Reading a hiking trail for your skill level

The hubs and I just returned from our annual vacation aka hike-a-thon. This time, we went out on a limb to Switzerland to visit the Bernese Oberland. It was GORGEOUS!!!

Ricky on the Eiger Trail

As an event coordinator, it was a scary leap of faith to leave the planning to a tour company to book our hotels and plan our hikes. We were provided a rough topographic map and detailed description of our hike, but we quickly found out this was not enough to prepare us. Hence today's post is about how to read a hiking trail for YOU.

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We live in Georgia where what we call mountains are considered small hills to people who live in the Rockies. For example, Arabia Mountain is typically considered a moderate trail.
Distance one way: 1.29 miles
Approx. elevation gain:150 ft

The slightly longer Panther Creek Falls trail is classified as a difficult trail.
Distance one way: 4.71 miles
Approx. elevation gain: 600 ft

Compare these two hikes to a difficult trail out west like Mono Pass in Yosemite:
Distance one way: 3.7 miles
Approx. elevation gain: 900 feet

The average elevation gain of Panther Creek is 127ft per mile while Mono Pass clocks in at 243ft per mile. Both rated as 'difficult', but offering very different experiences.

Once hikes hit the level of difficult to strenuous, it's a crap shoot. Here's a great example two hikes rated as strenuous with very different feels:

	VS
Vernal Falls in Yosemite		Iceberg Lake in Glacier
Top of Vernal distance RT: 2.4 miles Elevation gain: 1000 ft		Iceberg Lake distance RT: 9.7 miles Elevation gain: 1275 feet

The average elevation gain for to Vernal Falls is 833ft per mile, a drastically different hike than the average elevation gain of 262ft per mile for Iceberg Lake.  What am I getting at here? My point is that you need to look beyond a hike's rating to determine if it's right for you.

Know Your Distance vs Elevation
I lead with those numbers so you understand my thoughts when I say this: hike ratings are meaningless. I don't consider walking 9 miles flat a strenuous hike. I can do distance all day. When you start to sprinkle in some elevation, you have my attention. But that's me! I've gotten moderate hike suggestions from people who causally mention a 2,000ft climb as a small challenge because that is their normal.

The hardest and most critical lesson in hiking is to learn your distance vs elevation max. No one can tell you but yourself. That baseline is critical for knowing what kind of hike you're about to get into.

Find the Elevation Profile

The most important piece of hiking information to me is now the elevation profile that illustrates how steep that climb is and how long it lasts. Topographic maps are another great option, if you have a good one and are skilled at reading it (I'm meh). See for yourself in these two examples from Jagat Jora Jaal.

Topographic map of Half Dome hike

Elevation profile of Half Dome hike

For our last vacation, we had the distance and elevation gain listed on all of our hikes if we didn't take any shortcuts, an okay topographic map, and the amount of time estimated for the hike. It's a start, but not the whole picture. Here's what I mean.  So one day we have great hike with a few small climbs spread out and the next day we're hiking straight up the side of a mountain face when I could have taken the train that's only 20 feet away. Be better than me; demand an elevation profile. 

Know Your Audience

If you can't find any information on a hike before tackling it (a rare event in the internet age), take a moment to reflect on who is providing you the information. Us Georgia folks are not use to mountains. Our trail ratings reflect that with almost any elevation gain on a trail earning it at least a moderate rating. I saw children running up mountains in Switzerland that I struggled to crawl up. Locals compare to what they know so its your job to scale a local's perspective to your experience. 

Trail Hydration - An expanding market

Living in Georgia, I know the importance of hydration. Double that on the trail. Triple that when you're backpacking. When I'm hiking, I love water. But as soon as I make camp, I'm desperate for a different beverage. Lucky for me, the market in instant drinks has exploded to my nearby Kroger.

Some like it HOT

I remember my fascination with the first instant coffee packs I saw years ago. We took them on our next backpacking trip and I never looked back. Now the market has expanded to have almost every variety of coffee-drink in small instant form.

Need to have cream and sugar in your coffee? Instead of stealing packets of sugar from your office, I like to bring a salt and pepper shake. This is my personal favorite from container store:

Of course, if you're not a fan of coffee, there are still plenty of options. I've been known to pack a hot chocolate packet and my husband enjoys tea. 

Ice Ice Baby

Prefer chiller beverages? I saw instant iced coffee the other day!

The market has also grown on flavoring your water. From Mio to Crystal Light (my personal favorite), you have plenty of options. Sport stores like REI and Dicks carry additional options in the form of fizzy tablets. Don't know which one to get? REI did an article about it.

Which drinks do you prefer?

Planning a Hiking Vacation: Family Edition

Last year's vacation was a first for us - we went on a hiking vacation with my family. Granted we're an older bunch with the youngest at 24 and we've vacationed with family before, but not like this. We never had to test our nerves together after miles of heat, blisters, and uphill and I was nervous. But I'm a planner at heart and I issued instructions as I tend to do with most things to help make it a better trip.

1) I was a drill sergeant about training
I brought up hiking training in every conversation. I would ask them how many miles they are walking each day, how many or how tall were the hills, and how winded they felt afterwards. I would make comparisons to landmarks they know ("Hiking up Highline trail will be like going up Kennesaw Mountain 3 times in a row.") so they could hopefully train more.  I started the training conversation before we even booked the flights. I didn't want anyone unprepared.

Trail signs are better with funny faces.

2) I assigned gear lists
I'm a list keeper. When we booked this trip, I sent them my copy of lists from previous hiking trips to show them the gear they would need. Good news is they didn't have to buy a lot more, but I knew before I sent the the lists what they were missing. I made sure everyone had their own pack and water. We addressed clothing to bring like jackets, convertible pants, HATS! For the love of god always hike with a hat! There was even a first-aid briefing so at least each pair of hikers had basic items for blister care.

We also discovered we are a family who loves puzzles.

3) I listened to their needs
After the first hike, I learned a lot. I hurried us on a 5 mile hike in mid-afternoon in the crowds and heat. We did not perform well. My husband's pace was too fast for the group, my mom liked to break at different points than me, and my sister wanted lots of photos. At the end of the hike we were exhausted in more than one way and it was just day one. I was worried the entire vacation was going to already be a bust.

So at dinner time, we talked it over. I asked how they felt on the hike and what they wanted to change. When we hiked as a family again on Day 3, we made lots of changes. I became line leader as my pace was the right balance. I made sure to stop at the bottom and top of hills, instead of just the top like I was use to.  We communicated more about stopping for photos or changing pace. It was a much better hike!


Hiking with family presents a new set of challenges, but it was rewarding to share the memories together after the trip. Don't get a few bumps prevent you from the same!

Creating a vacation hiking schedule

It's no secret that we like to plan vacations around hiking. My idea of relaxation is eating lunch on top of a mountain.  My planning approach for a vacation hike is different from my local day hike approach. I'm less familiar with the terrain and weather patterns, I'm more likely to do hikes in less than ideal conditions, and I'm not taking the next day off to recover with video games. So what am I looking for in my hiking vacation planning? This.

1) Write down twice as many hikes as you want to do.
Always list more hikes than you think you can do in a day. One guidebook's strenuous is another book's moderate. I never want to it to be mid-day and I'm still ready to hike but have no clue where to go. Each day of my vacation schedule lists one to two 'must-do' trails and then one to two optional trails depending on the day's condition and my condition.

Goats don't close trails thank god!

This is also helpful if one of your trails is closed due to weather or animal activity.


2) Plan hiking days in pairs
For every day of strenuous hiking, match it with a day of easy hiking. I recognize that I struggle to hike 18 miles with 4,000 ft elevation two days in a row. So if day one is hiking Half Dome, day two is going to the Tuolumne Meadows (true story). This gives me time to recover and take on another mountain on day three.

Up in the clouds day 1...

...down in the meadows day 2. Our legs thanked us.

3) Don't plan a day
My favorite vacation day is catch-up day. This day is left blank at the end of the trip for us to pick up any trail we choose. Sometimes it's a trail suggestion from a ranger or a fellow hiker on the trail. If we got rained out on an earlier day, then we use catch-up day to get in that hike. Mother nature never cooperates 100% of the time. As a result, I never plan 100% of the time so we can still get it all in. Remember all those extra trails you wrote down in step 1? Here's your chance to visit some of the favorites that got left behind.

Eagle View trail may not be popular,but it sure is beautiful. 

Gearing up for abroad - New Year, New Resolutions

At the start of last year, I swore I was going to blog again. Blog more! Blog often! But last year's miss is this year's opportunity. So with a new year, I'm trying to kick my butt into gear again. This time, I'll start with a hiking post about the challenges of going abroad.

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We love to make our vacations all about hiking. Spending seven days in a national park is easy planning. My car is my base camp, I only wear hiking clothes all trip, and I have access to laundry. For our trip to Japan, we wanted to make it all about food and only hike a few days. In lieu of suitcases, we used our multi-day packs. Translation: space was a rationed commodity.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized two facts:

• I did not want to carry Fuji hiking gear for more than the day I needed it
• I could not be the only person who wants to hike Fuji and doesn't have gear

The solution? Rent it! When I started looking at this route, I found there were online sites devoted to rental gear just for hiking Fuji. We could choose what we needed and have it sent to our hotel. I got us jackets (two layers), hiking boots, gloves, gators, hiking poles, and rain pants. You could have rented even more, if needed. We used our own base layers, socks,and headlights for the trip. 

Ricky sporting his rental jacket and gloves. So warm!

Our backpacks thanked us for the saved weight and space.  We were thankful to have gear made for the mountain. At home in Georgia, we have gear for rain and gear for cold but not gear for rain AND cold. From 6th to 8th station, the rain went from a sprinkle to a downpour. Visibility dropped drastically along with the temperature. The gear we rented was airtight. Not a drop got in and I never felt uncomfortably cold. 

We had two jackets - a fleece for warmth and an outer layer for rain.

Returning was just as easy. We threw everything in a pre-paid bag and dropped it off at a post office. Nothing to wash. No dirt in our bags. It was gone as magically as it had appeared.

After renting gators, I had to buy some when I got home!

The only difficult part was sizing. Americans tend to be larger than Japanese so we went with 'size O' on everything. Some items were on the tight side (pants), but it was better than nothing at all. 

So if your trip has you visiting a foreign country and hiking is only a part of your agenda, I highly encourage you looking at rental gear. The money spent was well worth the space saved!

Backwoods Spaghetti

As we gear up for our summer trip, I've been practicing trail cooking at home. That way, we can try out the recipes before we're miles away from a kitchen. I try to do a full practice with the stove we have to make sure the recipe will work with our limited gear. Today I made spaghetti!

I LOVED this meal! It was easy and delicious! For the noodles, I broke them in half to fit in a snack ziplock. For the sauce, I went with a tomato paste base. 

Tomato Sauce:

- 2 tablespoon of tomato paste

Buy a can and divide the paste into an ice tray.  Freeze it and have paste for a long time. I would then use one cube for this recipe

- 1 teaspoon garlic powder

- 1 teaspoon dried basil

- 1 teaspoon dried oregano

- 1 vegetable bouillon cube

- pinch of red pepper flakes

As with any recipe, play with your seasoning and seasoning amounts to fit your taste. I wanted a simple recipe so I did all "1" measurements. 

Our cooking tools are really simple when we're on the trail. From left to right we have our stove with snowpeak pot, an xmug to eat it in, noodles in the ziploc bag, sauce in the tupperware, and the lid/sauce pan.  I grabbed all of the tools and ingredients and proceed to my front porch to cook. I like to worry the neighbors. 

Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil. Then drop in your noodles, lower your pot to a simmer (if you can, otherwise just take the pot off the flame for a bit), and throw a lid on it. Remember, noodles like a lot of water to move around in.

My cat was suspicious of the gas stove sounds...

Be sure to stir and check on your noodles on occasion. My lid kept coming off so I had to leave uncovered towards the end.

Drain what you can without losing the noodles and keep 1 cup of extra pasta water in the your mug. That way, you can add in water as you need to your sauce. Drop in the whole set of sauce seasonings and stir. Add water as needed to reach your desired consistency.

Enjoy!

First Aid Kits: Day Hiking Version

You never think you need a first aid kit, until you REALLY need it. We leave it out because we think we can't get hurt or we don't have the room for it. I love a good kit list, but you've got to take the time to custom it to your situation. This week, I'll cover my day hiking version and I'll tackle my anime convention version next week.

Day Hiking First-Aid Custom Kit

When you shop first-aid at a gear/sports/outdoor store like REI, you'll find a lot of things you may not need. You do not need this kit for a 4 hour hike, but there is a lot of practicality in something smaller. We can all imagine a situation where you could use the gear, but you need to balance your likely hood of use with your space and weight limits.

That said, I do keep a full first-aid kit in my car with all of mediciations. We don't plan to be out for more than a half-day so having the gear in the car but not in my bag is nice compromise in case an emergency did occur.

So here are my important items that live with me on the trail, starting from the top left:

- Large bandaid

- Duct Tap

- Safety Pins

- Can and Bottle Opener, with spoon

- Moleskin

- Sterile Pad

- Bandaids

- Travel Scissors

- Fire starter

- Paracord bracelet

- First Aid Tape (not pictured)

On a dayhike, I'm probably not going to run into much more than blisters, busted gear, or a small cut. Shows like Survivorman remind us that simple trips can go wrong, so you should always be prepared. If I was venturing on a new trail or bushwhacking, I would take more. I insist you take more! But for the city hiker who probably will always been within eyesight or earshot of another person, there's no need to go overboard. Remember, I have a full first aid kit in my car to supplement the dayhiking version. 

Day Hiking - Full First Aid Kit

If I'm going out a bit further or trying out a new trail, I'll take my full kit. The big additions are some medications, extra bandaids and extra tools. 

Longer trails or new trails warrant extra supplies in case I can't get back to the car very fast. This all came from a small first aid kit I got on one of the discount gear sites, like backcountry.com, that I added some of my own items to (safety pins, fire starter, compass). I actually reduced the number of bandaids and medication packs to help fit everything in the bag and keep the extras on hand for restocking. 

What items would you add or subtract to my dayhiking first aid kit?

Summer Hiking - Water Filtration with the MSR Sweetwater

Down in Georgia, summer is creeping up on us.  That means hot and humid days that can turn easy day-hikes into a challenge if you don't prep properly. The most important prep item is enough water.

The one piece of equipment that drastically changed how I hike was a water filtration system. Before, my husband and I would fill our camelbacks to brim and pack an extra bottle or two in our backpacks (i.e. extra weight). Multiple day hikes were not an option and even some day-hikes would have to be adjusted depending on the temperatures outside.  It was a real limiting factor.

I went with the MSR Sweetwater Purifier for the right balance of ease, weight and cost. It's not the lightest system and tablets would certainly be cheaper, but I wanted something a step above entry level that wouldn't break the bank. What sold me on it was this video of the equipment in action:


After a year of use, I still love it. As long as we know we are crossing a river (which we will seek out on summer hikes), we can carry less water in our packs. No ice needed either thanks to cold river water. I was able to score this on ebay for about $70.

We still keep extra waters in the car for our return though! What water filtration systems have worked well for you?


** Don't forget! National Trails Day is June 1, 2013. Find a trail or event near you at American Hiking Society. **

Ready for hiking season!

Welcome back Fall! And by fall, I mean the temperature is under 90s most days for the high. With the fun of summer plans and lack of hiking weather, I've fallen behind in blogging but now I hope to be back full swing.

To start, I wanted to talk about cleaning your gear. The right habit is to clean your gear after every hike.   This allows you the opportunity to evaluate your gear as well for tears or punctures.

For those who are more of a dayhiker, like myself, here's my checklist of cleaning after a hike

• Turn my daypack inside out. There are always some crumbs in there somehow
• Empty any water out of the pack. I have totally forgotten to do this and gotten things wet by accident!
• Make a list or email yourself any supplies you need to restock. Did you use a bandaid or notice you forgot your knife? I email myself (sometimes on the car ride back) with these reminders so I can get supplies during the week
• Place gear back in my gear basket. I have a basket next to the packs where we put all the gear we take with us. Before every hike, I go through the basket to make sure everything important is in our packs. This is really helpful when you are switching between packs, but if I know my next few hikes are with the same pack I may skip this step. 
• Clean my hiking boots. There's a great article here on boot repair if you want more info. In short, I use a boot brush to clean the bottom and give the shoe the once over for any damage. 

But my gear has been abandoned for the past month or two and I've forgotten any mental reminders I have made, so this past weekend I took to airing everything out. This was a great chance to freshen things up and make a checklist of any repairs or additions I want to make while summer sales are still going on. Having a carport was an advantage here - I could hand everything up and not heat up in the sun.

For better articles on maintaing your gear, check out:

Section Hiker - Backpacking Gear Maintenance

Backpacker.com - Make Your Gear Last Longer

Georgia Dayhiking - Blood Mountain

My latest hiking adventure was Blood Mountain. Plenty of people have written something about this trail (this person wrote a novel or you can just read this general overview). The original goal was to hike around 8 miles the first day and then finish the downhill the next day. Unfortunately the 10% chance of rain that day turned into a 200% chance of thunderstorms. Not to mention, this trail turned out to be much more strenuous than we thought.

My husband and I have done plenty of difficult trails, but this one got the best of us. Between the elevation and the rain, we made the decision 5.5 miles in to turn back and make camp at the creek. I do not regret the choice, especially when the next round of thunder and lighting started moving in. Yet even as the skies roared, I hesitated make the decision because I would not admit defeat. What won me over was my gut.

It's been said before and I'll chime in to the chorus: the best thing you can do is follow your gut. If something does not feel right or safe, in hiking or in life in general, stop and listen to your instincts. You've gotten this far, so maybe that gut is good for more than drinking beer.

Enough talk! Onto the pictures taken before the rain, that is.

Dayhiking Pack List and Rainy Day Blues

It's raining this weekend and while I could hike in it, I prefer not to. Not only do you get uncomfortable, but I don't want to be in a downpour 6 miles away with a river to cross. The best prevention is avoiding a bad situation. So instead, I wanted to cover what I keep in my day pack.
I see TONS of lists on long hiking gear lists and found some dayhiking lists (see below) but they are harder to find and probably what more people are doing.

For my pack, I have a camelback bag that's probably about a 30 liter bag. The very back of the bag has a separate compartment for a 1.5 liter camelback.

Below is the gear that lives in my bag for all hikes -

Starting at the top left and working down, row by row we have:

• Extra hair band
• Headlamp with extra battery
• Lip balm w/ SPF
• Notepad
• Cell phone
• Long sleeve shirt
• Beef Jerky (or some food/snack)
• Trail map (I typically pick it up from the visitor center)
• Sun Block (Yes, I have two - 30 and 70 SPF)
• Bug spray
• First Aid tape
• Pens and pencil 
• Wet ones, travel size
• First Aid and survial gear
• Emergency blanket
• Emergency Whistle - It's a five in one!
• Rei microfiber towel
• Sunglasses (not pictures - they live on my head)

Then my maybe gear list includes:

• MSR water filter
• Rain coat 
• flip flips
• Hat (not pictured)
• Swiss Knife (not pictured)

I know there are a lot of other things people encourage you to bring, but I've never really needed anything outside of this list. In Georgia, the cold is not an issue so I don't bring a warm hat or gloves. The rain feels pretty good, so I rarely pack my coat but it's nice to have the option. I include my flip flops when I'm breaking in new shoes. After a few bad blister situations, I rather have them on me then wish I did. My husband has a good knife, so while it's not the best practice I typically don't have one in my pack.

Here's what some other people suggest:
- Backpacking.net's Dayhiking list
- The Backpacker.com's list with weights
- Erik the Black has what I consider one of the best lists

I think next week, I'll break down the first aid and other emergency gear. Until then!

Backpacking adventure!

This past weekend, my husband and I went on our first backpacking hike. For a trail choice, we went with Raven Cliff Falls in Helen, Georgia.

This is an easy out and back trail with a total distance of 5.5 miles. All the books say five miles, but run keeper had it being a bit longer. What I love about this trail is that you follow a creek the whole way so you have some smaller and pretty falls you can stop at along the way for lunch or a swim. The swim is key during a Georgia summer.

For camping, this trail is great for groups and all skill levels. There are spots from the parking lot to the falls so you have a lot of choice on how far in you want to be. All sites have firepits and logs already set up from previous campers. There's even a bathroom in the parking lot so if you don't go far, your could avoid going in the woods, but that is more for the wussy camper.

Anyway, below are a few pics of the adventure and of raven cliff!

Our first backpack meal!

Tent Sweet Tent

Our runkeeper map of the hike to the campground