I need your help guys!

Us girls, especially those of us hiking alone, have had it drilled into our heads that it is unsafe to reveal that we are, in fact, alone, and that it could be dangerous to tell others where we are planning to camp for the night. So why is it that 90 percent of hikers I encounter on the trail ask me two things: am I alone, and where am I headed for the night???

STOP ASKING THOSE QUESTIONS, PLEASE! There are a million other questions you could ask to get a fellow hiker chatting. Are you thru-hiking? Where are you from? Where's the next water source? How's that restaurant I heard about at the next town? On and on and on...there should be no need to ask me where I'm camping, and whether I'm hiking alone.

And if you do ask those questions, I will lie to you.

So, please, guys, help me out here. Help out, first, by changing your habits on the trail, bearing in mind the special safety concerns us girls face while hiking alone when you encounter us and start asking questions. And second by teaching others to do the same.

Me and so many other female hikers will thank you for it!

Pokey