Anna Lech Hiking Tips for Beginners

If you like being active and spending time outdoorsoutdoorsoutdoors, hiking may be a great alternative to lazy beach holidays. Hiking is a great way to get to know yourself and to discover nature. A great advantageadvantageadvantage of hiking is that it’s good for everyone and it doesn't cost much. If you want to know more about hiking, have a look at this short guide to make sure you stay safe.

Plan your journey and check the weather. If you are a beginner, it’s better to choose a sunny, but not very hot day for your trip. Hiking in extreme weather is not for everyone. Bad weather can simply make you tired and angry. Remember that safety should always be first. Hiking in the rain is not the same as walking with an umbrella in the city. It's difficult to walk on a wet mountain trail. You can fall down and get injuredget injuredget injured. Another problem is that in bad weather you can lose your way and get lost.

Clouds or fog in the mountains sometimes totally block the viewsviews [view]views which, on sunny days, can be truly beautiful. Without good weather, you can't take any photos from the trailtrailtrail to show that you climbed a mountain peakmountain peakmountain peak, walked along a mountain rangemountain rangemountain range or had lunch in a beautiful valleyvalleyvalley.

Pack the essentialsessentialsessentials. For a simple day‑hike, you should take a light backpack with enough water and food, a first aid kitfirst‑aid kitfirst aid kit, a hat and a raincoat, a well‑charged mobile phone and a paper map. Why should you take a paper map when you have everything on your mobile? The Internet may be poor, your battery may be low, the appappapp with the maps may not work properlyproperlyproperly… Need more reasons?

Wear the right boots AND the right socks. Everyone knows that a pair of good quality, comfortable trekking bootstrekking boots [trekking boot]trekking boots is a must, but few people realise that the socks are just as important. If you ever had blistersblisters [blister]blisters on your feet, you know they can ruin even a short walk in the park. Good socks will keep your feet dry and you won't get blisters.

Stay safe with the right equipmentequipmentequipment. Mountain hiking can be safe if you have some simple equipment with you. Many people think  trekking polestrekking poles [trekking pole]trekking poles are unnecessaryunnecessaryunnecessary but, in fact, they are very useful. They will make climbing up easier and they will help your knees when you walk down. They will not let you slipslipslip on a wet rock and you can use them to point to a beautiful mountain view. And, even more importantly, they will make you look like a real propropro on the mountain trail!

Doesn’t sound very difficult, does it? Are you ready for hiking?

1 Źródło: Anna Lech, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.