solo hiking: how risky is it?

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kief

Trad climber

east side

Mar 23, 2017 - 10:12pm PT

Last couple of comments by cowboy call to mind something Ed Abbey once said:

One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.

Reeotch

climber

4 Corners Area

Mar 24, 2017 - 04:58am PT

+1 for Ed Abbey

Remember freedom and "safety" are inversely proportional.

clinker

Trad climber

Santa Cruz, California

Mar 24, 2017 - 06:05am PT

but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.

We the people.

rbord

Boulder climber

atlanta

Mar 24, 2017 - 11:04am PT

I just went on a 19 day two man trip down the Grand Canyon. Leading up to the trip, the idea of it - the risk (especially the risk of my friend getting hurt, and me being left to deal on my own) - was freaking me out! I almost couldn't do it, but somehow managed to overcome that fear.

Super great trip. I got to row everything. Day after day of near solitude and being forced to hit the big waves head on.

In retrospect, there was no risk. We skated through cleanly with only happy memories. What was all that fuss in my brain beforehand?

It's hard to predict the future when all we know is the past. But it's probably the best that we've got.

dirt claud

Social climber

san diego,ca

Mar 24, 2017 - 11:34am PT

This is a great book I'm reading on this subject. It covers all kinds of deaths in the GC but much of it is devoted to below rim hiking and river rafting incidents. One of the main things I've learned from this book is how you become your own worst enemy when things like dehydration take effect. So many people died making really bad decisions because they were not thinking straight. Many stories of people dying trying to climb things they normally would not have but did due to desperation of being lost, thirsty, hungry, etc... Sometimes that other person telling you "hey, that sounds like a bad idea" is all it takes to save a life.
Solo hiking is very fun though and mind opening. I can't say I have done anything near what some of you guys have done though. Crazy stories Chainsaw!!

Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber

Out Of Bed

Mar 24, 2017 - 11:41am PT

B^d.

, [Click to View YouTube Video]

B^7

Scole

Trad climber

Zapopan

Mar 24, 2017 - 11:46am PT

Why are we told not to do stuff solo? Is it because of the risk? I think not.

Like Sierra Ledge Rat posted up-thread: I have hiked, climbed, skied, kayaked, surfed, caved, etc. alone my entire life. In my opinion, we are warned never to do anything alone because it is so addicting, and we become more independent in the process. Those who tell us not to have adventures alone are simply imposing their fears on us.

It is important to have your sh#t together, however: If you are competent in the mountains you should have no problems. If you do then you should be able to resolve them, or you shouldn't be in the mountains in the first place.

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Mar 24, 2017 - 12:56pm PT

I'm like DMT from the standpoint that I was free to "run with scissors" when I was a kid. The big rule was to get home before dark, and pretty often my definition of "dark" didn't correspond with my Mom's.

I can't speak to raising kids today since I don't have any, but along the street where I live there are several families and the only time I see the kids is when they are between the house and the car to go somewhere. Sad.

Speaking for myself, being alone in the mountains has an added edge to it which I enjoy except when I don't. I've been out there when things have gone seriously wrong, and part of my coping strategy was to conjure up an imaginary partner. It wasn't voluntary, suddenly there was another soul there I could lean on.

wbw

Trad climber

'cross the great divide

Mar 24, 2017 - 01:48pm PT

Try solo hiking in Alaska, braj! Buy me a six pack and I'll tell ya about Polar bears.

And when you go on a solo trans-Cascade ski traverse you don"t have to worry about relying
on some crankloon companion to dig yer sorry azz out of an avalanche.

Reilly, the man that always has to one-up everyone, no matter the topic, the time or the place. If only I could be the expert on everything that you are.

So comforting to know that you're not bland, braj!

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Mar 24, 2017 - 02:08pm PT

Reilly, the man that always has to one-up everyone, no matter the topic, the time or the place. If only I could be the expert on everything that you are.

Having Reilly as a neighbor is great. It saves me the stress of having to know about things. He's been a source of sage advice on everything from what camera to buy to who to call for HVAC, and he's right every time.

Of course were I to refuse his advice there's no telling what he might do...

Moof

Big Wall climber

Orygun

Mar 24, 2017 - 02:20pm PT

Most of my hiking as been solo. Most of the time I prefer solo.

On one of my early hikes my knee got twisted and cranky. I had that moment of panic of being about 14 miles from the trail head in a very lightly used park. Then I realized I have 1.5 days worth of food, easily stretchable to 3 if I wasn't cranking out miles. I was in a stream bed where puddles gave easy access to water, and I had all the shelter I would need to survive for days. The panic was gone, and I just slogged my way out with a gimpy knee.

I can't say I have ended up panicked since, even when things were objectively quite a bit more dire. Having a partner doesn't help my actual biggest fear, god damned poison oak!

Seamstress

Trad climber

Yacolt, WA

Mar 24, 2017 - 02:53pm PT

I go solo hiking all the time. My husband can get a bit worried - so then join me.

I did have that crazy incident when I dropped my radio, looked for it wasting time, and came out after dark. My husband talked to a scarey dude saying profane things about me. We didn't need that emotional distress.

I tell him where I am going. I take at least one form of communications, and I take fewer risks alone. Risk of getting old and fat while wallowing on the couch is 100%.

hamik

Mountain climber

San Francisco, CA

Mar 24, 2017 - 02:58pm PT

I'm in a work and family-induced climbing drought that's forecasted to continue for some time. When I daydream about my happiest climbing days, two episodes come to mind, both solo.

In the first, I got some uneasy sleep in the South Lake parking lot the night before doing the Palisade Traverse, which is a modest endeavor. But I was near the peak of my physical fitness, it having been the week before I left for Peru, and I ran most of the approach and scurried along from Thunderbolt to Sill in 2 hours, 58 minutes. Others have written more eloquently about the joy of moving quickly over sunny rock, and my day was an unending dose of it. I actually shed a couple tears on the talus field under Sill, since I just love jumping from boulder to boulder in talus that much. If anyone finds my entry in the Sill register and could take a picture of it, I would be *so happy*.

The other time, there was a forecast for a modest windstorm in the Sierra, and it struck me that I'd only read about our crazy 100 mph ridge gusts but never experienced them. So I skied up towards Split Mountain, staked out my tent near Red Lake, couldn't erect it because the wind broke my poles before the tent was even standing, and slept inside the collapsed structure, which was essentially a flapping nylon human sandwich. It was cold, and I didn't sleep at all because of the noise. But when the sun came up I got another dose of that joy: wind blasting me around, knocking me over on my skis, no humans in sight. Which idiot would've gone out with me that time?

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Mar 24, 2017 - 04:35pm PT

wbw, we're all here to spray in some manner or other. I like to spray about how stoopid
I've been and gotten away with it. I can't help it if it's true. I just don't want to bore you with
inane details and sanctimonious proclamations of how uplifting it was.

Jon Beck

Trad climber

Oceanside

Mar 24, 2017 - 05:15pm PT

I backpacked solo up Conness one summer day. Late in the afternoon a storm rolled in when I was well on my way up. I considered retreating as I had no tent. About that time two hikers hurrying off the mountain passed me about 100 feet away. They did not see me and I deliberately remained silent, I felt a compulsion to sit out the storm. I knew that if I made any contact the opportunity would be spoiled.

The rain began pelting me and I dropped my pack and deployed a space blanket. I found a spot next to a rock under a small tree and wrapped myself up with my pack under my knees. It rained ferociously and with each flash of lightning I braced myself for the crack and boom of thunder just above my head.

After the storm passed I exited my cocoon and stood under the clearing sky. I do not think I have ever felt so alive.

edit: hey moose, I bet I can hike slower than you (was that spray?)

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 24, 2017 - 05:32pm PT

Lots of good stuff here making me smile :)

rbord

Boulder climber

atlanta

Mar 24, 2017 - 06:19pm PT

Risk is just something that's going on in our heads. If we knew all the relationships between all the variables, and the value of all the variables, then we could calculate the risk of a bad outcome, and it would be either 0 or 1.

But we don't have all the information, so we do all these human heuristic computations that have been swayed by 4 billion years of human evolution. Spiders - ahhh!

What's the retrospective risk of a bad outcome for Bachar or Potter? 1. What's the risk for Honnold? 0. The rest is just stuff that goes on in our brains.

Do we have a sense of what the variables are that affect our risk? Sure, I believe we do.

And people are really good at believing. It's what we do. Cheetahs are really good at running.

But ultimately, if you want to go for a hike, or sit on the couch, yer gonna have to work out the math for yourself. If you're looking for the right reference class, there's only one, and it's you.

Hope you decide to go :-)

DonC

climber

Mar 24, 2017 - 06:42pm PT

I do most of my hiking solo. A few years ago, summer of my 60th birthday, I did the John Muir Trail solo in 14 days. I had done it two times previously at ages 20 and 50. Doing it solo during the summer of a major milestone birthday was pretty special for me.

There are enough people on all but the most remote trails, that "solo" only means that you are self sufficient in carrying everything necessary, making all decisions, and camping alone. Other than that, you see people frequently, and often hook-up and hike and talk with others parts of some days.