Hiking Time Is Here

Al Hanners is a retired geologist who worked worldwide for a major U.S. oil company for nearly five decades. Al retired in Bellingham a quarter century ago. Since then he’s been a naturalist, legal campaigner, wildlife photographer, and a writer.

I am surprised that “10 rules for what to carry when on a day hike in mountains” has not already appeared in the media this year. Here are some recommendations based on years of hiking in mountains.

Mountains and seashores tend to be colder than at your home. Be prepared to “layer.” One garment should be a light windbreaker that also would shed rain. The other might be a sweater that could be worn under the windbreaker.

If you have a tough climb to make, do it before lunch if you can.

If you stop to rest or to eat lunch, prefer the leeward side of a small prominence or a large rock. Avoid narrow valleys where cold winds flow down.

As for matches or a lighter, I have never carried either. I thought that prevention was a better than a cure for the problem. On backpacking trips of several days I did carry matches except for one trip of three days when the forest was very dry and I didn’t want to risk setting the forest on fire. For those who carry matches for an emergency, I advise that most wood is wet. Try starting a fire with dead twigs still on trees or shrubs.

Carry a map. Green Trail Maps are a “must.” REI in Bellingham sells them for Mt. Baker and vicinity. I found Mt. Shuksan, Washington, sheet generally is the most useful map, especially for Twin Lakes.

I carry a compass but seldom have used it. Remember that the compass points to the magnetic north pole not the geographic North Pole. The difference between the geographic North Pole and the magnetic north pole is called the magnetic declination. I found that the easiest way to find the local magnetic declinations is to point the compass in the direction of a street that runs north-south. The compass needle reverts to the magnetic north pole and tells you where true north is. Find true north when you are using the compass in the field. Also remember that the Guide Meridian points north-south. When the U.S. Government surveyed the undeveloped western United States it made astronomical observations to determine geographic true north and called it Guide Meridian. That’s where the Guide Meridian Street got its name.

Often when the sun is shining, using the sun as a compass has sufficient accuracy for hiking and is more convenient than stopping to take a compass bearing. Point the little hand of your watch at the sun and hour 12 will point due south provided your watch is set on standard time. If your watch is set on daylight savings time, as it probably is in summer, point at the sun the time at which the little hand would have been on standard time.

With regard to what food to carry, these recommendations are based on years of hiking. Carry at least 25 percent more food and drink than you think you will need during the day. Candy creates a blood sugar high with a feeling of a lot of energy followed by a feeling of tiredness.

I much prefer food high in protein and cereal grains, especially oats, with complex digestible fiber that break down slowly and provide a steady flow of energy. If you carry a candy bar, wait until you are within a half hour before the end of your hike to eat it. Have a bit of food and drink waiting for you at your car. Some think that a person who has a steady flow of energy from proper food more enjoys the scenery, wildlife and plants than a person who has to keep snacking on trail mix to keep his energy up.

The leader of several people on a field trip has the responsibility for the safe return of all people in the party. Courtesy requires that any person in that group who wishes to drop back for any reason or leave the hike needs to tell the leader. I have unpleasant memories of one or more party members who either said nothing when they disappeared or didn’t do what they had said they were going to do and ruined the trip for the rest of the people who felt obligated to look for them to make certain they were safe.

Some of the ways people get lost are leaving the trail to take a short cut, or leaving the trail to relieve themselves in the bushes off the trail and forgetting which way to go back to the trail. The hiker should remember where the sun was and/or whether he or she went up-slope or down-slope when leaving the trail. A global positioning device plus a satellite cell phone could save a life but most people don’t have them. Ordinary cell phones usually are unable to call out.

Is it dangerous to hike alone? That depends on whether he will complete the trip before dark, and has clearly left behind a record with someone else stating where he would go so, as I used to say, someone could go to collect the body. I have hiked alone many times and never had any problems. The only time I fell was when I was with others and was trying to catch up.

It is dangerous for women to hike alone, although some do it. Every few years we hear about one or more women being killed. Strangely, it may be dangerous for a woman to hike with her husband. I have heard of men who claimed that their wives disappeared. Other than that, I have never heard of a woman hiking with a man where either one was attacked or killed. §