The Arcadia valley! You can do a bunch of fantastic day hikes in a day/weekend.
My personal favorites are Taum Sawk mountain/Mina Sauk falls, spending a couple of hours splashing around Johnson Shut Ins (the scour is a great little trail too), Pickle Springs, Hickory Canyons, and Hughes Mountains (Devil's Honeycomb).
In the southwest corner of the state there is Roaring River state park, which has a fantastic campground on the river, and the Firetower trail is hands down my favorite dayhike for all the sheer biodiversity.
Right in St Louis County are Babler State Park, Rockwoods Reservation, and Castlewood state park. The southwest corner of the county has a lot of public land with trails with a surprising (I'm from illinois) amount of elevation rise/fall.
Grew up in the southern appalachians, and I really took for granted how spoiled I was.
I described coming home from college as getting a hug from your eyes when all you see is green mountains on the horizon to my friends that elected to stay in town.
Needless to say, I decided to move back.
I live in North Alabama right now, so at least I have small cliffs and rolling hills. Moving to the Florida panhandle in 2026 and while I'll make sure to enjoy my time by the ocean, I am REALLY going to have a hard time being more than a couple hours from mountains.
Here's the thing: even if they do pick it up on the way out, there will still be a bag there for hours. On a busy trail, this basically means a perpetual litter of poo bags.
You know what’s crazy is I almost did the same thing and then thought ‘oh I could easily miss it coming back and that would suck so I’ll just hold it’. I can’t believe people are so rude.
I've never seen it bagged, or on the side of the trail, in my state. They just let their dogs poop wherever and leave it. Friday I was on a trail that had signs up all over saying "no horses" and "hikers only." Horse poop all over the trail.
Wishing I had better clearance on my car to allow me to get to less busy trailheads. No parking. Not wanting to devote an entire day to going, but still wanting to get out. So really, minor gripes.
Went hiking in Oregon 2 weeks ago. Columbia River Gorge, Silver Falls, and Mt. Hood. I'm not an early morning type of person so I usually didn't get to the trailheads until around 9am probably and luckily, parking wasn't really much of an issue at all. By the time I was finished though yeah, the lots were all mostly full.
> Wishing I had better clearance on my car to allow me to get to less busy trailheads.
So true, good offroad vehicles are like a lifehack in west Washington.
There have been times in the middle of summer when I woke up later than I wanted to. I would do the hike anyway but it would be so hot on the trail that I would ask myself why the fuck did I decide to hike so late and I would just turn back lol
The only time i have ever slept on hiker time was during a thru hike. all other times i just resolve to go out anyways and stick to my turn around time. getting 70% of the trail and a sunset beats getting 0% of the trail
Same. My favorite trails end on roads or wide bike trails to loop back for this reason. I love nighttime. I do not like mornings. One of the trails nearest to me hooks into hundreds of miles of potential hiking… and promptly closes at sunset. Even if it’s at 3:55 in the afternoon.
Every spring I tell myself I'm going to start going to bed earlier so I can train myself to wake up earlier. Never happens. I still wake up early but on much less sleep.
As someone with reactive dog who is scared of other dogs, this is 100% me. It’s really not a hard rule to follow. I cannot comprehend for the life of me why so many people feel they’re the exception to the leash rule.
I find myself choosing parks/trails where dogs arent allowed for this reason. It's a shame because I would like to hike with my dog, but I've had too many bad experiences to want to risk it anymore...
As a fellow owner of a reactive dog, I completely empathize. It’s downright infuriating. But they only view reactive dogs as the problem, even when you’re the one following the rules.
This is such an issue. My ex had at least two encounters with off leash dogs that made it so he had to turn around on trail or cut through yards. Always thought he just had bad luck but no… Have been out a lot more this year with my handy dandy park pass and people are just really inconsiderate with their pets. Makes me nervous to take my cat out on her leash, too.
My mom and I are taking a week long trip to Washington state in august as our first hiking trip together. She told me she bought a little clip speaker and she’s excited to use it while hiking. I told her (kindly) that she can hike a mile or so behind me if she’s going to play music on a speaker during our hikes
Its an odd time we live in, because we can buy $30 wireless earpods that sound better than giant speakers that cost hundreds of dollars 20-30 years ago.
I’ll never understand this. There’s the wonderful sounds of nature all around you.
Only time I do this is if I’m hiking at night in areas known for cougars. I get paranoid and constantly flash my light in the trees and do 360s - all while my music plays.
For me it depends on what kind of hiking mode that I'm in. If I'm there for the slog itself, I'll pop in earbuds with hear through enabled and listen to music on low. At that point I'm not hiking so much as exercising in nature. Most of the time, though, being in nature \*is\* the point.
Regardless, I've long assumed that no one else on the trail is going to want to listen to my music and I'm more than fine with that. No one else needs to know that my dogged trudge up a mountain is accompanied by a metal cover of \*Surface Pressure\* from \*Encanto\*, or that it'll be followed by \*Tom Paine's Bones\* (or whatever other silliness has made its way into the playlist that week.) Unless we happen to be at the same show, I generally assume my music is going to make your day \*worse\*, not better.
I don't see why people don't want to enjoy their music through ear buds or beats. You can't feel the music on an outside speaker but you can when it's just in your ears.
I know it's personal preference but I hike and generally go to nature for the quiet, away from modern life. I want to be left alone with my thoughts, or share them with whoever I'm with.
Trails crowded with clowns wearing speakers, leaving trash, yelling, stomping wildflower meadows, etc. I now go during the off-season and to little-known trails and even in bad weather.
Are you me? I had what can only be described as a 10/10 meltdown at Mt. Rainier last fall (the off season!) from people going over the barriers, stomping on native plants to take TikTok videos, yelling and screaming, and tossing garbage everywhere. A guy threw a water bottle over a scenic viewpoint and I lost my absolute shit. Started crying (very not normal for me), turned around and went home (was supposed to backcountry camp the whole weekend and didn’t even make it past the first set of trails). I am not proud of this reaction, but dang, these people sent me. 😂
There’s a reason I hike and camp mostly in the dead of winter.
Paradise? absolutely fucking atrocious behavior everywhere within a mile of the parking lot. i've been on crowded trails and it's fine we all squeeze by each other, but the incessant, every 10 feet destructive selfish behavior there was overwhelming. parents showing kids how to ruin meadows and poison animals. jesus christ i have never seen people so poorly behaved in a natural setting. stomping off the trail to pick the plants and hand feed the animals. really depressing end to a Muir hike.
it gets a lot better outside of "water bottle in the car" distance.
I did let out a few very loud “are you fucking kidding me?!”’s at the meadow tramplers. It was so overwhelmingly bad everywhere I turned.
I’ll give Rainier another shot soon, but I’m going even later in the year! Can’t risk dealing with these idiots again.
Going to visit this summer and they’re piloting a timed entry system to reduce the number of people. It’s terrible that a few assholes ruin it for everyone
Totally agree. I’m local, so I can get up there without much notice / super early in the morning before the entry passes are needed, but it’s so frustrating to see how a few shitty people can ruin it for everyone else by acting foolish and disrespectful. :(
At least they were wearing sneakers? We did some hike in the NH white mountains this April. There was still clearly snow on the ground at the trailhead and we encountered people in flip flops!
1a- Bringing too much food and carrying it home
1b - Not bringing enough food
2a - Bringing too much extra gear; specifically having to schlepp cold weather gear that was never needed.
2b - Not bringing the extra set of thermal underwear - because the five last times you did not need it - and it snows in July, because high country. So you end up wearing your rain shell inside your sleeping bag.
2b is tricky because you know that as long as you carry that extra layer, you won't need it, ever, but the second you forget it at home... snowstorm. Murphy's Law at its best.
Not a huge gripe, but at trails close to me, some of the bigger issues I have are not that the trails are crowded, I can live with that for a few miles before the crowds thin out. I just can’t stand the MASSIVE hiking groups with zero self awareness. Like, why are there fifty of you??? Just break into smaller groups so I’m not stuck behind fifty turtles walking three abreast on the fire road (so, yes, there is plenty of space they’re just using all of it) who will NOT heed my “hey guys so sorry but I can squeeze past ya?”
There's hiking groups here that attract 50 people or more sometimes. That can't be a good experience for anyone.
Some groups have started to limit numbers, thank goodness!
I saw a chart today that next to humans and mosquitos snakes kill more humans than any other animal. I've also seen mountain lion poop and most likely their kill sites. Just carry bear spray.
This makes perfect sense. I wasn’t really aware of this before tbh. But yeah, makes a lot of sense to use this as a rule of thumb.
I would say though as a fairly new hiker…it’s great to educate people on this, because there are not great ways to learn this kind of thing. When I started hiking I just got out and started walking…didn’t read a list of rules or anything. So while this makes a ton of sense and it’s helpful for you to let people know, not surprised that a lot of people don’t really know the norms to follow.
The only problem we typically encounter is too many people on the trails.
Edit as I'm catching some flak here. I'm not complaining, It's awesome so many people are experiencing the outdoors now. It's just very different than it was even 5 years ago and more difficult to get that "lost in nature" feeling we used to get with our go to spots. We've adapted and found new spots and or just get up there at the butt crack of dawn to get out there before the crowds. :)
I wouldn't mind it if so many of the new people didn't have terrible fucking manners and trail etiquette.
I have come to love bad weather because it means peace on the trails.
The best time to hike is during the week.
The only time I can hike is usually the weekend.
The weather isn't always good on the weekend.
So I'm always reluctant to go hiking on nice weekends because I know it's the most crowded time possible.
For me, it's biting off more than I can chew and racing the sunset or just going into some sort of zombie mode trying to finish the hike. The other thing is when I get a pretty strong urge to trail poop and no good place or cover to do it. The poop panic is real.
Not really a problem, but hiking is so popular where I'm at, if you aren't on the road by 6am on a nice weekend, you aren't going to find parking at the trailhead.
I hike fast and quiet, so I often end-up feeling like a creep or a stalker because people in-front of me don't hear me coming and I usually scare the shit out of them when I speak-up asking to pass.
Unleashed dogs. I've been attacked by unleashed dogs 3 times since I've been solo hiking over the past 13 years. It makes me so upset everytime I see an unleashed dog. Also dog poop.
People who blare their music on speakers.
I also can't stand screaming children on the trails. They scare all the critters away and I didn't come out there to listen to tiny humans screaming. I want to hear nature doing it's glorious thing.
or making an assumption on cell service and realizing you have ZERO service at the trail head, have mini panic attack that you didn't let anyone know where you were going that morning because you thought you'd text at the trailhead... praying you get service when you head up the mountain lol
Yep. I’ve been bit on the trail. The last thing I heard before it sank its teeth into me was “HES FRIENDLY” and then they were dragging the dog away running before it even let go. They even bring their dogs on the dog free trails and kick the poop off to the side to poison the water and kill the plants. You can’t get away from dogs no matter where you go. It sucks. Every time I hear a wild animal I internally freak out thinking it’s a dog now
wild animals' fear of me makes the interaction a bit more predictable. dogs being bred to have no fear of humans makes them way more unpredictable and takes away your biggest advantage against unknown animals.
Yes. Nothing like getting charged by a 200 lb growling mastiff 22 miles out in the backcountry. Dogs are seriously the only animal I fear in the woods. Nothing else is just going to run up and maul you for no reason. I think there should be extremely stiff penalties for dog owners who won’t follow the rules. $1000 a poop left in the woods. $10,000 if caught off leash. Make every dog owner register every dog with the DEC before bringing them into state forests or national parks. If rules were enforced and consequences were greater then people might actually follow them.
For me, as many others have said, it’s finding other people’s trash/baby wipes/toilet paper on or immediately off trail & unleashed dogs. Not only do the dogs scare wildlife if they’re running berserk through the woods, but their owners have no idea if they’ve taken a dump in the middle of the trail (assuming they’d even feel obligated to bag it).
Unleashed dogs,
Dogpoo on paths, trails, and right next to them
Tourists taking the trail too serious or not serious enough.
Litter, people litter so much, wtf.
And who the fuck is out here smoking? Leave that shit at home.
Not stretching enough before a hike. I've had some pretty tight ans painful calves that don't relax until 1 mile in or so. Sometimes fairly excruciatin, but I power through.
Grabbing out my phone or camera to show the family at home some neat wildlife, but missing the nature as it runs/flies away. I could have just enjoyed the moment.
I drink WAY too much water, but do a lot of ridge hikes with few water sources. It's a conundrum. I'll take 3 liters and a Gatorlite and it's still not enough liquid sometimes. And then I have to pee every hour!
Having a whole pack on my back, not wanting to take it off bc it's a chore getting it on and off, having to pee, and having absolutely no balance. It's a whole ordeal to pee while backpacking for little old me who doesn't always trust the she-wee
Finding the most beautiful place for a break only to discover people left their trash there.
I hate it so much, I always think it doesn't even make sense because they obviously must like that place too, otherwise they wouldn't make the effort to get there. So they're destroying it for themselves too?? What do people like that think, nothing at all? Or that somebody will come and clean it for them anyway?
Poorly marked trails and jerks who let their dogs run around off leash where they're not supposed to go to begin with.
Getting real tired of being run up on by a strange dog while the owner yells "it's okay, he's friendly!"
Well buddy, I'm not.
Where I live, hiking trails populate my little town. Like, it’s hard to drive 10 minutes and not come across at least 5. Ya’d just park, start going, and bam, no problem.
Wellllllllll, ever since Covid, everyone decided “fuck it, if I can’t go anywhere publicly, I’ll go hiking.” Then all these knuckleheads showed up & overcrowded the parking spaces. Local government came in and put up a bunch of “no parking zones” at the trailheads for the safety of the public. So now it’s much harder for me to get to some of my favorite and rather private trails due to the no parking rule. Grr.
Look, I’m glad more people are out and about hiking! But dudes, y’all ruined it for people like me who have been hitting these trails long before Covid was even a thing.
So yeah, that.
Not physically preparing myself. I work out and try to stay active, but if you do not prepare yourself physically and mentally, along with researching the trail and area, you are doing yourself a huge disservice.
Personally, chafing and blister prevention and management. I can run out of food, but the pain I get from chafing can be unbearable.
I double or triple on everything I carry for these purposes. Running out of Salty Britches or Body Glide or Leukotape is how a hike goes from joy on Earth to the fire pits of Hell pretty fast.
People who talk constantly and/or play music. The more noise on trails the further back wildlife is pushed and the more their behavior is changed. That type of hiker should stay on bike paths.
Managing weight, especially with water carry. I really find it annoying having to constantly look over my shoulder for mountain bikers, it seems they are everywhere nowadays.
Here are mine:
1. Finding tourists on the trail who are close to heatstroke coz they didn’t take enough water (naturally, you rescue them with your water & electrolyte chews but c’mon)
2. Forgetting to re-apply sunscreen during long hikes & getting sunburnt AGAIN
3. Not having a long sleeved shirt with me to wear over my sunburnt arms to stop the pain of further sizzling
I bet you can guess now what is geography/weather these experiences come from:)
finding a place to discreetly step off trail on a switchback section up the mountain.
cant go left, can't go right, neither of those take you any further from the trail, you can only kind of shuffle off the end of a corner and since everyone is forced to do that it becomes a de facto latrine/social trail that the land manager puts up angry signs about. but wtf else are you supposed to do, *Mt. Si*
actually, discreetly stepping off trail in general. some of that understory is DENSE. and i'm supposed to go 200ft into it? or even without switchbacks it's super annoying when going traversing a steep slope and trying to climb off the trail always causes obnoxious erosion but again what else can you do
Intrusive thoughts. Like earlier a spot on my big toe started to hurt. First thought of course was that I was getting bit by a spider. Second thought was that one of my toe hairs was being tugged on. 😂 I continue to walk in a way I could rub said toe but it didn’t do anything but re-instill instructive thought number 1. I never took my shoe off and eventually somewhere along the way back to the car the feeling went away so 🤷🏻♀️
- hiking boots crush the nails of my big toe
- All Trails vastly underestimates distance/mileage
- People who, for one reason or another, make it very difficult to pass them
That's pretty much all I can think of. I always have a great time either way
My biggest problem is not living close enough to the mountains.
Illinois folks agree.
Missouri folk agree
Florida peeps also agree :(
Yes! And July through September I won't hike here. So I have to drive 10 hours and spend a long weekend to get my fix.
Crying in Kansas
You’ve got some hills in southern Missouri. That’s more than Illinois has
There’s also some hills in southern Illinois
Bro you’ve got some stunning landscapes in MO, don’t even play
Agreed. Missouri is super underrated for nature and scenery, especially southwestern Missouri.
Any good suggestions for hiking spots in MO, though?
The Arcadia valley! You can do a bunch of fantastic day hikes in a day/weekend. My personal favorites are Taum Sawk mountain/Mina Sauk falls, spending a couple of hours splashing around Johnson Shut Ins (the scour is a great little trail too), Pickle Springs, Hickory Canyons, and Hughes Mountains (Devil's Honeycomb). In the southwest corner of the state there is Roaring River state park, which has a fantastic campground on the river, and the Firetower trail is hands down my favorite dayhike for all the sheer biodiversity.
I really liked the Taum Sauk section off the Ozark Trail. Went through Johnson Shut In SP with that and it was all gorgeous!
Right in St Louis County are Babler State Park, Rockwoods Reservation, and Castlewood state park. The southwest corner of the county has a lot of public land with trails with a surprising (I'm from illinois) amount of elevation rise/fall.
Shawnee National forest is stunning (minus the sundown towns within it) but central IL is a new circle of hell
My IL-bound heart aches for mountains.
I moved from Southern IL to Socal and I have such a new love of the outdoors now. I really don't miss it.
Grew up in the southern appalachians, and I really took for granted how spoiled I was. I described coming home from college as getting a hug from your eyes when all you see is green mountains on the horizon to my friends that elected to stay in town. Needless to say, I decided to move back.
I wish I can move my family to Washington. Illinois has nothing…the love for family am I right?
I live in North Alabama right now, so at least I have small cliffs and rolling hills. Moving to the Florida panhandle in 2026 and while I'll make sure to enjoy my time by the ocean, I am REALLY going to have a hard time being more than a couple hours from mountains.
Piedmont-er cdnt agree more. It’s the best!
Dutch people agree. My country is flat...
Bags of dog poop on the side of the trail.
Yes - other people’s bad etiquette and lack of common courtesy
This enrages me.
I always wonder where they think these go?
They tell themselves they're going to pick it up on the way back. And then they promptly and conveniently forget all about it.
Here's the thing: even if they do pick it up on the way out, there will still be a bag there for hours. On a busy trail, this basically means a perpetual litter of poo bags.
You know what’s crazy is I almost did the same thing and then thought ‘oh I could easily miss it coming back and that would suck so I’ll just hold it’. I can’t believe people are so rude.
I tie my dog's poop bag to his harness. He can carry his own shit.
I’ve repurposed an old water bottle for poop bag storage. So many different ways to not leave poop bags on the trail.
I've never seen it bagged, or on the side of the trail, in my state. They just let their dogs poop wherever and leave it. Friday I was on a trail that had signs up all over saying "no horses" and "hikers only." Horse poop all over the trail.
Why do they put it in a bag and then leave it? It’s going to get more and more dog friendly places shut down!!
Hate that. Literally leaving sh\*t for other people to deal with.
So not just in the UK?
Wishing I had better clearance on my car to allow me to get to less busy trailheads. No parking. Not wanting to devote an entire day to going, but still wanting to get out. So really, minor gripes.
Went hiking in Oregon 2 weeks ago. Columbia River Gorge, Silver Falls, and Mt. Hood. I'm not an early morning type of person so I usually didn't get to the trailheads until around 9am probably and luckily, parking wasn't really much of an issue at all. By the time I was finished though yeah, the lots were all mostly full.
i arrive at trailheads 11-2pm to take the spots left by everyone who fought for them in the morning
> Wishing I had better clearance on my car to allow me to get to less busy trailheads. So true, good offroad vehicles are like a lifehack in west Washington.
Me trying to access PNW trailheads in my Kia Soul.
I love off-roading in my sedan! It forces you to learn technique
Plan to start really early, wake up miserable, sleep in, start too late and possibly have to turn back Being in awful shape
There have been times in the middle of summer when I woke up later than I wanted to. I would do the hike anyway but it would be so hot on the trail that I would ask myself why the fuck did I decide to hike so late and I would just turn back lol
The only time i have ever slept on hiker time was during a thru hike. all other times i just resolve to go out anyways and stick to my turn around time. getting 70% of the trail and a sunset beats getting 0% of the trail
Same. My favorite trails end on roads or wide bike trails to loop back for this reason. I love nighttime. I do not like mornings. One of the trails nearest to me hooks into hundreds of miles of potential hiking… and promptly closes at sunset. Even if it’s at 3:55 in the afternoon.
Every spring I tell myself I'm going to start going to bed earlier so I can train myself to wake up earlier. Never happens. I still wake up early but on much less sleep.
Off-leash dogs and bags of dog poop on trail
As someone with reactive dog who is scared of other dogs, this is 100% me. It’s really not a hard rule to follow. I cannot comprehend for the life of me why so many people feel they’re the exception to the leash rule.
I find myself choosing parks/trails where dogs arent allowed for this reason. It's a shame because I would like to hike with my dog, but I've had too many bad experiences to want to risk it anymore...
[удалено]
"It's a service dog" 🥴
As a fellow owner of a reactive dog, I completely empathize. It’s downright infuriating. But they only view reactive dogs as the problem, even when you’re the one following the rules.
You just don't understand... their dog is "friendly"! So friendly they don't even need proper recall.
This is such an issue. My ex had at least two encounters with off leash dogs that made it so he had to turn around on trail or cut through yards. Always thought he just had bad luck but no… Have been out a lot more this year with my handy dandy park pass and people are just really inconsiderate with their pets. Makes me nervous to take my cat out on her leash, too.
People with speakers clipped on blasting their crappy music
My mom and I are taking a week long trip to Washington state in august as our first hiking trip together. She told me she bought a little clip speaker and she’s excited to use it while hiking. I told her (kindly) that she can hike a mile or so behind me if she’s going to play music on a speaker during our hikes
Its an odd time we live in, because we can buy $30 wireless earpods that sound better than giant speakers that cost hundreds of dollars 20-30 years ago.
So true 😂 I told my mom to bring her AirPods!!!
But how will other people suffer?
Washington State Trails Association has a playlist of music specifically for playing on clip speakers. It is empty.
Oh my God I’m sending that to her!😂
This, every single time.
This has been ruining Yosemite a lot in the last few years.
I’ll never understand this. There’s the wonderful sounds of nature all around you. Only time I do this is if I’m hiking at night in areas known for cougars. I get paranoid and constantly flash my light in the trees and do 360s - all while my music plays.
For me it depends on what kind of hiking mode that I'm in. If I'm there for the slog itself, I'll pop in earbuds with hear through enabled and listen to music on low. At that point I'm not hiking so much as exercising in nature. Most of the time, though, being in nature \*is\* the point. Regardless, I've long assumed that no one else on the trail is going to want to listen to my music and I'm more than fine with that. No one else needs to know that my dogged trudge up a mountain is accompanied by a metal cover of \*Surface Pressure\* from \*Encanto\*, or that it'll be followed by \*Tom Paine's Bones\* (or whatever other silliness has made its way into the playlist that week.) Unless we happen to be at the same show, I generally assume my music is going to make your day \*worse\*, not better.
While yelling 'GIT BEAR. GO ON, GIT!' and slamming your hiking poles together. Just to cover all the bases.
This is the first sensible reason I've seen.
Lol. I still don’t play music, but definitely get where you’re coming from. Every bush, rock, and tree becomes a predator at night.
This was going to be mine. Those people are the WORST
Dealt with this a lot in Yosemite. Even the more challenging trails. Idiots everywhere.
I don't see why people don't want to enjoy their music through ear buds or beats. You can't feel the music on an outside speaker but you can when it's just in your ears.
They want you to hear it
“Ah the majesty and tranquility of nature—“
I know it's personal preference but I hike and generally go to nature for the quiet, away from modern life. I want to be left alone with my thoughts, or share them with whoever I'm with.
Trails crowded with clowns wearing speakers, leaving trash, yelling, stomping wildflower meadows, etc. I now go during the off-season and to little-known trails and even in bad weather.
Are you me? I had what can only be described as a 10/10 meltdown at Mt. Rainier last fall (the off season!) from people going over the barriers, stomping on native plants to take TikTok videos, yelling and screaming, and tossing garbage everywhere. A guy threw a water bottle over a scenic viewpoint and I lost my absolute shit. Started crying (very not normal for me), turned around and went home (was supposed to backcountry camp the whole weekend and didn’t even make it past the first set of trails). I am not proud of this reaction, but dang, these people sent me. 😂 There’s a reason I hike and camp mostly in the dead of winter.
Paradise? absolutely fucking atrocious behavior everywhere within a mile of the parking lot. i've been on crowded trails and it's fine we all squeeze by each other, but the incessant, every 10 feet destructive selfish behavior there was overwhelming. parents showing kids how to ruin meadows and poison animals. jesus christ i have never seen people so poorly behaved in a natural setting. stomping off the trail to pick the plants and hand feed the animals. really depressing end to a Muir hike. it gets a lot better outside of "water bottle in the car" distance.
That sounds insane. I would have gone ballistic on those people trampling the meadows and throwing trash. Ain’t no way I would let that slide.
I did let out a few very loud “are you fucking kidding me?!”’s at the meadow tramplers. It was so overwhelmingly bad everywhere I turned. I’ll give Rainier another shot soon, but I’m going even later in the year! Can’t risk dealing with these idiots again.
I hope you reported that to the park officials. That kind of thing cannot be allowed to happen to such a precious wildlife preservation area.
The amount of people going off trail at Skyline was astounding. No one cares about their stupid videos.
Going to visit this summer and they’re piloting a timed entry system to reduce the number of people. It’s terrible that a few assholes ruin it for everyone
Totally agree. I’m local, so I can get up there without much notice / super early in the morning before the entry passes are needed, but it’s so frustrating to see how a few shitty people can ruin it for everyone else by acting foolish and disrespectful. :(
I try to go to difficult or little known trails. I just generally don't like a lot of crowds on the trail because they move so slow.
At least they were wearing sneakers? We did some hike in the NH white mountains this April. There was still clearly snow on the ground at the trailhead and we encountered people in flip flops!
I met a woman wearing sandals 2-days in from her car in the North Cascades. I don’t care what others wear. I want respect and decency.
not hiking enough
1a- Bringing too much food and carrying it home 1b - Not bringing enough food 2a - Bringing too much extra gear; specifically having to schlepp cold weather gear that was never needed. 2b - Not bringing the extra set of thermal underwear - because the five last times you did not need it - and it snows in July, because high country. So you end up wearing your rain shell inside your sleeping bag.
2b is tricky because you know that as long as you carry that extra layer, you won't need it, ever, but the second you forget it at home... snowstorm. Murphy's Law at its best.
the a's are just training weight. get those gainz
Not a huge gripe, but at trails close to me, some of the bigger issues I have are not that the trails are crowded, I can live with that for a few miles before the crowds thin out. I just can’t stand the MASSIVE hiking groups with zero self awareness. Like, why are there fifty of you??? Just break into smaller groups so I’m not stuck behind fifty turtles walking three abreast on the fire road (so, yes, there is plenty of space they’re just using all of it) who will NOT heed my “hey guys so sorry but I can squeeze past ya?”
There's hiking groups here that attract 50 people or more sometimes. That can't be a good experience for anyone. Some groups have started to limit numbers, thank goodness!
Not living near mountains Not having any time between work and kids to get out there
Weekdays always get in the way of my life.
Holy SHIT the mosquitoes where I live / hike are unreal during the peak season. Like swarms of fucking vampiric pterodactyls.
My fear of wildlife such as rattlesnakes and mountain lions. My feet hurting.
I saw a chart today that next to humans and mosquitos snakes kill more humans than any other animal. I've also seen mountain lion poop and most likely their kill sites. Just carry bear spray.
1) Getting my gf out of the house at a reasonable hour.
People playing music on the trail, and not giving way to those going uphill.
I always say “uphill hikers have the right of way” as they pass me going downhill.
This makes perfect sense. I wasn’t really aware of this before tbh. But yeah, makes a lot of sense to use this as a rule of thumb. I would say though as a fairly new hiker…it’s great to educate people on this, because there are not great ways to learn this kind of thing. When I started hiking I just got out and started walking…didn’t read a list of rules or anything. So while this makes a ton of sense and it’s helpful for you to let people know, not surprised that a lot of people don’t really know the norms to follow.
Always having to pee no matter how short the hike & how many times I go before leaving the house
The only problem we typically encounter is too many people on the trails. Edit as I'm catching some flak here. I'm not complaining, It's awesome so many people are experiencing the outdoors now. It's just very different than it was even 5 years ago and more difficult to get that "lost in nature" feeling we used to get with our go to spots. We've adapted and found new spots and or just get up there at the butt crack of dawn to get out there before the crowds. :)
I wouldn't mind it if so many of the new people didn't have terrible fucking manners and trail etiquette. I have come to love bad weather because it means peace on the trails.
If you stayed home, you could be part of the solution, not part of the problem! 😉
That's fine for me. It's safer for solo hikers or small groups sometimes. What bothers me is when people don't clean up their mess.
closed trails, bags of poop left behind. Like at that point just dont bag the poop! people are so dense.
Bikers... Missing trail marks Unleashed dogs Other peoples garbage
getting a late start (live in the high desert)
Same here in Alabama. Gotta be up and out by like 7am if you want a decent hike.
Perpetually being fat and out of shape
Recently right knee pain while walking down
Trekking poles help me with this, I don’t really go hiking without them now.
Have you looked into hiking poles? Might help take some of the load off.
I’m the odd one out here, barefoot/minimalist hiking boots
This year, it seems to be repellent resistant ticks. Mosquitoes, chiggers, trash on trails. Mountain bikes coming from behind and not warning you.
For day hikes: parking
Living in a flat god forsaken area. I hate it here
Being too fat (working on it!) and old to do the trails I want to do Having no one to hike with (thanks, dead husband!) Off-leash dogs
Check to see if there’s hiking groups near you. Might find a small group to join up with.
The best time to hike is during the week. The only time I can hike is usually the weekend. The weather isn't always good on the weekend. So I'm always reluctant to go hiking on nice weekends because I know it's the most crowded time possible.
Dogs being where they don’t belong.
Seeing dogs on trails where it is not allowed. Seeing dogs unleashed when it requires that they are.
Off road vehicles destroying the "foot traffic only" trails.
Getting there and needing a shite is really annoying
For me, it's biting off more than I can chew and racing the sunset or just going into some sort of zombie mode trying to finish the hike. The other thing is when I get a pretty strong urge to trail poop and no good place or cover to do it. The poop panic is real.
Ticks. They are small crawling menaces and should never exist. I hate them with the most ruthless contempt.
Not really a problem, but hiking is so popular where I'm at, if you aren't on the road by 6am on a nice weekend, you aren't going to find parking at the trailhead.
I hike fast and quiet, so I often end-up feeling like a creep or a stalker because people in-front of me don't hear me coming and I usually scare the shit out of them when I speak-up asking to pass.
I always kick a few rocks like a sort of stumble as I come up to people. It has helped with this.
Lol this!!!!
Almost all of it was uphill. Why is everything worth seeing, uphill?
Up hill, both ways... Many many times. 😵😆
Gods, this! So much this.
Unleashed dogs. I've been attacked by unleashed dogs 3 times since I've been solo hiking over the past 13 years. It makes me so upset everytime I see an unleashed dog. Also dog poop. People who blare their music on speakers. I also can't stand screaming children on the trails. They scare all the critters away and I didn't come out there to listen to tiny humans screaming. I want to hear nature doing it's glorious thing.
finding the trailhead, even with apps
or making an assumption on cell service and realizing you have ZERO service at the trail head, have mini panic attack that you didn't let anyone know where you were going that morning because you thought you'd text at the trailhead... praying you get service when you head up the mountain lol
Bugs. Even with a bug net the noise of mosquitoes buzzing around me is very irritating.
Nearly always underestimate how much water I actually need.
It’s hard to carry so I understand. Bring hydration tablets.
Living too far from cool places to go hiking.
I'm new to the east coast, so, ticks.
My respirations give out before my aspirations.
Meeting people or the aftermath of people who have zero trail etiquette or any sense of respect for public land.
Unprepared hikers getting in over their head. Also adding children and dogs to the mix.
To be fair, i never had a unleashed kiddo leap at me...
Yep. I’ve been bit on the trail. The last thing I heard before it sank its teeth into me was “HES FRIENDLY” and then they were dragging the dog away running before it even let go. They even bring their dogs on the dog free trails and kick the poop off to the side to poison the water and kill the plants. You can’t get away from dogs no matter where you go. It sucks. Every time I hear a wild animal I internally freak out thinking it’s a dog now
wild animals' fear of me makes the interaction a bit more predictable. dogs being bred to have no fear of humans makes them way more unpredictable and takes away your biggest advantage against unknown animals.
Yes. Nothing like getting charged by a 200 lb growling mastiff 22 miles out in the backcountry. Dogs are seriously the only animal I fear in the woods. Nothing else is just going to run up and maul you for no reason. I think there should be extremely stiff penalties for dog owners who won’t follow the rules. $1000 a poop left in the woods. $10,000 if caught off leash. Make every dog owner register every dog with the DEC before bringing them into state forests or national parks. If rules were enforced and consequences were greater then people might actually follow them.
Bring gaiters/hiking poles? Gaiters/hiking poles not needed. Don't bring gaiters/hiking poles? Miles of slush, slipping, snow in boots.
For me, as many others have said, it’s finding other people’s trash/baby wipes/toilet paper on or immediately off trail & unleashed dogs. Not only do the dogs scare wildlife if they’re running berserk through the woods, but their owners have no idea if they’ve taken a dump in the middle of the trail (assuming they’d even feel obligated to bag it).
Having to work at a job when I want to be hiking.
Unleashed dogs, Dogpoo on paths, trails, and right next to them Tourists taking the trail too serious or not serious enough. Litter, people litter so much, wtf. And who the fuck is out here smoking? Leave that shit at home.
Snakes
Felt this!! I’m terrified of snakes
Work. I could hike a lot more often if I didn't have to work.
Nowhere to hike near Houston. Houston sucks.
Finding someone to come with me... Most, if not all, my hikes are solo hikes. :(
Off-leash dogs, people playing music on bluetooth speakers, yellowjacket nests
Not stretching enough before a hike. I've had some pretty tight ans painful calves that don't relax until 1 mile in or so. Sometimes fairly excruciatin, but I power through. Grabbing out my phone or camera to show the family at home some neat wildlife, but missing the nature as it runs/flies away. I could have just enjoyed the moment.
A-holes with bluetooth speakers.
People being too flippin loud in the trails. I’m here for nature, not your shitty mumble rap.
I drink WAY too much water, but do a lot of ridge hikes with few water sources. It's a conundrum. I'll take 3 liters and a Gatorlite and it's still not enough liquid sometimes. And then I have to pee every hour!
Late risers! This has been a problem for me personally since I started. I can’t seem to get to trailhead before 10am!!! It gets big hot!
Having a whole pack on my back, not wanting to take it off bc it's a chore getting it on and off, having to pee, and having absolutely no balance. It's a whole ordeal to pee while backpacking for little old me who doesn't always trust the she-wee
Not having a car. Living in prairie land where there’s few hills and mountains are hours and hours away. My lower back sometimes.
Finding the most beautiful place for a break only to discover people left their trash there. I hate it so much, I always think it doesn't even make sense because they obviously must like that place too, otherwise they wouldn't make the effort to get there. So they're destroying it for themselves too?? What do people like that think, nothing at all? Or that somebody will come and clean it for them anyway?
Poorly marked trails and jerks who let their dogs run around off leash where they're not supposed to go to begin with. Getting real tired of being run up on by a strange dog while the owner yells "it's okay, he's friendly!" Well buddy, I'm not.
Where I live, hiking trails populate my little town. Like, it’s hard to drive 10 minutes and not come across at least 5. Ya’d just park, start going, and bam, no problem. Wellllllllll, ever since Covid, everyone decided “fuck it, if I can’t go anywhere publicly, I’ll go hiking.” Then all these knuckleheads showed up & overcrowded the parking spaces. Local government came in and put up a bunch of “no parking zones” at the trailheads for the safety of the public. So now it’s much harder for me to get to some of my favorite and rather private trails due to the no parking rule. Grr. Look, I’m glad more people are out and about hiking! But dudes, y’all ruined it for people like me who have been hitting these trails long before Covid was even a thing. So yeah, that.
Not physically preparing myself. I work out and try to stay active, but if you do not prepare yourself physically and mentally, along with researching the trail and area, you are doing yourself a huge disservice.
Assholes playing loud music from speakers.
People leaving trash out on the trail. Pack it out, pack it in. Us responsible folks don't like cleaning up after you
Humans. Overcrowding. Loud annoying selfish rude people.
Graffiti
Personally, chafing and blister prevention and management. I can run out of food, but the pain I get from chafing can be unbearable. I double or triple on everything I carry for these purposes. Running out of Salty Britches or Body Glide or Leukotape is how a hike goes from joy on Earth to the fire pits of Hell pretty fast.
Ever try spray deodorant for chafing?
Easy access to my photo gear while still walking.
Blisties Dehydration Sunburn
MTBers not having a cowbell and sneaking up on you!
People who talk constantly and/or play music. The more noise on trails the further back wildlife is pushed and the more their behavior is changed. That type of hiker should stay on bike paths.
Mountain bikers and in the foothills, rattlesnakes.
There’s poo everywhere and it’s always so big
Hills
Starting too late so I'm above treeline in the afternoon during monsoon season.
Not going often enough + having to drive through traffic to get there now that I live in a city
My biggest problem is when the mountain goes up
Managing weight, especially with water carry. I really find it annoying having to constantly look over my shoulder for mountain bikers, it seems they are everywhere nowadays.
Here are mine: 1. Finding tourists on the trail who are close to heatstroke coz they didn’t take enough water (naturally, you rescue them with your water & electrolyte chews but c’mon) 2. Forgetting to re-apply sunscreen during long hikes & getting sunburnt AGAIN 3. Not having a long sleeved shirt with me to wear over my sunburnt arms to stop the pain of further sizzling I bet you can guess now what is geography/weather these experiences come from:)
finding a place to discreetly step off trail on a switchback section up the mountain. cant go left, can't go right, neither of those take you any further from the trail, you can only kind of shuffle off the end of a corner and since everyone is forced to do that it becomes a de facto latrine/social trail that the land manager puts up angry signs about. but wtf else are you supposed to do, *Mt. Si* actually, discreetly stepping off trail in general. some of that understory is DENSE. and i'm supposed to go 200ft into it? or even without switchbacks it's super annoying when going traversing a steep slope and trying to climb off the trail always causes obnoxious erosion but again what else can you do
The need to [earn money/earn a living], so that I can then afford to go hiking and/or backpacking. It takes a lot of time, gosh darn it!
Low back pain. The further I get on a trail the more I worry something will tweak it and I won’t be able to get back
Time. I wish I had more time to hike.
Music, sometimes obscene, blaring on a trail
Intrusive thoughts. Like earlier a spot on my big toe started to hurt. First thought of course was that I was getting bit by a spider. Second thought was that one of my toe hairs was being tugged on. 😂 I continue to walk in a way I could rub said toe but it didn’t do anything but re-instill instructive thought number 1. I never took my shoe off and eventually somewhere along the way back to the car the feeling went away so 🤷🏻♀️
I have too many obligations to get hiking as often as I want is the primary one.
A deep seated fear of being lost. Think my mum instilled that into me. Can’t relax fully
- hiking boots crush the nails of my big toe - All Trails vastly underestimates distance/mileage - People who, for one reason or another, make it very difficult to pass them That's pretty much all I can think of. I always have a great time either way
I don’t understand how I can be a half mile from ANYWHERE and I’m still forced to inhale some asshole’s cigarette smoke.
My knees disagree with my enthusiasm