Is solo hiking dangerous?

The short answer to this question is:  Yes. It is dangerous.

There is no one to help you or backstop you while you’re forcing the river or traverse the cliff.

There is no one to call for help if something happens, and there is no one to perform the first aid in case of trauma, allergy or disease.

Does this mean that there is a guarantee that something happens to you? No. Some things are inevitable, like a certain nature event or unexpected meeting with a venomous snake. Some are predictable and are the means of preparedness.  And if you’re going solo there are a number of things that you have to do in order to minimize the risk.

Storm is coming to Dovre mountains

Here is your solo hiking safety measures checklist.

My hiking food

Comfort food

I would not go into the importance of proper food during the hike. Food is energy, no energy – no hike. But when you a petite hiker or when you’re going solo, there are several problems you should solve in terms of food supply.

I would say that food and fuel are the main factors that limit my ability to hike longer. Food is both a weight and volume, as well as a fuel you need to cook your food. Once your ability to carry the heavy load is limited (I define my upper limit as half of my weight, 20 kgs/44 lbs). Food need to be lightweight, compact (to fit into my 66L backpack) and of high energy value. But, it should also be tasty enough and rich in nutritional terms. And when you’re doing solo you should carefully balance your ration to fulfill all that requirements. Here is my approach to hiking food. 

How to hike with bad knees

My knees are generally an issue and a pain in the ass :). I have a genetic condition, which makes my ligaments and tendons less resilient, they tend to stretch under the pressure to the point when they are not able to hold the joints in place. This leads to the exessive stress to the joints and thus – to wear of the joint itself and traumas. I have a mild form of osteoarthrosis, and all my joints are more prone to inflammation and trauma than a joints of a regular healthy person. Alas!

Being a petite hiker means that I have to carry, literally, half of my weight during my hikes for dozens of miles. That is the helluva stress for knees, and I have to be extra careful to avoid traumas and to preserve my knees.

In this post, I want to share my own lifehacks on how to save your knees during the hike. Please be advised that I am not a doctor and everything written below is just my personal experience.

It would be a great shame if I had to give up my hiking hobby because of the knee problems. For years I was too afraid that my knees would not be able to hold the pressure that I even didn’t consider solo hiking as an option. But one day I decided to give it a try, and here I am, with miles and miles of hiking trails behind me and my knees still alive and well. Of course, I spend lots of time researching how to protect my knees before I started my hike, And here is what I do to prevent knee problems.

My Kungsleden diary

I would begin my post with a story how SAS lost my luggage. Because of that, I had to spend one more day in Kiruna before starting my hike, and so I was forced to cover more per day during my hike to keep up with the schedule.

The guy in Kiruna Airport said that it is pretty common when SAS doesn’t deliver luggage in time, so if you’re planning your hike and going to Kiruna by plane, you should probably consider staying in Kiruna for two days in case your luggage is delayed.

The funniest thing is that I was not the only one whose luggage was not delivered in time. Two guys from Germany were on the same flight with me and one of them didn’t get his backpack as well. So it is really pretty common, beware!

Okay. So, the Kungsleden.

Hike started

So, today i start my Kungsleden hike ) If you’re interested, you could watch my progress on here (will be updated through my InReach 3 times a day)

Wish me Auroras and a good hike. See you )

Petite Hiker: My review of hiking gear for petite girls

If you’re petite, like me, you’ll probably already faced the comlications of finding a right hiking gear and apparel that fits your size. Most brands of clothes and shoes don’t make clothes for petite women and kid’s clothing usually doesn’t fit right and often are of worse quality or limited functionality.

I face these dificulties every time I need to update anything in my hiking wardrobe from boots to T-shirts. So here is my gear list of things that fit me. Probably It’ll be useful for you if you have same sizing problem.

Next Hike: Kungsleden

So, this September I’m going to  hike the Kungsleden , The King’s Trail. one of most popular trails in Swedish Lapland. I’m planning to make a detour to visit Kebnekaise, the highest mountain in Sweden

I will go from Abisko to Nikkaluokta. Here is the crude outline of my route:

The overall route will be 126 km (including the detour to Kebnekaise), the solo part will take 6 days and 85km (from Abisko to Singi, where I’m gonna meet my boufriend (who is also doing solo hike) and from there we’ll continue together.

I will arrive to Stockholm by plane,. than take a plane to Kiruna, spend a night there and ride to Abisko where I’ll start my hike. The exit point will be at Nikkaluokta, where we’ll take bus back to Kiruna.  Are there any good pubs in Kiruna btw?

UPD:

the weather in Nikkaluokta, according to statistics of YR.NO (i highly recommend this site as the source of weather forecasts for Scandinavia, especially Norway) will be approximately 4.3C with highest of 7.4C and lowest of 1.7C. This is a bit colder than my previous hikes (I usually hike in temperatures of 10-15C). But on my experience with Finnish Lapland, autumn there could be relatively warm, if the weather is sunny. I remember beautiful 20C on my last hike in Lemmenjoki in September 2015. So i hope for the best and probably gonna take my Tshirt and shorts just in case. But keeping in mind the forecast i will bring my warm gear as well (base layer, fleece, waterproof and softshell). I’m a big fan of layering btw.

I contacted Abisko Tourist Station and they told me that they sell gas cartridges so I’ll stock it once i’ll came to Abisko, at the very beginning of the hike.