Safety in Hiking Alone

[snowshoechickie]

hello everyone...this is my first post and first thread...i am impressed by all of the information one can find here, so here is the most pressing question i have and any answers will be welcome. I am a young woman who loves to hike with her husband...we are currently working on our 46 and things are going well...we are more than half-way there...before i met my husband this feat was not possible because i did not have anyone to hike with me and i did not feel comfortable hiking alone. Together we strive to climb and enjoy the adirondacks and peaks of NY...but here is my dilemma....i do not get the weekends off as my husband does and sometimes he hikes with his brother or alone and on my week days off when he is at work I often itch to do a hike, but alas, no one to go with....how safe is it for a young woman to venture in and hike by herself? i have run into many brave women who hike alone and do not have any problem doing so...I understand that it is not a good idea to go alone regardless due to possible situations where injury could occur with no help, so this isn't strictly pertaining to being a woman, but hopefully you see my point...we've run into some strange characters on trails, and this makes me wary on venturing out by myself because as a 5 foot 1 inch tall woman, i do not feel i could stand up to a larger individual if threatened....Have there been any known cases of accosts on trails? Am i just being paranoid for no reason or good reason? any feed back would be wonderful....and if you know of any groups of people who hike on week days who might be interested how would i go about contacting them? thanks!

[redhawk]

I'm not going to say that it CAN'T happen, but the number of attacks against single hikers, women or otherwise is extremely low, much lower then in "civilization" by a large margin.

That being said, I never suggest that anyone hike alone, man or woman.

Hawk

And welcome to the ADK forum!!

I'm Hawk, I squawk but I don't bite. (Well, maybe a little nip now and then..... )

[JudgeS]

hiking solo

Man or woman, I would not recommend it. I hiked to the top of Redfield by myself last weekend, as none of my hiking partners were available and I am anxious to finish my 46 this summer. My wife, who is not in shape, did not want me being alone, and went as far as Marcy Dam while I continued. She returned to and waited at the Loj all day. Shortly after leaving the summit, I slipped on some damp blowdown, and fell HARD on my left side. I knew that I had done damage, but prayed there was no ruptured spleen. Miraculously, I was able to hike the approximately 8 miles back to the Loj. Unable to drive, my wife drove home. When I walked into the house, I collapsed in pain, was unable to move and was rushed to the hospital. After x-rays, CT scans, blood tests, morphine, dilaudid, and rehydration on an IV, I was released from the hospital with a diagnosis of 2 broken ribs, partially collapsed lung, but thankfully no ruptured spleen. I have been on narcotic pain medication,and suffering a painful recuperation ever since. As a result of my insisting on hiking alone, I may not finish my 46 this summer. If my wife had not been at the Loj, I don't know what I would have done, as it was 8:00 pm Sunday night and I was unable to drive. I don't know how I made it the last 8 miles. Would hiking with someone have made a difference? Maybe.
Would I go alone again? I might, but I pass this on for what it is worth.

[adkdremn]

Wow JudgeS....speedy recovery for you I hope!
That being said those are the dangers of hiking alone! But solo hiking can also be very rewarding! You just have to weigh the pros/cons and decided what is best for you.
There are other women here who you could maybe hook up with and do some hikes. Here's some members that come to mind that hike mostly weekdays (hope they don't mind me mentioning their names!)
Fvrwld, Unadogger, HighonLife....maybe it's possible you could hook up with them and do some hiking! I've never met any of them, but look forward to at some point. Read their past trip reports, they are full of life and adventure and always a pleasure to read!

[RC]

I don't think the real danger of Solo hiking is the people you might run into, but more how something that wouldn't really be a big problem if you have help can turn deadly alone. I hike Solo almost all the time, but I understand the problems that that can cause. I've come close to not getting out of the woods because I was alone and unprepared. I've also had to spent a few unplanned nites in the woods after having problems, but I had the gear with me to do it so it was no big deal. Remember if you do something as simple of really rolling an ankle you could end up having to spend a nite on a peak someplace and even this time of year it could be a VERY cold nite. Do you have the gear with you to survive a 40deg rainy nite if you have to ? I carry about twice the gear on a solo day hike then I do if I'm with someone. If you do hike solo be 100% positive someone you know you can trust knows your itinerary and stick to your plans.


RC

[jessdrone]

just carry a gun and hike carefully

[redhawk]

Beware of people hiking with guns

[Rik]

I agree with RC. The biggest risk is not being accosted but being injured or sick with no one to help you.
I hike alone often and like it but if you are not comfortable would it be any fun?

[snowshoechickie]

After reading your posts, i came to the realization (and i am going to get sentimental here) that hiking without my husband wouldn't be the same...it wouldn't be that much fun for me....we do it together as a team, and when he hikes he does it to help his brother gain his 46 peaks that he doesn't have that we do have...thank you all for your posts and for your insights...if someday i decided to hike alone, i will take into consideration what you have all said!

[cpiseco]

Hey Snowshoe,

A good place to find fellow hikers in your area would be meetup.com. They usually have a bunch of backpackers who take day and overnight trips to various state and national parks.

I'm glad you decided not to hike alone; it's not worth what _could_ happen.

[daxs]

I often hike alone and have no problems doing it. I let somone know my itinerary and will check back in with that person. I also bike (road and and offtrail) alone, kayak alone, run alone etc. You can't always wait for someone with the same time frame and interests as you. With the number of home invasions, car break-ins and assaults in my rural area (Cape May County NJ) i sometimes feel less safe in my home than out on a trail. Yes, I am a female.

[madison]

Do you have a dog? I've solo hiked often but I always have my dog with me. She wouldn't be much help if I were injured but she'd never let someone with ill intentions near me.

Here's a story regarding that- A few years ago, I was backpacking solo in the West Canada Lakes wilderness. I was at the 3rd Cedar Lake lean-to and 2 other guys showed up. They seemed friendly enough and I didn't catch any negative vibes from them, but for some reason my dog, who usually loves everyone and makes friends with new people very easily, would not warm up to one of the guys. She wouldn't let him pet her and whenever he got near me she would growl at him. This was very unusual behavior for her, since she rarely growls at people, and, as I said, makes friends very easily. So, even though the man had done nothing to earn my mistrust and seemed friendly, I decided to trust my dog's instincts and moved on to West Lake.

To this day I have no idea if the man had ill intentions, but if I'm ever in the same situation I'll do the same thing. Dogs can sometimes sense things we can't.

[samsbud]

Hikiing Alone

Being an ex NYS Licensed Hunting & Fishing Guide 1998-2003, I have hunted and
hiked alone for decades. I am 50 now and don't plan to stop. Just use your common sense and plan for the worst. My day pak weighs 25#s between my extra food, space blanket, water filter, extra cloths and yes, a licensed handgun with an extra clip. I live alone and don't have any kids and my family lives hundreds of miles away from me and the cat can't pick up the phone and come get me if something should happen. I realize that even though I am prepared as possible I know something can always happen. I just accept that if it is my destiny to die alone far out in the woods, than that is my calling. There are worst places to expire and at least I am doing what I love. I have more fear driving home on the Northway than hiking alone since it is up to me on how to conduct myself and avoid accidents in the woods.

[sky]

heya snoeshoechickie.

Glad to know I'm not the only woman who hikes alone (never see any other lone girls on the trail). In fact, I just returned from Silver Lake on a short overnight. Met a really funny older gentleman who named me a brave young soul for hitting the woods alone (and commented on how I must know martial arts or something to fend off the oddballs and illwishers). I haven't had an issue yet.....extra food, extra clothes and a good first aid kit (w/ splints & space blanket) are all essentials for me (esp knowing how to use the latter). Itineraries are also good to have and stick too; I let 3 separate people know where I am going and when I'll be back and and they all have each other's number (in case I'm home and don't answer my phone/call right away and my mom gets all freaked out or something).

Still nothing beats a hiking buddy, if you have the luxury. I don't, so it's either sit at home and not hit the trails, or hit the trails all alone. I pick option 2. Just try to be a boy scout about it.

[southernadkhiker]

A quick story on hiking alone....

One of my neighbors was hiking off West River Rd. by himself (anyone that's hiked around there knows how remote the area is) and all of a sudden, had a massive stroke. It paralized the complete left side of his body. In short, he had to literaly crawl on the right side of his body for over 9hrs just to get back over the road. This included going up a hill, in which he fell back head over heels 3 times in order to reach the top of. He finally got out at around day break the next morning, and has since been doing much better, physically. The morale (which I myself have been guilty of many times) dont hike alone. Especially on bushwacks!