Only you can make you safe on the trails

Only you can make you safe on the trails!

This Hiker Responsibility Code is posted on "HikeSafe" signs at all major trailheads in New Hampshire. Stolen for sharing with extra notes...

 Their weather is like our weather- it can change a "season" in an hour and surprise you....if you don't do your homework and stay aware of changing conditions.This code can apply to all hikers everywhere, from beginners on a short hike to experienced outdoor enthusiasts embarking on an expedition. Please practice the elements of the code and share the code with fellow trekkers. This will help increase responsibility and reduce the need for Search and Rescue efforts.


"HikeSafe" Hiker Responsibility Code

You are responsible for

• Your knowledge and gear. Become self reliant by learning about the terrain, conditions, local weather and your equipment before you start. Some smart phone apps can work on the trail, depending on coverage, and alert you to sudden weather changes. There are portable "Weather Alert" radios that, depending on coverage, give you warnings and forecasts from the National Weather Service Office. But you need to look up and out as you hike, and look for clues that the weather is changing. Weather is the second biggest contributing cause to death and injury on the trail.

• To leave your plans. Tell someone where you are going, the trails you are hiking, when you’ll return and your emergency plans. Pilots call it a flight plan, boaters call it a float plan, but have a plan and share it with several responsible adults. Log in at the trail head, get your day use permit, and talk with others you pass on the trail. That cute couple on a honeymoon day hike might be the last humans to see you before the SAR team starts looking for you. Say hello, mention the weather, be nice....and notice what they are wearing and where they are heading.....you might be the last people to see THEM on the trail and you want to be helpful to search efforts....like the golden rule?

• To stay together. When you start as a group, hike as a group, end as a group. Pace your hike to the slowest person.Skier know to travel in 4's. If someone gets trapped or injured, then a sub-group of two can go for help. The "Two man Rule" keeps you from making impulse decisions, gives you a helping hand along for the walk, and helps compensate for any "short leg drift" that can lead one person in a circle.

• To turn back. Weather changes quickly in on the trail. Mountains and forests can block the view of the horizon (from which all weather comes). Know the time of local sunset, and realize that a mountain or deep woods can make the darkness from shadows start early. Fatigue and unexpected conditions can also affect your hike. Know your limitations and when to postpone your hike. The trail will be there another day. Look back as you hike out. The view back to the trail head might be a lot different at sunset. Out guessing yourself because the right trail didn't look right...because you never saw that view before...because you never looked back...can mean an unplanned night on the trail. In big cat country, looking back can tell you if you're being stalked by a silent predator as well.

• For emergencies. Even if you are headed out for just an hour, an injury, severe weather or a wrong turn could become life threatening. Don’t assume you will be rescued; know how to rescue yourself. Extra food, water, survival blankets, a whistle, a compass, extra batteries add only ounces but can save your life.

• Share the hiker code with others, Tread Lightly, and pack out stupid peoples trash!

Long Hikes in not-so-urban Florida

Boardwalk Hiking Trails



Short Hike FB page


Listings of Florida Parks


Backwoods Institute for Wilderness Safety


As this is posted, I creep up on 53 years of age. I have been outdoors "camping" since 1966. My Dad dragged us from coast to coast, so I have seen the Giant Sequoya Redwoods, the Dwarf Cypress in Tate's Hell Swamp, Joshua Tree Cactus, the world from above the treeline in the Northern Rocky Mountains, the Appalachian Trail from a bald knob (which has nothing to do with a tree line in the western sense), baked in Death Valley in the summer noontime, and froze in Northern Wisconsin in January. I swam in the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of California, Salton Sea, the Great Salt Lake, Springs throughout Florida, spring fed lakes in Michigan, Lake Michigan and Superior, the Missouri, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Nolichucky, Osage, Kishwaukee, Rainbow and Rock Rivers. I learned field craft from my father, uncles, the United States Army, and the Boy Scouts. I have seen "Gas Wars" in New Mexico where leaded gasoline was 18 cents a gallon, and bought $10 a pound fudge in Gatlinburg, the Wisconsin Dells, Branson, Disney World, Knotts Berry Farm, and at Niagara Falls. I have slept in a fifth-wheel, a cab-over, a pop-up, a pup tent, and under a leaky poncho. I have eaten bugs, sushi (not much different), cold c-rations direct from the can, Florida lobster 3 minutes out of the water, buffalo, beefalow, emu, horse, cow, pig, chicken, and dog. I have seen just about every mile of paved Interstate Highway, but remember Route 66 as the blacktop dipped into each dry wash in the desert as it stretched to LA. We saw Graceland, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and the Dayton Air Force Museum. At this point, aside from making it to Alaska, there is not much I've missed. Not that I appreciated Wild Woodies in Independence Missouri, or Webb City in St. Petersburg Florida while they were still standing, but I was a kid. Now, what do I have to show for it?  Well, three adult children that aren't afraid of strangers, love fudge, know Tucumcari is in New Mexico on the way to Meteor Crater Arizona, and love to travel. Not bad, I'll take that over being famous any day.

Happy Birthday to me!