All About Hiking | Expect Experience

An Adventurer’s Dream

July 9, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

A waterbar in New York's Catskill Mountains. T...

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A great way to stay in shape is to take up the hobby of hiking. Hiking can be a very enjoyable and relaxing activity, but it will also help you to stay in shape. Hiking in the great outdoors allows you to get some fresh air and to see wildlife in its natural environment.

Finding great places to hike isn’t very difficult. Most government parks include hiking trails. You can also check various websites that list hiking trails in your area. Take advantage of resources such as canada 411 to find hiking opportunities close to where you live.

You will want to make sure that the trails you choose are at or below your skill level. Some trails are designed for more experienced hikers and you should be aware of the skill level of a trail before you begin your hike.

Choosing the right trails is important, particularly if you are a little out of shape and need easier trails with little rough terrain and virtually no significant elevation. Once these trails become easier for you, it’s time to move to the more advanced option. Some of the more difficult trails may include hiking through forests, hills or even mountains.

The point of hiking is simple – to get or stay active, enjoy the great outdoors, and have fun. This is a family activity that even your children will enjoy. Use it as a learning tool to become educated about plants and animals and identify different types and species. The possibilities for fun while hiking are endless.

Is Hiking Only During the Summer?

May 9, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Windbeeches on the Schauinsland in Germany (Bl...

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Hiking around in the great outdoors is a very common practice during the summer time, but a lot of people hang up their boots and take to other pursuits when the cold weather rears its ugly head. As sad as it is, a lot of people get all gloomy and end up skipping out on the winter, even though it’s one of the most beautiful seasons of the year for taking a long hike.

You can hike during the winter, but only if you know how. There are a lot of different aspects of hiking during the winter time that many summer time hikers never really think about. For one thing, you need to pack more calories into your snack schedule during the winter, because your body has to work harder to keep itself warm. For another thing, making sure your water doesn’t freeze up will be another issue. Speaking of water, obviously you can sweat during the winter time. But do you know how to properly layer your clothes, so that you can moderate how much you sweat as you exert yourself?

There are a lot of different components to winter hiking. Even the gear you use is different for this time of the year. Insulation and fabrics designed to wick away sweat are extremely useful in the cold, and keeping your feet dry is especially useful. Trench foot can cause serious damage at up to sixty degrees, even when you’ve only had wet feet for six hours or so. Before you venture out into the winter wonderland, make sure you know how to make it back from there safely.

Filed Under: All About Hiking, Seasonal Hiking Tagged With: Hiking, Outdoors, Weather

Trail Mix, Trail Ease

February 12, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s the familiar hunger. The miles have yielded a need to stop, to sample the essential tastes. The collection of fruits and nuts stuffed in your bag offers little appeal, however. A mix was intended for forest trails but seems insufficient: its flavors are unknown; its calories are high; and its scent is stale. It was promised to be perfect but you’re beginning to think that promise was a lie.

It was — and it’s one that could have been avoided with the use of a food dehydrator.

The need for sustenance while hiking is understood by all. The paths can be long and the hours can be longer. Energy is wanted and trail mixes can become ideal sources of that energy. They bolster the body, providing essential carbohydrates and monounsaturated fats (which are derived from nuts, rather than animals, and offer doses of vitamin e, fiber and more). They’re easy to store and easier to carry — claiming little space in packs and demanding nothing beyond your fingers.

When purchased from stores, however, they can instead demand dollars and high caloric counts. Shop brands can be expensive: with you wasting money on unnecessary (and unwanted) sugars, trans-fats and artificial flavors. These will steal energy, rather than provide it; and your body won’t be able to endure those afternoon treks.

A food dehydrator will make such treks easy, though.

Create your own mixes with the aid of a dehydrator. Choose the ingredients (and quantities) that you want; avoid the unhappy additives; and build layers of flavor. Consider nuts like pecans and almonds for bursts of potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. Add fruit — that you dried yourself — like raisins, apricots, cherries and plums for natural sweetness. Blend in a scattering of sunflower seeds to create texture. Store then in an air-tight container and go on your way.

Never again rely on shops and their uncertainties. Form a mix that’s instead thoroughly your own.

Filed Under: All About Hiking, Hiking Techniques Tagged With: Fruit, Nuts, Trail mix

An Experience Under the Stars

February 8, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

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Camping outdoors, under the stars, enjoying the full moon image, and bonding with surrounding nature . . . a mountain vacation is indeed peaceful and almost spiritual to experience. There is no traffic, no interruptions, no “busyness” or other daily distractions to interfere with your vacation pursuit of solitude and perhaps even enjoying a different kind of physical fun, like hiking. Hiking is definitely a physically demanding sport, so be sure to adequately prepare for it with the proper gear, clothing, tools, fluids, and camping essentials to make your experience safe, fun, and full of wonderful memories.

Hiking and camping trips are ultra physical activities that also make for a good vacation. There are numerous places to try out your hiking instincts, and there is nothing like cooking bacon and brewing coffee over an open campfire! Imagine trekking in the mountains of the Himalayas, seeing the sights, experiencing the sounds, and inhaling that fresh mountain air as you scale that steep mountain or maneuver through those winding trails. A Himalayan adventure is just one option among many, with various other locations offering similar fun and excitement that you can’t wait to share with your family and friends!

But, even if they can’t be there with you when you stand on that mountain peak and bellow out through the valleys, you can still let them know you’re thinking about them by sending them a picture text or message. Or, for nostalgia and a more memorable keepsake, send postcards of the amazing sights and sounds that you experience in the mountains. They can keep those postcards to add to their scrapbooks, on their refrigerators, or on their desks at work. It’s a great idea to share your experience and is also a way to spark conversations as you reminisce about your visit and exciting events that occured while you were on vacation.

Filed Under: All About Hiking, Hiking Techniques Tagged With: Hiking, Himalaya, Mountain

The Triple Crown of Hiking

February 3, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Within the United States there are three internationally acclaimed hiking trails known as the Triple Crown of hiking: the Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. Each of these trails has its own unique topography and character. All three trails have been designated as National Scenic Trails under the National Trails System Act of 1968.

The Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian Trail runs 2,175 miles through the Appalachian Mountains from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine, passing through Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. The Appalachian Mountains also form the geographic boundary between the Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest United States.

The terrain ranges from flat to areas that require the use of the hands to move forward or up. As the trail moves north, the terrain becomes more rugged. The average altitude is around 3,000 feet above sea level.

The Continental Divide Trail

The Continental Divide Trail is often called the “King of Trails” and is most challenging of the three national scenic trails. The trail stretches 3,100 miles from the Mexican border to the Canadian border making it the longest of the three. The Continental Divide Trail winds through the Rocky Mountains and a variety of other terrains in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.

Portions of the Continental Divide Trail are considered wilderness and as of 2004 slightly over 70 percent of the trail has been completely cleared for hiking.

The Pacific Crest Trail

The Pacific Crest Trail differs from its two cousins in that it is a hiking and equestrian trail. The trail covers 2,650 miles from the U.S-Mexican border to the Canadian border at British Columbia, Canada, and passes through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Cascade Range in California, Oregon and Washington.

An average of 300 hikers attempts to cover the entire length of the Pacific Crest Trail every season – less than the number of climbers that have climbed Mt. Everest.

Filed Under: All About Hiking, Seasonal Hiking Tagged With: AppalachianTrail, Hiking

Hiking in the Spring

January 29, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Springtime is one of the most beautiful times of the year. As the flowers begin to bloom and animals come out of hibernation, many people are excited to work off their winter pounds by hiking. Hiking in the spring has its own set of challenges and rewards.

If you have certain breathing problems, you need to keep them in mind while hiking. Problems with allergies tend to spike at this time of the year, and hiking can aggravate those problems. In particular, hiking in the woods can be exceedingly difficult. Flowers are in bloom, pollen is in the air, and animal fur is all over. These are all common allergy triggers, so be sure to take a non-drowsy allergy medication if you have allergies.

Temperatures during the springtime vary wildly. They can dip to the cooler temperatures of winter or creep up to summertime temperatures. Therefore, it’s important to keep an eye on the weather forecast and dress appropriately.

Springtime tends to bring higher precipitation levels than any other season. Therefore, it’s fairly likely that you’ll encounter rain or the aftermath of a rain shower on a spring hike. Be sure to wear hiking boots that can deal with the slickness that rain creates. Slipping on a rainy incline can lead to a broken ankle or worse; you need to have gear that can deal with that.

Similar to the risk of rain, early spring can be fairly dangerous. As winter snows melt, they can cause a rundown of moisture into hiking areas and cause slick or unsafe hiking conditions. The higher the elevation, the longer it takes for this to occur. Plan accordingly for runoff of melted snow and don’t hike where it may be dangerous.

With a reliable hiking partner and safe hiking gear, springtime can be one of the most rewarding times to go for a hike.

Filed Under: All About Hiking Tagged With: Allergy, Hiking

Picking a Hiking Backpack

January 20, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

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There’s a reason that the phrase “taking a hike” can be used to refer to breakups; both things involve a lot of packing and moving. Hiking involves lots of equipment, including water, layers of clothing, boots, and safety tools. Investing in a high-quality backpack is very important for protecting your equipment and making your hike more efficient.

Categorizing a hiking backpack involves many different factors, including the type of frame and the size of the backpack. Some backpacks are frameless. In the frame backpacks, there are two additional types. A hiking backpack can have either an external frame or an internal frame.

Internal frame backpacks tend to be more popular amongst hikers. They are considerably more flexible than backpacks with external frames, so they can expand to hold more equipment or compress slightly if there is less to carry. External frame backpacks also sit further from the body because of their rigid structure. Internal frame backpacks hug the body better, so they are more comfortable to carry and they improve your balance.

A splash cover is important for any hiking backpack. Since hiking backpacks aren’t waterproof, a splash cover can be put on the hiking backpack to protect the equipment that could be ruined by water.

In order to ensure that you’ve chosen the right backpack, you should go to a hiking or sports store and try several different kinds. You’ll be wearing the backpack for long stretches of time, and it is imperative that the backpack doesn’t strain your back or cause pain. To test it, wear the backpack around the store. Note if it pulls at your shoulders or causes you to walk unnaturally.

By evaluating your hiking needs and ensuring a comfortable fit, you can pick out the best hiking backpack for your gear. It’s a big investment, but it’s one that will last you for many years.

Filed Under: All About Hiking Tagged With: Backpack, Hiking

The Benefits of Hiking

January 18, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

When it comes to picking an exercise routine, there are many options available. Not nearly enough people consider hiking! In this day and age, most people would rather go to the gym or do a DVD in their living room than get outside and get their exercise by exploring the world around them.

One of the main benefits of hiking is that it is essentially free! You don’t pay a monthly membership fee to the forest and you don’t sign a contract with a mountain. You only have to buy the appropriate hiking equipment; however, that is true with any exercise routine! No matter what you do, you have to buy the clothes and equipment for it. After you’ve made that initial investment, you are free to exercise whenever you want to.

Hiking also has lots of health benefits. Being outside and breathing in fresh air releases endorphins in your brain. Endorphins are feel-good chemicals that make you feel happy and make you more capable of dealing with stress and negative situations. There are also health benefits for your body. Hiking is an aerobic activity, so it’s good for your heart and lungs. However, it also provides strength training because of the constant weight shift that goes on. The rugged terrain that’s present in most hikes also helps you improve your balance and coordination.

Finally, hiking helps you explore your world. Even the most geographically boring areas have dozens of hidden gems that are waiting to be discovered. By hiking, you can see all of the wilderness around you and stimulate your mind while you are working your body.

Hiking is such a great pastime and exercise form that it has something to offer everyone. All of these benefits make hiking the right choice for your mental and physical health.

Filed Under: All About Hiking, Hiking Techniques Tagged With: Hiking, Recreation

How to Pick Hiking Boots

January 15, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

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When you pick out shoes to buy, it’s likely a quick process. Try them on, see if they’re comfortable, and buy them if they seem to fit. It’s not that easy to buy hiking boots! Since hiking boots should last you several years and many miles of rugged terrain, you need to take care while purchasing them.

If you tend to take the same type of hikes on a regular basis, take that into account as you shop for hiking boots. If you tend to hike on an incline, look for boots that have some grip to them; they will help prevent sliding. The type of terrain that you hike on is also important. Soft dirt and rock are two very different hiking grounds, and there is a huge variety of terrains between the extremes. Different types of boots are needed for different types of ground, especially if you want to prevent blisters and strained muscles.

Upon trying on hiking boots, there are some things to look for. First, do the boots fit? They should fit comfortably without being too snug. If they are snug in the store, it is almost a guarantee that they will be too tight when hiking. After several hours of hiking, your feet will swell. Swelling is even more likely to occur if you are hiking in hot weather. Make sure that your boots fit comfortably but also have room for growth.

Another option to consider is waterproof boots. Some hiking boots come already waterproofed; if you hike in moist conditions or near the water, this is an incredibly important factor. Hiking with wet or damp feet can be very uncomfortable. Decide whether you’d rather buy waterproofed boots or buy boots and then waterproof them.

Buying the right pair of boots is easy if you consider all of your hiking choices and preferences.

Filed Under: All About Hiking, Hiking Techniques Tagged With: Hiking, Waterproofing

Choosing a GPS for Hiking

January 13, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Getting lost while hiking in the forest is certainly a terrifying experience. Hikers today do not have to worry about that danger, thanks to the creation of GPS. GPS, which means “global positioning system”, is a way that hikers can keep track of their location and track where they are going. Before running out and buying the first GPS you find, it’s important to know what to look for.

While you may think that using the GPS on your car or phone is alright, special GPS setups for hiking exist. A car or phone GPS system can typically track your location to an accuracy of about 30 feet. However, a hiking GPS is meant to be more specific. When you’re lost hiking, 30 feet is a fairly long distance.

Some GPS systems also have the ability to continuously update your location. If you have a handheld system, that can be very helpful! When you are lost, it is sometimes helpful to just go back to where you started rather than try to soldier through. If you have a map that shows your exact movements, you can simply track your movements on the GPS to get back to your starting point.

Another advantage of this feature is that it can help you on later hiking trips. If you love a hiking trail that you found, you can save the hike information from your GPS. In higher end models, you can even download the information to your computer. You could build a great database of hiking trails!

Some of the simpler features to look for include a long battery life and resistance to water. For long hikes, you need a GPS that can hold up to days of usage. The moistness of many forests and waterside hikes indicate a need for a waterproof GPS. These are special features that can only be found on a hiking GPS.

Filed Under: All About Hiking, Hiking Techniques Tagged With: Global Positioning System, Hiking

An Adventurer’s Dream

Is Hiking Only During the Summer?

Trail Mix, Trail Ease

An Experience Under the Stars

The Triple Crown of Hiking

Hiking in the Spring

Picking a Hiking Backpack

The Benefits of Hiking

How to Pick Hiking Boots

Choosing a GPS for Hiking

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