1. Having Fun Hiking
By Practicing Safe Hiking
Presentation to Guides and Pathfinders
Cathy Walker
Ridge Meadows Outdoors Club
2014

2. If you can walk, you can hike
• You get to see so many beautiful and
interesting places and things
• As well as getting great exercise

3. Have fun!
• Diez Vistas, Buntzen Lake

4. See beautiful places
• Marion Lake, UBC Research Forest

5. See beautiful plants

6. Cute animals

7. Interesting
geology

8. Have lots of fun!
• Mt. Nutt, Golden Ears Park

9. You can hike in the winter with
snowshoes

10. What do you need to know to enjoy
hiking and backpacking?

11. Take care of your feet
• Tend to hot spots Before they become blisters

12. What do you need on a hike?
• Most important: boots that fit

13. How to find good boots?
• Go to Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC is in Langley at
Willowbrook Mall) at end of day when your feet are slightly
larger
• Wear hiking socks: merino wool are best (Costco’s are
great quality and by far the cheapest); some people wear
two pairs of socks, inner and outer
• Let the MEC store clerk fit your boots
• Wear the boots in the store as long as you can, go up and
down inclines
• At MEC, you can take them back if they don’t work out on
the trail
• If you can’t find boots at MEC to fit, go elsewhere

14. Find a good pack
• Packs also need to fit
• Best ones have padded waist belt;
weight rests on your hips
• Make sure it’s big enough to carry
what you need
• Get MEC clerk to help you choose a
pack and load it with stuff; walk
around the store
• At MEC you can take it back if it
doesn’t fit right on the trail
• Or, go for cheap – Canadian Tire
• For overnight backpacking, fit is
Essential

15. What to wear?
• Comfortable clothing
• Dress in layers
• Wear clothing that dries quickly – synthetics like
polyester, not cotton
• Remember, your clothes will get wet and dirty
• Can go to Value Village or other thrift stores if
you don’t have suitable clothing

16. What’s in your day pack?
• Your lunch
• Your water
• Your snacks

17. What’s in your day pack?

18. What else to bring on a day hike?

19. What do you
need for
backpacking?

20. Trail Etiquette
• Stick to the trail, especially
in alpine and sub-alpine
areas to prevent damage to
eco-system and trail erosion
• Take out all garbage you
brought with you (and pick
up other people’s garbage
too)
• Clean up after your dog –
the main reason for dogs to
be on leashes
• Let other people get by who
are coming the other way
• Many people Hate the sound
of bear bells (some people
call them bear dinner bells)

21. Trail Safety
• Don’t get lost
• Read the map first
• Know how far
you’re going, what
the elevation gain
is and about how
long the hike will
take
• Know what time
dark will be and
what time the park
will close
• Weather forecast
will let you know
what to expect

22. Trail Safety
• Go with someone who has done the trail
before
• Make sure there’s at least 3 of you
• So if someone gets hurt, there’s one to stay
with them and one to go for help
• If someone is injured, keep them warm and
dry

23. Trail Safety
• Have a leader and a person
at the back
• Count the number of hikers
and re-count at every stop
• Keep together on the trail;
don’t get too spread out
• Wait for people at Every
junction
• Take time for breaks (5
minutes every hour) to have
a rest, a drink of water and a
snack; it’s not a race

24. Trail Safety – Whistle Signals
•
•
•
•
•
One whistle – Where are you?
Two whistles – Come to me
Three whistles – Emergency!
In each case, wait a minute between whistling
If it’s an emergency, keep whistling till people
find you

25. Trail Safety
• Make sure you wait for
slowest person periodically
and don’t take off the
instant they catch up
• If necessary, break the
group into two groups, one
slower and one faster
• If someone can’t continue
and wants to go back, make
sure someone goes with
them or the person stays
put and waits till the group
returns and take them back
with the group

26. Trail Safety
• Take a cell phone but
remember they often don’t
work in remote areas
including most of Golden
Ears Park
• Make sure someone at
home knows where you are
going and approximately
what time you are
expected back; call them
when you get back
• If there’s no-one at
home, leave a note on the
dashboard of your vehicle
saying where you are going
and approximately what
time you are expected back

27. Trail Safety
• If you get lost and it’s getting dark, stay put
• Keep warm and dry and wait till morning to
find your way again

28. Where to hike near here?

29. Where to hike near here?

30. UBC Research Forest

31. How to get there

32. Where else to hike?

33. Where to hike and take long walks?

34. What’s
the
biggest
danger
in the
woods?

35. It isn’t a bear, not even a grizzly bear

36. It isn’t a cougar

37. It’s water: Too much can make you
very, very cold;
Too little can make you dehydrated

38. Here, it rains
• A Lot!

39. Two dangers
• Too much rain
• What can be caused in your body when it’s both
cold and wet?
• Hypothermia
• What can be caused in your body when there’s
far too little water and you get dehydrated?
• Heat stress or heat stroke
• Both can kill you

40. So it’s very important
• To keep dry and
warm when you
stop in the rainy
season, especially if
you are lost and
have to stay out
overnight

41. To keep hydrated in the hot season

42. But most important of all
• Have fun hiking!

43. Thanks very much!
• http://www.rmoutdoorclub.ca/
• Any questions?