5 Backpacking “Tricks” to Use

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Backpacking and hiking can be difficult – not only on your body and your feet, but also on your mind when you’re sick and tired of moving. Thankfully, being in the outdoors doesn’t have to always be so uncomfortable – or so tricky. Here are five backpacking “tricks” you can use to enhance and improve your experience.

1. Bring rain gear.

Rain gear is simple and lightweight – all you need is something water-resistant just in case it rains. For many people, this might be packing a poncho, but anything that is water-resistant and lightweight should work well. You don’t want to get caught in the rain and have all of your stuff soak through – remember to cover your backpack or fanny pack as well. Keep a close eye on the weather forecasts to help you prepare for rain, but always be ready in case the weather unexpectedly goes from sunny to rainy quickly.

2. Bring Gold Bond Medicated Powder.

This can do wonders for the feet and will help you lift your spirits after a tough time out on the trail. If you’ve been hiking or backpacking a while, you’ll know the need to treat your feet well – they’ll be doing much of the work on your journey. The better you treat them, the better you’ll feel overall.

3. Don’t over-pack when you put food in your bag.

Many people want to cover themselves for emergencies, but they also add weight when they do this. A rule of thumb is to keep your backpack under 40 pounds. If you’ve been a backpacker for quite a while and notice how you always bring home extra food, it might be wiser to take other emergency supplies like first aid or water instead.

4. Go on trial backpacking trips to make adjustments.

You may think it’s great to bring a miniature coffee grinder with you on a backpacking trip, but you also might find that the device simply doesn’t work as well when you’re using it in the wild. These are the sort of things that only experience can teach you, so build that experience by going on short hikes and seeing how you fare. Cut out what you don’t need and emphasize what works out there. Keep track of what you’ll need to improve before you head out the next time.

5. Bring a compass.

You may think your sense of direction is keen, but if you get a good compass and know how to use it, you’ll want to make sure that you’re actually being accurate. A compass will tell you where you can head; bring a map along with you as well so that you know which directions will take you where.

Photo Credits: pfly

Sprucing Up Your Night Hike

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

For the casual hiker, even the title of this article alone might have raised a few flags. “A night hike? How on Earth would you do something like that?” If you’ve been one of those hikers who looks to make their way back to a car before the sun totally sets, you’re missing out on half of the day. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few ways to spruce up a night hike – and make it a lot less scary.

-Bring someone with you.

Night hiking can be a bit creepy – after all, you’re out there in the wilderness with nothing but silver moonlight and the sound of a million bugs you can’t even see. But if you bring someone with you – such as a family member or a close friend – the entire dynamic changes completely. Instead of looking to avoid the environment, you’ll start asking yourself how you can make it more interesting.

-Bring entertainment.

A way to get your mind off of the, for lack of a better term, “nightness” is simply to bring something that can entertain you along the journey. Yes, you’re traveling, and yes, there’s no light out, so you’ll have to get a little creative. A glow-in-the-dark frisbee, for example, will give you something to do with every step that you take. If you’re out in the night alone, you can use this frisbee as a way to inspire yourself forward: throw your frisbee to one spot on the trail, and work towards getting to that spot. Before you know it, you’ll be home free.

-GPS.

While GPS isn’t exactly fun (unless you’re a true navigation nerd like myself), it will brighten your spirits up to know exactly where you are at any given time. It takes away the worry typically associated with navigating by night, helping to put your mind at ease even when it’s tough to find visual landmarks to navigate yourself back home. A GPS watch can be worn around the wrist, and an LCD display will make it easy to read. You’ll also be able to stay ahead of the weather with an advanced GPS watch, keeping an eye on the barometer to see if rain is going to fall soon. That’s something that you typically can’t get with the naked eye at night.

-Practice.

Night hiking can be a bit creepy the first couple of times you try it, but with experience, it becomes the norm. If you’ve ever done any type of exercise at night, you know what kind of eerie focus the lack of stimulation can give you. It’s simply not the same as the day. But if you’re consistent, you’ll eventually be as comfortable hiking at night – even by yourself – as you are in the daylight.

Photo Credits: grabadonut

Always Choose the Best Hiking Trails

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

If you have made up your mind that you want to enjoy some hiking then you do have a few things to do first such as find a park that you can enjoy your hiking trip in and check out what types of trails that they have. Do this no matter how long you plan to stay. There are many different types of trails and some might be of interest to you while others may not. Pick one that is right for you which ensures that you will have a much better time. Do this in advance since then you are more likely to enjoy your hiking journey.

It might seem like finding a simple old place to hike is no big deal but it really is and while it might take a bit of effort to do so, it will be worth it. The question is how you intend to do your research. Likely the easiest route is going to be if other people you know go hiking and they can recommend a place. Ask around for suggestions, it won’t take up much of your time and it’s pretty easy to do. Ask family members, friends, and even co workers if they hike and where they like to go. You might strike gold and find a really good spot. You will still want to make sure that everything is nice and kept up well, not too pricey, and safe. These are all very important to anyone that is headed on vacation but even more so for the hiker that will rely on these things so much more.

If that doesn’t work out for you then try making a few phone calls to a few local hiking parks and ask them some questions. They should be able to provide you with all of your answers and can likely even send you some literature in the mail or give you the link to their website. Often these parks aren’t too far from home and if that’s the case just drop in and see for yourself, and when investigating places farther from home do an Internet search. So you don’t miss anything good, make sure that your Internet search includes all keyword phrases. Type into the search key, “best places to hike in”, hiking trails, hiking parks, hiking in your town. Doing so will be very beneficial and will add many new places to look at. Narrowing the area down will also result in a better outcome. Internet searches result in countless Web sites catering to hiking trails and hiking parks.

Photo Credits: DavidK-Oregon