Hiking. Ever tried it? Maybe you have visions of dusty trails on steep slopes. Or, possibly you think it’s an experience filled with just insect bites, blisters and sore legs. Sounds pretty unpleasant, doesn’t it?

Well, hiking can involve those things. But, with the proper techniques, equipment and guidance you can enjoy all the many positives that are inherent in hiking: fresh air, beautiful scenery, healthy exercise, soul-refreshing solitude and joyous companionship. You can also avoid those unpleasant things listed earlier.

Just to get started on the right foot, so to speak, it’s a good idea to say what hiking is not.

Hiking is not mountain climbing, even though you can hike up some mountains. Mountain climbing involves using gear or special techniques to scale steep inclines. Mountain climbing is potentially dangerous, even lethal.

About the only time hikers confront anything serious is when they get lost in wilderness areas or accidentally suffer a snake bite. Both those fates are easily avoided with a little bit of expert guidance and some common sense.

Hiking can be part of kayaking, fishing and other outdoor activities. But those, along with cave-exploring, canyoning and a dozen other exciting outdoor activities are not the same as hiking. Most of those other things are much more vigorous and require specialized guidance or training.

All you need to get started hiking is some good boots, the appropriate outdoor clothing and access to an area that allows you to enjoy the experience.

You can find good boots at hundreds of places online, and later we’ll talk about how to select the right pair. Similarly, outdoor clothing in every price range, style and purpose can be had on a hundred sites. Picking out the right socks, pants, shirt and jacket isn’t hard if you keep in mind the area and weather. A few hints in the right direction will go a long way.

Lots of other gear can help make your experience more enjoyable. Poles, GPS units and/or a compass, backpacks, containers and an array of other items like bug spray, burn cream, bandages can make life on the trail a lot more pleasant.

You’ll want to consider a few common sense safety guidelines before you go very far beyond your local trail-lined hills. It’s possible to get lost even in very small patches of forest. Snakes and other wildlife can turn a refreshing outing into an adventure you should only see on TV.

But after some modest instruction and preparation, you can quickly be ready for some stellar hikes. With a little more expert guidance and a bit of experience, you can soon branch out into overnight or longer hikes. Within a few months or less, you can tackle even the toughest trails.

Get ready for the adventure, because it’s all there waiting for you at the head of the trail. Walk on!

You wouldn’t naturally think so, but selecting socks is even harder than buying boots. There are so many good models and manufacturers of good boots. If you find ones that are sturdy and fit well, you’ll probably be pleased. But, socks? That’s tough.

Socks are socks, right? Not when it comes to hiking, no. Sports socks are not hiking socks. You don’t want to wear the same socks you use to play tennis or soccer when you set out on a long hike.

A good hiking sock will be thick, incredibly sturdy, comfortable, have terrific thermal and moisture-wicking properties and be loyal, faithful and true. Ok, maybe those last three apply more to your dog. But you need good socks, nonetheless.

You’ll put about 1,000 miles on a pair of hiking socks before they’re ready for the trash can. That sounds like a very long distance. But consider that it is really only about a year if you take modest hikes every weekend.

For that 1,000 miles you want comfort. The word has the ring of luxury about it, but in hiking comfort is essential. Blisters, chafing and other foot damage can turn a three mile hike back to the trail head into torture if your socks fail you.

Good moisture-wicking is mandatory. ‘Wicking’ means taking the sweat produced by your sweat glands off the surface and transporting it away from the foot. If the sock fails to do that, you’ll develop fungi, blisters, chafing, and other ugly results. Forget about just bad smell here, we’re talking health problems.

If you spend even a moderate amount of time hiking you’ll need good thermal properties from your socks. In hot summer heat the sock has to allow good conduction of that heat away from the foot where it can migrate out of the boot. In cold temperatures, feet need be kept within a comfortable range.

That socks can actually perform these two contrary goals is something of a technological wonder. Yet they do. That they do that while providing support, comfort and moisture-wicking is little short of astonishing.

Ok, I wax lyrical about socks. But for those cynics who think this is just poetry, try some bad socks underneath really good hiking boots and observe the results for yourself. You’ll quickly become a Shakespeare lover. But onto practical matters.

All cotton is still a very good way to go. Nature’s material offers all those needed attributes. But clever engineers have gone beyond nature in some ways too. Blends – Lycra, wool and others – and micro-geometry have been combined to provide great support and comfort, excellent thermal control and superior moisture-wicking.

They should have thick areas on the toe, ankle bone and heel because these are the parts that get the most wear. Make sure they don’t have any ridges, especially near the toes or at the ankle bone. Those can irritate as quick as a pebble in your boot. They should be long enough to come well above the top of the boot and fold down.

Even the best socks will lose elasticity at the top and sometimes folding them down over the top of the boot is the only way to get them to not slide inside when you’re on the trail. Still, get a style and brand that don’t lose elasticity quickly. Hiking socks are more expensive than other types ($10 per pair or more), and you don’t want to have to replace them every month or two.

You should have several pair to choose from, feet change size at various times of the day or year. You’ll also want a variety for different climates and for style. And, of course, your favorites will always be in the laundry. Buy three of those.

Happy hunting!

GPS is an acronym standing for Global Positioning System. Though there are lots of components, the essential parts are a series of satellites and the units people carry. Three satellites are used to locate your position across the Earth’s surface and another can be used with them to calculate your altitude in a process called triangulation.

GPS units come in an array of prices, with the higher priced models offering more features. A very basic unit will have a display and controls that allow you to find your latitude (east-west lines drawn around the Earth) and longitude (north-south lines radiating from the North Pole to the South Pole).

Within that basic configuration there are a variety of models and styles, most of them from Garmin. Garmin is the leading manufacturer, but there are others. Whichever brand you favor, you’ll find options for different battery life, control placement and weight.

Some models are waterproof – very handy when crossing rivers and lakes or if you get caught in a storm. Different models offer different numbers of waypoints. A ‘waypoint’ is another term for terrestrial coordinates – latitude, longitude, altitude, etc. (‘etc’ because there are, in fact, several ways to locate a point in space other than latitude, longitude and altitude.)

Another use of the term ‘waypoint’, and one which is incorporated into different GPS units, is the number of landmarks given on the display. That will vary depending on which map is loaded, but the ability to display more can be a blessing or a curse. You need enough to orient yourself, but the screen can become too busy to be useful.

As you go up in price, most GPS units will add features like a digital compass. Other options can include the ability to download area maps into the unit, or changing maps, zoom and relocate, and many more.

One popular Garmin model (the eTrex) is waterproof, displays up to 500 waypoints, and features controls along the side in order to maximize the display size. It’s also lightweight (150g with batteries.)

Prices range from $100-$300 or more. In the GPS arena you often get what you pay for. The Garmin eTrex Summit, for example, is around $200 and has some handy features. Some GPS units require movement in order to give a heading, but the built-in compass of this model allows you to stand still and get a reading.

It also has an altimeter for judging height. That’s very useful when you are trying to use the GPS in conjunction with an area map and the contour lines showing altitude are confusing. Like other models, it has 12 channels. Those extra channels – just like a portable home phone – give you options when you might get interference from other nearby devices.

Different models have some nice-to-have features like back-lighting so you can read them at night without holding a flashlight. Many offer a tracking log so you can recall where you’ve been. That’s very useful for drawing on a paper map to nail down your route.

Do some research and look at a lot of models before deciding. If you do, you’ll definitely find one that suits your needs and budget.

There are times while hiking when it’s a good idea to be able to fall back on traditional navigation techniques.

Modern maps, compasses and especially GPS units are great. But you can lose your maps, break your compass and run low on batteries. Also, GPS units don’t always work – sometimes the signal gets blocked by, of all things, trees. Well, there tend to be a lot of trees around in hiking areas. As the Boy Scouts say, be prepared.

The best way to be prepared is simply to have some basic navigational knowledge that doesn’t depend on anything more than your eyes and intelligence. Fortunately, that knowledge is super easy to obtain and use.

Most people learn early in life that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. And that’s approximately true. But being away from the equator, or somewhere near midday, makes it sometimes a little harder to judge.

In the Northern Hemisphere, at noon the sun will be south of you. If you wait an hour, it will have moved enough to judge it’s general direction easily. It’s always better to take multiple measurements when trying to judge direction.

Take note of the landmarks around you and look at your watch to note the time. Take note of the sun’s position at half-hourly intervals and keep a mental graph of the line along which it moves. That will give you a natural East-West line.

Once you know that, finding North and South is easy. North is 90 degrees ‘to the right’ of West, South is 90 degrees ‘to the left’.

At night you have a potential problem. The sun, obviously, isn’t there to guide you. But, you can still navigate well by the stars. After all, humans have done so for thousands of years. Heavy rain or fog, or even trees, can make that difficult, though. Sometimes you just have to wait until you get a clearer view.

When you can see the stars they’re often very bright. Most hiking areas are far away from city lights. It should be relatively easy, then, to pick out some major constellations to use as guides.

Around 8 p.m. look straight up then around in a small circle. Before long you should be able to locate the Big Dipper. That’s the group of stars that looks like a cooking ladle. The two stars at the end of the ‘scoop’ form a line that points to the North Star.

Another easy to spot constellation is Orion’s Belt. That’s a series of three stars that form part of the Orion group. They’re almost straight across east to west looking roughly south about 9 p.m. at night.

Naturally, the constellations will be in different positions at different times of the night. But the Big Dipper’s scoop stars will still point toward the North Star, and Orion’s belt – so long as it is still visible – will still be in roughly the same orientation and direction.

When you plan any hike become familiar with the positions of some of the major constellations. Even a day hike can turn into an overnight stay unexpectedly. You’ll be very glad to have that knowledge if that happens.

Hiking over ordinary terrain requires being able to keep up a steady pace for several hours, with short rest breaks (10 min or so) in between once per hour. But creeks, steep or slippery slopes and hikes at high altitudes can make that almost impossible. In short, your technique has to be tailored to the actual conditions.

Ordinary walking speed on level ground is between 2-4 miles per hour. At that pace a person will burn about 50-150 calories per hours. Compare that with the amount of calories burned simply by sitting, which is at the lower end of that scale. Also, for every hour of hiking you’ll lose about a liter of fluid (more in hot conditions) that will need to be replenished.

But when conditions, as they frequently are, become more hilly or at higher elevations, the strain becomes much greater. As you walk up steeper slopes you’re doing much more work against gravity to stay upright and rise up the hill. And, as oxygen concentration levels drop, the heart has to work harder to pump more blood through the body to re-oxygenate tissues.

Keep those facts firmly in mind when you begin to tackle tougher terrain. Those more challenging environments are often more beautiful and exciting. Hiking up a heavily forested mountainside at 5,000 feet is definitely more interesting than a stroll around the brush in foothills.

But the conditions require much more of a hiker. Monitor your heart rate to ensure it isn’t pounding away in your chest with every step. Resting rate is about 70 per minute, a hard workout will produce 120 per minute for short periods. Try to stay on the lower end most of the time. The figures can vary quite a lot from person to person, these are just averages.

If you do that, you can avoid the symptoms of something called variously: High Altitude Syndrome or Acute Mountain Sickness, and by other terms.

Just as steep slopes and high altitudes present special difficulties, so crossing creeks, rivers and lakes can introduce challenges. Though sheer strength can be very helpful, technique and experience count for a lot as well.

Selecting good boots is the first step. High-top, waterproof boots help keep feet dry. That’s essential for avoiding foot problems. They also provide a little bit better traction on slippery surfaces. Other waterproof gear, like a well-flapped backpack made of waterproof synthetic is helpful, as well.

But the best weapons are inside your head – intelligence and experience.

Avoid the temptation of fording a river when you can avoid it. Cold temperatures, slippery bottoms, undercurrents and other potential dangers are hard to judge. Step on rocks in a creek rather than walking through it, if you can do so safely. Walk around a lake rather than swimming through it whenever possible.

Take a bridge or alternative route. You’ll actually experience less fatigue with a slightly longer walk than a relatively short, cold temperature swim.

Above all, exercise your common sense. The outdoors can be a huge, exciting adventure. But getting injured or even grossly uncomfortable shouldn’t be part of it.

Even experienced hikers will rely on maps or GPS units to navigate along trails and through wilderness areas. In fact, it’s the MORE experienced hikers who tend to do this and the beginners who think they can just wing it.

Amateurs will often reason that they can stick to well-traveled trails and forego the hard work needed to learn how to use maps. As the saying goes, ‘Good luck with that. Let me know how that works out for you.’

Sarcasm aside, you really can get seriously lost, even near clearly marked trails. Even stepping a few yards off a trail into heavy forest has confused more than one beginner. In the absence of sun, stars or geographical markers it’s easy to get turned around. You can wind up walking even farther from the trail. Before you know it, you’re lost.

Many maps won’t necessarily help you out of that forest, per se. But you’ll usually run across another trail that, unknown to you, hooks up with the one you were on. A good map will help you easily get back to your starting point.

So, how do you start?

Acquire a current map covering the area you intend to hike. Study it at home in a relaxed environment. You won’t be able to match the map against features you see, but it will help you understand the symbols used.

Almost all will have a legend. Get familiar with the symbols. They differ from map publisher to publisher. Find out what the scale is – look for 1 inch = 1 mile or similar markings.

Don’t forget, though, that distance is only part of the story. One mile on level ground is one thing. But if 3/4 of that distance takes you from near sea level to 2,000 feet high by a steep, winding incline, that’s quite another.

To factor in the latter, you need to consider altitude. Altitude markings are usually indicated by a series of curved lines that, if ‘stretched out’ would make a circle. The distance between two curved lines around some natural feature like a large hill indicates the altitude. Often there will also be numbers printed along the lines to help you. These are sometimes called contour lines. The closer the lines are together, the steeper the terrain.

Now look at the longitude and latitude lines. Longitude runs ‘up and down’, or north and south. Latitude runs ‘right and left’, or east and west. Those directions are put in quotes because they’re all just conventions. Maybe you’ve seen one of those maps that has the world turned ‘upside down’ with Australia on the top and Canada on the bottom.

In the daytime you can use the sun and natural features to orient yourself. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. So early in the day, find the sun and you are facing mostly East. Late in the day, face the direction of the light and you are facing predominately West. There are variations because of coastlines, latitude, etc. It’s just an approximate starting point.

At night, you can use the stars. You can often see the sky reasonably well – most wilderness areas are relatively far from city lights. Look up about 8 p.m. at night. Look for the Big Dipper, the group of stars that looks like a cooking ladle. The two on the end of the ‘scoop’ form a line that points toward the north star, away from the scoop.

Even at night, then, if you have a flashlight to read your map by, you can get yourself back onto a trail to find your way back.

The old-fashioned practice of using a compass is rapidly giving way to GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation. But, compasses are still often cheaper and it’s a good idea for hikers to be familiar with how to use one.

Thousands of years ago humans first observed that a certain kind of metal floating on a leaf in a pond would always orient itself to point in a particular direction. It was only a few centuries ago that it was discovered that the Earth’s magnetic field is responsible. The Earth is somewhat like a very large bar magnet.

That knowledge has evolved to become incorporated into modern compasses which are often very sophisticated.

A good compass will have a very detailed and accurate set of degree lines. Most will have the North-pointing tip painted red to make it easy to distinguish from the South-pointing tip. Very few will point to true geographic north. The difference is called the magnetic declination.

The reason is that there’s a large concentration of ore under the Earth’s surface about a thousand miles away from the North pole that causes the needle to deviate from the direction determined by the Earth’s magnetic field. Some compasses have mechanisms that allow you to adjust for this, depending on your location. To know how much to adjust, you’ll have to consult local maps.

For most areas, the differences are minor and you care mostly about which way you are heading, not the absolute direction. So, you can adjust visually by just tilting the map a little bit and not paying too much attention to true north.

Here’s a relatively easy way to use your compass to find your position. Find a landmark around you that you can locate on the map. Draw a line from that to the point where you guess you are. Find another 45 degrees or more from the first and draw another line. Use pencil, you’ll want to re-use your map. Where they intersect is a good approximation to your present location.

When you use a compass, you can orient yourself approximately by combining what you see on the dial with some basic knowledge. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. So, early in the day, face the light and you’ll be facing (approximately) East. Similarly, face the sun late in the day and you’ll be facing West. This is only approximate. Depending on your latitude you can be off.

Obviously if you face west, East is at your back. Draw an imaginary line along that direction and compare with the compass. No single reading is definitive, but the more facts you include, the better off you’ll be.

Often, just knowing the general direction you are or want to travel is tremendously helpful. Climbing up and down hills, around winding trails you can easily get disoriented. Knowing even the approximate direction back to your desired location can help keep you from getting very far lost.

Whenever you step off the trail, be sure to note the direction you are going when you do. Keep track of any twists and turns you make. That way, if you lose your direction, and can’t find the trail again, you can use your compass to help get you back.

Hiking is not exactly like walking in the park. Gravel and soft dirt, hills, creeks and other natural features make maintaining a good rhythm over a long distance a real challenge. Also, for anything longer than a few hour hike, most will want to carry a backpack. That makes hiking distinctly different from just a casual walk in the forest.

Getting prepared for the adventure involves getting fit. Once you’ve built up some leg and back strength, and jogged to get some endurance, you’re ready for the next phases.

Any hike longer than a few hours should entail some planning and preparation. Part of that effort should be to carry a loaded backpack around for at least several days prior to the hike. Experienced hikers don’t need to do this, beginners do.

Every good engineer will carry out tests and build a working prototype before putting their design into full production. Emulate their good example.

By carrying a pack before the hike you can judge how well it fits, test different loading strategies and watch for points of body irritation, pack wear or imbalance. At the same time, you’re building up those specific muscles and joints that you’ll need for the real event.

Take some long walks with the loaded pack around town whenever possible. Make sure part of that is on uneven ground – curbs, unmowed grass, over small boulders or children’s toys. Try to find some slanted surfaces to incorporate – city streets, long driveways, hillsides and so forth.

Experiment with different loading techniques and walking rhythms to find what works best for your body style and fitness level, with the boots and gear you will actually use.

When you start the real hike, preferably with an experienced partner, start slowly. Many beginners, even if they’re fit, try to walk too fast, too soon and take too few rest breaks. Take your time and enjoy the scenery. You’ll find you’re able to last much longer between rest periods, and you’ll enjoy the experience much more.

On long hikes, forego the desire to climb every small hill and cross every stream you come across. Walking up (or even down) hills requires much more energy than along a (moderately) level surface. To make your hikes last all day, you need to think more like a marathon runner and less like a sprinter.

Develop a steady pace. Beginning marathoners learn quickly that, even when the first mile or two is tough, if you get into a rhythm you can run for many miles without becoming exhausted. Emulate their wisdom.

From your practice hikes you’ll have ‘taught your body’ what feels comfortable. Try to maintain that, taking 5-10 minute rest breaks every hour or so. You’ll find you can easily do five miles or more even on your first hikes.

As you gain experience, and develop stamina, those hikes can become longer and longer with less risk of fatigue or injury. The longer you can last, the more of that great scenery you get to enjoy.