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[at-l] Hiking Alone

In a message dated 98-05-06 11:50:38 EDT, you write:

<< I am curious if everyone else agrees about the hiking alone.  So I
 guess I will read on :) >>

I regularly take 7-10 day trips alone, both on the AT and bushwhacking in some
very secluded wilderness areas.  I wouldn't change it for anything.  The very
first solo trip I took, I  must admit, was a little spooky.  But after a
couple of days, I quit waking at every real or imagined sound and really began
to enjoy the freedom and solitude that I found.  When hiking alone, you do
need to be more careful and always stay more aware of your surroundings.  I
don't take the same chances fording streams or making climbs that I would most
likely take when hiking with a partner.  I always leave a copy of my itenerary
with someone at home.  Sometimes I even leave another map with my proposed
route on it.  I leave word on when I expect to hike out, with a buffer of a
day or two, so that if no one hears from me, they can alert proper authorities
and start looking.  I have never had any problems hiking by myself.  On the
AT, there will always be other hikers around, even after the main rush of
thruhikers has passed.  Bushwhacking in wilderness areas, I have never seen
another person in the past 7 years.  This is where the extra caution is
needed.

I also have a regular partner that I take about 3 trips a year with.  We hike
together well, both have about the same pace, like the same things, etc.
Neither of us likes to hike with more than 1 other person.  We both find that
more than 2 of us really complicates everything on the trip more than we like
it.

Both ways are great, but it is in hiking solo that I really find myself and
become more in tune with everything around me.

Good Hiking,
Jim
"Earth gives life and seeks the man who walks gently upon it" 
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