Are you passionate about hiking? So already you must call it the hike and know the secret handshake that real hikers do, the one with their feet. If you are really used to long walks on marked paths, you probably know the things not to do at all before going on a hike, or the boring things that always happen on a hike. And yet, every year it’s the same mess, people do anything and suddenly there are accidents, traffic jams or lost children. We have therefore decided to remind you of the main points of the things not to do before starting your day in the great outdoors, so as not to become a local urban legend like “the one who was attacked by a bear” or “the big one jerk who got lost”.
1. Take unsuitable shoes
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Beginner’s mistake, too many people go hiking in sneakers or tap shoes (it’s rarer, but it does exist). However, you will probably go through gravel type paths, forests with stupid branches sticking out of the ground, wet earth slopes and suddenly you have to be well-shod to not break your two legs, that’s the basic rule.
2. Smoke 15 cigarettes
If you are a smoker and you say to yourself “I’m going to smoke my pack before starting so that you don’t need to take cigarette breaks during the hike” know that it’s as good an idea as trying to cool boiling water. with your mouth. If you don’t want to die after walking 15 meters in the parking lot at the start of the hike, smoke quietly without excess during the day or better: have a tobacco-free day.
3. Leave just before dark
The best way to get lost, injured or encounter sleepwalking bears (a rare but very dangerous species). Never leave before dark, hiking is practiced exclusively during the day, otherwise it is called night hiking and you need special equipment consisting of a headlamp, a whistle and a guide dog.
4. Not planning a route and moving haphazardly on the trails
A hike requires minimal preparation, it’s common sense. You can’t go like that on a path saying to yourself “oh we’ll find a way to make a loop”. You will get lost or embark on a 28 kilometer course thinking of going on a 4 hour walk and everyone will have a terrible day.
5. Choose a path that passes through a hunting area during the hunting season
Well, we gave you the tricks to not be confused with game by hunters, but it doesn’t work very well since there are still “accidents” every two days. The only real way to survive in hunting season is to lock yourself in your house, stay away from windows and move around by crawling on the ground. It only lasts a few months, you can make the effort if you want to live.
6. Leaving without water
If you want to play it without water, hoping to find a stream with a dowsing rod, you might as well tell yourself that not only will you have a hard time finding one, but that nothing tells you that the water will be there. really drinkable. Since you get thirsty very quickly when you hike, it is better to plan twice as much as twice less.
7. Embarking on a 4500m vertical drop hike when you are not even running to get your bus
Yes, so in fact you might have to start there, if you have the stamina of a deceased lazy person, don’t embark on a ten-hour hike classified as difficult in the middle of the mountains, you’ll keep a great memory of the thing, if you come back alive. Just do laps in the parking lot, that’s nice too.
8. Leaving when the weather forecast is stormy
Do you want to walk in the pouring rain, catch a cold, have a shitty time, risk getting your shoes stuck or worse, getting your new raincoat wet? Hiking in the rain is already boring, but in a storm it’s not only boring but it also becomes dangerous, it’s better to cancel or take a shorter walk when the weather turns.
9. Do not take a cap if there is a blazing sun
A blazing sun is an expression, it means that it is basically hot. So if you try it without a hat and without sunscreen, you risk on the one hand coming back red as a tomato (it’s also an expression) and feeling unwell, and that’s not cool at all on a hike , because afterwards you have to bring you back to the car carrying you. Think of others, put on a cap.
10. Do not plan a slab puzzle by telling yourself that you will eat all the berries you find
In the long list of rotten ideas to do before going on a hike, not taking anything to eat is at the top of the ranking. We are not talking about leaving with the raclette service, but leaving without anything will not help you last the day. And if you were planning to find something to eat on the way, don’t hesitate to review into the wildthat should deter you from doing such a stupid thing.
11. Smear your body with honey
You will find it funny and think it’s a joke but no, in the Topito team there is QuentinD and he submitted this idea to me to put in my top. When I asked him if this had ever happened to him he looked down and looked serious as if he was remembering painful memories, so I think he really did and that’s wrong passed, so I advise against it.
12. Get off marked trails
If at any point you want to go off the beaten path because you think you saw a marmot or Ryan Gosling in the distance, that’s probably the craziest idea you’ve had since you decided to go hiking. Going away a little to pee yes, but going off-piste completely without knowing the basic course is not at all advisable.
13. Bring your pétanque set
Moving around with your petanque balls may seem like a good idea in everyday life, but when hiking it is relatively unrecommended. Already because there is little chance that you will find a perfectly flat ground to play on your way but in addition because pétanque is played partially drunk (according to the official rules), and drink before going on a hike it’s not recommended at all, it’s even the next point.
14. Getting drunk before you start
That’s called common sense, there’s a whole bunch of stuff you shouldn’t do drunk, like work, climbing, checking the air quality upstairs of a cathedral or to learn German. So if you don’t want to reduce your life expectancy by 100%, forget the rambling hike.
15. Thinking that going down is easier than going up
A rookie mistake there too, some people still tend to think that the climb is more complicated than the descent, but no, the descent is the worst thing, it’s not at all relaxing or calmer we just want to lie on the ground and roll down the mountain crying.
16. Bring a piece of furniture to assemble
I know what it is, you have little free time and you’ve been trying to find a niche to put up that shelf for three months, but believe me, doing this on your hike is not the place or the time ideal.