Your Solo Hike and what happened?

I do many solo hikes per year, maybe 3 or 4 nights out

Sorry, no bad stories : )

I can think of a couple times I got into a difficult situation.  When I’m solo I avoid some situations.

I can’t think of anything noteworthy about solo hikes vs those with others.  I do remember one of my first at 15 years old in the BWCA.  My imagination got the best of me and kind of freaked me out by day three.  Honestly I was more worried about crazy axe wielding pshyco’s than anything else.  Too many B horror films I guess.

I typically take fewer risks and stay as close to my plan as possible just to make finding me a bit easier should things go wrong.  It has been totally unnecessary in over 40 years of backpacking, but it seems like the prudent thing to do and helps my family feel better.

I’ve done many solo hikes. sometimes I’ve spent days without seeing someone else (rarely). Never had anything happen. Been up over snowy passes and bad streams too. It’s delightful if you can spend that kind of time with yourself without going bonkers. Actually now that I think about it. on one or two occasions I went in upset with someone at work or a friend and ended up obsessing about it. That’s to be avoided for sure. don’t break up with your girlfriend and go soloing, perhaps.

Most of my trips are solo. I generally only go for up to 2 nights. I carry an InReach for my wife’s peace on mind. However, I don’t mind getting that return text msg that she’s ok as well. No issues for me so far (knock on wood). I actually like it, since I can do everything on my terms and timeline. I take a kindle whitepaper for reading during down times. Trying to work some time off where I can do it for a week.

My first week-long backpack trip, 1992 in the Wind River Range, was solo, which included a solo climb of Gannet Peak via Minor Glacier. Did lots of similar trips with climbs and cross country routes in remote areas through the 90’s and 00’s, but probably not something I’d do today solo. Nowadays if I’m by myself it’s usually on established trails or easy routes – and there’s a DeLorme InReach on my pack now, per my wife’s insisting.

Sounds good, I have a delorme as well. Helps me feel better about the wife and kids at home alone.

Just had a hike called off because I wasn’t feeling physically able to a week ago. I did the same hike a year ago but this year training was rushed and when I got to the trail head I wasn’t feeling it. My partner got pissed about me calling it off, so I figure next time I’ll go solo. Glad I called it off and went home as the following day I got sick and have been sick since, although I’m almost over it. Yesterday would be the day I hiked out, sick, had I not called it.

So Solo I’ve been thinking about lately and wanted to hear others thoughts.

Thanks!

I solo hike more’n most, I guess. I had a beaver wander into camp one day as I was packing up. He took one look at me and wandered off…likely the smell drove I=him off.
I was camped at a lean-to one night and a bear cub fiddled with my cooking gear. I yelled at him and he run like hell. Don’t know where the mother was. On another occasion, I was setting up my bedding under my tarp and went out to get my pack (I roll it up into a stuff sack as a pillow,) and a bear passed between me and the camp fire. Soon as he realized I was there he made a quick exit.

My usual is one or two weeks. Usually about two months out over the course of a year, not counting trips with partners, friends, family at public campgrounds. There is no cell service. I don’t bother with any of the SPOT, etc. I take my time. and never rush. I always hang a bear bag and never leave a messy campsite for the night, more to dissuade critters than to insure it is neat and clean. ‘Corse, I am an old man and sooner or later something WILL happen. I have had a cracked rib, sprained ankle, broken finger, and other minor injuries. But, hiking/camping solo is ONLY as dangerous as I make it. It just requires a little extra caution to insure you really try not to get hurt. But the benefits in wildlife sightings alone are worth it. I do not act aggressive towards the critters. I have my space, they have theirs. Nope, I have been doing this long enough that my wife does not mind not hearing from me for a couple weeks. But, like John Vance, I stick to my plan. She knows she can find me at need.

Love solo backpacking. After the first time it’s no big deal.

I give myself ample time to find and make camp so I can be all tucked in before the boogeyman starts making his rounds.

They are nice and quiet. Every decision is one vote. Never had a mishap on one. Probably due to being more mindful than am normally.

Also never a bad solo experience.  But the firsts each came with a bit of anxiety.  First solo dayhike wasn’t too bad as I hiked a familiar trail, but still had some nervousness on the drive.  First overnight was mostly on trail I had dayhiked, but that first night being the only one in camp I slept lightly.  When nothing bad happened the second and third and so on were most excellent.

My first long hike was Wolf Creek Pass to Elk Creek on the CDT.  Had two difficulties.  One, the first step.  Two, I packed for every contingency I could imagine and started out about 80lbs skin out.  That experience started my path to lightweight backpacking (I could easily make the same hike starting 35lbs).

Reflecting…starting small and building up to big hikes gave me confidence to in the outdoors alone, and carry your experience instead of extra gear.  If you’ve never before needed something while hiking/backpacking with others the likelihood of needing it while hiking solo is nil.

So take a deep breath then take that first step.

awesome responses here people!!!

:)

If you are interested,  here’s a link to my trip report of my first big solo hike.

Solo Timberline Trail

Hiking solo, your mental state more than anything is the key to success or stress. My attitude was what magnified any situation into a problem.

One more vote for solo hiking.  It’s amazing how much more aware you are of nature around you.  I see so many more animals and hear so many more sounds.  I have yet to have anything happen that doesn’t, or hasn’t, happened when hiking with others.  Jerry is spot on…when solo you just avoid a few situations that you might not otherwise, and maybe those should be avoided regardless?  As Ken said, it’s just so quiet…and easy!  No discussions about what to do, where to do it or for how long :)  And if you need to bail, you bail…no issues.

I can’t really say that I’ve ever had a bad experience solo hiking.  And I usually hike solo- my job usually leaves me little warning of a free weekend, so I can’t really plan ahead enough for a partner to commit.  The most annoying thing that happened due to being solo was when I tried to hike down the Box Canyon of Lost Creek and was within 200 yards of the crossing trail that I was trying to reach, but decided that the last bit of scrambling was simply too consequential to do solo, so I backtracked.  I probably would have made it just fine, but if by chance I had fallen it would have been Very Bad.

Did a solo hike in PA (I was living on the east coast at the time). Got minor-ly harassed by what I believe to be a bobcat one night. Freaked me out a bit. I haven’t solo hiked since, and have no real interest in doing so. My main issue is that I have a very hard time ‘turning off’ my brain, and I can’t use my sleep aid away from home, so I just no longer bother going solo.

This is all a bunch of survivor bias.  You will definitely fall off a cliff and cry out futilely for days before finally being eaten alive by a large predator.  Still better than hiking with other people.

I’ve been solo hiking for about 20 years now, and I love it. Not so much the first time, when every sound and bump in the night jerked me awake, but, after that, no big deal. Like others have said, I compensate for the lack of hiking partners by sticking to a route and going easy on the risk-taking.

For example, a few years ago I was doing a week in Olympic NP and I ran into some other hikers who talked about how to get up to an excellent viewpoint above 1000 acre meadow. I was intrigued because I was headed that way. The next day I got to the jump off point they had described, said to myself, “Hey it’s a nice day, why not?” and started up cross country to the first of two modest passes I’d have to cross. It wasn’t a difficult route but I hiked in a few 100 yards, looked back, looked up, and thought, “you know, absolutely no one knows I’m taking this side trip”. Then I turned around, hiked back to the trail and continued on my way as originally planned.

I felt it was a good decision and only mildly regretted not hiking to the viewpoint. Funny thing is that I did get to see 1000 acre meadow, rather well in fact, from a pass on the other side of the valley that I crossed later that day.

So Solo I’ve been thinking about lately and wanted to hear others thoughts.

It really is driven by personality. Some people, like me, just enjoy doing things alone. Then there are those who find it difficult or too much of a hassle to coordinate schedules with others, so it becomes a matter of going solo or staying at home.

One of the worst things that can happen to me is my wife wanting to go to a party — I truly dislike social gatherings. Before I retired, a good portion of my job was developing business solutions for clients. I would always refuse to work with a team of people, and I always insisted on developing business products independently — that’s my personality. Now that I am retired I rarely use more than 20 minutes a month on my cell phone and I cancelled our landline. My wife usually uses 2,000 – 3,000 minutes a month on her cell phone, which shows how different we are. She likes being with lots of other people. I don’t.

I view group hiking as potentially dangerous because group decisions are often required, and “group think” can result in less than optimal solutions, so pick your hiking partners carefully. Before I joined BPL, I had been backpacking for 40+ years and only did 4 or 5 hikes with other people over all those years, with the exception of a few trips with my kids. Since I joined BPL in 2008 I have done 6 or 7 trips with BPL members and I also did a couple trips with a friend during this time. All have been good trips as I have picked good people to hike with. With two exceptions, these trips were not my idea — I didn’t initiate the contact, but was asked to participate by others.

If you like hiking with others that is fine… nothing wrong with it at all. Going solo isn’t necessarily better unless one simply prefers to be alone.

I don’t have any crazy adventures to share. But I do get out quite often, because it is easy to do spur of the moment trips since there is no one I need to coordinate with, or ask the household CEO for permission to go. Plus it helps that I can hike to the top of Mt San Jacinto from my house, the north and south entrances to Joshua Tree NP are 50 miles away, 90 minutes to Anza Borrego, and about 4 hours to the Southern Sierra.

A big impediment to solo hiking can be a spouse or significant other. Before I married my first wife I had done a couple 6 month solo hikes, so she knew I liked to hike. During our first year of marriage I took her on a one-week backpacking trip in the Sierra — she hated it. After that she had no problem with me going backpacking as long as I didn’t ask her to join me; so solo was okay with her. I’ve been married to my 2nd wife for 15 years. At first she was apprehensive about my trips, but she has gotten used to them and never tries to limit me and she has no desire to try backpacking. I don’t take a cell phone on trips because there is no reception where I hike, nor do I own a PBL or similar device… mostly because they didn’t exist for most of my hiking career and I don’t like change. My wife understands cell phones don’t work because when we go camping we usually don’t have cell reception. She also doesn’t know that something like a PLB exists.

I don’t advocate that people should try solo hiking. If it is something you really, really want to do then go for it. Just make sure you know what the heck you are doing and can stay warm, dry, and safe. Hiking with others doesn’t guarantee safety and solo doesn’t necessarily entail additional risk. If you have any reservations about solo hiking, then now might not the time to try. Either way it is just walking and sleeping under the night sky whether you go it alone or with others.

James Marco’s post comes closest to me—

I solo hike more’n most, I guess.

I too probably solo hike more than most.

My usual is one or two weeks. 

Same here, either a 15 days trip or a 21 day trip, without resupply.

I don’t bother with any of the SPOT, etc.

Same here, don’t bother with Spots or GPS or whatever.

I take my time. and never rush.

Very true.  I bailed out of the Fast & Light mindset long ago and now go Slow & Heavy.

 ‘Corse, I am an old man and sooner or later something WILL happen. I have had a cracked rib, sprained ankle, broken finger, and other minor injuries. But, hiking/camping solo is ONLY as dangerous as I make it. It just requires a little extra caution to insure you really try not to get hurt.

Exactly.  It’s only as dangerous as I make it.  Case in point:  In my 20s and 30s I fell often on my backpacking trips but didn’t think much about it.  Now at an older age I rarely fall.  Why?  Because I go slow and focus on boot placement and the trail below my feet.  Can’t afford to fall.  Especially with a pack loaded with 21 days worth of food.

I have been doing this long enough that my wife does not mind not hearing from me for a couple weeks. But, like John Vance, I stick to my plan. She knows she can find me at need.

True once again.  My wife gets a printed out daily schedule of my approx whereabouts and shuttles me to the trailhead and gets me three weeks later at the arranged pickup evac spot.

Solo backpacking?  It’s all I ever do nowadays because no one has 3 weeks to spare for a trip.  I might run into people along the way but otherwise I’m out alone and generally rarely actually backpack with other people.

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I’ve done 6 or 7 solo multi-day hikes in the past few years.  Some well off the main trails.  The night before I leave and the next morning, I find that I flat out don’t want to go.  I’ve learned to expect that and ignore it.  I just go.  I always find the minute my feet hit the trail, all is good.

Where I like to go (Strathcona Park, BC), in the past few years, one person in a group died in a fall, another in a group of 2 (or more) was severely injured in a fall.  One solo person disappeared and was never found.  Her pack and assorted items were found on the mountain in the pic below.   So you can get killed or injured either way (solo or not).

I plan, I go, I have a good time.  Take some photos.

Nothing terribly exciting.

I find people ask to go on my trips rather than the other way around. Content with my own company I guess.

I’ve learned an overnighter at the most is my limit with people.  Anything more than a night or maybe two at the most, and I prefer to do my own thing.  The exception was more car camping/hiking trips with a significant other in the past.  But the focus of those trips was different.  Cultural or just sitting in taking a specific area.

I love going solo (with my dog). I do carry an inReach for emergency use but also to notify my wife of changes to my itinerary. It’s nice being able to change plans on the fly. I do keep things pretty conservative although I go off trail all the time. But I keep the risks down. The one time I kid of pushed it was in the same location as Dean. I was crossing large rocks with deep gaps where falling would have been very bad. I came to my senses and turned around. Not a place to be solo.

I did warn Dean before he took his trip. :)

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