10 Rules of Hiking Etiquette I Wish I’d Known Sooner!
10 Rules of Hiking Etiquette I Wish I’d Known Sooner!
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These are the 10 most important rules of hiking etiquette I wish I’d known sooner! If you’ve broken any of these rules, you are not alone – the rules of hiking etiquette can be pretty confusing or hard to follow. Most of these rules go unspoken, and yet some hikers expect every other hiker to have been born knowing them! It’s as if the first two rules of hiking etiquette are to not talk about hiking etiquette. In this video I am attempting to change the unspoken nature of the rules of hiking best practice, as well as sharing some thoughts about what to do if you see another hiking breaking these rules or making any mistakes on trail! Did I miss any important rules of good hiking etiquette? Let me know in the comments below!
Intro: 00:00
Important context for these hiking rules: 0:35
Hiking Etiquette Rule #1: 1:02
Hiking Etiquette Rule #2: 2:31
Hiking Etiquette Rule #3: 3:44
Hiking Etiquette Rule #4: 4:18
Hiking Etiquette Rule #5: 5:24
Hiking Etiquette Rule #6: 6:00
Hiking Etiquette Rule #7: 7:55
Why I love LMNT electrolytes (sponsor): 9:30
Hiking Etiquette Rule #8: 10:41
Hiking Etiquette Rule #9: 11:34
Hiking Etiquette Rule #10: 12:36
What to do if you see someone breaking these rules: 13:48
Outro: 15:06
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The Rules of Hiking Etiquette I Wish I’d Known Sooner | Miranda Goes Outside
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The speakers with no headphones thing has gotten a lot more common recently. At least that I’ve noticed. I try not to get annoyed by it, but I fail consistently.
Cutting switchback has been my biggest pet peeve. People will ARGUE with me when I ask them not to do it! Seriously lol.
I really think #10 (you’re almost there !) is completely perverse. People take your words in the spirit in which they are offered, which is simply NOT one of judgement, or “surprise”, in this case. Is this, then, allowed ?:
“Humanoid, I acknowledge your presence, with neither pleasure nor regret. I can’t divulge your proximity to the terminus, though I possess such a datum, nor express my spontaneous fellow-feeling as you seek to attain the exact same goal as myself. Have a day.”
That DID express judgement, didn’t it ? But not of the other hiker. Of the busybody who wants to impose this unnecessary rule on good-natured hikers, which is itself judgmental.
In 40 years of hiking, including the Dartmouth Outing Club, Appalachian Mtn. Club, and Nat’l Outdoor Leadership School, I’ve often given AND received your banned encouragement, and the outdoors have been better for it.
Had a, presumably well meaning, guy tell me "youre almost there" on a hike I do weekly cus its by my house. I was like "thank you, I do this trail all the time" And he got furious with me.
I will not carry dog poop out of the woods they are animals animals poop in the woods. I do make sure it is not on the trail but I do not pick up K9 poop in the wild, if a coyote or a wolf can poop in the woods my dogs can too.
I usually yield to cyclists. They’re out of my way soon enough, and often we catch them while they’re going uphill so I’m not inclined to make them lose their momentum. In the past, I had more interactions with cyclists that would blaze through no matter what, but at some point that stopped being a common situation.
Why do i feel like my dog is just a weird german shepherd now 😂😂 I bring poop bags and we have done a 2 day hike and she NEVER pooped! But she pooped ALOT when we got home 😂😂
This is a pet peeve list. Just be honest and say these are things YOU dont like. Dont pretend this is a universal etiquette list. Sure some of these are somewhat universal but most of this list is not. Yes it is rude to blast music but pretending that the reason is so animals can hear eachothers mating calls is nonsense. Tossing biodegradable material such as a peel may be unsightly if not thrownnout of sight of trail or could attract bugs and animals if left near a camp but to say it is because they take months to break down, is again nonsense. Same with dog poo. I always pick up after my dog in populated areas but in the woods? Absolutely not. Im using a stick and tossing off out of the way. You are supposed to stay on the trail, right? So you wont see it or step in it if you follow your own rules. Truth is, in non heavy use areas a little dog poo off trail is no different than a coyote or a deer. Obviously there are exceptions.
Garbage that is really important to pack out is toilet paper. Many people assume that it will magically decompose. Nope. It lasts for years and can be really harmful to the environment. Some trails have had to permanently close because of the disgusting mess people leave behind. I always carry a small kit including a lightweight trowel, a few pieces of toilet paper, a ziploc bag, and some hand sanitizer. Fold up the used toilet paper very small and tuck it into the bag. I’ve gone as long as 5 days backpacking with never a trace of odor this way. And I hate to mention it but if you are hiking above tree line, where there’s not enough soil to bury 6-8 inches down, Number 2 comes out with you as well. 😊
Lets hope I don’t come across this Karen on my hikes.
Oh there is a special circle of hell for people with boom boxes on trails and beaches. They just need to be on their own planet somewhere away from normal people
most of these can be summed up as the rule: don’t be entitled, be considerate.
I cannot express in words the depths of my hatred towards mountain bikers who treat hiking trails like there’s nobody else on it. I almost got into a fistfight with some wretched bastard who passed me on a narrow trail, and almost hit my dog. I ride a mountain bike myself, but if I’m riding somewhere where I even suspect that another human might be coming my way, I don’t haul ass down it. When it comes time to pass someone, I always stop and dismount if there’s not enough room to do it safely.
If someone is breaking the rules of the forest, they are easy to dispose of.
Hey friends! For those of you asking: if you need to poop, you should ABSOLUTELY go off trail (200 feet!!) to do so! Just try to avoid doing so in areas that are specifically marked and ask you to stay on trail. Here in Washington we have lots of revegetation areas with signs that ask people to stay on trail and let the plants grow, so that would be a *bad* place to dig a cat hole. But use your best judgement!
As far as pee, peeing on rocks is generally a good practice in fragile deserts areas, and wandering off trail to pee is also a good idea 😊
How about when you go on a long hike and at some point you have to go pee…find a private area behind a tree but it’s all covered w/a bunch of TP 👀
@11:49 Bananas taking years to decompose? what planet are you on? I am never packing out a banana peel or apple core. You aren’t hurting a thing…
I’d love to see someone present actual scientific reasons why it’s bad to leave apple cores in the back country. The only evidence I’ve ever heard is "my forest ranger friend says so". I don’t buy it.
Rule 32 when hiking make sure that you have at least one friend who is slower than you in case a bear chases you.
I wish to God that people using the state forests here in Florida would learn to stop shitting right on the trails and leaving piles of toilet paper all around it.
I once had an off-leash full grown Newfoundland come running at me on a trail and for a hot moment I thought I was about to have to fight a black bear. Super nice dog, but in the middle of the woods scared the heck out of me. Please keep doggos on leash!
Leave No Trace goes for sound pollution too!
Last weekend I met a hiker who had headphones and she was walking a nervous dog with a "don’t pet, in training" harness. She had no idea that people were at the nearby gun range and the dog was reacting to that. Just in case, I mentioned the gun range with a few other hikers I later saw with dogs. They all had relaxed dogs, and they knew the trail already, but you never know.
#10 spot on. I’m a bigger guy and I get the “almost there” a lot… I know I’m sweating, that’s why I’m hiking.
If you really want to enjoy it make sure your gear is of good quality and strip things down to the minimum. Bring just what you need. Great advice overall! 🥾
#1 is definitely #1
I say you’re almost there at the trailhead XD
👎, if someone says you’re almost there and it bothers you, then you have problems.
LNT, learn it, love it, live it. My biggest pet peave is picking up other people’s trash on trail. I have no problem calling someone out on littering. I always carry a small trash bag just in cas. I live near a fairly busy public trail & people are just slobbs sometimes. All the other "rules" don’t bother me so much but the trash thing just dont. Hike it in, hike it out. Pretty simple in my book
As a park ranger, I’m often reminding people of these things, especially dogs off leash and what feeding the wildlife will do to them. So thank you for sharing this!!
Okay…. I can understand the yield to horses and some of the stuff with pooping and dogs but where you’re walking, the hell with that. This is why there are shit trails that suck. People wanna make rules for everyone and everything, like we don’t have enough rules as it is. People shove their face in a trail and try to finish it. I like trails that are in remote places so that I can go off into the woods and do whatever the I want. This is actually how I find most of my best camping spots. I’m not worried about stepping on a baby tree. I’m not gonna cut half the forest down and build a structure and a bonfire or anything but I’m going off trails. That’s the point of being in places, to explore. And if I’m running a trail and wanna go up something steeper, I’m going through the woods. I’ll run deer paths. I really don’t care. Like I said, I can understand the common sense stuff like not freaking out a horse or dog but I’m not here to kiss everyone’s ass. I’m here to enjoy myself and if I’m bothering you with my dog or headphones then tell me, or ignore me for the 3 seconds it takes to walk past me. My dogs are well trained, they won’t bother anyone, my dog shits in the compost pile in my yard and won’t even shit on a trail, hasn’t had a leash since he was 6 months old. Didn’t need one because I took the time to train him because a well trained dog will live much longer than a stupid dog that will attack a bear or boar. Fuck educate, don’t be stupid and train your dog. Also have thick skin and stop nit picking what everyone does.
One you missed..? How about…gotta pee? Step off the trail to do it.
Everyone knows the proper greeting on a hike is “what’s pop-cracka-lackin’, foo-bear?”
wow these rules really seem like, i ran into this person who wants to camp differently than me… shame them…how dare they let their dog off lead and listen to music the hoodlums… stay off my forest you kids…. maybe just pull the branch out of your butts… also if im expected to pick up my dogs poop in the woods then maybe you guys should pack out your poop instead of burying it where animals just dig it up a week later anyway… this whole vid just pushed the rules for thee and not mee vibe….
12:20 had the same experience with bananas as well lol Now I tell people when they ask they can throw banana peel in the forest as soon as they star naturally growing there, which is never (nature Reserves in europe).
Here in croatia the bigger culprit is mandarin peels but at least they are more native than bananas
Lol a big burp should be part of your intro lol😅
as a trail runner, and someone who runs his dog on the trails… I have a bear bell attached to my dog as we are moving just so much faster than hikers. I found that works a lot better than yelling as people usually "don’t hear me".
If you don’t want to carry poo or leash your dog, a simple solution is to keep the dog at home.
On the music, I’ve always considered low volume music a good thing. It’s better than bear bells, keeps your mind occupied, and respectful lower volumes shouldn’t bother animals or passersby. Sure, loud music on a speaker is obnoxious, but I can hear your clanging gear from twice as far as my 1/4 volume phone playing a podcast to keep me company.
I’ve always found prescriptive rules about right-of-way to be arbitrary at best. Just be considerate of others, and you’ll be fine.
I’m on board with the vast majority of "trail etiquette" the music thing isn’t one though.. sometimes I’m going through it after a few days of bad weather or what ever. I happen to be burdened with not being able to use ear buds because abnormally small ear canals. So I can only listen to music out loud. Of one doesn’t like what I’m listening to or just doesn’t want to hear it. They’re welcome to pass, slow down, or say something to me and I’ll pause it and wait for them to get ahead of me. But the whole "I don’t like it so you can’t" mentality is absurd. If someone’s choice in music is a mood breaker for you, you have other issues to deal with.
For those that dont leash their dogs, its crazy that you like broadcasting that you hate your pet.
Wait, you guys are staying on the trail?
I’m usually hiking solo and sometimes in grizzly country. I play music so I don’t surprise any grizzlies on the trail. I also carry bear spray. Bear bells don’t work and clapping my hands or shouting just gets tiring. I don’t play it loud, just enough to be heard, like a normal conversation level.
I’m open to any other suggestions to alert bears to my presence.
I have encountered grizzlies in Glacier and Yellowstone but they were always walking away from me.
Yield to uphill for the people in the back! 📢
Fun fact: if you stay inside you dont have to worry about any of this dumb stuff. Also any trail was literally just woods at one point and someome bushwacked it
I’m confursed. Why does a biker going downhill yield to someone walking or riding uphill? Isn’t it harder for the guy going downhill to stop?
When someone’s like "you’re almost there!" and the "almost there" is 2 more miles uphill 💀
Question about leashing your dog. We have a lovely collection of national FOREST trails that allow dogs to be off leash. I use some of the least populated ones to practice off-leash time with my dog. Is that so bad? If so, how do I find good places for him to find new smells? Dog parks specifically just have too many dogs, and they don’t have new spaces for him to wander…
Let groups pass singles, it’s easier for 1 person to stop and let a group pass