Solo.

[Dean F.]

I usually end up hiking solo because of my career. I'm a surgeon, and I never know when I'll have a patient admitted for the weekend so it's hard to plan ahead, which means that any potential hiking partners will usually have other plans. So my hikes tend to be last-minute affairs and solo. I really don't even try to find partners any more. (I do try to plan one or two 'longer' hikes a year that I take leave for, and that's with an old college buddy of mine.)

But this is why I get annoyed at the occasional idiot who pops up proclaiming that solo hiking is "irresponsible." If I didn't go solo I'd never go. And, frankly, when someone is convinced that a solo hiker is in constant imminent danger that probably says more about their competence and confidence than anything else.

Regarding the AT: The AT is almost more of a 'social' event than a wilderness event. There are groups at most camp sites, for example. I suspect that it's easier for solo women to feel like aid is nearby if they get attacked and scream for help. Of course, I'm probably engaging in a bit if sexism in merely assuming that solo female rarity is due to perceived threats like that. But, for example, my wife feels safer in cities than in the outdoors for exactly that reason- when she's around a lot of people she feels that help is nearby, and thus an attack less likely. :)

OTOH I just ran into a solo woman deep in the Wind River Range last year, though she was a little leery of a group of three males.

[jscott]

"The only times I can recall not being satisfied with a solo trip was when I had things happening personally that affected my mental state and made it difficult to really let go."

Well put Adan. Even then, a solo trip at least gives you the time and space to process issues. It's just, you'd rather not be doing that on a wilderness hike! But at least you're alone, and so not pestering a partner or a group with your issues. I went on one trip with a friend who was obsessing about a relationship from start to finish. It wrecked my whole trip.

Yes both groups and solo have their points. I think that my most satisfying experiences have come from hiking solo however; with the caveat that I usually run into people to chat with in the course of the hike, so I'm not really solo.

[brian H]

i
hike
with
a partner… my Thoughts!
we get along fantastically well, most o the time.

on my JMT hike years ago, my partner & I realized we'd rather be solo about halfway…we cordially parted ways, and both had a great time.

if i bring a partner, i letm know that long silences in the wilderness is part of what draws me, and that i will be seeking this. i have always chuckled at hikers who hike close enough to spit on the boots of the one ahead…(except for kids).

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