Common Mistakes Hikers & Climbers make

This is such a cool thread, thanks for the link. I'm really surprised no-one has added to it, perhaps that's because a small(ish) proportion here are Climbers (vs Hikers), so what about Common/Simple Hiker Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them)?

Here's a start:
Dehydration: when water is scarce/not readily to hand, it is easy to not drink enough while hiking. You need to be consuming around 500ml/hr while hiking, so make sure you fill up at last known water points; rehydrating at the end of each day needs to be a priority, take a variety of hot & cold powdered drinks (including soup) to help with this. Symptoms of dehydration include thirst/dry mouth, headache, tiredness, yellow/low volume urine, dizziness. Many of these symptoms can also be from the drier atmosphere, altitude & exertion and are masked/ignored.

Rushing: the ability to make rapid progress in any given environment (including but not limited to the mountains) comes with practice and conditioning, when you have learned how to do everything efficiently and carefully. Rushing can cause you to make poor decisions with sometimes dire consequences, and will rob you of the full enjoyment of just being in the mountains.

Afterthought: if this is deemed to be a hijack/OT, feel free to start a new thread/shunt it off to cyberspace

Planning a day according to distance: This is a mistake I have made many times in my hiking. While 15km may sound like an easy day, it can often be an unrealistic day. Similarly, sometimes 25km can be an easy day. The 2 hardest days I have ever had in the mountain were day 2 of my 3 day Gypaetus Pass Hike and day 1 of my 3 day Tsepeng Pass Mashai Pass loop . The former was 2.5km and the latter 9.7km. One of the easiest full days I have ever had in the Berg was the 28km day hike Traversing from Highmoor to Lotheni and back again .

Packing items because the checklist says you must take them, even though you don't know how to use them: best example must be a space blanket. Perhaps half the items in a first aid kit may make the list as well. Even a hauling rope - a granny knot is not a great idea. Long story short - learn how to use everything you have in your bag, you won't want to sit reading the instruction manual while someone is bleeding to death or suffering from hypothermia.

Not keeping records of what you have done: I was fortunate to get this tip from Bob Woolmer's book "The Art and Science of Cricket" before I took up hiking. The principle is roughly as follows - in 10 years time you might not remember what routes you have done, so keep good records and when you can't forget, at least you can go and check. This also allows you to compare your records over a period, identify improvements in your stats, and note significant milestones. I personally keep 3 different Excel spreadsheets - 1 with a list of every Berg hike I have done, with how many nights, caves, passes, khulus, kms and who was in the group. I also keep 1 for every pass I have done (which has the date of each time I have done a pass, as well as any notes on the pass) and a similar one for khulus. The kms done spreadhseet tells me that I have hiked with 82 different people in the Berg - including 30km with my father, 87km with my mother, 67km with my brother and 25km with my sister-in-law.

Don't always trust the trails on the map: while the contours and rivers on the map are generally correct, the heights, trails, locations of caves and passes aren't always right. Be it Fangs Pass topping out at 3800m, Curtain Cave being in the wrong valley and facing the wrong direction, or the statement that Bannerman Pass may require ropes - it is always wise to ask other hikers about the status of a route rather that trusting a guidebook or map for information.

Pack spare batteries:On my Fangs/Mbundini hike with Ghaz both my and Santes headlamps were indicating that the batteries were flat, even though they were new. Spares for the GPS is also recommended

Know how to use your equipment:I don't often use my Steripen, last time I used it I forgot what all the flashing lights mean - had to read up on how it works when I got back home. come to think about it, I will have to read the instruction manual again before the next trip as I have forgotten it again!

intrepid wrote: here is a link for 52 common hiking mistakes
www.backpacker.com/skills/cooking/the-wrong-way-top-52-hiker-mistakes/2/

Good article. Thanks for sharing

#6 happened to someone in my Kilimanjaro team.

#9 happened to me on Kilimanjaro summit day. Waterbottle was upsidedown and wrapped in 2 thermal socks. I was the only person in my team who had this problem.

I disagree with #19 - pack liners and covers should be used together. A liner is vital (especially if you fall in a river or your waterbottle leaks), but a splash cover keeps the outer of your pack dry, which saves weight - and a wet outer will slowly make its way through gaps in plastic and you will eventually end up with wet stuff inside anyway.

#24 may not apply to the Berg, definitely not the southern Berg or escarpment anyway

Strongly agree with #33, #34 and #37

Disagree with #38 - your shoes get wet, dry socks are wet almost instantly. But what I generally do when I have wet shoes (on long hikes) is: every time we stop, I take my shoes and socks off, wring out my socks, leave my shoes upsidedown and allow my feet to dry.

#51 is usually the opposite of the problem. On GT last/this year, the 3 of us started with 2 cylinders (and a spare at Sani). None of us were sparing on gas and we did not even finish the second one. 1 person should easily get 2 weeks out of a standard size cylinder - assuming 1 breakfast boil and 2 supper boils each day.

Thanks guys, good links & tips building up here.

A bit off topic, but ghaz's observation on the tendency to take too much (cooking) gas got me wondering where the cutoff is between being responsible for your own hike, and sharing/depending on your hiking partners. I suspect that the objective is to be inter-dependent where you are all reliant on/supportive of each other, rather than being totally independent/totally reliant. This will vary from group to group.

Ok back to the topic, I agree that Taking Too Much Stuff is an easy trap to fall into when you're planning for the unexpected/unpredictable. Some tips from others that I've tried to adopt are:

• review what you didn't use after each hike, and carefully (ruthlessly) consider whether to take it next time. Knowing exactly what each item weighs helps a lot in this process.
• right-size your backpack (it's harder to take stuff if there isn't space for it)
• share stuff: tents, cooking equipment, underwear (only joking with the last one!)
• rebag into ziploc bags: they have their faults, but ziplocs make great lightweight see-through toiletry bags, first aid containers, toilet tissue/wet-wipe dispensers, etc
• multi-task your kit: space blanket as a groundsheet/insulating layer under your sleeping mat, dress in layers to eliminate the need for a heavy jacket/coat, buff instead of hat/cap & scarf, eat from you pot instead of taking a bowl (this does not always work well with 'sharing stuff'!)

Keep an eye on weather forecasts and reports and plan accordingly

Always remember that going up a steep scramble is usually easier than coming down it. A mistake I have made too many times, and probably counting. I think it may be a adrenaline issue for some, including me, clouding judgement a bit.