Collins Complete Hiking and Camping Manual: The essential guide to comfortable walking, cooking and sleeping

LOCATION AND WEATHER (#ulink_64c1b89d-0d61-569a-88c1-03c4d834402d)

Research Your Destination

Investigate the availability of guidebooks and maps.

Contact area rangers or land managers to get more information. Inquire about permits required, safety issues like hunting season, and seasonal hazards like wildfires.

Talk with other people who have been to the area before. If possible, check their trip logs, which may have important information not found in guidebooks.

Trip Planning Questions

How long is the trip? Can the trip be self-supporting in terms of equipment and food, or will you need to resupply? How will you handle the resupply—cache items ahead of time, hike out, or have someone hike in? (See “Resupply Issues (#ulink_3855a8c0-ee28-5c20-9970-5ebb700890c1),”.)

How remote is the trip from “civilization” and help in case of an emergency?

What are the trail conditions?

Are there special places you want to see?

Are there places you want to avoid like high-use areas?

Are shelters available on a daily basis, or do you need to bring your own?

Where is parking and trailhead access?

What is the water availability and water quality on a daily basis?

Are there safety issues—hunting season, off-road vehicles, etc.?

Are there any special natural hazards—flash floods in desert canyons, wildfires, etc.? (See “How Accidents Happen (#litres_trial_promo),”.)

What Leave No Trace practices will you need to implement to safeguard the environment? (See “Leave No Trace Hiking and Camping (#litres_trial_promo).”)

Regulations and Permits

Each location can have its own unique set of regulations and requirements. It is important to check these out in detail before you go. Here are some of the possible issues to research:

Are permits needed, and how do you obtain them?

How far in advance do you need to apply for a permit?

Is there a cost for the permit?

Are their any special regulations about rescue? (Some parks, like Denali in Alaska, may require that you pay for your own rescue.)

Are there limitations to group size?

Where is camping allowed and not allowed?

Are there any restricted areas, hazardous zones, protected areas for endangered species, and such?

Are fires allowed? If fires are allowed, will wood be available? Or will you need to bring a stove?

Are there special regulations about Leave No Trace practices such as disposing of human waste?

Weather

How many hours of daylight will there be? Check the Web at sites like the BBC (www.bbc.co.uk) or www.sunrisesunset.com for sunrise and sunset times and average high and low temperatures.

How will the season determine the weather? Are storms or particular weather patterns likely? (See “Weather and Nature (#litres_trial_promo).”)

How will weather affect trip activities? How might it affect the safety of the group?

Will altitude changes during the trip have an impact on weather or temperature?

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED (#ulink_5ef80b7a-a3d6-5bce-8396-0d512b8138cd)

When planning a trip, remember that the ultimate goal is for people to have fun. Here are some tips to planning a trip that everyone can enjoy:

Make a plan that can be modified during the trip. All sorts of factors—bad weather, changing trail conditions, broken equipment, ill-prepared participants, an injury—may require you to change your itinerary.

Don’t plan long or difficult hikes on every day of the trip. Vary the mileage so that you have some days when you can get a later start or get to camp early.

On longer trips, schedule a rest day every five to seven days.

Make sure that people have some time during each day to kick back—to read, watch the sunset, write, etc.

When hiking at high altitudes, people acclimatize at different rates. You may have to adjust your trip to give people time to properly acclimatize before going higher, especially if people are coming straight from sea level to a high altitude. (See “Altitude Illnesses (#litres_trial_promo),”.)

EQUIPMENT (#ulink_e07eb92f-9c41-5c5e-8876-6f42368a404b)

Once you have determined your trip activities and location, you need to put together an equipment list. Sample equipment lists are provided in the Appendix, but remember that they should be used only as guidelines. Each trip and each person may have special requirements.

FOOD (#ulink_6dcec9f2-082c-54f5-ba1f-1fb5c0fc11ae)

It is important to have food that is both nourishing and edible. On longer trips, with specialized activities, or in different climates (e.g., cold-weather trips), it may be necessary to plan a menu that supplies a specific number of calories per day and stresses certain food groups over others. On any trip, it is essential to be aware of special dietary requirements for each trip member—food allergies, vegetarians, and kosher eaters—and plan a menu accordingly. Check this information on the Fitness and Health Information Form for each person on the trip (see page (#litres_trial_promo)). For food, nutrition, and menu planning guidelines, See “Cooking and Nutrition (#u354b2d89-8870-5e0a-bf5b-975ef6545d32).”

COSTS (#ulink_c00acdb2-2592-5b66-a8bc-bd812fde59b4)

Before going on a group trip, talk about how costs will be distributed. This includes food, fuel, travel expenses, and first aid supplies. You’d be surprised how friendships can get strained because people did not work out the finances beforehand.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT (#ulink_1f1460d4-2192-5c15-aa07-4386088795d3)

Depending on the type of group you’re traveling with, people may have varying levels of experience. There are specific skills that people need before the trip, such as how to pack a pack, and some that need to be taught on the trip, such as how to set up camp or how to use a backpacking stove. There are so many different skills I use on a hiking trip that I find it hard to remember them all—many I just do automatically. Take the time to make a list of these skills so you don’t overlook anything (a sample Teaching Plan is included in the Appendix). If you are a trip leader, or if you’re just traveling with friends who are less experienced, plan time to cover the important subjects both ahead of time and on the trail.

For advanced-level trips, you may need to do a more formal skill assessment. For example, if you are going to be traveling across glaciers, does everyone have experience traveling on snow, handling an ice axe, and being roped up? Will people need to know special techniques like self-arrest or crevasse rescue? Sometimes this assessment is done by reviewing people’s previous trip experiences, or you may have the group go out on a supervised practice trip to review and test special skills.

TRIP PREPARATION CHECKLIST (#ulink_a63b520b-fbed-5069-82d9-3527956f9e8e)