A Beginners Hiking Guide
There are some standard rules that are put in place that beginning hikers may not know why they need to be followed, or where if you have not gone hiking previously you may not know why these rules are set in place. Every main hiking rule or safety tip has a reason and each reason is as important as the next. The main tips you will want to keep in mind and which will be explained are to plan ahead, to know your surroundings, to start in a small area, water and food rules, have a fire source and more. One of the more important rules is also to make sure that you bring a fully stocked first aid kit so that if anyone gets injured they are taken care of and will not get an infection which could worsen any injury a great deal.
The reasoning behind planning ahead is because many people get ready to follow a trail without knowing where they are going and end up getting lost or finding that the trail has multiple parts or directions and this can keep a person hiking in circles for hours or even days. This is very dangerous and if a person is inexperienced and does not have the materials they need this can cause them to become sick from exhaustion, starvation, or other serious conditions such as overexposure.
As mentioned above part of the reasoning for this is not getting lost, but in this case, another reason is so that you do not get poison ivy or have a reaction to other parts of nature that can be harmful. For instance, you will not want to go hiking in an area that has bears or other larger animals, and you will want to stay away from animals or parts of nature that have poison such as some lizards or frogs and other smaller animals. You may also want to know what parts of nature are able to help you, such as plants that can be used as medicine.
Many people do not know to start small but this is in fact extremely important for new hikers. You want to be in an area where you can hike for a short amount of time and get used to this type of experience. You will also want to stay out for a short amount of time than an experienced hiker would. This is not only because of needing to get used to your surroundings but also because there may be side effects from vigorous activities that your body may not realize until after you have stopped hiking.
Lastly, you need to know your fire, food, and water. Every person should always make sure that they have a source of fire while hiking so that it will be able to be used for cooking or for heatif they are caught after sundown or in trouble. You will also need to bring food, but not so much that you will have a load that is too heavy for you.