What are your Bad Hiking Habits?

[Pedaling Fool]

... and walking unsustainably fast and then having to take breaks, creating a lower average speed than if I just went slow and steady.

At your age that's not really a "bad habit"; it's more indicative of an unexperienced hiker. I'm not blasting you, we've all done that; I had a very tough time with that way of cycling when I first got into it. And it's why, or at least a factor, in why so many young cyclists lose to older, yet more experienced cyclists -- and this can be seen in many other types of activities, including hiking.

Average speed is a funny thing.

[q-tip]

Not locking the mouthpiece on my bladder, I end up with wet pack bottom.....

[Drybones]

I have this obsessive/compulsive need to stop and look at my map and or guide book every ten mins!! Why?? I don't just don't get it. I probably waste 30 minutes on an average hiking day!!

That 30 minute = 1.5 miles for the average hiker. The worst thing I did was hiking too fast downhill. After dieing on an uphill climb it was my way of relaxing to go down the other side at whatever speed the hill let me go without appying the brakes, there was no effort other than picking feet up and dropping them, the air flow it generated was great to cool me off, even did a little jogging at times to keep up. Downside...it killed the knees and put me off trail a little over 400 miles...live and learn!

[WingedMonkey]

Too many ditty bags and stuff sack sacks, love 'em, got to have 'em.

[Drybones]

Average speed is a funny thing.

What kills most folks average speed are the 5-10 minute stops to get trash from shoes, fill water bladders, chit-chat, water the trees, site see, etc, etc, etc. Long distance hiking is like anything else, you dont know how to do it until you've done it once, the school of hard knocks is a good teacher. If I stop a total of 60 minutes that's 3 miles or so I've lost. IF you want to cover miles you have to be disiplined with the stops.

[Pedaling Fool]

What kills most folks average speed are the 5-10 minute stops to get trash from shoes, fill water bladders, chit-chat, water the trees, site see, etc, etc, etc. Long distance hiking is like anything else, you dont know how to do it until you've done it once, the school of hard knocks is a good teacher. If I stop a total of 60 minutes that's 3 miles or so I've lost. IF you want to cover miles you have to be disiplined with the stops.

Well, I don't know about "most folks", but that's not what kills my Average Speed. My desire to fly is what kills mine, that's why I can very much relate to scrub hiker's post.

[slowfeet]

coffee/tobacco in the morning
taking my time packing up in the morning

not a habit since I've only done it once, but, breaking hiking poles or other gear when PISSED

[Wise Old Owl]

Bad hiking habit? That's easy "doubt"

[HikerMom58]

Taking a break to post .... love these kinda threads. My worst hiking habit would be not feeling comfortable hiking alone. I have a habit of every time I go out hiking - I "freak out", in my head, if I find myself hiking alone. I feel sad. (what if I see something cool and can't share it with anyone?) What if this or that happens with no one around? I can't do it. I have tried for short distances but I end up "catching up" with my hiking buddy within a few minutes. I love hiking with others ... the more the merrier. I can't seem to ever push through my comfort zone and hike alone. Whenever I meet someone, who hikes alone, I'm always amazed & ask... how do you do that?

[Rasty]

1) Too fast on first day
2) Too much cheese and Nuts
3) Looking at map too much

[hikerboy57]

Taking a break to post .... love these kinda threads. My worst hiking habit would be not feeling comfortable hiking alone. I have a habit of every time I go out hiking - I "freak out", in my head, if I find myself hiking alone. I feel sad. (what if I see something cool and can't share it with anyone?) What if this or that happens with no one around? I can't do it. I have tried for short distances but I end up "catching up" with my hiking buddy within a few minutes. I love hiking with others ... the more the merrier. I can't seem to ever push through my comfort zone and hike alone. Whenever I meet someone, who hikes alone, I'm always amazed & ask... how do you do that?

thers always someone there to share it with.even when you're alone

[Thirsty DPD]

I have insatiable thirst, the worst purchase I ever made was a bladder & bite valve...gallons per day. That's not the bad habit. The bad habit is; while consciously trying to monitor intake, at time I don't reach for my water bottle often enough.

[brian039]

I have this obsessive/compulsive need to stop and look at my map and or guide book every ten mins!! Why?? I don't just don't get it. I probably waste 30 minutes on an average hiking day!!

Same here, then I forget what I just read a minute later.

[Thirsty DPD]

Taking a break to post .... love these kinda threads. My worst hiking habit would be not feeling comfortable hiking alone. I have a habit of every time I go out hiking - I "freak out", in my head, if I find myself hiking alone. I feel sad. (what if I see something cool and can't share it with anyone?) What if this or that happens with no one around? I can't do it. I have tried for short distances but I end up "catching up" with my hiking buddy within a few minutes. I love hiking with others ... the more the merrier. I can't seem to ever push through my comfort zone and hike alone. Whenever I meet someone, who hikes alone, I'm always amazed & ask... how do you do that?

Peggy, my wife, & I can only hike as fast as the slowest person in the group. She understands & shares your fear bigtime. We'll be in touch when we're in your area, we'd love to see why you've stopped. Remember, you're never alone, I enjoy the company I keep while hiking "alone".

[ChinMusic]

I have insatiable thirst, the worst purchase I ever made was a bladder & bite valve...gallons per day. That's not the bad habit. The bad habit is; while consciously trying to monitor intake, at time I don't reach for my water bottle often enough.

I got the opposite problem. I have to constantly remind myself to drink. After walking 10 miles and noticing your water bottle is the same as it was in camp, can't be good.

[Thirsty DPD]

thers always someone there to share it with.even when you're alone

++++ agreed!

[Thirsty DPD]

I got the opposite problem. I have to constantly remind myself to drink. After walking 10 miles and noticing your water bottle is the same as it was in camp, can't be good.

I can send you a well used bladder & bite valve, it might help. (The well used bladder has not been surgically removed)

[HikerMom58]

thers always someone there to share it with.even when you're alone

I love you for the reminder HB. You're right AGAIN!!

Peggy, my wife, & I can only hike as fast as the slowest person in the group. She understands & shares your fear bigtime. We'll be in touch when we're in your area, we'd love to see why you've stopped. Remember, you're never alone, I enjoy the company I keep while hiking "alone".

I would love to meet you and Peggy. Please stay in touch when you're in the area, Thirsty. I'll explain how I feel to you then.
Sometimes I'm hiking faster than my hiking buddy but I slow up my pace so that I'm not hiking "alone"... I can hike in all different speeds.. I even like to trail run at at times. My feet slowed my down the last time we were out tho, I think we hiked too many miles the first day out.

Man, I love this thread. I wish I could talk to everyone about their comments ....so interesting. I can relate to many of them, myself. I like the OCD comments.. LOL... Yup... understood!

[rjjones]

I have the same problem as Chin.I get on the trail and wont touch my water till mid day.Then,once i start drinking,it seems like i cant get enough.I keep telling myself to start drinking from the beginning but i get in a kind of zone and just keep walking.PigPen

[Dogwood]

...what if I see something cool and can't share it with anyone? - HikerMomKD

I'm mainly a solo long distance hiker. I'm very comfortable with that but it can lead me to overwhelming others when I meet them on the trail and I attempt to share what I've experienced in a rapid fire type fashion. It usually occurs when I'm in that gotta go gotta go but I still want to share thru-hiker mentality. Not so much of a habit but more of an issue I noticed with myself twice this past hiking season ocurred while thruing the CT. I met an Outward Bound group near Tennessee Pass. In my overly eager enthusiasm to share what I had experienced I think I monopolized the conversation. I didn't allow the Outward Bound folks to share enough of their own equally important and valid trail experiences. As I hiked on into the night I realized what I had done. The next day when I encountered Miss Parkay and Couch K(?) thruing the CDT SOBO, hiking to complete their Triple Crowns, I think I did the same thing; I monopolized the conversation when undoubtedly they both had SO MUCH to share with me concerning their own hiking experiences. I think, in both incidences WE ALL would have been better served if I had paused a bit more to allow others to share more of their experiences and enthusiasm. At least I recognize what I did and was mindful of correcting my behavior as I met other hikers further into my hike.

...there's always someone there to share it with even when you're alone. - Hikerboy57

Remember, you're never alone, I enjoy the company I keep while hiking "alone". - Thirsty DPD

I absolutely agree with these statements but sometimes I feel the need to share with physically present human beings.

One bad trail habit, at least I think it was becoming a bad habit, I broke myself of was forgetting or leaving something behind, usually a small piece of gear after a rest stop. Now, I carefully organize all my gear whether in camp or whether packed in my backpack and I carefully look over where I've stopped at least threee times before moving on.