[WaState]

What do you think? I think it is to watch where your going and know how to backtrack before you get totally lost. If every beginner hiker did this it I think it would greatly cut the number of missing people every year. It is simple , hiker misses the main trail flollows a false trail and keeps on going until lost. This is even more likely downhill, no one wants to backtrack uphill. !!!!! For me , for years when a kid to early thirties my only navagation skill was watching where I was going and back tracking and I never got lost. You learn to pay attention if this is your only navagation skill. As I got older and going farther out I started to use compass, gps and maps etc. Does anyone teach back tracking or is it an assumed skilll? I wonder as I suspect many people do not have this concept.

[WaState]

It is fairly simple ,, your hiking and trail fades away or disappears on you, now what? If going downhill the temptation is to keep on going, if at end of day and getting dark, this gets many of the inexperenced every year. Otherwise you backtrack , do some circles etc until you find main trail again. This skill or instinct is usually missing for those who did not grow up in the woods. The new hiker who grew up in the city is in particular danger.

[WaState]

Do a experiment, ask a few new or less experienced hikers what they would do if when hiking and they lost the trail??? What next, what would they do next ??? Same question if off trail and lost their way??

[huron]

The largest obstacle for absolute beginners is how to crap. Once they master that, the rest is easy.

[Bernardo]

Back tracking is good. It falls under the broader category of thinking and being thoughtful. Compass is essential. It's one of the 10 essentials. If you can't use it, then you are not effectively carrying the 10 essentials. Knowing how to read a map proceeds everything.

[joker]

I recall talking to some SAR folks from the Gunnison CO area once. They believed that regardless of the proximate cause of nasty SAR cases they'd dealt with, that hypothermia was often an early domino to fall which led to other dominoes leading to whatever triggered the need for rescue and first aid. I'd say knowing how to stay warm, hydrated, and fueled so as to avoid hypothermia would have to be up there.

[tmatlack]

Stay within your experience and comfort level so you can enjoy the outing instead of being miserable. Wife and I blew that one with pre-schooler on 1 mile, wet snow hike to Barclays Lake. Cost us several years of "No, I don't wanna do that." Tom

[SwitchbackFisher]

[treeswarper]

Driving on forest roads with turnouts. Don't push the speed, slow down for the curves and be ready to either duck into a turnout or get over enough on curves. I hate running into yahoos who are in the middle of the road and going too fast on a blind curve. Even though you are a couple hours from Seattle, there is still traffic on the roads in the woods. Oh, and don't block the road when parking or park in front blocking a gate. If you are in cow country and the gate is closed, open it and drive through and then close it. In other words, learn the etiquette of getting to the trail and then work on your hiking skills.

[cambajamba]

Listen to the people around you and try to be part of the community.

[texasbb]

I guess it depends on what you include in the definition of skill, but I'd say number 1 is "be prepared." That's true for beginners and veterans alike. I agree with the hypothermia comment above--that's usually what gets people. So if they'd just carry everything needed to stay warm on an unexpected night out, there'd be a lot more good outcomes. And I don't mean a sparkie firestarter or any skill learnt from Bear Grylls, I mean warm clothes and a way to keep them dry.

[Randito]

Yeah hypothermia-- I recently refreshed my wilderness first aid training and there was a significant change in the protocol from when I took it the last time. Previously the protocol called for doing a detailed spinal check before moving the patient at all. The new protocol is a very basic check ( is the patient obviously mangled) and placing a foam pad under and insulation over very quickly. Even a minor injury that immobilized the patient can become life threatening situation once hypothermia sets in. The change in protocol came from army medic experience in Afghanistan. A - airway (is it blocked) B - breathing C - circulation (including arterial bleeding) D - deformity (is the spine obviously compromised) E - environment (protect from rockfall, icefall, etc, cold or hot)

[Bootpathguy]

Study! Study for the area you plan on exploring. And not just once. Do it several evenings in a row Some here would laugh at me. I'll study a area that some here would perceive as the most basic "off trail 101" destinations. Or even places that have / had a very established and we'll traveled trail. Paper maps, GMap terrain maps, & Google Earth. I'll have a paper map spread out on the table and 2 open screen. One with GMAP4 on a tablet and a laptop with Google Earth. Combine all that with a search of trip reports for your destination It's so cool when your physically there and you can see the terrain, land marks, creeks, waterfalls, boulders the size of city buses, cliff bands etc.. that you've been studying for the last week. Although you've never physically been there, your virtual visit makes it feel familiar. You'll see the things that people told you to be aware of. Either the dangers and / or the awesome things. So Cool!!!

[moonspots]

[Kascadia]