Solo Backpacking

Some people love to go solo and some people hate it. I personally love it.

For me, when I go into the mountains or into the countryside in general I want to fully experience the countryside. For me being surrounded by 20 other people all with clacking walking poles and inane chatter is as close to pointless as I wish to experience.

There can be a feeling of safety in numbers and there can be a feeling that navigation is someone else's responsibility. Therefore in a group it is very easy just to relax and enjoy the views - and you can do this with no real risks. Likewise, you can rely on the 'leader' of the group to carry a larger pack with all of the once-in-a-lifetime emergency kit in it.

If you are going solo then obviously there is no plan B. You are relying on your own skills and judgement for everything. If you have an accident or sprain an ankle or walk off a cliff or get too wet or any of a million other things then only you are there and only you can fix it.

So, obviously if you are the type of person who will panic easily or is too optimistic then maybe it is not for you.

With Solo backpacking you need to be confident of your abilities in basic outdoor skills including keeping warm and dry, navigation and route planning and route aborting.

Good Points about Going Solo

• It's very peaceful - you can easily approach most wildlife
• You set the pace, the route, the lunch stops. Everything
• You can change route and lengthen or shorten it at will
• You are using more of your outdoor skills
• It is low-impact - only one set of footprints
• You can leave the beaten track and wander free - IF you know what you are doing
• It is really cool to camp alone in the middle of a wonderful mountainscape with only the sounds of nature around you

Bad Points about Going Solo

• Some people can find it lonely
• No-one else will see the Lesser-spotted flying garble bird that you saw
• You have to recognise when you are tired and make allowances
• If you make a mistake there is no-one to correct it apart from you
• If Hypothermia sets in you could be in real danger quite quickly
• If you get lost it is up to you to get found again
• If any of your equipment fails then you will have to work out a solution
• You have a much lower safety margin for all sorts of little mishaps
• A backpacking trip can easily turn into a survival situation if weather or conditions are much worse than you planned for or are experienced in.

Going Solo - 6 steps to Freedom

Step 1 - Get outdoors with other people

If there are other people around then there is in general more safety. You can therefore enjoy the countryside more easily and get used to particular conditions.

It is vital that you get used to nasty weather - strong winds, rain, fog, snow, sleet and cloud. All of these things will make navigation more difficult and may alter your mood. If you are not bothered by the weather and are comfortable whatever the weather then it is easy to stay relaxed and focus on the essentials of keeping safe when you are solo.

Step 2 - Learn to read a map!

It may be silly but maps are not updated every year and between the time the map was printed and the time that you arrive at the countryside it can change. Hedges can be put in or ripped up, forests can be planted or harvested. Buildings can be built or knocked down, the local scout group builds a new 'helpful' cairn.

Lots of key landmarks can change and then appear to be misleading.

If you are at a place where the map is saying one thing and your eyes are saying another then you need to be able to work out if you are looking at the right part of the map or if it is simply that something has changed. This is the difference between getting lost or staying safe.

The other key thing that you need to be able to do is to translate contour lines into 'can I go there' route planning. Do you know how close contour lines can be before the ground is no longer safe to traverse? Do you know Naismith's rule?

Step 3 - Learn to Navigate properly

By this I mean using a map and compass and being able to use both of them in any terrain and any weather so that you can always know where you are. You must be able to do this even if you own a GPS and take it with you. A GPS will not tell you about the cliff that is 4 metres in front of you and hidden by dense fog.

The best way to learn navigation is to go on a course and then practice, practice, practice. The standards required by the SMC (Scottish Mountaineering Council) for a mountain guide or leader is that s/he should be able to use a map and compass such that s/he always knows where s/he is to the nearest 100M (when using a 1:50,000 map). That is the standard that you should be aiming for.

Any course that you do should be based outdoors for a large chunk of the work and be in terrain that is realistic (not the car park) and be in good and bad weather.

Two of the most important 'advanced' skills that you can learn are:

1. Zero visibility navigation - using the terrain and things like pace counting and timing to navigate and measure position and distance.
2. Navigation in featureless terrain such as large moors or some mountainscapes

These are all skills that need practice and need patience to learn but they will also keep you alive in situations that might otherwise become quickly dangerous.

Can you still navigate in some fashion even if your GPS is smashed and you lose a map or a compass or all of them?

Step 4 - Know your kit

Do you know how to use everything that you carry? Do you know its limitations? Is there kit that it would be wise to carry but do not have? Do you have 'backup' pieces of kit for key items? For example a button compass will still work as a compass even if it is not fantastic. A photocopy of a map is still a map.

Step 5 - Know yourself

• Do you know what the onset of hypothermia feels like?
• Do you know what the onset of low blood sugar (Hypoglycemia) feels like?
• Can you recognise when you are tired?
• Do you know when it is wise to quit?
• Do you know when it is wise to press on?
• Will you panic if something bad happens?
• If you get lost what will you do?
• If you break a limb or twist an ankle what will you do?
• Can you make extra allowances in your route and in your plans to allow for tiredness?

Step 6 - Do it

Always start easy. Do several trips in easy terrain and good weather. As your skills improve you can travel on more complicated terrain and more extreme weather. Your goal is to learn skills, gain confidence and have fun.

Being cold, wet and exhausted in the middle of nowhere is not my idea of fun...

Step 7 - Your own step

Steps 1-6 are mine. Whatever you do in step 7 is up to you. It is your life and your rules.

Enjoy the outdoors but be safe not stupid. The Mountain Rescue teams are wonderful things but they are for emergencies, not to counteract Darwinism.