If you’ve spent any time in the woods, you’ve probably made some epic backcountry blunders. We certainly have. In fact, the only reason we’re able to give any “clever” hiking advice is because of all the laughably bad mistakes we’ve made over the years. At one point or another we’ve fallen victim to every one of the blunders listed below (and then some!).
1. Cooking In Your Tent
Cooking dinner in your tent might seem like a cozy idea, especially if it’s wet and cold outside – and there are ways to mitigate the risk. But there are serious consequences to consider before lighting up a stove in or near your shelter. The obvious danger is that you could burn down your tent and start a forest fire.
The less-obvious danger is that carbon monoxide and other fumes emitted from your stove are poisonous.
There may be scenarios where you need shelter to cook a meal or need heat. If hypothermia has set in or you are winter camping on a mountain in a snowstorm. We avoid cooking in or near shelters. But if backcountry safety makes it a necessity, cook in the open vestibule of your tent (never inside) and make sure to have lots of ventilation. If you can’t do that, don’t cook at all.
2. Soaking Your Sleeping Bag
Trying to sleep in a wet sleeping bag is tough to say the least. Synthetic bags will retain insulation even when wet, but it is still super uncomfortable. If your down bag gets soaked, you’ll need to find an alternative way to stay warm.
Develop an obsession for keeping your sleeping bag dry. We hike with our bags inside a waterproof dry bag or trash bag and keep it inside our pack until we’ve set up our shelter for the night.
3. Getting Bad Blisters
The most common way to ruin a backpacking trip is developing bad blisters on your feet. They can be absolutely excruciating.
Blisters are caused by friction – wearing footwear that is too tight, too rigid, or rubs against a particular area of skin. They can develop easily when your feet are damp from sweat or rain.
We try to minimize our blisters by packing light (reducing the weight over our feet) and wearing trail runners instead of boots. This lightweight footwear keeps our feet ventilated and comfortable.
If you do plan to wear hiking boots, take time to break them in well before your hike. Whatever footwear you choose, if you feel a hotspot, stop immediately and address it with moleskin or a different preventative measure.
4. Packing Too Much stuff
The typical hiker takes around 2,200 steps in every mile. With that in mind, it won’t take very long for a heavy pack to feel uncomfortable once you get it on the trail. In addition, your actual elevation gain and loss on your trip is likely going to be far greater than what you experience during training.
Leaving behind unnecessary items is a skill but determining what counts as “unnecessary” can be highly individualized. The more you get out there, the more you’ll see what you need, what you don’t, and what items you can upgrade.
Everyone is different, but common pitfalls include bringing too much clothing (we go with one set for hiking, one set for sleeping), too much food (if you have cans or precooked items, consider dehydrated meals), and unnecessary extras like camping chairs (a log and a sit pad work well), camp shoes, and excess cooking equipment.
When it comes to cutting gear weight, start with “The Big 3” – your shelter, backpack, and sleeping bag. Lightweight gear has come a looong way. For us, a backpack, 2-person tent, and sleeping bag typically weigh just over 4 pounds combined.
5. Swamping Your Shelter
When considering where to set up your tent, one of the questions your should always ask yourself is: if it pours in the night, where will the water go? Flat areas always seem appealing (and they are for a variety of reasons, not least of which is comfort), but a flat spot in a topographical low point is exactly where water will pool (that’s what a lake is). If it starts to rain in the night, you could easily wake up with a few inches of standing water in your tent.
With that in mind, look for proper water drainage and never choose a location that looks like it was previously a puddle. Very hard packed earth with debris rings where the underbrush has been washed aside is a tell tale sign a camping spot is susceptible to rainwater pooling.
Choose established campsites to minimize your impact, camp at least 200 feet from water sources, and avoid low spots in valleys to reduce condensation and cold temperatures.
6. Improper Food Storage at Camp
Proper food storage is a big deal – not just for you, but for the wildlife as well. Feeding wild animals changes their foraging habits and teaches them to associate humans with food. In national parks, large predatory mammals (i.e. bears) will be trapped and euthanized if they demonstrate a pattern of human interactions.
There are many options for proper food storage. If your in an area with a bear box, use it. If you’re in the backcountry, bear canisters, Ursacks, and properly hung bear bags are all solid options (and often required in many parks and wilderness areas).
7. Bringing Brand New Untested Gear
Test out all of your gear before you hit the trail – make sure you know how to set up your shelter, operate your stove, and have the right batteries for your electronic devices.
Also be sure to refer to a backpacking checklist to make sure you have everything you need for your adventure.
8. Not Knowing Current Water Conditions
Clean, potable water is one of the most important factors for backcountry success. Many trail systems pass by waterways frequently enough that you don’t have to carry much between them. After all, water is also one of the heaviest items you’ll carry in your pack (over 2 pounds per liter) so it’s important to strike the right balance between hydration and weight reduction on your treks. It’s better to have more than less but it’s good to know where your next water source is and hydrate while you are filling up your bottles (so you don’t have to carry quite as much until you reach the next one).
However, if you’re hiking in an arid climate, you may need to carry a gallon or more between water sources (keeping in mind how much you need to cook, clean, and drink if you aren’t going to get to fresh water before the next day).
9. Not Having a Reliable Plan
Trip planning takes time and it isn’t always fun but it will help you to avoid many of the other blunders on this list that can derail a trip. Be sure to find the right maps, get permits, learn about current conditions (snow, fires, bugs, water, etc.), learn about trail closures or fire bans, and a whole lot more.
Not knowing any one of those things could easily ruin your trip or keep you off the trail altogether. Winging it always seems like a good idea until you get lost on your way to the trailhead, realize you don’t have the right permit, and find out a bear canister is required for food storage.
10. Ignoring The Weather
Weather in the wilderness is unpredictable. Temperatures in the mountains can drop quickly. We’ve been in situations where the lows have been over 50 degrees lower than the daily high. Conditions can go from pleasant to treacherous faster than you might think. Being exposed to bad weather without the proper equipment is one of the most dangerous scenarios for any hiker, so don’t put yourself in that spot.
Even if the forecast calls for sun, bring a rain jacket. Evenings and mornings are almost always chilly in the woods, so pack a warm jacket, hat, and gloves on every trip. You don’t need to be a meteorologist, but being able to identify a thunderhead and the direction it’s moving is a good basic skill. If you see a storm moving toward you, don’t hike above treeline. If you get caught above treeline in a thunderstorm, get as low as possible and avoid bodies of water.
11. Dodging Navigation Skills
Do you know how to use a map and compass? Do you know what to do if you get lost in the wilderness? Do you know how to signal for help?
Fortunately, navigational technology has come a long way since the advent of smartphones. Apps like Gaia or Farout are a fantastic, accessible, easy-to-use resource for pretty much any backpacking adventure. Apps like these are our primary method of navigation day to day.
However, batteries die and devices break or get lost. Having an old school backup (and knowing how to use it) can truly be the difference between life and death.
12. Leaving A Trace
Leave no trace (LNT) backpacking skills aren’t sexy, but they are important. The more we travel to wild areas the more impact we make on the plants and animals living in those places.
Some things to keep in mind to preserve your surroundings for the plants and animals that live in these places the and other people who want to enjoy them:
- If you are using soap, make sure it is biodegradable and do your cleaning at least 200 feet away from water sources.
- Pack out all your trash.
- Dig a hole at least 6″ deep to bury your poop (don’t just do the janky cover-it-with sticks-and-dirt).
- Follow fire regulations – the majority of ‘wild’ fires are human caused.
- Store your food properly and don’t feed animals.
Help keep our wild areas as wild as possible.
Conclusion
No matter how hard you try, chances are good that you’ll make some epic backcountry blunders. When mistakes do happen, learn from them, make the proper adjustments, and get back out there. After all, the fun times you have on the trail will always beat out the times you get stuck in the mud.
