When you hike alone...

[Tipi Walter]

Sleeping alone in the woods can be unnerving. The total absence of light, the odd noises, crackling of branches, sounds of life of all kinds... you're forced to think of your place on the food chain... the web of life. That's not a bad thing, actually.

"Where we are on the food chain" gets me to thinking about how we are prey to things apparently higher up on the food chain than us: Neoplasms and tumors---which are on a constant hunt for humans. And artery plaque which will occlude our hearts. Ticks, bears, giardia, raccoons?? Not so much.

So maybe the question should be: "When I sit on the couch alone for . . . . months at a time . . . should I be afraid of an early death?"

[jdenkevitz]

There have been nine murders on the AT since 1974. There have already been ten murders this year in Durham, NC. Statistically, you are much safer on the AT than almost anywhere in the world.

This is not accurate. Its only applicable on the AT if you never intend on entering a Town, as that statistic does NOT include hikers who were murdered in towns. There is obfuscation concerning the statistics of murdered/raped/robbed/lost individuals as it tends to go counter to the aims of certain organizations whose goals are to promote the trail.

While I recognize its related, this topic really isn't about female empowerment or social/societal perceptions of women. Im certainly not advocating that anyone shouldn;t solo hike the AT. But do it aware of the risks as they are.
Please don't paint broadly based on incomplete information when other peoples welfare are at stake.

http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gt..._ne289_326.pdf

Here is a study conducted on safety issues on the trail. Table 3 has particularly interesting results in regards to incidents in a 12 month period. Broken down by different hiker categories and situations.

Regarding the relationship between security and gender (table 6), females definitely reported a significantly higher number of security incidents which involved personal threats/attacks. Of those reporting security issues, 22.2% of females stated the incident involved a personal threat or attack against them, compared to just 4.7% of males reporting incidents.

This notion of 'oh its fine and safe' is just irresponsible IMO.

[Tipi Walter]

Don't Fear the Reaper, part 2---

Here's another example for women backpackers out there who can't/won't go out alone. Her name is Heather Housekeeper and I met her pulling her second solo Mountains to Sea Trail thruhike.


Yes it can be done and women are doing it. See her blog ---

http://www.thebotanicalhiker.blogspo...-complete.html

[Another Kevin]

I think some are lulled into a bit of wishful delusion because they haven't personally experienced interactions with those with predatory inclinations. There are individuals who will see through someone saying 'oh my friends are up ahead/behind me'. I have met some hikers on the AT who I thought were too trustworthy and forthcoming, and some who came off as unhinged and I extricated myself from their presence.

Its a risk you have to understand and prepare for as rationally as possible.

Yeah. And I still say that in the far more likely event that I fall off a cliff somewhere, telling all and sundry about my plans is likely to save my butt, because any searchers will find people who last saw me recently and heard where I was going. I'm often a little obscure about where I'm spending the night simply because I don't know before I'm ready to stop. The last time someone asked me that, "Oh, I'll most likely find a place to pitch somewhere down toward Mink Hollow" was as good an answer as I could give - because I didn't know more than that. (I knew it wouldn't be at the shelter!)

[rocketsocks]

Im a fairly big guy and have not felt threatened when solo backpacking, however at the same time I am under no delusion that there are not crazy people out there, including on the AT. I think that while the vast majority of hikers and backpackers are incredible, friendly, trustworthy folks, the truth is that there are unbalanced and malicious individuals throughout humanity, and im sure that some of them are attracted to the isolation from society that the AT offers. I also would wager that backpacking may attract a higher percentile of 'unbalanced' people who may have predatory inclinations, as the opportunity it presents. I think people should take precautions. Whistles, pepper pray, and keeping daily contact/agenda with others is possible. There is no good reason not to do these things. I rely on cell phone mostly, but If I were a female, I would probably have a sat messenger phone.

I think some are lulled into a bit of wishful delusion because they haven't personally experienced interactions with those with predatory inclinations. There are individuals who will see through someone saying 'oh my friends are up ahead/behind me'. I have met some hikers on the AT who I thought were too trustworthy and forthcoming, and some who came off as unhinged and I extricated myself from their presence.

Its a risk you have to understand and prepare for as rationally as possible.

Yes, and all that said at some point you must (and here's the scary part you have to over come) close your eyes and go to sleep, in other words, take a leap of faith, say a prayer, be resolved, or what ever you wan to call it...you just have to give it up and trust you'll be ok.

[Likeapuma]

Here's a question for you all: The AT is relatively safe, & you tend to travel with a group of people... What about on lesser known trails, where the vast majority of folks you'll see are just out for a quick walk? Are you more discreet about what you say?

So far on the NET, the only thing asked of me is "where'd you start". Carrying anything larger than a book bag is an oddity.

[rocketsocks]

Here's a question for you all: The AT is relatively safe, & you tend to travel with a group of people... What about on lesser known trails, where the vast majority of folks you'll see are just out for a quick walk? Are you more discreet about what you say?

So far on the NET, the only thing asked of me is "where'd you start". Carrying anything larger than a book bag is an oddity.

I only recall ever being asked..."how far ya gonna go"

[ChuckT]

Here's a question for you all: The AT is relatively safe, & you tend to travel with a group of people... What about on lesser known trails, where the vast majority of folks you'll see are just out for a quick walk? Are you more discreet about what you say?

So far on the NET, the only thing asked of me is "where'd you start". Carrying anything larger than a book bag is an oddity.

"Carrying anything larger than ..." lost me there.

[Traveler]

Here's a question for you all: The AT is relatively safe, & you tend to travel with a group of people... What about on lesser known trails, where the vast majority of folks you'll see are just out for a quick walk? Are you more discreet about what you say?

As a general rule, I seldom ask people I meet on the trail where they are going, etc. I stick with more generalized topics like weather, footing, water sources, problems, wonderful views and the like. There is a different reality for women relative to safety, so I tend to be sensitive to that and not be too inquisitive when I meet women hiking by themselves or in pairs.

[Grey Ghost]

"Where we are on the food chain" gets me to thinking about how we are prey to things apparently higher up on the food chain than us: Neoplasms and tumors---which are on a constant hunt for humans. And artery plaque which will occlude our hearts. Ticks, bears, giardia, raccoons?? Not so much.

So maybe the question should be: "When I sit on the couch alone for . . . . months at a time . . . should I be afraid of an early death?"

Well said Tippi. If we keep moving we are less likely to sucuumb to diseases and etc. { why sit here till we die}

[Another Kevin]

Well said Tippi. If we keep moving we are less likely to sucuumb to diseases and etc. { why sit here till we die}

No less likely - it's 100% for all of us, so why not get out and enjoy nature in whatever time we have?

[Tipi Walter]

Here's a question for you all: The AT is relatively safe, & you tend to travel with a group of people... What about on lesser known trails, where the vast majority of folks you'll see are just out for a quick walk? Are you more discreet about what you say?

So far on the NET, the only thing asked of me is "where'd you start". Carrying anything larger than a book bag is an oddity.

I'm assuming you're talking about the dreaded "mere" dayhikers who start at a car in a parking lot and end at a car in a parking lot THE VERY SAME DAY and are therefore out for a "quick walk". My elitism tells me to avoid these people when I'm out on a long backpacking trip and for good reason. This has nothing to do with predation or encountering questionable people unless you consider dayhikers to be questionable in that they start at a car and end at a car etc etc etc.

I have found thru experience that while encountering dayhikers is rarely dangerous, they can be detrimental for a backpacker who wants to keep his head in the game, so I often try to avoid conversations with them. Remember, you're out for 3 weeks and they aren't---their head's are already back at the car and at home but your head has to stay out and stay in the game. What the heck am I talking about?

First off, many of them think they know more about the trails they are hiking than anyone else and seem to get out of sorts when you ask them detailed questions of the area. Second, some of them get perturbed to see a tent and someone camping on "their" favorite hiking trail, like you're illegally camping in a city park.

Third and possibly the worse---many dayhikers and dayhiking groups cannot conceive of actually stretching out a day's hike into two days and spending the night. So, you often encounter these people fresh from traffic, a car and the road, and anxious, excessively anxious, to get back to their cars and a restaurant meal on the way home.

So, the question is, should a solo woman backpacker avoid dayhikers? Yes. by all means.

END OF ELITIST RANT #74

[Likeapuma]

I'm assuming you're talking about the dreaded "mere" dayhikers who start at a car in a parking lot and end at a car in a parking lot THE VERY SAME DAY and are therefore out for a "quick walk". My elitism tells me to avoid these people when I'm out on a long backpacking trip and for good reason. This has nothing to do with predation or encountering questionable people unless you consider dayhikers to be questionable in that they start at a car and end at a car etc etc etc.

I have found thru experience that while encountering dayhikers is rarely dangerous, they can be detrimental for a backpacker who wants to keep his head in the game, so I often try to avoid conversations with them. Remember, you're out for 3 weeks and they aren't---their head's are already back at the car and at home but your head has to stay out and stay in the game. What the heck am I talking about?

First off, many of them think they know more about the trails they are hiking than anyone else and seem to get out of sorts when you ask them detailed questions of the area. Second, some of them get perturbed to see a tent and someone camping on "their" favorite hiking trail, like you're illegally camping in a city park.

Third and possibly the worse---many dayhikers and dayhiking groups cannot conceive of actually stretching out a day's hike into two days and spending the night. So, you often encounter these people fresh from traffic, a car and the road, and anxious, excessively anxious, to get back to their cars and a restaurant meal on the way home.

So, the question is, should a solo woman backpacker avoid dayhikers? Yes. by all means.

END OF ELITIST RANT #74

I'm not saying anything bad about dayhikers... Day hikes is how I'm usually able to enjoy the trails 99% of the time (dehydrated meals got nothing on a tasty restaurant!)

But on the AT, people usually have a bubble of fellow AT hikers around them, usually friends they spend nights with. On smaller trails, you're sometimes the only one out there who's actually camping.

I was just wondering if people who are more open with their info on the AT would be more hesitant on other small trails?

[Tipi Walter]

But on the AT, people usually have a bubble of fellow AT hikers around them, usually friends they spend nights with. On smaller trails, you're sometimes the only one out there who's actually camping.

I was just wondering if people who are more open with their info on the AT would be more hesitant on other small trails?

I rarely backpack the AT anymore and so I can avoid the shelter circus and the dope smoking and the 30-mile-a-day forced march ultralighter types. My time therefore is mostly spent on smaller trails like the Benton MacKaye or the Mountains to Sea or blue blazes off these two trails in the Cherokee and Nantahala or Pisgah national forests. I rarely see solo women backpacking these areas, and sometimes I see no one, period. I once did a 24 day winter trip and didn't see anyone, male or female.

In the last 13 years of backpacking the Tennessee mountains I have seen only 5 solo women backpackers---3 thruhiking the BMT (German Tourist, Trickster, and Trudy), one thruhiking the MST (Heather), and one just on a wilderness backpacking trip with her dog (and a recent transplant to Raleigh NC from Idaho---which might explain it).

[Gramps]

ROTFLOL....

I have an active imagination but it never occurred to me that the worst thing to happen to me in the back country would be a helicopter evac in a straight jacket.

I can see Mr. and Mrs. Winged Monkey picking up their tent and moving to the other side of the lake.
Mr. WM: She's in her tent talking to her sleeping bag and pad. She just asked the sleeping bag what it wants for dinner. I think that there is something wrong with her!
Mrs. WM: She just said something about getting firewood with a machete. OMG! She just asked her sleeping pad, "How many rounds we got left? Do we need a bullet resupply?"
Mr. WM: She is really whacked. She's dangerous!
Mrs WM: Oh krap! She's coming back over here! I'm going to hit the SPOT!

And next thing ya know... involuntary commitment for me. LOL

OK... it really has occurred to me to talk to my sleeping bag - but I've never actually done it. lol But, I'd never talk about weapons or bullets.

Thank you TipiW!!! Very helpful and working on getting there!

I don't care who ya are, that there's funny

[Shutterbug]

My "safe" question is "Have you seen any wild-life?" That is good conversation starter that doesn't threaten anyone.

One day last year, I met a couple with a nice camera. I asked them, "Have you seen any wild-life?" The husband answered, "Do you mean like that bear over there?" I turned around and there was a bear right behind me.

[Traffic Jam]

I rarely backpack the AT anymore and so I can avoid the shelter circus and the dope smoking and the 30-mile-a-day forced march ultralighter types. My time therefore is mostly spent on smaller trails like the Benton MacKaye or the Mountains to Sea or blue blazes off these two trails in the Cherokee and Nantahala or Pisgah national forests. I rarely see solo women backpacking these areas, and sometimes I see no one, period. I once did a 24 day winter trip and didn't see anyone, male or female.

In the last 13 years of backpacking the Tennessee mountains I have seen only 5 solo women backpackers---3 thruhiking the BMT (German Tourist, Trickster, and Trudy), one thruhiking the MST (Heather), and one just on a wilderness backpacking trip with her dog (and a recent transplant to Raleigh NC from Idaho---which might explain it).

I've been stomping around your neck of the woods...hopefully I'll get to meet you one day. So far, I haven't seen another hiker either, just a few people at Whigg Meadow doing bird banding.

[Hot Flash]

To be honest, I tell my wife and daughters not to hike alone. That being said, I don't hover over them. My wife is often out of my sight when we hike. We each hike at our own speed which results in each of us being alone much of the time. She does not camp alone.

She keeps a whistle handy and would blow it if she felt threatened in any way. The sound of a whistle carries farther than the sound of a voice.

If my boyfriend or father ever told me that I couldn't hike alone, I'd have my pack on that afternoon for a solo adventure without him and his overbearing misogyny.

[Hot Flash]

Otherwise we live in fear and squander a life away indoors. The solo women I see are a unique breed and become over time independent, tough and strong. They use common sense and experience and for the most part laugh at the American preoccupation with Fear.

Bravo, TW!

[mdbamabrad]

Carry a big ole can of mace. That usually takes care of the problem.