Trail Stress

Preventing trail stress: food for thought!

There may come a time when you have to get yourself out of a jam on (or off) the trail.

If you've heard of the "10 essentials", you know they're common sense items that should be in every hiker's pack.

These items revolve around helping yourself through unexpected situations which any hiker, no matter how prepared, can become caught up in: freak weather conditions, getting lost, an injury.

When the unexpected happens, you may have several choices: send for help (unless you're solo hiking), wait for help to arrive, or get yourself out of trouble.

Any of these choices can induce major trail stress.

However, these trail stresses can be handled well with some advance planning.

It's not much fun to think about what to do when faced with the worst scenarios, but it's something every hiker should have training in, or at least read about. You never know when you need to dip into your memory banks to get yourself through unexpected trail stress.

So let's take a look at these options, one at a time:

SEND FOR HELP: This means you must face the possibility of being alone, perhaps overnight or longer. That's where your 10 essentials are going to come out of your pack and save you from stress and worry.

You'll have enough to eat and drink, you can start a fire, you have insect repellent , you'll be able to get shelter from the elements, you'll have

pain relief.

Mentally, you will need to be tough with yourself: worrying will eat into your energy reserves and must be avoided. Trust your hiking buddy to get help quickly and efficiently. Get some sleep/rest!

WAIT FOR HELP: If you're solo, you left your itinerary behind, right? Thankfully, someone knows which trail head you parked at, where you were headed, any alternative plans you made to adjust for weather conditions.

Now it's up to you to sit tight and let that trusted someone do the right thing. Your 10 essentials will get you through.

A few more things to help yourself:

Are you making yourself visible/audible to the searchers? If you have a colorful tarp or article of clothing , be sure it's prominently displayed. If you have a whistle, signal mirror, or smoke canister, have it ready for when you hear a plane/helicopter or people calling your name.

While you're waiting, avoid beating yourself up mentally. You got into this situation and you will get out. Patience and calmness are your allies.

GET OUT BY YOURSELF:

I don't recommend this unless there's a compelling reason revolving around your safety to move from the spot you find yourself in.

Mistakes get made in haste.

If you feel panicked or anxious at all, SIT DOWN and WAIT until that shaky feeling passes. You need to have full control over your thought processes.

Someone knows where you are , right?

Will the world end if you get home late?

If you have this little meeting with yourself and you do decide to get back to the trail head under your own power, be very deliberate and smart about it.

Bring all of your navigational tools and training to bear on this problem.

Wait until you have good visibility to begin moving.

Check your bearings frequently.

Keep track of landmarks in case you have to backtrack.

If you become tired or disoriented, STOP.

In the United States, you are nearly always within range of a road or a creek that will lead you back to civilization.

One last thought about preventing trail stress:

Do some reading about extreme situations before you get caught in one. Most fatalities could have been prevented by avoiding panicked decisions.

Let me leave you with this information.

Hiking is a stress relieving activity. The levels of the stress hormone called cortisol circulating in your bloodstream will decrease as you hike.

So don't work against yourself and ADD cortisol to your bloodstream.

Be a prepared, smart, confident trail woman! Hiking adds so much enjoyment to life, as long as you're prepared.

Preventing trail stress requires some forethought and planning. Read more about hiking techniques here.