A thread for the Hiking, Hillwalking, Mountaineering, Camping, Randonneuring and other comfy /out/door pursuits involving time in the wilderness
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I've been doing a fair bit of mountaineering the past few weeks and I'm really getting back into the swing of things, might join a club again soon
>>9648First thing to do is get a basic set of kit together, this will vary depending on your area but the foundations are generally
>Backpack (30-40l is the general size for daypacks) >Water Bottles>A packed lunch >Fire Making equipment (Just get a lot of lighters and secret them in various places on your person/in your bag)>A raincoat, and waterproof trousers if you're somewhere where it rains heavily>A warm hat and gloves>Outdoors trousers/Combat trousers>Good baselayer for the upper body (running tshirt is cheap and fine)>Sunscreen, small medical items (painkillers, plasters etc.) >Some warm kit for upper body>Good footwear and good socks>Some means of acquiring more water if necessary, such as purification tablets or if you have cookware with you you can boil water to make it potable <Last two are extremely important
You probably have most of this stuff lying around already in one shape or form, you don't need good stuff starting out, you can use what you have lying around for the most part (with the cavaet that you really, really do need good walking boots/ shoes)
<Good doesn't mean expensive, the boots in my pic in the OP are secondhand military issue boots with new insoles put into them for a quarter of the cost of the equivalent new items and they're absolutely fine, even on 20+ mile hikes in the mountains with a heavy bag
<Socks should be High wool content
Once you have basic kit assembled, assess your fitness level and be honest with yourself about it, then start looking for simple trails appropriate to your physical ability in the park and go do them, preferably with other people for more fun and safety but its perfectly fine on your own so long as you're careful and don't push your limits
The really important things to keep in mind when starting out are
>Don't push yourself too hard and always err on the side of caution>Keep your phone charged and bring it with you, in a waterproof bag>Tell someone where you are going before heading off and make sure they know what to do and the appropriate service to call if you don't come back, easiest way to do this is to simply send it in a text message with a pic of the route you're doing on your map or a pic of the trailhead map >Don't try and do trails or routes navigation other than following trail signs or walking along an obvious track off the bat, map reading is a skill that takes a while to really get and getting lost in the wilderness and breaking your leg is a good way to die <Most parks and wild spaces have well marked beginner trails that are easy to follow to facilitate this and they're still very fun
>Budget your time to make sure you're back in with plenty of light left so you have some extra hours of sunlight to work with if you find yourself going slower than you thought you would >Water proof everything, get big ziplock bags and use them to waterproof the contents of your bag, they're very cheap, they also help compress down items to make them fit into your bag Important
>Take a LOT of water and make sure you are pissing clear before heading out, this is the single biggest mistake new people make, and its a very serious one, how much water is enough depends on you, where you're going, and where you are, if in doubt ask experienced locals for their reccomendations but use your own judgement and again, err on the side of cautionA lot of the above sounds a bit scarey but it really isn't that hard a pursuit to get into, basic equipment is cheap and available everywhere, more intermediate stuff can be found for little money secondhand online (my bag is like £200 new but I got it off ebay for £50, previously I'd been using a cheap £30 basic bag without a problem) and you can pick up the skills and kit needed to do more demanding trips as you go at your own pace, beginner trails are usually packed in spring/summer and busy enough still in Autumn that there's very little real risk or danger unless you are a massive, massive idiot or too fat to survive outside of the ocean
A great way of starting is joining a local hillwalking club, there'll be plenty of experienced people in it that can help you get started and get into the swing of things safely
A pioneer hiker, Emma Gatewood, was the first woman to walk the Appalachian Trail solo in one season. At the age of 67, after raising 11 children, Gatewood started hiking, inspired by an article in National Geographic, and set her mind to tackle the 2,168-mile trail. She completed the hike three times, the last at age 75, making her the first person to do so. She also walked 2,000 miles of the Oregon Trail, averaging 22 miles a day. In total she walked alone through 14 states.
The impetus behind her marathon hikes is rooted in her experience as a survivor of domestic violence. The last straw was an incident when her husband Percy beat her so badly he broke her teeth, jaw and cracked her ribs, nearly killing her. A sheriff’s deputy arrived at the house, and arrested Emma, not Percy. She spent a night in jail until the mayor of the small West Virginia town where they lived intervened when he saw her blackened eyes and bloodied face. He granted Emma a divorce — unheard of in those days — and she raised her last three children alone.
Her youngest daughter Lucy who witnessed the brutal violence showed her mom the National Geographic article and urged her mom to set out on an adventure. Hiking for Emma, was an act of self-care, healing, resistance, independence and a way to regain her inner and outer strength and find her way back to herself. When asked why she hiked, she said simply “Because I wanted to.”
>>9751That's amazing thanks for sharing this anon.
>>9671Extremely helpful thanks for the effort post
>>10198Does anybody here /nightout/ for astronomy? I've been having >tfw no telescope
Feels for the past week or two.
>>10238ahh true but it does feel nice just to have a carefree wander under a quiet summer night sky.
Also how do I know if I broke my arm? lol
>>12869Its a rural hobby that requires you to either live on the edge of wilderness or have the means and time to travel to wilderness to engage in it
These economic/locational factors and cultural stigma mean that minority populations are under-represented in it
I've never actually met a hill walker or mountaineer that has give off rascist vibes though (but then I've met few non white mountaineers so I've not had much opportunity to see how others interacted with them, plenty of people that are rascist aren't blatantly so around others of their preffered type) , so if you're interested I'd most definitely recommend joining a club and getting started, only way to change the hobby in the direction you want is to engage in it
I made a matrix room for /OUT/ stuff in case anyone is interested:
#Lefty/OUT/:matrix.org
https://app.element.io/#/room/#Lefty/OUT/:matrix.orgLast night I was watching this Japanese guy climb Mt. Fuji to visit a Buddhist temple (from what I understood)
Extremely comfy
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1141425126https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1141957078>>13465Ok two years later but fuck it. I am from Spain and I've done the last 190 km of the French Way. You can get a certificate if you do at last 100km. They confirm it in a place near the cathedral where they look into a passport you can have. In each shelter they stamp it. I recommend saying you are doing it because of religion beacuse the design for that is better than the tourist one.
Cause of this 100km minimum, 99% percent of tourists start in a town called Sarria, and from there until Santiago it's
crowded. If you want some calmness you should start a little bit back.
I did it with my family and it took 2 weeks because we only walked 20km each day in the morning and then we rested. It is really not that difficult. We did it with our backpacks (there are services that transport your things to the next destination, this is popular with rich tourists). And if someone does it do not fall into the fear of paying for private hostels because the public shelters are full. They aren't. If you arrive before noon, you will have no problem in the cheaper public shelters.
So yeah, I recommend it.
>>29356Plan properly with emergency communication and something to defend yourself with e.g. pepper spray or a big knife. As well as stuff you need in case you get sranded or break your leg or whatever without cell coverage or an emergency beacon. Then you know you are totally safe logically speaking.
Ok you did that. Now go for a few overnight hikes alone somwhere remote to gain more confidence from experience.
>>21679Trash bag inside pack.
Water resistant pack is good if you live somewhere high and dry, where it isn't going to rain continuously for more than a hour. But trash bag inside pack is lighter and works in all climates. You can also use a poncho and cover it that way. Many long distance hikers in the United States use a backpacking specific umbrella.
>>11303got addicted to watching Rick Steves last year, he's such a joy
any recommendations for food to pack when /out/? especially since I live in a hot climate
>>34861Thanks?
>>34860Dried fruit, trail mix, burritos
not peanut butter that shit will melt
>>35656hoe lee fuk do I ever regret not taking this guy up on his offer to deliver. Took me two hours to carry it the 4km to my place but we made it
>>35658Main plan with this is to go camping in places only accessible by boat but ya its about time I learned how to fish as well
>>35817Sounds fun! How much gear do you bring for a weekend outing like that? Im stuck daytripping for now since I only have a sleeping bag and some tools
speaking of gear, found a cool site
https://lighterpack.com/ >>35916Post fitness levels and hiking conditioning levels.
How many loaded miles per week are you currently hiking?
>t. someone fit who cycled a few minutes a day, jumped into a 7 day cycle tour, and had a bad time. Unique IPs: 34