To say I’m out of my element when hiking is definitely an understatement but the mental clarity of changing up your workout routine up is absolutely worth it. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve hiked so this article is truly coming from a beginner hiker.
If you’re interested in hiking or walking trails, the first step is to do your research:
Not all trails are created equally. Depending on your region, some trails note the level of difficulty. Short story, my first true hike was in the Shenandoah Valley when some friends and I rented a cabin for the weekend. The Shenandoah Valley is a quick getaway from the DC area. My friends that I went with were much more outdoorsy than me and very experienced hikers. Luckily, the host picked an “easy” trail for us to hike after a night of drinking. While this trail was short, it was pretty much up hill the entire time. Let’s just say, if that was the easy trail, I’m not sure I want to know what a “intermediate” trail would be! (Although, I’d like to think that the hangover was the cause of difficulty!)
Closures: Mother nature has her own way of taking care of the trails. This past weekend, we found several trails that were closed due to a storm that had come through this summer and made the trails unsafe to hike.
Hours, Parking and Restrictions, oh My! Believe it or not, most state and national parks have hours of being open (unless you’re camping). Most often, it’s from dawn until dusk. In the Shenandoah Valley, there were several pull-offs where trails started and at Starved Rock, there were several parking lots near the lodge as well as some pull offs. To my surprise, at Starved Rock, alcohol was permitted during certain months. That definitely came in handy at lunch.
Obviously, check the weather before you go. I’m not sure about you, but I don’t want to get stuck on a trail in a flash flood, sudden down pour, or even during a thunderstorm. This also helps you be prepared for what to pack!
If you’re anything like me, when you have to pack AND carry your bag around, you like to be prepared but not overpacked. Because in hiking you have to carry your own bag.
Comfortable shoes and additional shoes: I did this at Starved Rock. I wore my tennis shoes but brought an additional pair to change into for the car ride. The second pair of shoes is a game changer. I quickly learned this trick when I started planning meetings and working the long conference hours. In my first job, after the long day of working 12+ hour days, the team would go to dinner and having a shoe change was so necessary!
Appropriate Layers: This absolutely depends on the season you’re hiking in, but the best options are always wicking materials. Wicking helps sweat from sticking to your body so when you cool off, your sweat still isn’t on you, making you colder. This is definitely important in the cooler months. I chose to wear long pants, a tank and a long sleeved shirt. I fully intended on taking the long sleeve shirt off, but when you hike in shaded areas, the sun isn’t on you and it is actually cooler than you think! Also, you’ll see several hikers wear boots and long socks OVER their pants. This look never made sense to me as a fashion look, but when is hiking truly for fashion? This year I learned this hiking trend is to avoid ticks and tick bites can lead to Lyme disease.
Food and Beverages: I’ve always been one who is concerned about food and fashion (the most important “F” words) so I brought the treats on this past hiking trip. I tried to focus on foods that would give me energy as well as fill me up. I started the day with coffee and a protein bar. These have been the best protein bars that keep me full for the longest period of time. Now, I even surprised myself with the salads but they are one of my favorite Trader Joe’s salad (pictured below) and offers a lot of energy and nutrients. With these salads, my idea was, they will fill us up but give us enough energy without weighing me down (or giving me a stomach ache!). Turkey and cheese definitely provided some great fat and protein to keep up full! The apples definitely helped with quick energy boost after the hike. The key to packing is also packing foods that won’t make you have to go to the bathroom - cause those are few and far between!
What to Carry: A bag! I packed a simple bag just to carry a few items. In the bag, I carried: my water bottle, Band-Aids, hand sanitizer and my rescue inhaler. If you think you’ll need to go to the bathroom outside on a trail, I would assume you may want to also pack some wipes. Depending on what your phone charge is like (of course, always fully charge it before you leave) you may want to bring an additional phone charger. We kept the food packed in a cooler in the car, as well as the sunscreen, bug spray and additional water bottles.
Now go forth and take on Mother Nature!
