The below is a transcription. Minor edits have been made for clarity and readability, while preserving the original message and intent. This video is part of a new series on The Trek’s Youtube. Be sure to check out the full video, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Why is this important?
When I first told people that I was planning on hiking the Appalachian Trail, I got a lot of questions. Some of those questions were, are you going alone? Are you going to carry a weapon? Are you going to carry a firearm? Are you gonna carry mace? What happens if somebody wants to hurt you? How are you going to call for help? And a lot of these questions were really alarming. I had women tell me that I was really brave for hiking the trail alone, and on the other end of the spectrum, I had guys tell me that I was dumb or naive.
I had men tell me that they would never let their wives or daughters hike alone. I even had a guy ask me if “my daddy knew that I was out there?”, which is super inappropriate and a totally insane thing to say to a stranger. So look, I get it.
It is completely valid and totally justifiable to feel nervous about backpacking alone. The question: “would you rather be alone in the woods with a man or a bear?” is one you see come up in these conversations time and time again. And that’s for a good reason, because on top of the normal anxieties that any backpacker has about not getting injured, staying warm, staying dry, making it to town, carrying enough food, resupplies, all of those things, women have the added anxiety of worrying about having a dangerous encounter on trail.
Now, I have been lucky enough to have never had a dangerous encounter on trail, but it’s important to acknowledge that there are people out there that have had dark encounters on trail while they’ve been thru-hiking or backpacking or just day hiking. And it’s important that these experiences aren’t glossed over, because the reality is these things do happen, and that’s why it’s important to have these conversations. Because ultimately, if you’re interested in solo backpacking, it’s really important that you take every precaution that you believe is necessary in order for you to feel safe while you’re on trail.
And that’s gonna look different for everybody. So today, we’re gonna talk about just some of the ways that you can feel safe while you’re backpacking alone. Now, before I jump into it, I want to talk about the stats.
The Stats
The reality is, the likelihood of you getting hurt in a violent encounter on trail is so small as compared to you having a violent encounter off trail. In 2020, for every single visitor to a national park, there was a .00000025 chance of a violent incident*. That is an incredibly low number.
Now, compare that to 2022, where your average U.S. citizen faced a violent crime rate of .003 incidents per person*. So essentially, what that means is you are 1,000 times less likely to face a violent crime incident while you’re in a national park than if you were just living your everyday life in the United States. Now, of course, it’s important to note that this data set does not apply to long-distance backpackers.
It does not account for violent crimes in non-national parks. Also, not every incident is reported. So take this data with a grain of salt, but essentially what I’m telling you is, you are far more safe in a national park than you are just walking down the street.
In fact, it’s far more likely for a death or an injury to come from the natural elements. Falling trees, bad weather, exposure, any of the things that you are already taking precautions for before you even get on trail. So essentially, the data is telling us that it is far more important to prepare yourself for the elements than it is repair yourself for some sort of violent encounter.
Educate yourself on the environment, on the terrain, and the proper gear that you may need while doing this hike. Because it’s really likely that the dangers you are going to face in the backcountry are going to come from the natural elements rather than other people. Now, I could make an entire video about statistics like these, but if you’re really interested and want to dive into the numbers yourself, I’m going to link in the description to an article from Katie Jackson, an article on the track that really dives into all of this data and explains it really, really well.
So if you need that data in order for you to feel comfortable before heading on to the next part of the video, go give that article a read and then come back. It also includes a lot more information and also speaks to some of the things that we’re going to talk about today. Now with that background in mind, let’s talk about some of the ways that you can feel safer when you’re hiking alone.
Feeling Safer on Trail
Now again, I just want to reiterate that feeling safe is totally subjective, so I’m really going to encourage you to experiment with the things that you carry or the methods that you use in order for you to feel safe while you’re backpacking alone.
1. Tell Someone Your Plan
Now the first thing that I’m going to recommend is telling someone your plan. It is really great to share your plan with friends or family, especially folks that are not on trail with you.
If you’re on a short backpacking trip, share your route and where you plan to park your car. Tell your friends or family when you’re planning to get on trail and when you’re planning to get off and when they should reach out to you if they haven’t heard from you yet. The more that you can communicate to someone who cares about you and your safety, the better.
And make sure to check in with them when you get back to your car. And if you’re through hiking, maybe tell them the next time that you plan to be in town and when you’re planning to get there.
2. Carry a GPS or Satellite Phone with Search-and-Rescue Insurance
The second thing that you should do is carry a GPS or a satellite phone with some sort of search-and-rescue insurance.
Having some way to reach out to emergency services when you don’t have service can really be the difference between life and death in a dangerous situation. I have countless examples of times that hikers were in a dangerous situation, they’d gotten hurt, or they had fallen somewhere they couldn’t get back up, and then they were able to reach out to emergency services because they carried this device and they were saved. You can also turn on tracking on these devices and then share that link with your family and friends so that they can keep an eye on you.
Or at the end of every day, when you’re safe at camp, you can just turn on the device and then send a little ping, let your family know where you are, and then turn it off and head back to bed. I really cannot recommend this enough. I felt really safe.
It was nice to know I had that peace of mind when I was hiking alone just in case anything ever did happen. I had my device and when I was solo hitchhiking, for instance, I would turn on the tracking and then when I reached my destination and I got out of the car, I would turn it back off. So again, it is very, very helpful to have one of these devices.
Now they can be kind of expensive, but can you really put a price on your safety, especially when you’re in these kinds of situations? So I really, really recommend doing your research and then picking the device and the price point that’s right for you.
3. Be Aware of Your Surroundings, Trust Your Instincts
Now number three is really, really important. You need to be aware of your surroundings and to always trust your instincts.
For one, it’s important to know where you’re camping. I recommend that you don’t camp near trailheads or near roads where any old Joe Schmo can just park their car and walk in. Also, and it might sound paranoid, but I really recommend that you don’t reveal too much information to just random strangers that you meet on the trail.
Don’t tell people where you’re planning to camp or how far you’re planning to hike. Don’t tell people that you’re hiking alone. Don’t tell people your hiking itinerary or how many days you’re planning on being out.
And if you plan on sharing your hike on the internet, whether via vlog or via blog, please, please, please delay your posts and do not tell people where you are in real time because the reality is somebody could arguably intercept you on trail and that is super, super unlikely, but it is a real reality. So just practice caution, practice discretion, don’t share too much online. Now if you’re hiking a popular trail like the Appalachian Trail, you can consider camping near shelters where there’s going to be a lot of other people.
Or on the flip side, if you get to a shelter and you just don’t like somebody’s vibe or your instincts are telling you to keep on moving, it is totally okay to just listen to your instincts, grab some water, and then just keep on hiking. Again, just trust your instincts. I cannot emphasize that enough.
If a situation feels wrong or bad, just keep moving. If somebody accuses you of being rude because you didn’t want to hang around or you you felt uncomfortable about a situation, like, who cares? It’s not the worst thing that could happen. If your gut is telling you to keep on hiking and to get out of a situation, listen to your gut.
Just keep on going. Never second-guess yourself when it comes to your safety. Also a final note, I recommend that you never hike with both of your earphones in because you can’t hear if people are coming up or down the trail or you can’t hear if there is wildlife around.
God forbid you’re listening to Chapel Rowan and there’s a bear behind you on the trail. So just don’t hike with both of your earphones in.
4. Respect the Weather, Know The Trail, Do Your Research
The fourth thing that you need to do is to respect the weather and to be knowledgeable about the environment, the trail conditions, and your route.
A huge part about feeling safe in the backcountry is feeling knowledgeable. So do your research before you get on trail. What is the weather going to be like? Will your gear keep you warm and dry? If you need to bail out, where is your closest bailout point? Did you download all of your maps for offline use? If you lose your phone, are you still going to be able to navigate? Are there any dangerous water crossings? Are falling trees or freak blizzards or lightning storms something that you need to be concerned about? These are all questions that you need to ask yourself before you get on trail because the better prepared you are, the more ready you’ll be to tackle anything that comes your way.
Because on the flip side, if you get out there and you’re totally unprepared, you are definitely not going to feel safe.
5. Carry Protection
And the fifth thing that I want to talk about is carry the protection that you need to carry in order for you to feel safe. Now it’s important to note that you need to do the research on what you are allowed to carry in the areas that you are planning on hiking in.
So please be sure to do your own research before you just start buying stuff. But there are plenty of items that you can carry while you’re on trail in order for you to feel safe. Now something that you can potentially carry is mace or bear mace.
These items can be really heavy and it is so so important that you practice with these before you actually get on trail because God forbid you’re in some sort of dangerous situation and you have no idea how to use them. But these can be options and I carried mace on my AT thru-hike and I was very happy to know that I had it. Just make sure that it’s not going to go off accidentally in your bag and it’s not going to get wet.
You can also carry a whistle or some sort of noisemaker. They make devices that if you pull the pin it is super super loud. So maybe look into getting one of those.
There are also items called kubotans. I think that’s how it’s pronounced. Or there are those stabby keychain devices that kind of look like a cat that goes on your knuckles.
So look into those. Those are options. Those are good to carry on you.
And the final one and this is definitely the hot-button one. The question of carrying firearms on trail. I am just going to say that you need to look into the laws in your area before you go out into the backcountry with some sort of firearm.
I’m never going to encourage that. I’m also never going to discourage someone if that’s what makes them feel safe. So ultimately just do your own research, follow the laws, and if you want to argue about it do it in the comments.
Because I am definitely not an expert in this area.
Final Thoughts
Okay so in conclusion this is a very short list of things that women can do in order to feel safe while they’re hiking in the backcountry. There are a thousand other things that you can do and should do in order to feel safe while you’re backpacking.
Carry a first-aid kit. Store your food correctly. Filter your water.
Check for ticks. Some women get dogs just so that they can hike with them and have that peace of mind while they’re on trail. But the fact of the matter is I cannot tell you what is going to make you feel safe while you’re hiking on trail.
That’s going to come with trial and error and experience. And to be totally honest with you my first time solo backpacking, my first overnight, I was terrified and I spent basically the entire night just listening to all the sounds outside hoping that no animal or person was sneaking up on me. I was having visions of people like unzipping my tent and crawling in and it was insane.
It was totally paranoid. But I’m really glad that I pushed past that fear because if I hadn’t I never would have felt brave enough to hike the Appalachian Trail. Because to me letting fear rule over my life and prevent me from having these amazing experiences, these life-changing journeys, seeing these beautiful things, meeting these wonderful people on trail is just not an option.
But if you’re not comfortable solo backpacking that is totally okay. Just because you’re interested in it doesn’t mean that you have to be totally on board. Let’s freaking do it right now.
You can find somebody to hike with, you can find a hiking group that you can go on trips with and build up your bravery and stamina if you do want to give it a try someday. But it is totally fine to never solo backpack. It is also totally fine to give it a try and decide you know what it makes me too nervous I don’t want to do it.
But if you’re sincerely interested in doing it, you know, take some of these suggestions and apply them. Now I know that safety in the backcountry can be a really divisive topic. People get so fired up over it.
So I am interested in your thoughts. If you’re a woman, tell me what you think. Am I going overboard? Is this not going far enough? What what do you do in the backcountry to feel safe? Share below.
It might help out another solo hiker. And if you’re a man, as always, if you see something, say something. And if you encounter a solo woman backpacking, just be cognizant of how your actions might make her feel.
Definitely do not ask her if she’s carrying weapons. Don’t ask her if she’s hiking alone or where she plans to camp. Or basically do anything else that might make you come off as sketchy.
Even even if you mean well. And I’m certain that the guys watching this video mean well. If you liked this video or it was helpful, please give it a like or leave a comment below.
And if you want to see more videos from the Trek or me, please subscribe to this channel. My name is Sassafras and thank you so much for watching.
*Stats pulled from Katie Jackson’s “Backpacking Safety for Solo Women: Understanding and Managing Risk in the Backcountry“.
Be sure to check out the full video, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
