First and last solo!

[HikerBob]

Sli - I guess you already know a towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hiker can have

Coldfeet - I've done quite a few solo hikes, and will continue to do them. Mostly because I don't like to hold other people back. I'm slow anyway but take a zillion photographs and find I take fewer with a group. It's amazing just how far ahead people get when I stop to photograph a puddle for the fourth time

I don't overnight, just dayhike, but there are still times I get a little jittery in the woods. Often at the end of a long day tired eyes will make every stump and shadow look like a bear and every snap of a twig or rustle of brush will make me jump.

My biggest frights however always seem to be when I'm taking a break, or a photograph, and other hikers arrive without me seeing or hearing them. I remember one time stopping at the end of a bridge to take a picture and I guess the rushing water (and my not so great hearing) masked the approaching footsteps. The "Hi there!" from right behind me had me almost jump in the stream. I turned to find a line of people on the bridge!

I like soloing because of the independance. I can go at my own pace and lounge just about as much as I want to.

However, soloing does mean you are totally dependant on your own resources and you should be prepared for anything. I always travel prepared to spend, and survive, a night in the woods. It might not be the most comfortable night, but I intend to get through it. I always leave my trip plans with someone who will get a call when I finish. They also know not to panic just because I'm a few hours late.

Sometimes soloing is more a series of brief encounters, and that is great. Other times it really is a solitary pursuit and that can be very rewarding.

I'm sure you'll give it another shot in time and will learn to love it.

Bob

ps - You are from the city, I'm a country boy - I bet you nonchalantly wander around neighbourhoods that would have me freaking out!

 

[SherpaKroto]

For me, everytime I try to head out on a solo snowshoe in Harold Parker State Forest near my house, I freak out after about a half mile and turn around. Might have something to do with the coyotes...

I have an irrational fear of the dark. It finally took me to do an overnight solo to Stratton Pond a few years ago to cure me (or at least make it help). I managed to stay calm, and have since done other overnights.

Start solo hikes as day hikes, going to well traveled routes. That way you'll never be completely alone. If you are like me, eventually you may consciously plan hikes where the probably of seeing anoyone else is quite slim. I like solos, but don't do many because I dislike solo drives.

coldfeet: remember - you once thought that winter hiking would not be for you.

 

[Rick]

Coldfeet,
This should cure you.......
When you get home tonight, walk into your family room, Open a window, unplug the TV, pick it up and throw that bad boy right out (check to see if anyone is below you first). I think the constant threatening news and horror movies cause us constant worries where there really should be few.

Seriously, FWIW, I grew up the only boy in a family of 5 children waaaay waaay out in the country, so from the get-go I did many things on my own, which spilled over to hiking.

I enjoy hiking solo as much as possible. I'll admit to being spooked once though on the AT in PA. A weekend of of hiking and Saturday afternon I got a weird sense I was being watched. I took a small break and looked around - there was nothing but dense woods. I kept on hiking and after a couple of hours I took another break and still had this strange pit of my stomach feeling.
That night I decided not to camp at shelter - it was unoccupied, but bypass it for another mile and head into the woods for stealth camping.

Could have all been in my mind, but I usually try to trust my gut instinct when possible.

I do kinda like the fact that locals are keeping an eye on closeby trailheads. Just think - If you were a vandal, he would have nailed you!!!

 

[Dalraida]

Things that go bump in the night

My most memorable solo was a night hike from Crawford's to Lakes Hut and back one foggy August night. I wore a pair of bear bells for company, and tried to keep my headlamp off as much as possible to retain my night vision. It was supposed to be a moonlit night, but a fog blew in around 8 and remained breezy and foggy all night. I did the hike to see just how much of the childhood fear of the dark remained. There were remnents, and by the time I got to the intersection of the Crawford Path and the Monroe Loop I was pretty uneasy. It was now eleven PM and I stopped there to gather up courage to turn left and go up the spooky Loop. I stood there for a second, bear bells tinkling in the breeze, when from behind me came a loud fluttering whap, whap, whap. Startled, I turned and just off the trail was a dome tent. The light from my headlamp hit it and from within came a tremulous voice "is somebody there"? They must have been freaking at the bells in the pitch black night.

Being of sound mind and still retaining my urine, I said softly, "yes, it's me the ranger. Do you realize that you are camped in a restricted area?" The voice then said that they were sorry, but darkness came upon them and the decided to camp.

Well anyway, the sound of a human voice rebuilt my reserves of courage and continued over Monroe and down to the hut where I scrounged a cup of coffee and headed back to Naufords Crotch and my car.

PS The tent was gone when I came through again.

PPS The Monroe Loop trail passes about 20 feet from one of Emily Klug's stone shelters. I wonder if Emily's Ghost was in residence that night?

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Personally, I too consider the trailhead to be the least safe. Then the area within a mile or so of the trailhead next least safe. Then the lean-tos and formal tenting spots next least safe. I almost always tent camp aways from any built up areas (formal tent sites and lean-tos). The only thing I have to contend with then are the furry animal types when camping.

Keith

 

[Mad Townie]

Coldfeet, there's very little in the New England woods that will hurt a solo hiker (except roots, rocks, low branches, etc.). It's much scarier to hike solo on a street in Queens! In other words, we're afraid of the unfamiliar. I think the trailhead is more like Queens than like the woods. It's a matter of access by people whose intent is the doing of harm. They won't take the trouble to walk up the trail.

One exception: a flushing grouse 6 feet away still makes me jump out of my skin, even though I've heard them hundreds of times. Not jump as in scared, but jump as in startled.

Short story: many years ago I was hitchhiking from Worcester to Boston in the evening, after the busses stopped running. Got picked up by a couple bikers in a beat up car. I was scared to death, but they couldn't have been nicer to me. Bought me coffee (I said I had no $$), and dropped me off with exact instructions on how to get to the subway to return to Harvard Square. Of course, I wasn't wearing some rival gang's colors, either.

My general rule of thumb is be wary but don't assume the worst. It's worked pretty well for me. (BTW, my avatar was taken on a solo last winter.)

 

[sapblatt]

solo

I often hike alone out of necessity (or I do not hike)...I promised my wife I would try to do fewer solos this summer. I have found that I enjoy soloing quite a bit, mainly because I can dictate pace, route and particularly departure time (I like to leave the Boston area at about 4am and hit the trail well before 7am in the summer.)

I only get bothered on occasional ledges and ladders...the Hi (Die ON) Cannon Trail was a little troublesome as I watched a water bottle of mine careen a few hundered feet...my biggest fear (and I know it is crazy)...but when I am alone out there I get real concerned about bears...I think I constantly clank my trekking poles together to let them know I am coming. I am sure a ticked off bear would really care about this and be scared!! Coming back from Carter Notch last October I thought I was constantly hearing things in the woods...I made real good time!


I have yet to camp in the backcountry, either alone or with anyone...would like to try it sometime. Need to get over the Blair Witch Project first.

Congrats on giving it a go.

 

[JackH]

solo

I solo hike quite often and have for years. I think I like it because it affords me the time to photograph or bird watch or just plain sit and enjoy when I want to. When I hike with a group I always worry about the pace or stopping times or the planned itinerary. There have been times when it was scary though but mostly due to animals of the two legged kind. (Like that drunk cowboy with the Bowie knife at Stratton pond!

On the plus side, soloing in winter, is that much more fun as you have another level of planning to do for safety's sake. You have consider being alone and it effects your decision making tremendously. That brook that you might have jumped over to show off you now tip-toe accross so you don't break a leg!

 

[KayakDan]

I'll take sleeping backcountry over sleeping at a trailhead anytime. There's nothing out there that will hurt you in winter,except yourself(or a badly placed widowmaker on a windy night )
Never had a really bad experience,but my wife and I were creeped out by this strange guy that kept reappearing. He came off the Ethan Pond trailhead,and started playing 20 questions with us-where are we hiking-where are we camping. We drive to Fourth Iron to check it out-he appears again-and hikes in to the sites and just wanders. I come back out and check out his truck-looks like bp'ing gear-guess he's just strange. We tell him we are camping here-he says," think I'll camp up on Eisenhower tonite". But it's already almost 5 at nite in January! He then drives off in the wrong direction-and we leave shortly after.
We pull out of Dry River the next morning-guess who's parked at the entrance!
We headed south and then turned around and went north-and he passes us on the road!
Nothing came of it,but it sure was spooky!
The really dangerous critters are on two legs!

 

[DougPaul]

I started soloing in winter (already had 20yrs experience) primarily because I lost too many weekends with good snow conditions due to my usual partners being unavailable.

In some ways winter may be safer than summer. The large (and many small) animals are less active and there are fewer trouble makers any distance in from the trailheads.

Doug

 

[spider solo]

Tv

Coldfeet
I completely agree with RICK...Take the friggin TV and toss it out the window!
When I first started doing my solo overnights I couldn't believe all the crap and scarry movies that came through my head to weird me out.
It was a large and very real realization to me that we are just filling our heads with constant exposure to this stuff.
Now years later with the TV long gone when I close my eyes at night I find peace and quite in the woods !
I think you took a big 1st step towards this same realization....sure we as a species have long been attracted to this stuff from the dawn of time but the way we bathe ourself in it's constant perpetuality....is not healthy for our heads.
I love it when I read of a study that perhaps TV is increasing violence in our society....I mean like.......duh. I was in fact "afraid of my own shadow" when I started out . Spending time solo can be one of the best medicines there is to be found.
I believe there is an old quote to the effect >>."there is nothing to fear but fear itself...."
Sli was smart when she lied about being alone...it was the perfect time to trust her own judgement...perhaps a positive thing she learned from time spent alone.

 

[Umsaskis]

I understand your wariness at the trailhead - if I'm sleeping alone at a trailhead I usually park the car facing toward the road, keep the keys in the ignition, and sleep with my feet on the driver's side so I can pop up right into driving position if need be. If someone comes by, I pull the sleeping bag over my head so they think I'm just a pile of laundry! Perhaps that's a little silly, but I do tend to be cautious when I'm alone. Although, I've gotten a little lazier about that - last summer I did a long day hike that didn't end until 11:30 at night, and I didn't care which way the car was facing when I went to sleep (especially since I was getting up at 5:30 the next day to do Table, Peekamoose, Lone, Rocky, Balsam Cap, Friday and Slide).

I did my first solo overnight bushwhack last summer near the Siamese Ponds in the Adirondacks, and I kept wondering if someone was going to come near my tent in the middle of the night, which of course was absurd because I was a mile from the trail. The second night I slept better - just some owls and a late olive-sided flycatcher to keep me company. Once you get used to the idea that people aren't on the lookout for you away out there, it's easier to sleep.

 

[TJH]

You can never be too safe.

While soloing the Kinsmans this past summer, I came around a bend and was surprised by four college aged females heading down Fishing Jimmy. They were all in great shape. Tanned and Toned, wearing sports bras and short hiking shorts. They kept trying to be friendly with me, asking me questions and so forth. I quickly said that my buddies were shortly behind me and moved on. I had never been so scared in my life

 

[Rick]

....I came around a bend and was surprised by four college aged females heading down Fishing Jimmy. They were all in great shape. Tanned and Toned, wearing sports bras and short hiking shorts. ....I had never been so scared in my life

Looks like one of 'em scared you right into marriage by the looks of that Avatar!!!!

 

[dr_wu002]

You can never be too safe.

While soloing the Kinsmans this past summer, I came around a bend and was surprised by four college aged females heading down Fishing Jimmy. They were all in great shape. Tanned and Toned, wearing sports bras and short hiking shorts. They kept trying to be friendly with me, asking me questions and so forth. I quickly said that my buddies were shortly behind me and moved on. I had never been so scared in my life

Whew! You're lucky they didn't form Voltron on you!



Dr. Wu

 

[Orphic Seth]

I learned
1. Double check all gear.
2. Don't solo as a beginner (I only have maybe 15 hikes in my lifetime)
3. That LSD from the 70's is still in my blood, heard weird sounds.
4. Try to trust more humans.
5. I like company
6. don't rush to do a "list'
7. I hiked it in 4 1/2 hours (-20 min for lost crampon)
8. Solo is not for me (new name?)
9. Keep window open more so not to frost it
10. should have layered off one more piece

What else can i say? To many "creature feature- chiller theatre" movies.

LMAOROTF What a great list!!!

I try to do at least one solo trip a year. It's rejuvenating, and while I have a peak or some other destination in mind, I'm not speeding along to make the goal, it's more of a quiet reflective journey type thing. But man, do I have some crazy solo stories...

 

[Neil]

Great thread! Long ago and far away in the Canadian Rockies I hiked solo if I couldn't find a partner. Once , just before leaving on an overnighter my room-mate (at the hotel I worked at) shared his special blend of herbs with me. Later on, while I was bushwhacking my way towards a pass and the trail, I heard a thundering sound upslope. Thinking I had spooked a deer I looked up and lo and behold there was a grizzly charging me. Time stood still as my options raced through my head: run and be killed, climb a flimsy lodgepole pine and be killed, stand there waving my arms overhead. I opted for standing my ground and at the last possible second threw myself on the ground face down out of the charging grizzly's path. Laying there waiting was a bad moment. That bear did a u-turn and scrambled uphill past me and dissapeared from whence it came.

 

[percious]

Wow, that's a great story Neil. The only bear encounter I had involved a cub, and running away quickly. I wasn't solo though...

Personally, I like Soloing for the tranquility, and the QUIET. Our daily lives are full of chatter and noises, its hard to appreciate our surroundings. When I get into the woods alone, I can stop and listen to a brook babble, or a bird sing to me. This is what I like the most.

The other benefit is the ability to make your own schedule. I usually wake at the butt-crack of dawn and get going, but this doesnt work for my hiking partners. So, I get to see lots of sunrises and stuff when I am soloing.

-percious

 

[funkyfreddy]

Personally, I like Soloing for the tranquility, and the QUIET. Our daily lives are full of chatter and noises, its hard to appreciate our surroundings. When I get into the woods alone, I can stop and listen to a brook babble, or a bird sing to me. This is what I like the most. -percious

Ditto! I like the quiet as well and my best wildlife sightings have been when I'm soloing. I also like the feeling of self reliance and transcending the stupid fears that our crazy culture breeds/sows into us.

Walking by oneself in the wilderness is a great way to let go of personal baggage, at least temporarily!

 

[MattC]

This has turned into quite an interesting thread. Coldfeet (if you're still there), you never know what you may or may not do in the future. I didn't become a frequent hiker until the end of last summer. My first solo was the Wittenberg-Cornell-Slide loop as a dayhike in August. I was car-camping at Woodland Valley. That was a life-changer for me-my 1st solo of any length, my first multi-peak hike, and my first hike of more than 10 miles. I also found out about this site that day from Mark Schafer, who I met on Slide. By mid-November I had climbed 34 of the 35, about 25 of them solo, including several bushwhacks. I didn't have much choice since until I started hiking w/ the 3500 Club and VFTTers, I just didn't know that many hikers!

Was hiking solo this much early on stupid, compulsive, impatient behavior? Probably, but it was also incredibly fun, and I learned a lot. I did plan carefully, took emergency gear, left my itinerary w/ friends, etc. Perhaps, most importantly, every one of those solos took place when nightime temps were still above freezing. As many have suggested, take it a step at a time until you build confidence. I soloed on-trail for a while before I did a solo bushwhack. During winter, there's some things I've done solo (Windham High Peak for example), some I wouldn't even consider. Anyway the point of all this rambling is this-one year ago, I had no idea I'd ever become so involved in hiking. You never know what could happen.

Matt