Women Should Feel Free to Hike Alone

Backpacker magazine wants you to know that it's almost totally safe.

When we did five days in the Smokies last spring, we met a female hiker who was through-hiking the AT alone. She seemed to be having great fun, and is now getting close to finished according to her occasional online updates. Nothing she's written suggests that she's had even a moment's trouble from anyone. But that's an anecdote: Backpacker has the statistics.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's perfectly safe, as long as nothing happens.

I live in San Diego, and every year, somebody gets hauled out of a canyon or desert, because something happened, and somebody else was available to make the call.

It's not that the activity is per se more dangerous than everyday living: it is that being alone without able adult company is a risk factor all on its own.

Valerie

Anonymous said...

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Always hike with someone. Sometimes you get the Dragon, other times the Dragon gets you.
Inchworm thought she could hike the AT alone and now she is gone.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2014/12/30/how-could-woman-just-vanish/CkjirwQF7RGnw4VkAl6TWM/story.html

Grim said...

There are certainly some dangers, but the statistics are what they are, and you're not endangering anyone but yourself.

From my perspective, it's the inverse of the "women in the combat arms" debate. There, the statistics suggest that it's a terrible idea -- not just for the women, but the unit as a whole will suffer higher mortality and be less capable of carrying out maneuver and combat. So what, asks James Purvis -- don't you understand how important this is to the women?

"People grossly underestimate the frustration of American women today over the way they’re treated and the fierceness of their desire to change it....
Why do you think women join the Marines? Because they like the food? No, they’re in it for the same basic reason that men are – the lure of proving themselves, of being elite."

That's understandable, but there remains no excuse for damaging the whole unit -- making it much less likely that your unit will accomplish its missions over time, and that your unit mates will make it home alive.

On the other hand, if you feel the need in your soul to do something dangerous and awesome, that I get. Here's something you can do that will show the world that you're amazing and due respect, without costing one single other person anything.

Far more likely than not, too, it'll be a good experience that changes your life in a positive way. The statistics are on your side here, without being so much on your side that the danger is just an illusion. The respect (and self-respect) you'll gain is genuine because the danger is not imaginary.

raven said...

There are places a twisted ankle will kill just as effectively as a overt threat. Not being able to walk fast enough to reach the next water source... or get to your pickup location- I once sat on a ridge in the Yukon for a few days wondering if the weather would clear before or after i ran out of food. Fortunately there was a couple cups of flour left and plenty of blueberries.

And always go armed-there are some shady characters out in the woods.
One of the more interesting threads I have read was in a hunting and fishing forum, along the lines of "what is the strangest thing you have come across out on the trail?" Some mundane answers, some wonderful, and some just plain spooky.

Grim said...

And always go armed...

Quite right. Havamal verse 38.

ColoComment said...

Stuff happens. This guy was found only because the motorcyclists took a wrong turn.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/09/25/hunter-with-broken-leg-in-idaho-wilderness-crawls-for-days-until-rescue/?intcmp=hpbt4

Ymar Sakar said...

Make sure to dodge those boulders.

douglas said...

First, this could have been called 'Criminals are lazy'. But this we already knew.

Hiking solo isn't as risky as it once was now with the advent of electronic communications that can establish an emergency contact almost anywhere in the world. About three hundred bucks should get a basic unit- pretty cheap insurance.

I like going with others. It's a chance to interact with people in a place stripped of much of the pretense of life in the city.

In California, and some other areas, one of the most likely things you might come across in the wilderness that should seriously concern you is water lines from an irrigation system. You've almost certainly come across a pot farm. If you do, get out of that area, immediately, and report your find to the authorities.

MikeD said...

"People grossly underestimate the frustration of American women today over the way they’re treated and the fierceness of their desire to change it....
Why do you think women join the Marines? Because they like the food? No, they’re in it for the same basic reason that men are – the lure of proving themselves, of being elite."


I'd like to expand on this in a post, if you don't mind.

Grim said...

Of course I don't mind. That's why I gave you the keys. Say whatever you want -- I enjoy the free play of ideas among our community.