You need a new rain jacket, one that will keep you relatively dry but not cost a fortune. You want to know how to prepare for basic injuries on the trail, and how to deal with them when they occur. And those clouds gathering overhead: what do they mean — and should I be concerned?
Tips for the Trail
We get out a lot. We’ve been getting out a lot for more than 30 years. During that time we’ve learned a thing or two. Nothing revolutionary, nothing that’s radically changed the sport. But maybe something you’ll find helpful, something you didn’t know that might help next time you’re on the trail. Something that will shorten your learning curve — though the learning never stops.
Gear: Not all the gear, just what we use (and why)
We aren’t gear geeks here at GetHiking! But we do love what we love.
Below is some of what we love — and why we love it. Click on the link for more information; in some cases, links to the item on Amazon are provided. We will update this list regularly. The categories are:
A summer hike recalls summer vacation
Note: The following is a tweaked re-run of a post that originally appeared in July 2022. With the current heat it’s even more relevant today than it was when it originally appeared.
Tuesday afternoon I was driving back from a meeting in Oxford when I made a detour in Stem. Specifically, to the Tar River Land Conservancy’s Ledge Creek Forest Conservation Area. It was 98 degrees, with a Heat Index of 105, no one’s idea of ideal hiking conditions. Yet once I got under the canopy, the heat became less of an issue.
Good rhythm softens a hard trail
We were sitting around what would have been a campfire had it not been 85 degrees, when one of the hikers asked, “How does tomorrow’s hike compare to today’s?”
It was asked with a hint of trepidation. “Today’s” hike — a 6.6-mile out-and-back with just 1,000 feet of elevation gain — was supposed to be the easy one, the warm-up for tomorrow’s 14-miler, which gained nearly 2,400 feet in 4.3 miles. Yet today’s hike had kicked our butts.