do you keep your head down when you hike?
when you hike, do you keep your head down watching your foot placement, or do you keep your eyes up and enjoy the surroundings you're hiking through?
Depends on the terrain but hiking in Maine and NH I pretty much keep my head down most of the time.
Let me go
Loaded question. Ya gotta keep your head down in the summer for rattlesnakes and copperheads. In the fall ya gotta keep looking for yellow jacket nests in or by the trail. And if you're humping an 80 lb pack it's good to keep your eyeballs fixed on boot placement pretty much all the rest of the year.
Sometimes near the end of a trip when my pack is light I like to eyeball my surroundings and heck I do it all the time anyway just by slowing down some. Or stopping.
It depends on the terrain. I'm quite adept at hiking and enjoying the scenery on semi flat ground .
On downhills it's all about foot placement. Steep uphills are head down always...until the hill is conquered.
Getting lost is a way to find yourself.
for myself I find after an hour or so of hiking I get into a zone where my feet know where to go without me thinking about it. I don't look directly down but rather 10-15 feet ahead of me, with my peripheral vision is enough.thre are exceptions of course over some rocky and rooty stretches , and of course on steep downs its essential.
Ha! Throw wearing bifocals into this equasion for some fun!
Loaded question. NO. The immediate tread isn't what makes a hike to me. For me, a hike is about me SEAMLESSLY becoming one with my surroundings which are not limited to a tread/path or what's at my feet. I'm aware of where I'm walking but not focused directly on the ground at my feet. I'm looking ahead and something that's about a 270* frontal view. I also don't typically use trekking poles which when using them I think gets a hiker more focused on the ground on much terrain/trails. Personality/attitude. state also play into this head down scenario. I'm not prone to or into allowing myself to be in a angry, depressed, sad, exhausted, introverted, selfish, or the world revolves immediately around me state.
You lost me this time Dogwood. Where did the angry , selfish hiker bit come from ?Originally Posted by Dogwood
Getting lost is a way to find yourself.
Over the years I've learned how to keep my head up most of the time while I'm hiking. Certainly it's a bit harder up north, or on a steep descent, but I'm pretty good at it. I almost always see oncoming hikers well before they see me.
GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014
My feet have an uncanny ability to find even the slightest rock, root, depression, or even nut to trip me up. Therefore, I do tend to glance at my feet a lot, although rarely do I fixate on them. I usually try to look ahead, plan my footfalls, and look around while I'm making those steps. Only on steep downhills, muddy or slippery spots, or when an area is full of rocks and roots do I concentrate on my feet. Going uphill I tend to look ahead, particularly if I can see the top of the ascent. Keeping my eye on the goal helps me get up there quicker.
I have no opinion on this subject.
Sure you don't
It's just in my nature to always be looking all around. It's NOT safe to just look at the ground where your foot is about to land; if people actually do this they must be paranoid of snakes.
When I go on a long distance bike tour I do the same thing, except I also have a mirror to scan as well. When I get done with the tour it usually takes me a while to get out of the habit of looking at my watch as if it' a mirror. I know, it's weird, but for some reason after a bike tour everytime I look at my watch I expect to see my mirror
Me neither........don't know why I laughed so hard at this post.....perverted sense of humor perhaps.
When my feet are in motion, I am looking down....I look up/around when I pause. HOWEVER, being a I pause often, particularly when going up hill, I tend to get a pretty good look at the scenery.
Love people and use things; never the reverse.
Mt. Katahdin would be a lot quicker to climb if its darn access trail didn't start all the way down in Georgia.
I was counting on that
happy to help!
Based on the frequency with which I kick roots and slip on wet roots, I'm pretty sure I look up, down, left, right, forward and behind me while I'm hiking.
George.......watch out for that tree!
I keep my head down when I cyberhike because I 'm a terrible typist.
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