You’ve got your backpack loaded up with the 10 Essentials, which you’ve tweaked to fit the environment you’ll be exploring. You’ve picked out the most perfect trail in all the land, and you’re ready to put those feet on the ground and start tearing up the miles, right?!
Almost! Before you walk out that door, there are a few quick and easy steps you need to take that are just as important as packing the proper gear in your pack.
Perhaps the best way to understand the main point I want to drive home is by sharing a story.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Aron Ralston was an exceptionally fit, incredibly adventurous, and fairly experienced guy in his 20’s when he decided to take off into the wilds of southern Utah and explore Blue John Canyon.
As he was descending a wash in the slot canyon, he encountered a huge boulder wedged between its narrow walls. No problem, he thought–it was easy enough to hop on top of the boulder and continue. Except that the boulder, which had been sitting in its precarious perch just waiting for an unsuspecting victim’s arrival, became dislodged with his weight as Aron was coming off the other side of it. In one of those “wish you could turn back time and do something ever so slightly different” moments, Aron’s arm became wedged between the boulder and the canyon wall.
There was no way to pull it out, move the boulder, or call for a life line. Aron was stuck, literally and figuratively. Fast forward three days later, and Aron amputated his arm with a dull blade from a Swiss Army Knife, in a last ditch effort to survive the ordeal.
I imagine you may have even heard this story. Aron went on to write a fabulous book about it which was later made into a movie, 127 Hours. The courage (and desperation) it took to cut off his own arm with a dull, tiny knife is nothing short of incredible.
While Aron was suffering in the canyon, his family back home was desperately trying to figure out where in the heck Aron was, once they clued in that he didn’t come home from his latest adventure. But since Aron didn’t tell anyone where he was going that fateful day, he could have been anywhere in Utah. Talk about a needle in a haystack.
Clearly, my point in telling you this story is to emphasize the fact that you need to let someone know where you’re hiking, every. single. hike. No exceptions, no matter how short or long the hike is, and how easy you think the terrain will be. I don’t want you needing to cut off a limb to rescue yourself out there (although I give Aron big props for not only having a knife but having the courage to save his life with it)! 😉
But that’s just one of a few things I want you to promise me you’ll do, each and every hike. Let’s do a quick rundown of the whole list, shall we?
What To Do Before Leaving on a Hike
1. Leave an itinerary with someone and the estimated time you think you’ll emerge from the woods. If no one knows where you went hiking and you’re injured or lost with no cell reception (or worse, a dead battery), think about how much extra time it will take a search and rescue team to even begin to look for you.
What does not count as an itinerary is telling someone you’re simply going to hike in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! Your itinerary should include the trails you plan to hike and when you expect to emerge from the woods. If you are hiking a loop trail, indicate which direction you’ll hike it, clockwise or counter-clockwise.
I can tell you from countless experiences on a SAR team, this is one of THE most important steps you can take before leaving home. If we have a solid starting point to where to look for someone, it helps their cause immensely and saves more time than you can imagine. Because even with someone’s specific itinerary in hand, SAR teams take time to mobilize and hit the trails looking for someone. But if we at least have a general idea of where to head, it can truly mean the difference between life and death for someone (and at a minimum, significantly shorten the duration of someone’s ordeal).
2. Check the weather forecast for the day of your hike and a day or two further out. Pack clothing and gear according to the forecast now and for the future forecast. Even if you only plan on being out for a day hike, if you’re lost or injured and are in the backcountry longer than anticipated, you’ll be glad you checked and packed accordingly.
One of my SAR team’s most harrowing operations really emphasizes this point. You can read about it right here and also read about how one of the 10 Essentials saved these people’s lives while they waited to be found.
3. Research the area you’ll be hiking in. If I’m hiking somewhere new, I typically do some research on the area via blogs/trail reports and various hiking websites. At the risk of ruining the surprise of what I’ll see, I’m occasionally alerted to sketchy areas of the trail, ambiguous trail junctions, obstacles, etc.
Of note, unlike National Parks which typically have great signage at every trailhead, designated wilderness areas are not well marked, by design. It’s not uncommon for these areas to have multiple “user or social trails” which are simply trails people have created over time that aren’t official trails you’ll find on a map.
4. Put your phone in “airplane mode” or turn it off completely before you start hiking. Most trails won’t have a reliable signal. If your phone continually searches for one, your battery will run itself dry faster than you can eat a Snickers bar.
Also, if it’s cold outside, keep your phone as warm as possible. Cold temperatures can drain the battery more quickly.
5. Plan for the absolute worst. Of course this boils down to having the 10 Essentials in your pack and whatever extras you may need for the season and environment you’ll be hiking in.
That’s it! None of these things should take nearly as long as it took to pack your pack or even plan the trip itself. They’re quick and easy tasks to check off your list and be on your way to a fabulous day in the backcountry!
Drop a comment if you have questions (or just want to add something to this discussion).
Happy trails,
Nancy
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Excellent information.Thank you!
Thanks, Evelyn! I’m glad it was helpful to you! 🙂