It’s about time to resume hiking, and wherever you get your steps in, from Mount Charleston to Sloane Canyon, Red Rock to McCullough Trail, here’s a refresher in outback behavior, compiled from a number of hiking safety and etiquette sources:
🥾 Know Your Right of Way
Hikers coming up the trail get priority; don’t disturb their momentum. Keep single file when you can; pass on the left. And because trails often serve a mix of users, it’s good to know the proper hierarchy: bikers yield to hikers, and both yield to horses.
🚯 Leave No Trace
This commonly refers to packing out your garbage — a good habit on or off the trail. It also refers to your dog’s poop (though one guide suggests it’s okay to bury it, or yours, 200 paces off the trail). But it also means don’t etch or jot your initials on a rock or tree; you’re not “leaving petroglyphs for future generations,” you’re just defacing nature.
🪨 Don’t Destroy Cairns
It’s tempting, I know, but don’t knock one over. Someone may be navigating by it.
📴 Use Tech Sparingly
Different guides offer different advice — keep your music all the way off; or listen in earbuds at low volume. Basic point being, don’t intrude on the natural solace with your loud music or phone calls. But keep your phone handy in case of a snakebite (they’re said to be active in October), an accident, or getting lost.
👋 Say Hi
A hello or at least a nod keeps the trail mojo convivial. And, in case a search party has to find you, maybe the other person will remember you from your friendly demeanor.
[City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]
