Category: Hiker Safety

Stebbins Cold Canyon Loop, Blue Ridge Loop Safety Warning

Safety Update: The Stebbins-Cold Canyon-Blue Ridge Loop near Lake Berryessa can be a brutal hiking trail in the heat. The maintainers of the trail have posted signs at the trailhead warning of NO COVER from the sun on the ridge and that each person have at least 1 GALLON of water with them and even more for those who have pets. I have seen pet owners carrying their dogs up on the ridge as they hike because their pets are too exhausted to continue under their own power. People are discouraged from using the trail in fire weather. If Cal Fire has issued a red flag warning, it is strongly advised that you do not hike this trail during that time. Continue reading “Safety Update: Stebbins Cold Canyon Loop”

Getting lost in the wilderness is the holy sh*t of hiking, but it’s not the end of the world. After all, you somehow got to where you are, so you should be able to get back. Don’t panic. Continue reading “Getting Lost: The Holy Sh*t of Hiking”

Situational awareness is one of the most important skills you need to utilize while hiking in the wilderness. Unfortunately, I see enough people who don’t have it or exercise it.

The lack of situational awareness in other people has been noticeable to me for quite awhile, but I haven’t really thought about writing about it until what I saw on the Thunder Mountain Trail recently. I passed a hiker who at first I didn’t think much about other than he was a general idiot, until I started to think about him more as I hiked and actually got angry.

On first appearance, I just thought he was a dumbsh*t hiker somewhere in line for a Darwin Award as he approached me in the wilderness wearing earbuds. I knew he had them turned up after I stepped aside for him to pass and he said, “Thank you,” very loudly so he could hear his own voice over the volume of his earbuds. Clearly, he had no capacity for audio situational awareness around him. Continue reading “Situational Awareness is Essential While Hiking”

Ahot sun, no water and a loss of direction turned what should have been great hike into a day of agony when I decided to climb Billy’s Hill and trek over to Glascock Mountain up California Highway 16 on the Cortina Ridge.

A series of things went wrong, which started with a mistake I made on the trail. This is not a trail summary – that will come later this summer, but I want to write about the importance of taking the proper amount of water as the summer heat approaches. Continue reading “When a Hike Turns to Agony”