The best tips for getting out hiking this National Trails Day

AccuWeather

The first weekend of June is a great time to get out and enjoy your local trails, so here's how to be prepared to do that safely.

Transcript

00:00 Well, if you have great weather,

00:01 as accurate are showing you

00:03 from coast to coast here,

00:04 it's going to be a good day because

00:06 tomorrow is National Trails Day for 32 years.

00:08 The first Saturday in June is a day

00:10 for getting outdoors to enjoy,

00:12 but also protect the hiking trails.

00:14 Maggie Pycon is the manager of

00:15 communications for the American

00:16 Hiking Society.

00:17 Thank you so much for joining us and Maggie.

00:20 How did this all begin?

00:21 How did National Trails Day start?

00:23 And what is the mission?

00:24 So as you mentioned,

00:26 we're celebrating our 32nd annual

00:28 National Trails Day on Saturday,

00:29 but the idea actually came in 1991

00:31 when American Hiking Society was

00:33 ideating a program that would

00:35 highlight the importance of trails

00:36 while also advocating for trail stewardship.

00:39 So by June 5th in 1993,

00:41 AHS launched its first ever National

00:43 Trails Day with hundreds of organizations

00:45 participating across the country.

00:47 Now National Trails Day is the day

00:49 of public events aimed at advocacy,

00:52 trail service,

00:53 and encouraging local communities

00:54 to connect in the outdoors.

00:56 And it's a day for all of us to

00:59 connect and it's a day that brings

01:01 people across the country together

01:02 to advocate for, maintain,

01:03 and clean up public lands and trails.

01:05 It's a really important day and it's

01:07 a really great day to get outside.

01:09 Yeah, and how do we do that?

01:10 What needs to happen to protect

01:12 the hiking trails and what are the

01:14 threats and how can people help?

01:16 That's a great question.

01:17 I think we all know that trails can't

01:19 advocate for or maintain themselves,

01:20 so educating yourself on what it means

01:22 to be an impactful trail steward

01:24 can be really helpful.

01:25 There are so many ways to be a great

01:27 trail steward, including cleaning up

01:29 trash you find on trails,

01:31 always remembering to stay on trail

01:33 when you're hiking and following

01:34 Leave No Trace principles,

01:35 and using your voice to advocate

01:37 for trails and preservation of

01:39 trails on the local and national

01:40 level and threats to trails could

01:42 be due to a host of different

01:44 issues from environmental,

01:46 like invasive species,

01:47 human impact, of course,

01:48 like litter or hikers repeatedly

01:50 wandering off trail and damaging

01:52 the ecosystem or a lack of trail

01:55 funding for trail building and

01:56 trail maintenance.

01:57 So being a good trail steward can

01:59 definitely help preserve and

02:01 protect trails across the country.

02:02 I love that and I love hiking.

02:05 It's such a fun family activity

02:06 and some people may be expert

02:08 hikers but other people may be

02:09 looking to just get started and

02:11 this weekend might be great to do that.

02:13 Do you have any tips for the best

02:14 way to get started and then of course

02:17 prepare for possible weather conditions?

02:18 Yes, national trails is definitely

02:20 a great day to get out on the trails,

02:22 whether it's your first time or your 100th.

02:24 It's a great family activity and

02:25 it's always a great idea to start small.

02:28 So meaning taking shorter hikes

02:29 and to start local checking the

02:31 weather before you head out on the

02:32 trail is always a good idea and in

02:34 the summer months it can actually be

02:36 especially helpful to head out early

02:38 so you can avoid those afternoon pop

02:39 up storms and heading out early will

02:41 also help to avoid the high heat

02:43 of the day in the summer.

02:44 Alright, how about a navigating the trails?

02:48 I know they've got the trail

02:50 blazers out there.

02:50 I had a scary situation.

02:51 My husband, I were on a loop and he

02:53 exited the loop and I kept going.

02:55 So do you have any advice for people

02:57 to stay safe on the route and what

02:59 they may need to bring to help them?

03:01 Yeah, it's a totally reasonable

03:03 concern to have before your hike.

03:05 It's a great idea to look at a trail

03:07 map and familiarize yourself with it.

03:09 You can read recent trail reviews,

03:11 see what other people are saying.

03:12 If there's anything to look out for,

03:14 you want to download a map that you

03:16 can use offline or print out a paper

03:18 map if you're comfortable reading a

03:20 paper map. We always recommend that

03:21 hikers bring the 10 essentials with

03:23 them on every hike regardless of how

03:25 far or how close to home it might be.

03:27 And we always also say that it's a

03:28 great idea to tell somebody where

03:30 you're going again, regardless of

03:31 how close to home you are or for

03:33 how long you're going to be gone.

03:35 It's always good for someone

03:36 to know your plans.

03:37 Maggie, I don't want to throw you off.

03:39 Did you say the 10 essentials?

03:41 Could you break some of those down?

03:42 Yes, the 10 essentials are appropriate,

03:45 but where a map and a compass or GPS

03:48 like I was saying so that you can

03:50 just have that navigation on you.

03:52 Water, of course.

03:52 It's recommended that you take a

03:54 half a liter of water for every

03:55 hour you plan to be hiking.

03:57 But if you're in the summer heat,

03:58 you might want to bump those

03:59 numbers up a little bit.

04:01 Food, of course, to refuel.

04:03 Rain gear and dry fast layers in

04:05 case of those pop up storms.

04:06 You want to have safety items like

04:09 a flashlight or a fire starter and

04:11 a whistle, a personal first aid kit

04:13 just in case, a knife or multi-tool,

04:16 sun protection all seasons,

04:18 but especially in the summer,

04:19 you want sunscreen, sunglasses,

04:21 some protective clothing and shelter

04:24 of some kind is always a good idea

04:25 just for protection from the elements.

04:27 And like a space blanket is a

04:30 lightweight and generally pretty

04:32 inexpensive option to have on you.

04:34 That's a lot of gear,

04:36 but you've got us all set to go now

04:37 head hiking this weekend.

04:39 Maggie Peiken,

04:40 Manager of Communications for

04:41 the American Hiking Society.

04:43 Thank you so much again for joining us.

04:44 Yeah, thanks for having me.

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