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Backpacking Light

Pack less. Be more.

You are here: Home / New Features / Backpacking and Long-Distance Hiking in the Time of Covid-19

Backpacking and Long-Distance Hiking in the Time of Covid-19

by Andrew Marshall on March 28, 2020 Essays and Commentary, New Features

This article was updated on March 28th, 2020.

I’d Rather Be Backpacking

marshall covid 6

A trail sign in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. Photo: Andrew Marshall

Like you – I should be backpacking right now.

2019 was tough for me, one of the toughest years of my life, and I’ve been planning a 2020 thru-hike of something, anything, for a while now. As I’ve said elsewhere, long hikes are how I do the weeding of my internal landscape. After three years of trying, my wife and I finally reached the medical and emotional end of our attempts to get pregnant. The act of “giving up” was freeing in one sense, but it also sent me spiraling into a depression that was proving hard to escape. I needed some time in the woods – a long time in the woods – to get my head on straight again.

Initially, I was going to tackle the Pacific Crest Trail. As the vagaries of life mounted up and it became apparent I wouldn’t be able to take four-to-six months off from my career and relationships; I shortened my goal to the Arizona Trail. At some point, even that (relatively) shorter hike became impossible to squeeze into my schedule, and I downsized my goal once again to the Benton McKaye Trail – 300 miles up and down over the ridges and hollows of the western Smoky Mountains.

On March 11th, I was tossing my final bits of food onto the scale and updating my spreadsheet with odds and ends. My pack, a new offering from Rogue Panda I was going to test for BPL, was packed.

On March 12th, I was canceling my flights and the reservation at the hostel I’d made just ten hours earlier. Over the weekend of the 14th and 15th, the fabric of American social life changed suddenly and completely for large portions of the country. As well all know, the situation accelerated quickly – like an avocado going from rock hard to rotten in the course of a few hours. Now as I make the final updates to this article (March 28th, 2020) Covid-19 is the one and only thing in the news and in private conversations.

It might seem trite to be talking about backpacking, and examining the implications of the pandemic on this year’s crops of thru-hikers, in light of the severe financial and social impacts of Covid-19. But we backpack because it meets some deep-seated need in all of us, and in times of stress the urge to sling on a pack and escape from the world can become even more pressing. And it just so happens that Covid-19 ramped up just as this year’s batch of northbound thru-hikers are getting ready to hit the trail (some of them already have).

So we need to take a hard look at what it means to be a long-distance backpacker in 2020 – what types of trips should be off the table, what types of trips are still okay, and how to keep yourself sane if you can’t make a backpacking trip work this year.

Marshall covid 1

The last moments of twilight in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Photo: Andrew Marshall

Why Canceling Your Thru-hike is Hard.

“…we have all been asked to make changes, make sacrifices, and/or take precautions to minimize [Covid-19’s] spread.

We at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) are now asking you to do the same: please postpone your section or thru-hike. Instead, consider alternate ways of connecting to the Trail and to the outdoors.”

 – Sandra Marra, President & CEO, Appalachian Trail Conservancy

When I wrote the first draft of this article (March 18th, 2020) there was still some discussion of whether or not it was okay to continue or begin your thru-hike this year. In the weeks since, it has become more apparent than it already was that the answer is clearly “No, it’s not okay.” But just in case you are one of the holdouts, consider the following.

To put it simply, planning a thru-hike is hard. Really, really hard. It takes careful negotiation with your place of work – or you have to quit your job and hope you can find one again when you return. Many people suspend their car insurance and make other complex life changes in advance of a hike. It takes savings and forethought, and a certain amount of logistical and financial precision. It often takes sacrifices on the part of your loved ones.

So with all that work achieved and with your hike on the horizon, it can be easy to convince yourself that thru-hiking won’t have a negative social consequence at this point. But you’d be wrong.

marshall covid 5

A storm sweeps into a valley in Montana. Photo: Andrew Marshall

This way of thinking is called “loss aversion bias,” and it’s the reason new employees often have an easier time spotting systems or protocols that need to change in the workplace, and why people tend to stay in bad relationships. If you’ve worked hard for something, or sunk time into something, you don’t want to give it up – even if it is inefficient, ineffective, or ethically questionable. We’re just hardwired to avoid loss.

Jeff Garmire Gives Up on a Dream

Consider Jeff Garmire. Jeff is an elite long-distance athlete. He’s set fastest known times (FKTs) on the Arizona Trail and the Long Trail. For the 2020 hiking season, he was aiming for FKTs on the PCT and the AT. He’d also been invited to run the Barkley Marathons. Only forty people a year are accepted to the Barkley Marathons, so getting a chance to run them is potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

A few weeks ago, Jeff made an excellent blog post on his struggle to cancel his 2020 plans. The whole thing is worth a read, but here’s an excerpt:

“I had my plane ticket and was prepared to travel through three airports, crossing the country to try to complete a race with a 1% finish rate. The more news, numbers, and widespread impact of Covid-19 [became apparent] the more I began to wonder about my social responsibility versus my personal goals.

…The concept of attending and running the race resulted in sleepless nights. But, I couldn’t possibly withdraw and risk never getting the chance to run in the only race I had wanted to attempt for years. Every night I sat awake wondering what the future would hold but paralyzed by indecision…

…Finally, a company I have been working with who had taken care of my travel arrangements asked me if I would attend if the race was still held. I thought about the question for hours and eventually replied that I would not. It took the external question to set me straight. I had irrationally held on to the belief that I could responsibly travel across the country. My travel plans were canceled.”

-Jeff Garmire, Social Responsibility and Personal Goals: Barkley Marathons, Coronavirus, and Valuing the Dreams of Others

What I find fascinating about this is that Jeff knew from the start what the most socially responsible course of action would be: cancel his plans. But still, he vacillated, trying to talk himself into something he knew would be wrong. I did the same thing in the days leading up to my change of plans – and I didn’t put nearly the time and effort into training for a 300-mile hike as Jeff did in prepping for the hardest ultra-marathon in the country.

The Depression Trap

marshall covid 2

Morning on a remote alpine lake. Photo: Andrew Marshall

Of course, it isn’t just logistics and finances and loss-aversion bias that makes resetting your 2020 so difficult. When we interviewed Jeff for our podcast in 2019, Ryan Jordan (BPL owner, editor-in-chief), Jeff, and I realized we had something in common – we used backpacking as a way to treat the depression and anxiety that we all struggled with. I don’t know how many long-distance hikers carry around depression as well as a backpack – but I suspect it’s a lot. (I’d love to see some kind of study on it one day).

And so in times of stress and uncertainty, it’s doubly hard to give up on something that you know will be a salve on your raw psyche.

But here’s why you should.

Why You Should Cancel Your Thru-hike

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Death Valley National Park. Canceling your thru-hike is an opportunity to explore more remote, less-trafficked outdoor spaces – as long as they remain open, and as long as you do so responsibly. Photo: Andrew Marshall

The Ethical Considerations of Social Distancing

It’s incredible how quickly the phrases “social distancing” and “flattening the curve” entered our lexicon. And at first glance, both of these concepts are compatible with long-distance backpacking. But dig in a little more, and it becomes evident that thru-hiking (at least in the way it is commonly practiced on the more popular trails) is untenable in the age of Covid-19.

For one thing, thru-hikers often share physical space, food, latrine areas, and water sources – particularly in the more crowded-southern portions of popular trails. When you combine proximity with the poor hygiene that is all-but-inevitable in such situations – well, it seems obvious that Covid-19 will spread on the trails. Given the current lack of test availability and the lag-time associated with this virus, there’s almost certainly at least one person on the AT who has it – and, as we know, one is all it takes.

Covid-19 spreading among a relatively young, relatively fit group of thru-hikers is one problem – but those hikers spreading the virus to isolated, rural, trail-side communities is another problem altogether. These towns generally have an older demographic, and certainly lack the resources to deal effectively with a cluster should one appear.

When I talked to Jeff Garmire about all this a few days ago, he pointed out another factor I hadn’t even considered – trail angels.

“A lot of…trail angels are older. They are part of the age group that is more likely to experience complications from this pandemic…and potentially taking resources away from them and elevating their risk felt like an insult to the people who have selflessly aided hikers and trail users for years,” Jeff said when I interviewed him for this article.

The Logistical Complications

If the ethical conundrum isn’t enough to sway you, consider this – Covid-19 is throwing monkey wrenches into the already complicated logistics of a thru-hike. The closure of small-town grocery stores, gas stations, and other resupply points was one of the first warning signs many potential thru-hikers got that 2020 might be off the table.

“It happened really fast…within three days I went from considering a different resupply strategy to deciding not to go entirely,” said Maggie Slepian, the Managing Editor of The Trek, when I reached out to her for comment about her aborted PCT thru-hike:

“…once I started getting wind of closures along the trail in smaller towns and the potential for a seriously limited resupply, I added three locations for mail drops in the desert alone.” Not long after, Maggie pulled the plug because, as she says, “…it started to seem selfish and indulgent. Once that idea got into my head, I couldn’t shake it, and the next day I got onto a call with my boss…and by the end of the call, I had canceled the hike.”

On top of resupply issues, there’s the problem of transport and other infrastructure conundrums. Major airlines have already cut their available capacity by huge margins. Will buses, shuttles, taxis, and ride-share programs do the same? Hard to say, but one has to think it’s at least on the table. And let’s not forget that it will be harder to hitch a lift to and from trail heads. Trail angels will likely be less willing to share their personal spaces.

At this writing, states are imposing more and more draconian isolation measures as social distancing gives way to shelter-in-place and mandated quarantines. Can you imagine popping into town after a few days in the backcountry only to discover that you are violating a quarantine that went into effect only hours before?

Some Other Considerations

marshall covid 4

A pine forest receives a dusting of snow. Photo: Andrew Marshall

Some final thoughts.

Maybe now isn’t the best time to spend weeks and months away from your friends and family. The truth of the matter is that thru-hiking is an inherently self-centered endeavor – it’s often as difficult for our loved ones as it is for those of us carrying packs (albeit for different reasons). The trail will be there next year – I’d argue it’s probably more important to devote your time and energy to a sense of community at this moment.

There are also some safety issues to consider. Rescue teams and first responders may be busy with other things should you need some help for non-Covid-19-related reasons – or that you might be taking away resources from someone who needs them more than you.

Finally, there’s a conservation issue at play. In their statements to the public, major trail associations are already indicating that ridge runners, trail crews, and other maintenance and support systems will be limited-to-non-existent this year. The upshot is any given hiker’s impact on the trail and surrounding ecosystems will be much more significant than in years past.

All in all, there are many good reasons to cancel or abort your thru-hike – and not many great reasons to continue forward with it. The reasons to cancel are about other people. The reasons to continue forward regardless of Covid-19 are about you.

So Your Thru-Hike is Canceled – Now What?

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I believe you can still backpack responsibly in 2020 – but you’ve got to do it right. Driving short distances to your destination is one way to do so. Photo: Andrew Marshall

Now that you’ve (hopefully) changed your plans, what can you do to get a taste of the long-distance backpacking that you love?

  • Your best bet is to discover, or re-discover your local outdoor opportunities, and to keep your trips very short – and thus limit the need to travel and resupply. One troubling idea that pops up a lot in outdoor circles is that western mountains and deserts are better than eastern mountains, or that the midwestern and south-eastern states have nothing to offer to backpackers or other recreational outdoor enthusiasts. This simply isn’t true. There’s a lot to explore out there, no matter what corner of the country you call home. We’ve got some ideas on how to backpack responsibly during this time (hint: it involves an extremely specific set of circumstances) – scroll down for more.
  • You can also change your trip-type entirely. Backyard camping is a fantastic way to learn or hone new skills in a low-stakes environment. Now’s the time to learn how to pitch a tarp, or paint with a small watercolor kit, or take up the harmonica, or learn a new knot. When your time to thru-hike circles back around, maybe you can use your new skills to drop some ounces out of your pack – or make music and art in the backcountry.
  • On the days you are stuck inside, consider doing some additional daydreaming and trip planning. I know – you’ve been daydreaming and trip planning about thru-hiking for years. But now you’ve got a little extra time. So maybe you can think of something even cooler to do – perhaps a trip that involves multiple modes of human-powered travel? Something in a different country?
  • Train! Be careful not to fall into the trap of eating or drinking more than usual while stressed out and stuck inside. If anything, you want to go the other way. I’m trying to look at my postponed hike as an opportunity to improve my fitness for the next adventure. That means more squats, more trail runs, more yoga/mobility exercises, and increased awareness of caloric intake and quality of nutrition.
  • Above all, you should take care of yourself. We seek adventure and trail-life partially to escape the stress and trials of our modern world. It’s important to realize that having to cancel your thru-hike is a loss. And as much as other people have their own pain and losses to deal with, it’s okay to mourn the loss of your adventure. One thing that can help is to reframe your circumstances a bit. Jeff Garmire, freed from the pressures of training for FKTs, is leaving his sports watch at home and running for the joy of it. Maggie Slepian is trying to get her life back on track after nearly suspending it for her hike, but suddenly has six-months of saved income she can put towards other things in her life. Me? Well, I get some more time with my family, and I’m around to help my wife as she tries to figure out how to be a teacher from behind a computer screen.

How to Responsibly Backpack in the Age of Covid-19

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It’s essential to strike a balance between social isolation and putting yourself in danger. If you are going to backpack in 2020, do so in a way that absolutely minimizes the chances of a search-and-rescue. Photo: Andrew Marshall

 

I think it’s possible to backpack responsibly during this time – with strict adherence to a few guiding principles, and as long as you use these principles to err on the side of caution.

Comply with Your Local (Current) Guidelines

As I write this, the state and county governments where I’m located (Placer County, CA) have both instituted strict “stay-at-home” measures to help flatten the curve. Crucially, both of these mandates make exceptions for outdoor activity, so long as that activity takes place in a socially isolated manner. Many states seems to be following suite. Of course, this could change in an instant – the situation is moving quickly. If your local or state government institutes official quarantine measures that include not leaving the house for anything but emergencies and groceries, you have a social duty to abide by those measures.

But for now, the thought seems to be that getting outside and exercising while maintaining social distance is more beneficial to our society than forcing people to stay inside.

Stay Local

Your trip has to take place within a geographical area that you can reach easily, by car, with minimal-to-no social interaction.  At this point we are really talking thirty minutes and under by car.

You should avoid point-to-point trips, as they require shuttling or some other type of social interaction; loop or out-and-back trips are best. Day hikes from a base-camp near your car are even better – that way, you can get out easily if you need to. Additionally, you should respect the wishes of small towns that serve as gateways to popular backpacking areas. Many of these towns (such as the close-to-me town of Truckee, CA) have issued appeals to visitors not to come into the area so as not to overwhelm their limited infrastructure. So if you aren’t already a local in one of these gateway communities – stay away.

Stay Short

The Covid-19 situation is changing too rapidly to justify a trip longer than two or three days. Unless you are an absolute hermit, chances are someone will need your love, time, and attention in the weeks and months to come. I understand and support the need to feed your soul by being in the woods – but that has to be balanced by the needs of others.

Keep Your Distance

If you can find a trip that meets the above three guidelines – great! If you get out there and the trailhead is swamped with cars or the backcountry campsites are full – pull the plug on your trip as quickly as possible. Being in the woods isn’t social distancing if there’s a bunch of society out there with you.

Know Your Limits

Don’t travel in unfamiliar areas; don’t push yourself beyond your comfort zone and skillset, and don’t take risks. In an attempt to get away from increasingly crowded trails and public land gateways, you might have the temptation to explore remote areas that increase your risk factors. You might also have the urge to use new or unfamiliar gear during this time of boredom and cabin-fever.  Don’t do either of these things. As I said above, now is not the time to risk pulling resources away from those who didn’t intentionally put themselves in harm’s way. You should only get into serious remote areas if you absolutely have the skill-set travel these areas with maximum possible safety – and chances are you are overestimating yourself a little.

Make Contingency Plans

Stay in touch with your household using a satellite phone or GPS communicator (one that you know is effective). Have a plan for: what to do if a member of your household gets sick, what you’ll do if you become symptomatic while on your trip, and how you’ll get out of the backcountry without exposing anyone else to your illness. If you can’t come up with a satisfying answer to any of those questions – or you don’t possess a reliable way to stay in touch – don’t go.

Don’t Go Solo

A solo trip, even in an area you know well, could still be hazardous if you started showing symptoms (particularly the “difficulty breathing” symptom). While you don’t want to travel with a huge party, one solution is to backpack with a spouse or partner (someone with whom you are already sharing personal space). Another option is to travel with a tiny group – but we would recommend this only after the Covid-19 pandemic has reached it’s peak and infection rates are starting to decline. 

Will We Return to Normal?

I asked Backpacking Light publisher and founder Ryan Jordan about backpacking with multi-household groups. As a professional guide and director of our Wilderness Adventures program, Ryan suggests that behaviors will change until a Covid-19 vaccine is widely available and/or a substantial fraction of our population has otherwise been exposed enough to develop antibody-based immunity.

Ryan offers these guidelines for backpacking as a group (many of which are also applicable to solo trips or trips with just your household group members) “after the peak”, and I thought I’d share them here.

The main goals of these guidelines are:

  1. Treat each household like an independent entity and respect the space of other households in your group.
  2. Minimize the chance that you’ll transmit an infection to the community you are visiting.
  3. Minimize the chance that you’ll expose yourself to the infection en route between your home and the trail.

Here are the guidelines:

  1. Travel in your own personal automobile to your destination instead of renting a car, flying, or taking public transit.
  2. Persons from different households should not share equipment, food, supplies, etc. Don’t handle equipment from other household groups.
  3. Don’t share pre-trip accommodations with persons from different households.
  4. Before the trip, prepare, cook, and eat your meals as part of household groups only, in your chosen accommodations (e.g., hotel if it’s available), or outside, to minimize your exposure to community restaurants, grocery stores, etc. Consider bringing your pre-trip meals with you, since restaurant services in trail communities may be limited. Do your best to limit the risk of transmitting an infection to the community you are visiting.
  5. All household groups should bring and use their own communications devices (e.g., satellite phones or messaging devices) to stay in touch with their family or other household members back home.
  6. Members of household groups should maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet from members of other household groups at all times. When cooking, household groups should remain upwind of other household groups to minimize respiratory droplet drift.
  7. Household groups should camp well away from each other, since activity is often concentrated around shelters.
  8. No household group should participate in the group trip if any member of the household group has the following health symptoms: shortness of breath, fever, runny nose, cough, sneezing, or eye drainage. All of these factors increase the risk of transmission. Even if you’re an asymptomatic carrier of the infection, let’s say you have environmental allergies. All that sneezing is going is going to let out a whole lot of respiratory droplets contaminated with the virus that could infect others near you.
  9. Don’t use backcountry facilities, including latrines and cabins.
  10. Household groups should not share latrine spaces – create and use your own.

In Conclusion

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Our need to go backpacking is understandable, but must be balanced by societal good.

Ultimately, what I’m advocating is caution, unselfish behavior, and prudence – balanced with the realization that “isolation” doesn’t necessarily mean “indoors.” A few days of backpacking will probably replenish and re-balance you in a way that’s particularly important during this time. If you can make that happen in a way that doesn’t endanger others, then go for it!

But if you can’t, then don’t. Please, err on the side of caution. As the collective internet keeps pointing out – we are all in this together. Ultimately we cannot put a leisure activity above the safety and health of our fellow human beings. So if your prospective backpacking trip doesn’t hit the above guidelines precisely, it’s probably best to just stay home and do squats until you can’t feel your face anymore.

You’ll thank me for it when you get back out there and your pack feels three pounds lighter.

Backpacking, covid-19, first aid, long distance hiking, philosophy

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Comments

About Andrew Marshall

Andrew Marshall is the Gear Editor and Producer for Backpacking Light Podcast. He lives in a tiny cabin high in the Eastern Sierras. AT SOBO 2012, CT SOBO 2015, Scotland Coast to Coast 2017.

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  • Mar 28, 2020 at 2:21 pm #3638266
    Ryan Jordan
    Admin

    @ryan

    Locale: Central Rockies

    New article posted today by Andrew Marshall:

    • Backpacking and Long-Distance Hiking in the Time of Covid-19

    “We need to take a hard look at what it means to be a long-distance backpacker in 2020 – what types of trips should be off the table, what types of trips are still okay, and how to keep yourself sane if you can’t make a backpacking trip work this year.”

    Mar 28, 2020 at 7:18 pm #3638375
    James S
    BPL Member

    @greenjim33

    Thought this was a really appropriate response to the COVID context of today.  Frustrating for sure to put off plans, but the responsible thing to do.  And it will make it all the sweeter when we can actually get out there in earnest again!

    Mar 28, 2020 at 7:35 pm #3638379
    George Ford
    BPL Member

    @eers2u

    Locale: West Virginia

    Well written and thought out article.  I guess I’ve been hoping/planning that this may all go away or lessen to a great extent in a couple months and still allow for some longer trips later this summer.  And, hopefully for all of us, that will turn out to be the case.  Those towns that are scared of travelers now may desperately want them later this summer if things die down with COVID.  Tourism is vital to many of these towns.  However, I do think that we all need to plan with the very real prospect that pulling the plug on a trip will be the right thing to do.

    Mar 28, 2020 at 8:29 pm #3638383
    Anne Flueckiger
    BPL Member

    @annefluke

    Locale: Northern Minnesota

    Thanks for this thoughtful and spot-on article.

    Mar 29, 2020 at 1:31 am #3638404
    marjolein Keuning
    BPL Member

    @laincha

    Locale: netherlands

    <p style=”text-align: left;”>Thanks you for your excellent article.</p>
    We in the Netherlands have been in quarantine for 2 weeks now and, unlike many neighbouring countries, are allowed outside for exercise and to keep us sane.

    Last weekend many people went to the beach and the woods, and since we are many people in a very small country, inevitably there were crowds, even people bootcamping together etc.

    Our government pleaded with us to behave more responsibly, and also threatened with large fines and it worked! This weekend we had learned how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly and most of the crowds had gone.

    Some young people, teens, 17-18 are still having parties in their own homes, or campfires on a beach; they are most at risk because in every situation they don’t want to listen to the older people anyway. Usually this can be annoying but put down to ‘kids will be kids’.

    Now of course, they can endanger their loved ones , strangers and themselves. I can only hope those people (of course not only teenagers) won’t spoil it for the rest of us and make the measures even more severe.

    Anyway, thanks for the article again, and good luck and stay safe from another continent, but in the same boat..

    love marjolein

     

    Mar 29, 2020 at 5:47 am #3638424
    Todd
    BPL Member

    @tplusfive

    Good article. I like that you called out putting  others before our self. I think if we evaluate any plan we have with that mindset, it will help us make good decisions.

    Not sure what I think about different household groups going together. Might it be hard to remain vigilant and keep separation? The more time you are together the easier it will become to drop your guard. And is that really relaxing? Not sure.

    Could you explain the advice to remain upwind of other household groups when cooking? What about cooking do you see making respiratory droplets a bigger concern? And assuming they are a bigger concern (from whoever is cooking?), shouldn’t they be downwind of others?

    Mar 29, 2020 at 8:57 am #3638446
    HkNewman
    BPL Member

    @hknewman

    Locale: Western US

    Think a good term is postponements until the curve is flattened and those communities adjust to their – hopefully declining –  COVID caseload.  Think the sign will be lodging and restaurants opening up again for the windshield tourists.

    There is going to be an increased tax base issue as retirees (often with tax reductions) cannot cover these communities bills for the most part.  Even well-heeled retirement communities in the US (the Villages in Florida .. yeah off the typical thru hiker path) are getting COVID as they rely on younger workers who’ll increasingly become asymptotic carriers.

    Mar 29, 2020 at 10:18 am #3638451
    Greg Mihalik
    BPL Member

    @greg23

    Locale: Colorado

    “…. younger workers who’ll increasingly become asymptotic carriers.”

    How does this happen?

    Mar 29, 2020 at 10:26 am #3638452
    HkNewman
    BPL Member

    @hknewman

    Locale: Western US

    How does this happen?

    Besides the tourist season that was just cancelled … likely some driving and restauranteering involved, figure most of the delivery drivers, warehouse workers, cashiers, clerks, etc.. still needed to run the distribution systems will catch it.  Especially young “invincibles” adhering to the standards but kind of rolling their eyes at the whole thing .. taking shortcuts when no one is looking.

    I looked at a virus confirmed cases map last week and could pretty much make out every major roadway by connecting the dots.

    Many highly trained docs and nurses during flu season may get the flu (despite being vaccinated … there is a concept of viral load), and this thing seems much more contagious.

    Mar 29, 2020 at 10:58 am #3638459
    obx hiker
    BPL Member

    @obxer

    So in light of this: Asymptotic vs Asymptomatic vs Asystematic

    Are you intentionally using it in the mathematical sense and how exactly? I’m not filling in the blanks I guess.

    Mar 29, 2020 at 4:55 pm #3638539
    Greg Mihalik
    BPL Member

    @greg23

    Locale: Colorado

    ^^^

    obx – if you are referring to HK’s post I’m guessing he meant asymptomatic – not showing symptoms –

    I want to know how young workers increasingly become that way.

    Mar 30, 2020 at 3:55 pm #3638745
    Bryan M
    BPL Member

    @bkmoss34

    Thank you for hosting this topic, and providing the guidance from a practical standpoint.  Our scout campouts for April and May are cancelled as well as Scout day outings.  We hold our Scout meetings with Zoom.  That said, we have a June summer camp, which may be cancelled, and a July Alaska Trek, which we are debating changes to or cancellation, and I have a RMNP backpacking week scheduled with 2 friends in August.

    My question is that would anyone consider cancelling July and August this early, plan to go as planned, and/or add a plan B and C to it, to mitigate any lessor restrictions/guidelines that are still in effect at that time?   For July, we have thought of booking the airfare but only if we have full refund ability.  I would assume from the models that by the time we are in late June or early July, our curve should be on the downslope.

    We live near Houston.  As a plan B or C, we could do local, but a 30 min drive gets us nowhere really, when it comes to a week of backpacking.  We need to get to the Texas Hill Country, or further west or northwest into NM in order to get to some BLM land, or cooler temps.  Not sure I want to go east to AR, but that is an option, to hit the Smokies.  Worst case is a river kayak trip, even though it’s hot, we might get wet to cool off.  Thoughts?

    Mar 30, 2020 at 6:31 pm #3638786
    Michael P C
    BPL Member

    @mikebcohen-2

    Thanks for the article, Andrew. It’s not only thru-hikers who have had to shelve their plans. I work with a Sierra Club group that takes kids from low-income schools on camping trips. We’ve had to cancel all of these for the Spring, and I feel sorry for the kids.

    One thing you didn’t mention as an alternative is single-day day-hikes, which might be closer than a place where you can set up a base camp. You get outdoors, you can stay away from others, and you get exercise. In fact, if you carry 30-40 lbs, it’s as good as the StairMaster in your now-closed gym. Yes, it’s not nearly as good as camping out, but it’s a lot better than an eternal diet of squats in your living room.

    Mar 30, 2020 at 7:01 pm #3638794
    Doug Coe
    BPL Member

    @sierradoug

    Locale: Bay Area, CA, USA

    @bkmoss34 Bryan—That’s a tough one. We just don’t know how this is going to play out, week to week and month to month. As you said, don’t get non-refundable tickets!

    Having plans B and C sounds smart. Right now, some national parks are closed. Who knows if they’ll be open in June or when.

    I heard the head of the AT Conservancy on a podcast recently, and she suggested only taking walks around your neighborhood right now, don’t even drive to a day hike to avoid the chance of burdening any medical or rescue workers.

    If you can stay flexible and haven’t put any money down anywhere, then just wait and see whether your trips can go ahead.

    Apr 21, 2020 at 5:43 pm #3642449
    Derek M.
    BPL Member

    @dmusashe

    Locale: Southern California

    “Don’t travel in unfamiliar areas; don’t push yourself beyond your comfort zone and skillset, and don’t take risks.”

    Not a bad article, but the last part of that sentence is simply asinine. Don’t take risks?  What are you even talking about? That’s like saying don’t breathe.

    It rubs me the wrong way when people don’t acknowledge that we takes risks with our lives and others’ every single day that we walk this planet, COVID-19 or not. I know the author means to say “don’t take undue risks,” but it’s still annoying to me. Oh well.

    Anyway, it will be interesting to see how our thinking about this evolves over the next several months.

    March 28th (when this article was published) already feels like a lifetime ago…

    Apr 21, 2020 at 6:13 pm #3642455
    jscott
    BPL Member

    @book

    Locale: Northern California

    Derek…sometimes you have to go with the gist of a statement. We can’t always qualify everything to within an inch of its life. Yes, you could slip on a banana peel getting out of bed and die. Surely you can see that’s not the point?

    This is no time to involve hospital staff and search and rescue and other emergency services with rescuing someone who did something asinine in the wilderness, or even just decided to go for it on a class 3.5 pass with no protection. do that next year.

    Apr 21, 2020 at 6:46 pm #3642458
    George Ford
    BPL Member

    @eers2u

    Locale: West Virginia

    “This is no time to involve hospital staff and search and rescue and other emergency services with rescuing someone who did something asinine in the wilderness, or even just decided to go for it on a class 3.5 pass with no protection. do that next year.”

    Fully understand and agree with this statement.  You shouldn’t be out there taking undue risks.  I do have a problem with closing backcountry areas for the same reason while designating liquor and marijuana stores as “essential”.   Cause we all know they’ve never caused any first responder issues…

    Apr 21, 2020 at 7:04 pm #3642464
    jscott
    BPL Member

    @book

    Locale: Northern California

    Agreed. George. It’s impossible for agencies responsible for making these determinations to get it 100% right. There’s doubtless far more stressed out wine drinkers and pot smokers on these agencies than backpackers. And they need their meds!

    My guess is that there’s several hundred reasonable exceptions to the general shutdown rulings in many professions and sports clubs and kayaking circles and all the rest.

    We’re finagling the spirit of the law in a time of the letter of the law–because health care workers and others–grocery clerks!–are putting themselves on the line for everybody’s sake.

    Maybe later on, good faith acting on the spirit of the law will open things up for backpackers.

    Apr 21, 2020 at 7:17 pm #3642468
    George Ford
    BPL Member

    @eers2u

    Locale: West Virginia

    You are correct, and I suspect as time goes by that more reasonable decisions will be made by those in power as to what activities can be safely allowed and which should continue to be restricted.  Inevitably the pendulum swings too far in the beginning of a crisis but it will eventually reach an equilibrium where we can balance risk and safety.

    I personally believe that this virus is going to be part of our lives for the next 18-24 months and we are all going to have to learn to go about our lives in a semi-normal fashion while simultaneously practicing habits that will keep us as safe as possible.  It is the only reasonable outcome until a vaccine is produced – the economy cannot continue to be shut down indefinitely but we also cannot throw caution to the wind and start going to concerts, ballgames, parties, etc.. like we all did before the virus.

    Apr 22, 2020 at 10:16 am #3642530
    Eric Blumensaadt
    BPL Member

    @danepacker

    Locale: Mojave Desert

    Timely article. I had signed up for an early June backpack trip in central Nevada with a local Sierra Club group. BUT… I’m cancelling B/C I know there will not be testing available for us. I stated in Andrew Skurka’s blog about this topic that I would not go unless we were all tested negative for COVID 19.

    So, instead I’m doing my own trip to northern Nevada into either the Ruby Crest Trail or the Jarbidge Wilderness.  The Ruby Crest Trail is a one way trip that requires hitchhiking back to the trailhead. I’ll do it but only in the back of a pickup, of which there are many in that area. I’ve been to both areas before and know the territory.  The Ruby Crest Trail is spectacular, it’s called “Nevada’s Yosemite”.

     

    Apr 22, 2020 at 3:12 pm #3642577
    John Vance
    BPL Member

    @servingko

    Locale: Intermountain West

    +1 on the Ruby Crest.   The Ruby range is nice enough to make Elko almost an attractive place to live.

    Apr 22, 2020 at 3:44 pm #3642586
    Stumphges
    BPL Member

    @stumphges

    Where to buy canister fuel nowadays?

    Apr 24, 2020 at 1:44 pm #3642905
    HkNewman
    BPL Member

    @hknewman

    Locale: Western US

    Outdoor recreation is starting to loosen up in some parts of the US, but mask rules vary.  Let’s use California as an example:

    In San Bernardino County right now they’ve opened  up outdoor recreation including golf and daytime snowsports, but a cloth mask (face covering?) is required outdoors (and assume in businesses) all the times.

    https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/mt-baldy-ski-resort-opens-amid-easing-coronavirus-restrictions-in-san-bernardino/2350656/

    If going to the Bay Area a mask is required in businesses and other potentially crowded situations, but not if outdoors where distancing is easy..

    https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/22/coronavirus-bay-area-mask-order-takes-effect-wednesday-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

    All subject to change but a mask goes on the gear lists for now.

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