Using GPS on the Hiking / Camping Trail

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Today, with Global Positioning System (GPS) gadgets still a new technology, many people are unaware that GPS wasn’t only meant for the open road. It can be used while hiking or camping, and can even help you from being lost when there are no roads or highways nearby.

How is that possible? Portable GPS’s can track your journey, leaving a trail of digital breadcrumbs that keep you secure even on deep-woods adventures.

Here are some of the top strategies for using GPS on the camping trail:

• Plan in advance – Some GPS systems, like the Suunto X10 GPS watch, allow you to coordinate your GPS map with a map on Google, giving you an advanced knowledge of the track you’ll be heading on. You can also cross-section this map with Google Earth so that you have a better idea of the terrain and environment you’ll expect.Planning in advance is always crucial to having a good time when you’re camping and hiking. If you’re planning on exploring deep into the woods or wilderness, you would do good to prepare your general track by merging your computer with your GPS for an advanced map.
• Keep an eye on the weather – Some GPS devices (including the Suunto X10 GPS watch) allow you to monitor the weather before it happens. If a storm is coming, you should know about it before you see it on the horizon, or before you watch the skies turn grey. The GPS extends your “inner meteorologist” and gives you added technology – such as a barometer – to assist you in watching the weather. While this obviously has implications for your cmaping or hiking trip, it’s useful for a variety of other outdoor activities, as well; especially if you don’t have the internet or a TV to access.
• Watching your time and distance – Especially useful for runners and hikers, keeping a track of your distance is great for athletic endeavors, as you’ll be able to monitor exactly how long it took you to walk, hike, or run how many miles.This allows you to monitor your distance, for example, even if you feel like taking a side jaunt somewhere else entirely. If you have your ideal 10k run mapped out somewhere, and need to take a detour, you’d still be able to keep an eye on the distance you’ve traveled.

These are just three of the strategies you could employ while using your GPS watch or other GPS device while outdoors. Much like a GPS navigation system will help prevent you from ever getting lost in the car, today’s technology can even help you from getting lost in the woods. You’ll be able to monitor weather, altitude, and other variables that let you know about the skies you’re hiking or camping under, and you’ll find yourself having a better time for it.

Hiking Terminology 101

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Anyone who has taken up a hobby on more than a semi-regular basis knows that with each hobby or endeavor, there are typically certain words that develop known only to the community devoted to that hobby. Hiking is no different, and if you want to become a truly avid hiker, you’re going to have to speak the language. Don’t worry; this isn’t like learning Spanish. It simply means picking up some basic hiking terms, some of which are listed here.

• Day Packs: Day packs are like smaller versions of backpacks that you’ll use for a common hiking jaunt, packing only what you need for a day’s worth. Backpacks are more suitable for more long-distance hikes and for the different activity of backpacking.
• “From the Skin Out” or FSO Weight: As the title suggests, “from the skin out” refers to everything you’re carrying with you that you weren’t born with. In other words, FSO weight includes everything you’re carrying, from your sunglasses and clothes to your backpack and hiking stick.
• Packweight: Different from “From the skin out” weight, the packweight refers to the actual backpack you’re carrying itself. Don’t include food and water in this weight: simply refer to the actual weight of your backpack.
• Pronation/supination: Both of these refer to the angle at which your foot hits the ground. Pronation refers to rotating your foot inward; supination refers to rotating your foot outward. These are also popular terms with runners, who need to make sure that their form is ideal for the pounding that their feet will take. As you can imagine, this is also important for hikers.
• Guiding stars: Guiding starts are ways that help you find your direction at night; they’re different in the northern and southern hemispheres. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, you’ll look for the North Star; if you’re in the southern hemisphere, try to find the Southern Cross.
• Cairn: A formation of rocks or simply a pile of rocks that helps indicate the direction of the trail. Needless to say, keeping on your trail is of vital importance to a hiker that doesn’t want to get lost.

These terms simply work as some “basic” hiking terminology: if you want to learn more, simply remain exposed to the hiking community and you’ll pick up more advanced terms. Don’t be embarrassed to ask another hiker what a term might refer to; after all, we all had to learn them at some point or another.

Three Steps for Packing Your Backpack

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

Unbeknownst to casual or first-time hikers, the weight and quality of your backpack – not to mention what it contains – can be one of the most important predictors as to whether or not you’ll have a good time hiking. Why is this? Because backpacks that are too heavy or drag on the shoulders will wear you down, making you expend more energy than you need to and ultimately making it an uncomfortable experience. Here are three steps for packing your backpack in a way that won’t slow you down.

#1. First, make sure you have a decent backpack.

For the hiker, the backpack is the best “expense” to take an opportunity to really splurge on something of high quality. Backpacks with steel frames that rest on your back, distributing the weight of their contents can be highly helpful, and it might feel like you’ve got some extra support from somewhere as you carry it. A simply school backpack that only drags on your shoulders, pulling them tight and hurting them, simply won’t do here. If you’re going to overspend at any point here, spend more money on quality on a backpack.

#2. Plan in advance.

Planning in advance to fill your backpack with the essentials will help you make sure you cover your bases. Do a mental walkthrough of your planned hike and ask yourself what you feel like you’ll need. A cell phone or not? How much water? Some emergency food, or a meal? Depending on the length and quality of your hike, these answers will be different for everyone.

Planning in advance will also help you to pack more tightly, as you’ll be able to fit items better if you plan them out rather than simply “stuffing them in.” Stuffing them in will lead to an uneven weight distribution and will drag you down while you’re out on the hiking trail.

#3. Review and remove.

The key is to pack as light as you can, while not sacrificing any of the materials you know you’ll need. Water is kind of heavy, so that might be a necessary evil for you (unless you carry your own water filters). Do you want navigating electronics, or can you do without the technology? Review what you’ve got, try out your backpack and see how heavy it is. Try not to imagine how heavy it is now, but how heavy it will be after an hour of hiking. What can you afford to lose? These are important questions to consider – the key is to do most of the preparation and thinking before you take your hike so that later you don’t have to.

Photo Credits: richardmasoner

Habits for the Serious Hiker

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

If you’ve been a serious hiker for some time, or if you’ve been hiking but want to step your game up, this article is for you. It will help explain the ins and outs of hiking on a habitual basis and will set you in the right direction to make hiking a long-term hobby and great form of exercise that doesn’t only treat the body, but the mind. Here’s not only how to hike seriously, but how to take yourself seriously.

First, time management is the key principle here. You’ll never be a habitual hiker unless you’ve got the time for it. Many people often use the excuse of “I’m too busy for one more habit or hobby,” but that simply isn’t true. We’re as busy as we make ourselves, and besides, you’re really just admitting that you’re bad at time management. Instead, make hiking a priority and making it an important one.

This means saying no to friends on occasion, and maybe even saying no to family. Hikers sometimes live a dual life – they have the ability to stop and smell the roses by getting out and enjoying nature, but they don’t have time for anything else. If you’re going to be a serious hiker, give time management your earnest attention.

Second, you’ll want to have the right – and the best – gear. This doesn’t mean you have to be a walking cyborg of GPS systems and hydration technology. In fact, you can be a minimalist if you want. If you’re a cyborg or a minimalist, though, be prepared for both – do your research up front for the kind of equipment you might want to bring along, and once your purchasing decisions have been made, live with them and get out there, and leave it at that.

A key theme here is how you spend your time, and if you’re a serious hiker, you want to take the strategy of “hike first, ask questions later.” After all, you don’t know what gadgets or equipment you need unless you’ve been out there and experienced a few discomforts that could easily be eradicated. You also might learn what you enjoy doing out there, such as walking without a hiking stick or backpack, and this will help you make some informed decisions, as well.

Hiking with GPS

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Many people want to make hiking a permanent hobby for them, but are usually thrown back by a few excuses. What if it’s too cold or too hot today? Won’t it be uncomfortable? What happens if I get lost? What will I do?

There are answers to these questions, and if you’re serious about being a habitual hiker, you might even just ignore them. But here’s one question that has a definite answer you can find right away: “will I get lost?” No, you don’t have to. If you want to do some deep-words exploring, you can go hiking with a GPS to help you find your way, and leave “bread crumbs” through the forrest to not only get you where you’re going, but to get yourself back to where you came from.

Of course, there’s another mental hurdle. “Isn’t GPS hard to use?” Well, of course, the answer is no. GPS devices including GPS watches can be like mobile computers, but that doesn’t mean you have to be computer literate to handle one. Instead, you can either ask someone who knows, consult the sales team where you buy your GPS, try it out yourself, or some combinatino of all three. It’s not like you haven’t learned anything before and, believe me, it will actually end up being much simpler than you’re making it out to be.

For many people, hiking is about the freedom of the open woods, about climbing obstacles and conquering hills. The best way to do this is to keep things simple, and by keeping close watch on your path and your navigation, you lose some of the intense foccus that gives many hikers such an intense natural high. You want to be full y present when you’re out there, and having GPS on your wrist can often give you the peace of mind to do just that.

Keep one thing in mind, however: GPS does strip some of the mystique away. You might even want to keep your GPS covered or in your backpack during the trip yourself to add to the reality of being in the wilderness with only yourself and your wits with you. You’ll always know that you’re leaving that metaphorical trail of bread crumbs to get back, but you’ll also experience the reality of living totally natural, if only for a while. It makes for a great escape from civilization, and once you’re ready to come home, fire up the GPS and find your car. It’s that simple.

The Top Five Hiking Countries in the World

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

If you’re an avid hiker, chances are that you’ve done a little poking around and discovering on your own – finding all of the local hills, discerning which are the most challenging, etc. But for the truly avid hiker, a world of opportunity is at your feet: you’re anxious to see what else is out there. If you’re really an ambitious hiker with his or her sights set high, this article is for you. In it, we’ll take a look at the top five hiking countries in the world.

Keep in mind that this is a highly subjective list, and many countries with awesome sights and sounds have been left out of necessity.

1. United States of America

That’s right: for my fellow Americans, good ol’ Uncle Sam simply has the greatest diversity, range, and spectrum of possible hikes on Earth. The sheer size of the United States makes it ideal for different types of environments, and its location above the equator gives rise to several different climate zones that you don’t find in other large countries like Canada.

2. Switzerland

Switzerland is known typically for its knives, its cheese, and even its watches – but what we forget is that the Swiss Alps offer some nasty, challenging, and beautiful terrain in one of the safest countries in the world. Switzerland is ideal for the hiker who enjoys a good challenge in addition to beautiful and serene scenery. For you winter hikers, the Swiss Alps also provide an endless array of challenges.

3. Italy

Cousin to Switzerland because of its access to the Alps, Italy can be much like Switzerland except it offers a greater variety of hikes – from the volatile area near Mount Vesuvius to Tuscany to the Mediterranean Sea, Italy is one of the best countries to enjoy hiking on – especially while on vacation.

4. Argentina

South America had to be represented on this list, and Argentina makes an ideal choice, particularly because of its relative similarity to some European countries (such as in Buenos Aires), as well as its diverse range of terrain. Other countries like Bolivia and Brazil also present some interesting hiking ventures.

5. Canada

Mentioned earlier, Canada’s sheer size and still-untapped wilderness makes it a brilliant choice for a hiking vacation, as well as other outdoor sports such as skiing. Canada is home to some of the best sights on Earth, and although its climate range is fairly predictable, it still makes for a pleasant experience.

Photo Credits; longhorndave

The Pros and Cons of Family Hiking

Saturday, December 17th, 2011

You’re out there on the trails, enjoying the feeling of an early-morning breeze and wondering why you don’t get out more often. When you look back to see the companion(s) you’ve brought with you, what do you see?

If you pictured a friend or a spouse, you may not have thought about how fun it could be to take your entire family hiking. And if you imagined your entire family – spouse, kids, and all – with you, you might have what it takes to be a great family hiker. But should you always bring your family with you on a hike? Here are some pro’s and con’s to help you consider the possibility.

Pros

• Exercise for the entire family – If you can get your kids hooked to physical activity at an early enough age, you won’t have to worry as much about their health and fitness. NOt only is exercising good for you, it’s good for the entire family, and promotes a sense of bonding that you can’t get at home watching television on two separate TV sets. Exercising is good, clean, honest fun – and it’s good for you, too.
• Teaching basic skills – the more hardcore family hikers will be able to relate certain skills to their children – survival skills and principles, the right mental attitude for tackling obstacles, and when they get older, even medical skills. Of course, in order to teach these skills, you have to know them yourself – why not making your childrens’ education a great excuse?

Cons

• Loss of solidarity – If you have a busy job that takes a lot out of you, sometimes a jaunt through the woods is exactly what the doctor ordered. As long as it’s alone. Some people simply need to get away, and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing: if you arrive back home re-energized and in a better mood, it will have been worth it. Sometimes you deserve to treat yourself to a good exercise session.
• Whining! Let’s face it: kids aren’t always angels. And when you’re trying to enjoy a camping trip, having two teenagers whine at you isn’t exactly what you envisioned. That’s why you’ll want to make sure you don’t force anyone into doing something they’re violently opposed to.

For many people, the positives of family hiking will far outweigh the negatives. For others, the negatives will outweigh the positives. Ask yourself what kind of experience seems most appealing to you.

Must-Have Survival Equipment for Hiking

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Let’s face it: some of us take rather tame hikes. We might head out to a “bunny” hill, or a place with clearly-mapped trails that never veer off too far from civilization. Some of us are amateur hikers who prefer to still be able to hear the sounds of the highway even as we reach the hilltop.

But for more serious hikers, not everything is so comfortable and predictable. Bottom line: you could get lost on a hike. Rather than worry about it, it’s better to prepare for it. Here are some must-have pieces of equipment to bring with you in case you get lost:

• Navigation: Whether you bring a map/compass or a GPS watch, you should have some sort of contingency for finding your way around. At the very least, be able to discern your direction so that you know where you came from and where you’re going.
• Fire-starters: Flint, matches, a lighter: whatever you need to get a fire going, bring it. If you ever get lost into the night hours and the temperature drops, you’re going to need a fire to stay warm. Fire also has other practical purposes, like boiling water and preparing food.
• A knife: In addition to helping you start a fire with flint, a knife has so many practical uses that any survivalist will tell you to bring a knife whenever you head out into the wild. From building shelter to hunting down food, a knife (especially a multi-purpose knife like a Swiss Army Knife) won’t seem like a luxury. It will seem like a necessity.
• Medical packs: A first-aid kit with disinfectant, tape, gauze and other necessary items will be vital, especially if you ever get knicked or gashed and need to prevent an infection without the help of civilization. Make sure to bring enough medical supplies for everyone in your party – and, to be on the safe side, bring a little extra.
• Food and water: Water is always a necessity, but the need for it increases with higher temperatures. If you get lost, it’s a much safer bet to find your water supply first, as humans can survive much longer without food than water. But bringing more than enough of both will keep you going as you gather your bearings once lost.

Keep in mind that most hikers don’t encounter an emergency situation like this – but it does happen. Rather than assume the best on the hiking trail, it’s wise to take a more cautious approach. Bring more food than you need, bring a Swiss Army Knife even if you can’t think of any uses for it. Simply by making these survival items a staple in your hiking pack and keeping them there, you’ll be prepared for getting lost every time you venture out in the woods.

Hiking at the Grand Canyon

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

The Grand Canyon, to many, is the grand-daddy of all the possible sights to see in the world, the most intriguing visual challenge to conquer. To locals in Arizona, it may more simply be a great place to hike, but the Grand Canyon continues to be one of the top-rated spots to backpack and adventure, even for beginning hikers. Here is a brief guide to hiking at one of the world’s most famous hiking spots.

1. You are responsible for your safety.

The Grand Canyon, though national park land, doesn’t exactly have lifeguards posted at every turn to make sure that hikers have a good time and stay safe. Rather, hiking is an “at your own risk” type of situation, which is what experienced hikers should be used to – but something that all hikers should prepare for.

2. Choose your hike wisely.

There’s no single “one” Grand Canyon hike, there are many to choose from, and if you’re a beginning hiker you’ll want to choose the easier ones. The views are the same whether you’re a beginning or experienced hiker, so don’t feel bad if you don’t get to explore more on your own the first time; just try to choose a hike that is appropriate to your skill level. It’s possible to challenge yourself without putting yourself out of your element, and if you’re going to be responsible for your safety, it falls on you to choose the right hike.

3. Don’t carry so much.

It’s tempting to take your whole car with you on a hike, packing up your backpack full of plenty of convenient – and heavy – items. Don’t do this, as a heavy backpack is one of the quickest ways to spoil a hike; you don’t want to be crawling to the finish line. Instead, pack as light as possible, including necessary elements like water, and spare what you can afford to spare.

All in all, you’ll find it easy to enjoy the Grand Canyon; hiking it is more a matter of understanding your limits and not trying too hard to challenge yourself. You’ll find that once you’re actually there, the magic of the Grand Canyon will take over and you’ll feel you’ve been hiking all your life.

Photo Credits: The Javelina

What to Bring and What to Wear on a Hiking Trip

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Hiking is fun but without the right equipments and preparation you can end up in trouble. It is important to know what are the several things that need to be on a hiker every time. Also, getting dressed up the proper way is important or else you can have bruises on your feet and elbows. This usually happens with new hikers as they are inexperienced. They head out without properly being prepared and end up having bad hiking experiences. This article has two sections; what to bring on a hiking trip and what to wear a hiking trip.

What to bring and wear on a hiking trip?

It is important to know what accessories you should have with you while you are hiking special if you are newbie.

The first and the most important thing is your dressing. Wear undergarments that do not absorb sweat. It irritating initially such as with polypropylene garments but overall they will prove to be good. Cotton fabrics absorb sweat which makes the garments wet. Wet clothes keep our body parts cold and moist which can develop into rashes. Although most prefer wearing short pants when it comes to hiking, it is better to wear comfortable long pants to avoid scratches and insect bites on the legs.

After your dressing the next thing you should be worried about is the tools you will be taking along. A pocket knife or multi-tool is one important tool you should have in your pocket. Scouts knives are good but a multi-tool is more versatile. Of course a first aid kit is necessary and fills it up with every important medicine and bandage you think can be needed. A compass, full water bottles, and torches should also be kept. Last but not the least; get a big tough material backpack to make sure it does not tear up on your trip.

Get as many snack meals you can. Make sure you are keeping dry food with you as wet food can get spoiled due to the heat or moisture you will be facing. Keep the food in a good thermostat box to avoid it getting spoiled from the heat. Keep energy and protein rich food because you will be consuming a lot of energy on your hiking trip so it is important to regain that lost energy. Water is another important thing which you should have. Keep plenty of water and also get some caches of powder juices. Orange juices and other energy drinks work well on hiking trips.

Photo Credits: jotor