[pct-l] Is thru-hiking alone actually safe?

[Eric Lee (GAMES)]

Brittany wrote:
>
But my family is very concerned for me and continue to press the issue of finding a hiking companion. Any thoughts, or advice? Thanks alot!
>

If you start anywhere around the end of April, you'll actually find it difficult to achieve being alone for any serious length of time.  There are lots of other thru-hikers around.  Choosing a partner before starting the trail usually doesn't work out.  Once you're on the trail, there will be plenty of people to pick from.  It will be very easy for you to fall in with a few other hikers of similar habits and hike with them if you want to, or if you want to keep to yourself but find that you need emergency help, there will likely be someone along shortly.

If your goal is to reassure your family, then just explain to them that there are several hundred people who start the trail around the same time every year, so you'll be in plenty of good company.  You won't be alone in the way they're afraid of.  You'll know people and other people will know you, and even if you're not actually with someone all the time, your "tribe" will keep track of your whereabouts.  You'd have to be pretty anti-social to avoid that, actually.

You asked if thru-hiking alone is actually safe.  I suppose, objectively, that being within sight distance of someone else at all times is *slightly* safer than hiking alone.  Certainly I can imagine some rare scenarios where having a companion would make a difference.  But I really think the difference is slight.  Of all the accidents, injuries, and fatalities I can think of hearing about on the PCT, I can think of only one at the moment (John Donovan) where being with someone else would have likely changed the outcome.  My (unproven) belief is that in the vast majority of trail emergencies, you either die instantly or you can afford to wait around for awhile until someone comes along to help you.

Of course, talking to your family about "dying instantly" on the trail probably isn't going to help.  :-)  Instead, you might point out the fact that in terms of objective risk, hiking is a very safe activity compared to other things that we take for granted.  You're more likely to get injured or killed driving to the mall than you are to get injured or killed hiking on the PCT.  Yet that doesn't stop our Christmas shopping, does it?

Yes, hiking in the wilderness for five months is an unfamiliar activity, and therefore seems scary to some, but it's really not particularly dangerous if you take basic common sense precautions.  Know your physical limits.  Know your gear.  Be ready and willing to stop, wait, or turn around if the conditions warrant.  Be prepared for all reasonably foreseeable circumstances, but don't worry about freak accidents.  Freak accidents happen anywhere - in your home most of all.

Eric