you might not otherwise choose to do, no matter how tiny and  
simple that thing might be.

Also, I would strongly suggest you not look to high technology to be  
your main safety net. A whistle and signal mirror are good things to  
have on hand, won't break or lose power. Fine if you want to bring a  
high-tech thing as well, but often it is the simple things make the  
real difference.

On Apr 18, 2012, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> I have the amazing opportunity to tackle the Sierra section (from  
> Tehachapi
> to Chester) over the summer, however it looks like I will be  
> soloing it.
> This brings some interesting challenges to the table.