4. TO PLAN.

Plan so much that you have a second backup plan for your first backup plan. I cannot stress this enough! It kind of goes along with being adaptable, but since most things don’t go 100% according to plan, it’s important to have an idea of what you might do if things don’t work out. This means being prepared and having things in your backpack such as the ten essentials including a first aid kit, extra water and food, dry clothing, maps of where you’re going, a compass, etc. It also means things like having an extra pair of glasses in your car so you can see on the drive home if you lose them in a river crossing, or having a plan B and C backup hike if the first trailhead is too crowded or closed for some reason. In addition, you should spend some time researching the area you’re going to be hiking in, and being educated on the situations you could be put in (eg. exposure, weather), and be sure to let someone know exactly where you’re going and when you plan on being back. If you throw everything completely up to chance, you could be putting yourself in life or death situations. 

Read Next: The 10 Essentials, Everything You Need to Know

5. FEAR CAN HOLD YOU BACK.

Don’t be afraid of fear. That is, don’t let fear hold you back. Fear of bears, fear of being alone, fear of getting lost, even the fear of failing. You’re going to encounter new fears that you had never even thought of as you go out into the Wilderness. All we can do is plan as best as possible, educate ourselves, and learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. There is massive opportunity for growth at the face of a challenge.

The best part of these new experiences is they make you vulnerable, and vulnerability accompanies growth. Opening up and accepting vulnerability has allowed me to make space to be my best self, which seems to inspire others to do the same 😌 

6. IT’S GOOD TO CHALLENGE OURSELVES.

When I first moved to Colorado, there were a lot of places I wanted to explore, and I never went because I was afraid to go alone. I waited for people to go with me but no one ever wanted to go as often as I did. I get it, most people don’t want to spend their weekend waking up at 3:30 in the morning to go hike for 8 hours just to go home, sleep, and wake up the next morning to do it all again.

At a certain point, I decided I was going to have to get over my fear of going alone and just go, or I was never going to see the places I so badly wanted to. That was a challenge that took me some time to overcome, and to be honest – I still get nervous before many solo adventures, and every once in a while I still get paranoid if I’m on a trail completely alone. But there will always be another obstacle to overcome. Once I got over that, I had to overcome the challenge of longer distance hiking and being farther from resources. I went from traveling an average of 4-5 miles a day to 6-8 miles, then 8-12+ miles to now where I can hike up to 20 miles in a single day. After that, it became elevation gain. If you can let these challenges inspire you rather than make you afraid or fearful, you will have a superpower on the trails.

I’m very grateful to the trails for providing constant new obstacles for me; I definitely don’t get bored! But with all of these challenges, I have to prove to myself that I can figure it out and learn new ways to be self-sufficient.

“To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.”
                – Terry Tempest Williams

 

8. TO PLAY.

Life is too short to be serious all the time. Take the trip, go float on a river, book the flight, summit the mountain, cross the fallen tree to the other side of the creek, and go chase the sunset. Do ALL of it, and don’t ever wait to have fun, because this life is the only chance we get to really live and we have the opportunity to create the reality we want to see. What do you want yours to look like?