Planning Your Hike!
For a good percentage of us, planning a hike simply means jumping into the car, heading to a trail, and off we go on our merry way! But, one of the best things that you could do to ensure that you have a great hiking experience, is to plan each hike in advance.
Because a little planning could go a long way, it could make the difference between an enjoyable day and one where you are walking back in the rain without any gear to keep you dry! So, planning your hike in advance will lessen the chance of something happening. Now, for all of you who are new to hiking and thinking where do I begin.
For me, it begins by deciding on how long of a hike I am going to take; one that lasts a few hours, all day, or multiple days.
Next, I’ll learn a little about the terrain that I will be hiking, is it semi-level ground like a desert or a meadow, is it hilly or will I be hiking with mountain goats. Then, you need to ask what wildlife lives in the area; snakes, large cats or bears, etc. And a day or two before you go hiking see what the weather is going to be like.
Now comes the time to go through your backpacking checklist, begin by laying out the things that you are going to need. After you get everything together, make sure that you check to see that all of your equipment is in good working condition.
When you pack all of the items on your checklist, remember to place the things that you will be using the most in the outer pockets or on top, so that they are easily accessible.
Now I could go on but you get the jest.
So have fun and hike safe!
This is a nice video that shows you how to pack your bag for a day hike. (Note: that it doesn’t show everything that you should take like; a compass, GPS or cellphone, etc. but it gives you the idea)
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