Daughter hiking alone
My daughter is 23 and she is wanting to thru hike the AT by herself. As a parent I am worried about this and would like to hear others thoughts on this matter.
She will be okay because she will find others to hike with when she gets on the trail. I am curious how you can be 22 years old and have a 23 year old daughter?
I am just a weekend section hiker, but I can guarantee that if she starts in GA in the spring she will not be alone.Originally Posted by abbykat234
I recommend you read the book "Becoming Odessa" it is about a woman your daughter's age hiking the AT alone.
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I'll bet it has something to do with cybergenics.
"Hiking is as close to God as you can get without going to Church." - BobbyJo Sargent aka milkman Sometimes it's nice to take a long walk in THE FOG.
Not even P90 X could do that!
I am leaving March 5 and worry about my safety. She has to be smart and recognize dangers. There will be plenty of people to chose to hike with. Not feeling comfortable with someone she only has to find someone else she feels safe with. Just saying
I start out the Day with nothing and by the end of the Day I still have most of it.
Are you worried about her driving a car or going to college by herself? Do you think those activities are significantly safer than going for a long distance hike? I would hazard to guess that every year, any given large University has multiple students who are crime victims and that every year, every major highway has multiple drivers who are victims of auto accidents. What do most parents do in those situations? Mostly, they teach their children how to drive, how to behave responsibly, send them off to college, and then worry.
I have two son's, 21 & 18, would be concerned, but pretty excited, if my (young) daughter wanted to do a thru hike alone.
Would definitely get her a lightweight one person tent, to me not having that freedom would be a big miss. Many of the shelters are really "skeevy", crowded, mice, etc. If she gets to a shelter and is not comfortable, move on! Tenting would be the option.
Hiking poles can be used for more than walking, plus they will be needed to pitch her tent.
The AT in Spring is busy and social. She will not be alone. Hikers look out for each other.
As a group we totally understand - and although your bio is a little confusing. Many folk here post about there personal fears. The trail is just walking ... so its 2000 miles. So what, this is one step at a time,your daughter wants to discover something that is missing in her life, that is the discovery. If she has something that she cannot solve she will reach out to you, otherwise just be there as a guide! Time now to hang up parenting and understand how to be there other than helicoptering. As a parent - you need to look at what is in store for you and your child and understand and support the endeavor... Discover other ways of participating and supporting her, she is in no danger.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
I'm a mom of kids in that age group, and hiking this year as well. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I worried plenty about my daughter driving the I-95 corridor between New England and DC to get to and from college. First off, there are plenty of folks on the trail. If your daughter has any sense, she'll know when something or someone isn't right, and just hike on. Second, she'll likely find a group of folks her age to hike with in pretty short order. They may not spend every minute of every day on the trail, but there will be folks to worry about her and keep track of her day to day. Which is not the same thing as saying there are no dangers out there - snakes and Lyme disease probably being the worst of what is out there.
Quilteresq
2013, hopefully.
+1 on the hikers looking out for each other. +1 on the bio a bit confusing. If you need to talk to another mom who has/had the same personal fear, PM me anytime.
In everyones first aid kit should be a whistle...when it blows anyone within hearing knows that someone is in trouble....you are more safe in numbers....it is true the spring start on the AT is very public... do your prep and you will be fine...
I thruhiked the AT twice as a solo female. I understand your fears, but my experience is that AT hikers quickly meet other hikers who become friends, partners, and sometimes trail families. There are a lot of other people starting the trail at the same time. She won't be alone, unless she really works at it.
FYI my dad posted from my name. He asked if he could ask the question on here to get feedback.
A good friend of mine's daughter hiked the AT solo NoBo in 2012. She's around the age of your daughter. She told me the main thing that made her uncomfortable was some guy walking into a shelter with wet clothes and immediately begin stripping out of their clothes. She said she wished they say, "Hey, I need to get out of wet clothes... Do you mine turning around so I can change?"
Other than that, she just hiked with a 'trail family' she met (about her own age) and kept going north w/ minimal problems.
She's a grown woman. Turn loose.
Although hiking is not entirely without risk, it is still much safer than many activites no one thinks twice about. Like driving. Woman probably account for at least a 1/4 of the hikers out there these days. Many are older woman.
Follow slogoen on Instagram.
She wont be alone, except possibly for the first couple hrs if its a slow starting day.
Odds are she probably hooks up with some other hiker at the parking lot even on day 1.
Daughter hiking alone
Tell her to bring rubbers.
I have a daughter, 13, and think about safety. She weighs 80 pounds. In 3 years she will be driving. I have been trying to teach her to be autonomous, in life and in sports. She participates primarily in individual sports, like running, hiking, sprint kayaking. She benefits greatly from coaches and instructors, but I am trying to teach her to coach and teach herself. Her kayak club, like most of them, focus almost entirely on coach lead sprint training on a relatively short course, close to shore, up and back, up and back, with a coach boat on the water, and dry land training when it is 'rough'. When not at the club with her friends I encourage more adventure based 'training', longer more scenic paddles, where the motivation is to cover a route, destination to destination, and to enjoy whatever nature throws in your way. So of course I have to train her more than her friends, or even her coaches, about water safety, deep rough water self rescue, and so forth. Her boat needs to be fitted out a bit differently, more like a surf ski, and she needs to practice self rescue, and gradually take more and more personal responsibilty for her clothing choices, her boats design, construction, and maintenance, and her physical fitness, knowledge, and skills. It's a different approach, and most parents would most likely call me negligent, I suppose. There are always inherent risks, when I take her out on the water with me on an adventure, and if something ever happens, heaven forbid, I suppose the press might have a field day. Still, in my heart, I feel I know what I am doing, and it's safer than driving her someplace on the highway, or letting her drive herself when she turns 16. We have a higher tolerance for motor vehicle accidents I suppose. Not sure why.
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