Enjoy Happy Trails, the free monthly newsletter from Hiking For Her.

Receive a free resource: Hiking Layering System Explained

Why I always wear a hiking skirt

I've been hiking only in long skirts since I was a teenager.

The biggest reason is coolness combined with protection against Lyme Disease -- a whole lot of fabric flapping around my ankles is such fantastic insect protection that I don't have to bother with anything else on my legs and feet. Plus all that moving fabric helps keep me cool, and since my very pale legs are covered, I don't have to keep stopping to renew sunblock.

But then I continued to hike in long skirts in winter, which wound up being a lot more practical than it sounds -- I'd layer whatever I liked underneath and throw the big skirt on top, though for snow I'd switch to a shorter outer layer. The skirt (or skirts in layers) would act as a windbreak layer and hold a tent of warmer air inside, and then I'd have whatever thermal layers I wanted under that. Conventional instructions on winter layering always make me wind up with so much fabric and padding wadded between my legs that I wonder how anyone walks.

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Hiking Skirts.

About the author

Diane is the founder of Hiking For Her.

She's been on a hiking trail somewhere in the world for 5+ decades & loves to share her best hiking tips right here.

Hiking For Her: Hiking tips you can trust!