More Tips Before Hike Day

Hiking with a small group? Here are some extra tips that will make your group trip to the trails a bit more efficiently.

• When traveling with a group, pool your resources together to avoid carrying too much weight on your back. For instance, one person can bring their sun-screen, another person can bring bug-repellent so that everyone can share and lighten the load for everyone.
• Stay together with your fellow hikers. There will be people of different fitness levels. And the fittest ones will want to venture out by themselves while others rest. Avoid separating at all cost.
• Everyone should wear long sleeved clothing. This helps to protect your skin from poison ivy, ticks and other crawlies that attach to you if brushing up against foliage is inevitable.
• Invest in a good hat. A hat that can cover your face from the sun can help greatly. Helps reduce sun burns and you feel a few degrees cooler.
• If possible, invest in walking sticks. They can be pricey, but they take off a tremendous load your back and legs! And you'll increase your stability and avoid nasty injuries.
• Know your path, strengths and weaknesses. Study your course and know what to expect from anyone whose hiked the trail already. Its important to know what obstacles you're facing. That way, you know whether you and your team are fit for the hike.
• Have a map! This one's tricky. There are hikers who feel they know their way around and unfortunately get lost because of lost signals on G.P.S. devices, inaccurate readings, or dead batteries. Maps wont die on you.
• Pack light. I can't stress it enough. For every pound you pack, hikers will tell you it'll feel like 5 pounds on the trail. The lighter the better. So knowing what everyone will bring is important. You can pool your resources as mentioned before.

Follow these tips and everyone will enjoy their day in the wilderness.

Hiking and Changes in Altitude

Doris, a wonderful person and second mother to me, has made a great point about hiking and altitude.

As you explore the many facets of hiking and become better at it, you want to try new trails and paths.  Some trails cover great distances on sea level, but most hikes you see or read about will have a variety of elevation.  So what's to worry?  What's a little climb up a mountain got to do with me?

Altitude sickness, or sometimes referred to as Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is an ill-feeling brought about by rapid increases of elevation of over 8,000 feet above sea level.  Some of the effects felt by a person suffering from Altitude sickness are headaches, nausea, and dehydration.  If not careful, dehydration can happen quickly in higher altitudes due to high perspiration, low oxygen levels causing you to breathe harder to compensate.  At the same time, water vapors are rapidly lost during breathing sending you deeper into dehydration.

Altitude sickness can be prevented!  It's only a matter of practice.  

Yes, that right!  The best way to prevent the ill-effects of altitude sickness is to expose yourself gradually to the change in elevation.  Study the trek (or hiking trip) you want to take.  See what kinds of elevations you'll be facing.  Anything below 8,000 should be safe, but it's always good to be prepared.  Slowly start the climb up and notice how you breathe.  Is it hard to breathe?  Take a second to rest, drink water, and enjoy nature while your body acclimates to the new elevation levels.

If you start feeling any effects mentioned above its best to start making your way down and try again the next time you decide to hike.  The best advice I can give is to LISTEN to your body.  It will help tremendously if you listen AND understand what your body is telling you.  There is nothing better than to be "in-tune" with yourself.

If you'd like more information, click on the "Altitude sickness" link above.  Thanks for reading! 

Wildlife on the Trails

Depending on where you hike, you'll be walking through a rich environment full of wildlife all around you.  Birds are most common, immediately hearing the variety of songs carried in the breeze.  That's enough to get your mood and senses going for the day.  

Other common wildlife (although harder to spot sometimes) would be squirrels and chipmunks.  During one of my hikes in the New Jersey Highlands, I heard something that stopped me in my tracks.  I tuned into the subtle, faint sound.  I heard it again: a slithering ruffle through the dried leaves on the ground.  It was unmistakably a snake... but which one?!

During walks in the wild, you will bump into wildlife you wish you would never cross paths with in your life.  Snakes are somewhat common, but only during certain times of the day and seasons where activity is heightened.  For most snakes, midday is too hot during the summers to be in the sun, so they stay undercover of fallen trees, rock crevasse, and leaves.  Its only during the afternoons after a hot day that activity resumes.  

Its a good idea to study what kind of wildlife is common around where you hike.  Learn about the dangerous wildlife and the not-so-dangerous wildlife.  Out of all the snakes in the U.S., only a handful are fatally poisonous.  Find out which snakes are poisonous around your area and study their coloring and patterning.  That should put you at ease when coming across a snake.

So, what happened to me during my snake encounter, you ask?  Well, knowing how to identify snakes, I wasn't too worried as I stood motionless, but I didn't have a snake-bite first-aid kit with me.  As I heard it again, I found it!  It was in front of me the whole time!  I couldn't see it because of its perfect camouflage.  It was a small, non-poisonous Eastern Ribbon Snake looking for a stream or marsh to hide in.  I was safe.

As with everything in the wild, I left it alone and unprovoked.  One good habit to develop as you hike through the woods is to look before you step on logs, fallen trees, rocky outcrops just to be safe.  And always remember to NEVER take anything with you from the wild except your trash.  That way, future hikers can enjoy the wildlife you enjoyed and have a clean trail to enjoy! 

More on "The Ultimate Hiking Guide"

I am happy to introduce Mr. James Warner, author of the comprehensive e-book "The Ultimate Hiking Guide."  He has personally given us his insight on hiking and what his book has to offer for the aspiring hiker in all of us. 

"First, hiking is one of a handful of activities that in reality has the potential to improve your life mentally, physically and spiritually.  Unfulfilled people are always seeking out the shiny new gadget they hope will make their lives complete.

 

Second, my guidebook and all the fancy outdoor gear you can buy are only the means to and end.  That end would be the outdoor experience itself.  So, providing a visual of someone outside, relaxed, happy, motivated, challenged, excited and energetic would be a good thing.

 

Getting them out there with the confidence of knowing how to keep themselves safe and comfortable will prepare them for a possible awakening.

 

If you immerse yourself in the backcountry, shut up long enough to hear and open your eyes to see, you will start feel an energy that you may never have before.

If you allow that energy to be part of your life, it will inspire you; it can change your perspective and improve the quality of your life.  It fosters a greater respect and responsibility for our planet, its precious resources and all who share them.

 

There's a magic in the backcountry I wish everyone could share, but first you need to have a willingness to step out of your comfort zone.  Your readers may consider this a personal challenge from the two of us!"

I hope you consider checking out Mr. Warner's e-book.  It has everything you need to get started on this enriching hobby.  Mr. Warner is very confident and passionate about his work, he's backed his e-book by a 60 day money-back guarantee.  There's nothing to lose, so check it out!  Click the link below to read more about and download "The Ultimate Hiking Guide."

Click Here!