7 Tips To Have A Successful Hike

This was a crazy hike. The hike itself wasn’t horrible, we just didn’t think through things like we should have.

1. Plan Ahead

Pretty common sense right? We knew we wanted to go on a hike during the week but hadn’t planned a day or place to go. Then came Thursday and we decided kind of spur of the moment to just go and get some miles in. We should have planned the night before, first thing when we got up, or even better a few days before where we wanted to go but, we didn’t. We were slackers and waited tell last minute. So once we finally decided we were going to go, we were a little rushed getting on the road. And that lead to a few of our pitfalls during the day. We did it though. We got out the door and decided that we would stay somewhat close to cut down on driving time, the trail we picked was 9.5 miles round trip.

2. Start Early

Our first mistake was getting on the trail late. We got on the trail around 1:00 PM (way to late). A hike is so much more enjoyable when you start early. We had our idea of how fast we could do our hike, but it is important to always add in a couple extra hours to that time. You never know. You might take more brakes or want to play around a little more. Or you might just have a two-year old that says she needs to go potty every 10 minutes. The last thing we wanted was for her to have an accident in our pack, so we believed her and would stop. Sometimes she went, sometimes she didn’t.

3. Extra Kid Clothes

I thought I had planned well and brought an extra shirt, pants, panties/diapers, and sweater for both girls. The day was going smoothly in the potty department until…. we got to the summit. Once we got to the summit we got our oldest out of the pack and took her potty. A little while later though she was standing at the highest point of the mountain. She looked so cute, but then I noticed she wasn’t moving, and then I knew. She went potty in her pants. I brought extra pants and panties just in case that happened, but her socks were soaked. Bringing extra socks was something I had never thought about until it was too late. The thought never even crossed my mind to bring socks.  So lesson learned, bring extra socks!

4. Fire 

Carry multiple fire starters. Usually we just pack sandwiches for lunch and snacks to eat while on the trail. But on this trip we brought a stove. Adam had been working on a homemade stove to help lighten things up for when we go backpacking. We brought it so we could test it out and then cook one of our homemade dehydrated meals. We were already on the trail when Adam remembered that he left his lighter in the car. We thought we might have some matches in our first aid kit but we didn’t. Adam has some great boy scout skills, so he could have started a fire with some pieces of wood and kindling but since we started so late we didn’t have time.

5. Hand Sanitizer

Just another quick tip. Hand sanitizer is a great fire starter. Most hand sanitizers are alcohol based so they are light and burn easily. You just need a match or lighter. You can also use it for the purpose that it is intended since nobody likes dirty hands while hiking or camping. 😉

6. Extra Food and Water

Hiking is exhausting. I feel like I need 5X the amount of food when hiking then on a regular day. Also we had a little bear with us too. Our 2-year-old likes to eat, and eat, and eat. We have to pace her so all of our snacks aren’t gone in the first mile haha. Having plenty of food and water is a must.

Since we didn’t eat our meal at the top we were all pretty hungry. We realized it would have been nice to have some extra food in the car for this type of situation. We had plenty of water but adding some snacks in the car would have been a great idea.

7. Have A Post Hike Treat

We started the tradition of going to get ice cream after our big hikes and camping. Everyone is pretty tired and not real excited to pack up and get home. Ice cream is a great incentive and a fun way to end the trip.

Since we didn’t get our lunch at the summit, we decided to get a nice big juicy burger! We live in New Mexico, so it’s a must for green chili as well. The post hike treat is probably the most important thing you can do. It was so good and a perfect way to end a fun day on the trail.

Not every trip is going to be perfect. There will most likely always be something you forget, wish you brought, or didn’t bring. In the end though all that really matters is that you got out and enjoyed nature. One of the main reasons I love hiking so much is because you get to see things you other wise never would see. There is something magical about standing at the top of a mountain and being able to see for miles. I love it and want my girls to love it. I hope that you can learn from our mistakes, but can also be inspired to go have some fun.

Your Turn!- What is something that is a must, on your trips?