We had a guy in our crew go #2 on top of an underground hornet nest.....as we were pulling stingers out of his rear end he started to get anaphylaxis. This is pre-cell phone days and we had to cut cross country with map and compass to nearest road....good times. But check your "drop zone" before unleashing ordinance.
Permethrin is the best protection from ticks. I lead group hikes in the Allegheny National Forest every year, and the carriage rate for Lyme among deer ticks there is north of 60%. We were using DEET, and got dozens of bites and at least one case of Lyme disease per trip until we instituted a program of 1) treating clothing with permethrin and 2) taking prophylactic doxycycline every 3 days. Zero Lyme disease using this program for at least 4 years now. Cheers.
Always check gear that hasn't seen use for a while before taking it out on a trip. I lent my MSR Hubba Hubba tent to a friend for a two-night backpack in the Cascades. I bought it new about 15 years previous and it had seen only a handful of trips before my wife and I got a dog and needed a larger tent. It then sat unused on a shelf in a dry cool place for about 10 years. A little after my friend got to her campsite and set up the tent, it started raining hard and water started coming inside the tent almost immediately. It was so bad she and her companion had to pack up in the rain and hike back out. It turned out that the seam sealing tape on the rainfly seams had lifted off the seams in many places during storage and those seams leaked like a sieve. It never even occurred to me that that was possible. Don't assume your old gear that hasn't been used in a long time is still reliable.
I set up a permanent "campsite" years ago in my back yard in the edge of the woods for 3 main reasons. Test new gear, have a nice place to camp out if I'm limited on time and just want to be outdoors for the night, and doubles as the typical fire pit and gathering spot for friends.
My sister in law just had to use her in reach to save a hiker with a broken leg. The hiker was stuck there with her young daughter. It was scary when we got the notification that she alerted, before we found out why. But we were so glad she had it!
My first time out for a solo trip, I forgot my trail map in the car. Which wasn't too bad, because I also forgot my glasses, so if I had the map, I wouldn't have been able to read it anyway 🤣 Yep, missed a fork in the trail and hiked a few extra hours before I found my camp spot. But I lived to tell the tale!
Getting caught without a compass. I was in group of five hiking out from a Basecamp and we were caught out to late go back the way we came safely. I plotted a return on the map but we were going to have to hit some turns on the button. No compass. Until one of my friends pulled out a brand new high dollar Silva, still in the packaging, that she had carried for years. Did not know how to use it. I did. We hit the turns and made it to back to our wilderness camp. This was a decade before phone apps and 😮 probably only applies to me, but it was one of my more preventable mistakes.
That florida thing looks scarier than falling off of mountains. I lived and went to school in Fl and worked for the park service - poisonous snakes, rabid raccoons, and alligators are things I like to avoid. I have a lot of hikes I hope to do, but swamp hiking is not on list at this point
@@Stoney_AKA_James In AUG74, I was TDY to the 43rd Engineer BN on Harmony Church. We used to tip our cold sodas to the Rangers as they ran by and called us dirty legs. Good Luck, Rick
My dumb mistake is not trusting my own planning. I went to Rocky Mountain NP in April, and through research and planning, brought snow shoes, since there was still deep snow at elevation. When I got to RMNP, I looked around the parking lot, and said, “eh, it doesn’t look that bad”, and left them in the car. It was that bad, and I cut a hike short because I was the post-holing had worn me out. So, trust your planning.
Regarding the satellite device: YES, get one! Always better to have and not need that the other way around. As for Spot vs Garmin, I'm just gonna throw out there that I've got a Spot Device that has failed multiple tests since I've had it and am going to switch to Garmin as soon as I can. Spot runs off a 24 satellite system where Garmin runs off a 66 satellite system, I imagine that has got to be a difference maker.
That Florida trail night hiking could be turned into a small horror film haha, that looked so sketchy! I'm glad you're okay Dixie, you are braver than I am.
My dumbest mistake was not realizing that it's colder in higher elevation and that sleeping bag/quilt ratings are usually survival, not comfort rating! I went to Dolly Sods last year and I was trying to be ultralight (had a 30 degree REI quilt). Well, temperatures dipped close to freezing overnight when I thought it would be in the 40s (I checked the weather for lower elevation hahaha). I was freezing all night! Now, I invested in a better puffy that I always bring no matter the weather, and a warmer sleeping bag. I also learn to read the forecast better but to always be prepared for sudden weather changes! I did the Pemi-loop recently where it also got cold but I was prepared this time! Weather may have been in the 70-80s at lower elevation but higher elevation is a different story.
I believe the dumbest thing anyone can do is think they know everything already. You have shown how much you learn after each trip which goes to show we all have things we can learn. We tend to make most mistakes when we think we know better and throw caution to the wind.
Night hiking in a snowstorm is kinda dumb. It was a nice early winter night when I started, but a snow squall quickly moved in. I was well dressed and staying warm and dry, but I couldn't see anything! The snowflakes were reflecting all of my light right back at me. I could see only about 3-4 feet in front of me. It ended up being a very slow crawl back to the car.
Last year I took my daughter on her first backpacking trip and my first in probably 20 years. We got lost,so we got to camp later then planned and brought no flashlights, headlamps etc. because I didn't plan on hiking at night. Also I did not properly store my Sawyer squeeze after the last hike because I was planning on going on another hike. I ended up not going on that hike and forgot about my Sawyer squeeze. So at the first water source on mine and my daughters trip I discovered it had molded. Stupid mistakes but it was a great trip and despite my family's concerns we survived.
Ugh…took my 12 year old son and his friend on their first backpacking trip, my water filter BROKE the first time we tried to use it. Filter housing cracked…it was 102 F in the forest with humidity like a rain forest. Had to boil water all weekend. So from 212F the water cooled down to ambient at like 100F. Miserable! Now I bring treatments tablets as a back up.
That was a really great video. Just an FYI-my husband and I hike sections of the Appalachian Trail on the weekends(hubby still works). We have met quite a few thru hikers and every single one watches your videos! Love it!
My dumbest mistake was on my first hike. I was doing the Ocean To Lake trail in central Florida. It's about 60 miles through wildlife preserve, very remote, you can do the trail in 3 days and not see any other people until the last day. Being my first long hike, I did not know what to bring and what not bring so I brought WAY too much stuff. After the first day I ended up leaving a lot of gear at my first camp site and picked it up a few days later on a day hike.
Haha, my dumb mistake: I was BPing the High Sierra Trail in 2015, I think. I had a Spot device that I also used on the JMT. I would send messages to my mom every night & morning on both trips. I also informed her how it works so not to freak out if she doesn’t get a message every time. So my mistake was leaving behind my Spot on a log where I was camping! There was a signal about 50 ft away from my tent & it takes 10-15 min to send a message. I reminded myself a bunch of times to get it later, but I didn’t. I realized I didn’t have it after hiking all day, up 3000 ft from where I left it. 🤦🏼♀️ I wasn’t gonna go back for it, but I gave a couple headed the other direction my mom’s number and asked them to call her to tell her I’m ok. They did, and my mom was super relieved cuz she hadn’t gotten any updates for several days by the time they got to civilization. My bad.
I learned a long time ago how long nylon pants and long sleeved nylon shirts and a full brim hat can keep the sun from burning you without much sunscreen. Also sunglasses to keep your eyes from burning especially if there's snow. If there's water near by splash some on shirt and pants and they can keep you cooler than shorts and a tee shirt due to evaporative cooling. In camp while others in the group are uncomfortable and complaining about sunburns I'm feeling great!
My dumbest mistake was not checking my tent before going up for a week-long solo trip years ago in the Porcupine Mountains. We had two Mountain Hardware tents that were exactly the same except one was a three-person tent and the other was a two-person. We somehow had put the two-person tent away with the rain fly belonging the three-person. I didn't realize it until I made camp the first night. Luckily, I survived a torrential rainstorm by staking out the large fly to a log - had the parts been mixed a different way -- the fly too small or the poles too big, I might have been in big trouble. Now, I take everything out of the bag and make sure everything is the way it should be before going anywhere, even if I'm sure things are fine.
Great video, I have followed your You Tube channel since you were on the AT and always enjoy your content. My dumbest mistake was my first hike in 1989 through the Linville Gorge in NC. This was before ultralight backpacking became the norm. My pack weighed 60 pounds! I'll never do that again. Now I carry about 25 pounds and I'm just as comfortable on trail.
It's nice to see you come around on a few things I always had on my list of priorities that were never on yours... namely sunscreen and bug spray/long pants. I am extraordinarily pale and I burn so easily and so badly. My skin is so precious, a burn on my shoulders can sometimes make me vomit and lay me up for days. So I take EVERY precaution all the time. I wear long sleeves and long pants always, and spray them with permethrin for bugs. So many of my family members have had skin cancer, it doesn't need to be that way not into today's day and age and especially when literally my cuffed up sleeves come down! LOL
I'd begun new blood pressure meds about two weeks before an AT section hike. I'd not not taken them long enough, and not before a long hike. Near the end of the section, it caught up to me. It fortunately wasn't serious, and only required a few hours rest. It taught me to prepare ahead, especially with "new" stuff.
Hi Jesse/Dixie. Very much appreciate your passing on lessons you've learned. As simple as it sounds to throw a pack full of stuff on your back there is much to learn and know before doing so. Thanks to folks like you, us newbies have a chance to be more prepared and avoid a few of the pitfalls. Happy trails!
Experience is the best teacher, and sometimes.... someone else's experience is even better!! Thanks Dixie. BTW, a shout out for another well thought out satellite messenger, the Zoleo. It pairs with a smart phone and works just like texting to anyone you give your Zoleo call number to. SOS and check-in messages as well.
You talk about an umbrella as being not just to keep off the rain. It's interesting to me that the root of the word is the Latin "umbra" which basically translates as shade. Thus, the word itself indicates that it's a device for making shade. It's basically a different version of the same word as "sombrero", a shade-maker.
I did not test out my tent before my first hike, So there I was, thankfully with signal, looking at youtube videos on my phone for setting up an REI Halfdome. All I can say is that when you're exhausted from a day of hiking, it's better to rely on muscle memory than on your brain.
I'm just stoked for another video where I get to hear you say "night hike" 😁. Seriously though I'd much rather learn from other people's mistakes so thank you for sharing!
What i like about the personal location device is the ability to send a thumbs up each evening to my family. This includes GPS coordinates and if i want, some words about my trip. I use the device by Zoleo, which is a little cheaper than the Garmin and happy with its features.
We treated the clothing with Permethrin on our Across Norway small thru-hike. Problem is it rained so much, the spray protection did depleate pretty fast.
My son is hiking either the AT or the CDT when he graduates from UT next year. He’s leaning more towards the CDT. You can bet you’re sweet petunia me and his Dad will be buying him the InReach and paying for the subscription while he’s gone. We’ll consider it a graduation present ….or another graduation present. Haha. I need that peace of mind. We’re from East Tennessee and bears are part of our lives and we respect them and have a “healthy” fear of them but still enjoy them. Grizzlies scare the hell out of me though. I need that text that he’s ok when he’s where brown bears live.
My big mistake dates back to Boy Scouts. I was as green as they come, so my patrol leader have me a packing list for our weekend hiking trip. (Late 1960s, when even the packs were heavy.) Then Mom started adding more stuff just in case it might be useful. The pack was so heavy I could not get it on without a picnic table or tailgate. That was a painful trip.
Live and learn!! LOL...as long as you're learning from your mistakes, that is a good thing. I have used insect repellent and permethrin my whole life. I joined the Army at 18, and we would treat our uniforms and gear with permethrin prior to going out in the field. It really does work, and after goin on 40 years now of using it, I have had no adverse effects. I do a lot of hiking here in KY, and we have a huge abundance of ticks and chiggers. And I have only had a couple of instances where I found a tick stuck to my skin. Thanks for the vid and enjoy the trails!!
Hello 👋 Dixie, greetings from Northern California. Thank you for sharing this vital information. I always enjoy your videos. All the best to you. Stay safe and healthy out there. 🤗
Good points Dixie. Living in the PNW I can't tell how many people get lost or hurt because they head out into the back-country uneducated and most of the time unprepared. I blame social media a bit for this because most all the videos and pictures you see are blue sky wonderful days. Never underestimate mother nature, she can be your best friend or she can kill you in a heartbeat. Come back out to the west coast and Gus and I will show you some little known beautiful places. Ear scratches for Fancy Mae! Cheers!
I Florida hiker here, and I'll say standing water can be deeper than you realize, and mud is no joke, and there can be mud below that standing water. I had a situation that especially in retrospect was a bit sketchy where I tried to get through water I thought was ankle deep, it ended up being closer waist deep, and the mud tried suck my shoes off. It made for some tense moments, and a lesson learned, I'm happy I got out of safely.
Dixie sees a massive Black Bear coming straight for her, licking his chops, and she smiles sweetly and says "Hi Honey!" .............we love you Dixie, so please don't do that one again 😉
I've heard of people not testing out their stove before they leave only to discover the type of fuel they brought doesn't fit the stove, so they have nothing to eat! a word to the wise!
Your videos are amazing. I am so impressed that you just went for it on your thru hike of the AT. Also, have you ever considered reviewing a Hyke & Bike big 3 set up? The fact that you buy your own gear lends a superior level of credibility (at least for me!) Thanks...
Good comments from Dixie, ALWAYS do at least an overnight hike with new gear BEFORE using it on longer trips, to practice with it and to ensure it works, and YOU know how to operate it. I never could figure out why most U.S hikers seem to wear shorts instead of cargo pants or equivalent, skin cancer is a big issue here , not to mention abrasion, bug bites and sunburn.
There are a lot of hiking apps that you have mentioned here and there. Maybe a video about the ones you have used and how they work would be interesting for the trails you’ve done? I would have no idea what apps I could use. I bet others would also be glad to follow your lead.
WOAH! Having a squeeze bottle of lotion that close to a sandwich @6:59 is the most dangerous thing I’ve seen you do! Imagine mistaking Jergens for Blue Plate!
The In-reach thing is something I've been thinking about. I don't do huge thru' hikes though, mainly a few days or weeks, at most. So, despite backpacking for 50+ years, I've never felt the need. But as I get older and my bones get more brittle and my balance isn't as good, I'm beginning to think some extra insurance might not be so bad. Just a pity it's so danged expensive! It will be the single most expensive item in my bag for sure! On the other points, I *always* try any new kit out before taking it further than my driveway!
I’m saving up for the garmet inreach not only for my safety and helping others on the trail as you mentioned.. but also to save my mom/family from a heart attack while I’m gone. They aren’t hikers so the thought of me out in backcountry alone is insane to them. They agree that device will give them some peace of mind
Been a day hiker for over 5 years and ~6 miles into my first backpacking trip with my partner I fell forward and hit my head on a boulder. Didn't have any bars but had just enough for my bf to send a text to my mom to come get us. Never leaving home without a zoleo ever again!!!
Thanks for doing this video. Yes, sunscreen several times a day. And have a pair of good quality sunglasses. I love my Maui Jim wraparound sunglasses, but they’re probably more than you want to spend. At age 62 I realize more than ever how precious sight is.
If there's anyone who loves you or if there's anyone who would risk their life to come help you if you needed it, you can't afford to hike without a Sat device. Work extra jobs for a bit, sell something, whatever. But if you can't afford it, you can't afford to hike.
I found it enormously reassuring that prior to the AT you did not test out your stove or hammock. Then I reminded myself that you are an engineer. Unfortunately I am a completely impractical, when it comes to how things like equipment work, judge. So I will rehearse time and time again before attempting a long hike on the AT in 2026!
Thanks Dixie. Makes me feel better about getting out of my hammock for a pee and not leaving a light on. Went for a pee turned round and couldn’t find the hammock. Ended up standing in boxers for two hours until the sun came up.
Sheesh, people who get out and do outdoorsy things don’t always get it right. I was swinging on a rope, over a blue hole, in the mountains, miles away from the car. Rather than drop off, into the deep water, I decided to swing back to the cliff. My plan was to push off the cliff with my feet/legs and dive into the deep water. Swinging back, I hit the cliff, with bare feet, and sliced the bottom of the ball of my left foot, 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep, 3 x 4 inches around. The slab of flesh hung on by one edge, like the page of a book. It was so sharp and cleanly cut that I didn’t know, until I swam back to shore. I scrubbed it clean in the creek water. I pulled a white sock over it. Put on my shoe , tied tightly and walked miles back to my truck. At home I put duck tape around my foot. The slab reattached and grew back onto the bottom of my foot. Kentucky
Ouch! I've seen a similar injury be fixed with superglue. The guy cut the top of his thumb off to the bone only attached by a bit of flesh, but he flipped it up and stuck it back together. He barely has a scar now. Amazing.
I hate it when I do Dumb stuff that I know better than to do! 2021 thru attempt: Be careful setting up camp, I got soaked 3 times because I didn't. Eat more than you want, didn't, blood sugar got wanky. and etc. I've done 900+ miles on the at prior to my thru attempt, I quit at about mile 170 because I couldn't be bothered to listen to ME.
I’m a Cali kid (maybe not so kid anymore 😅) who’s been in Tuscaloosa for the past two years. Really thinking I should have gone out and hiked more. I’m heading home in May, hopefully I don’t see gator eyes glowing in the dark before then.
My mistakes were all the same mistake: getting into camp too late so I only got the worst site and ended up with my tent in the water runoff for the whole campground because it was too dark for me to read the land! Second, getting into camp too late and taking the last site, only to wake in the morning and find a huge pile of human poop right outside my tent! and why I didn't step in it setting up in the dark, I do not know! Guardian Angel, obviously!! And my third mistake was getting into camp too late and finding out that the soft long grass I set up in in the dark was some kind of long California grass full of tiny little blonde burrs with sharp, sharp barbs all over my ground cloth, tent, and me with very time consuming, and very bloody results! And my fourth mistake was putting my tent against a bush so that bears couldn't get me. ??? Bushes are full of ticks. And bushes won't stop a bear! 'nuf said. So I admit that the Dummy-o-meter hit 100 once again, as my dad says. Sadder but wiser! So now I try to quit an hour before sunset. Its much better.
I use Sawyer to treat 2 sets of "woods clothes." I've never had a problem with it but I have had great joy watching ticks stagger around in disoriented circles on my T-shirt. I'm a tick magnet and I don't want Alpha-gal! So I'm a Sawyer fan.
hey, if i was younger you could make me wanna hike.. i would have a problem with bugs at night.. i hate roaches a lot.. i would carry 6 cans of bug spray.. i don't know how you deal with it.. love your videos a lot..
How would you rate your 'luck' in avoiding serious outcomes considering the "dumb mistakes"/'wrong decisions' you have made? We all make them and shake our heads when we're on the other side of them - "whew!" I'm in Ontario Canada, I don't have gators and such ( can't imagine! 😨 ). Moose, fishers, cougar, coyotes can occasionally be a pain. Black bears are a given. Ticks are grossest and qeverywhere - worse this year than ever. We do have Icaridan but I wish we could get permethrin.
I agree about the skin....too many naive people out there in shorts and t-shirts (That's what you wear when it's hot, right), no sunglasses....You wear a sunhoody and they ask you why you wear a sweatshirt???
Today I had a precancerous spot burned off my upper rear cheek. In my teens I went through a short stint of using a tanning bed. So dumb. Protect your skin!
We had a guy in our crew go #2 on top of an underground hornet nest.....as we were pulling stingers out of his rear end he started to get anaphylaxis. This is pre-cell phone days and we had to cut cross country with map and compass to nearest road....good times. But check your "drop zone" before unleashing ordinance.
Permethrin is the best protection from ticks. I lead group hikes in the Allegheny National Forest every year, and the carriage rate for Lyme among deer ticks there is north of 60%. We were using DEET, and got dozens of bites and at least one case of Lyme disease per trip until we instituted a program of 1) treating clothing with permethrin and 2) taking prophylactic doxycycline every 3 days. Zero Lyme disease using this program for at least 4 years now. Cheers.
Always check gear that hasn't seen use for a while before taking it out on a trip. I lent my MSR Hubba Hubba tent to a friend for a two-night backpack in the Cascades. I bought it new about 15 years previous and it had seen only a handful of trips before my wife and I got a dog and needed a larger tent. It then sat unused on a shelf in a dry cool place for about 10 years. A little after my friend got to her campsite and set up the tent, it started raining hard and water started coming inside the tent almost immediately. It was so bad she and her companion had to pack up in the rain and hike back out. It turned out that the seam sealing tape on the rainfly seams had lifted off the seams in many places during storage and those seams leaked like a sieve. It never even occurred to me that that was possible. Don't assume your old gear that hasn't been used in a long time is still reliable.
I set up a permanent "campsite" years ago in my back yard in the edge of the woods for 3 main reasons. Test new gear, have a nice place to camp out if I'm limited on time and just want to be outdoors for the night, and doubles as the typical fire pit and gathering spot for friends.
This is brilliant! We have a space like this in our backyard. I’m totally going to do this. Thanks for the tip! 😊
#backyardgoals
Must be nice ...
@@3nertia goals friend. You'll get your turn.
@@kdavis4910 Not likely ...
My sister in law just had to use her in reach to save a hiker with a broken leg. The hiker was stuck there with her young daughter.
It was scary when we got the notification that she alerted, before we found out why. But we were so glad she had it!
My first time out for a solo trip, I forgot my trail map in the car. Which wasn't too bad, because I also forgot my glasses, so if I had the map, I wouldn't have been able to read it anyway 🤣 Yep, missed a fork in the trail and hiked a few extra hours before I found my camp spot. But I lived to tell the tale!
Getting caught without a compass. I was in group of five hiking out from a Basecamp and we were caught out to late go back the way we came safely. I plotted a return on the map but we were going to have to hit some turns on the button. No compass. Until one of my friends pulled out a brand new high dollar Silva, still in the packaging, that she had carried for years. Did not know how to use it. I did. We hit the turns and made it to back to our wilderness camp. This was a decade before phone apps and 😮 probably only applies to me, but it was one of my more preventable mistakes.
That florida thing looks scarier than falling off of mountains. I lived and went to school in Fl and worked for the park service - poisonous snakes, rabid raccoons, and alligators are things I like to avoid. I have a lot of hikes I hope to do, but swamp hiking is not on list at this point
Yup I'm in Colorado and just seems to me to beware of the water...for wild animals
I learned in the Army, 50 years ago. If you wake up alive the next morning, you didn't mess up too bad. Good Luck, Rick
Hello 👋 Richard, great comment. Thank you for sharing it. Stay safe out there. 🤗
Thank you for your service sir. I salute you.
I like it ... Stick to the basics!
Agreed!
(2/75 Rangers)
@@Stoney_AKA_James In AUG74, I was TDY to the 43rd Engineer BN on Harmony Church. We used to tip our cold sodas to the Rangers as they ran by and called us dirty legs. Good Luck, Rick
My dumb mistake is not trusting my own planning. I went to Rocky Mountain NP in April, and through research and planning, brought snow shoes, since there was still deep snow at elevation. When I got to RMNP, I looked around the parking lot, and said, “eh, it doesn’t look that bad”, and left them in the car. It was that bad, and I cut a hike short because I was the post-holing had worn me out. So, trust your planning.
Regarding the satellite device: YES, get one! Always better to have and not need that the other way around. As for Spot vs Garmin, I'm just gonna throw out there that I've got a Spot Device that has failed multiple tests since I've had it and am going to switch to Garmin as soon as I can. Spot runs off a 24 satellite system where Garmin runs off a 66 satellite system, I imagine that has got to be a difference maker.
That Florida trail night hiking could be turned into a small horror film haha, that looked so sketchy! I'm glad you're okay Dixie, you are braver than I am.
My dumbest mistake was not realizing that it's colder in higher elevation and that sleeping bag/quilt ratings are usually survival, not comfort rating! I went to Dolly Sods last year and I was trying to be ultralight (had a 30 degree REI quilt). Well, temperatures dipped close to freezing overnight when I thought it would be in the 40s (I checked the weather for lower elevation hahaha). I was freezing all night! Now, I invested in a better puffy that I always bring no matter the weather, and a warmer sleeping bag. I also learn to read the forecast better but to always be prepared for sudden weather changes! I did the Pemi-loop recently where it also got cold but I was prepared this time! Weather may have been in the 70-80s at lower elevation but higher elevation is a different story.
Yup in Colorado even at lower altitude we can, in Denver Metro , go up or down in temp 50 + degrees in 4 or 5 hrs
I believe the dumbest thing anyone can do is think they know everything already. You have shown how much you learn after each trip which goes to show we all have things we can learn. We tend to make most mistakes when we think we know better and throw caution to the wind.
Night hiking in a snowstorm is kinda dumb. It was a nice early winter night when I started, but a snow squall quickly moved in. I was well dressed and staying warm and dry, but I couldn't see anything! The snowflakes were reflecting all of my light right back at me. I could see only about 3-4 feet in front of me. It ended up being a very slow crawl back to the car.
Last year I took my daughter on her first backpacking trip and my first in probably 20 years. We got lost,so we got to camp later then planned and brought no flashlights, headlamps etc. because I didn't plan on hiking at night. Also I did not properly store my Sawyer squeeze after the last hike because I was planning on going on another hike. I ended up not going on that hike and forgot about my Sawyer squeeze. So at the first water source on mine and my daughters trip I discovered it had molded. Stupid mistakes but it was a great trip and despite my family's concerns we survived.
I’ve had to learn similarly. Now I remember the motto two is one, one is none.
Ugh…took my 12 year old son and his friend on their first backpacking trip, my water filter BROKE the first time we tried to use it. Filter housing cracked…it was 102 F in the forest with humidity like a rain forest. Had to boil water all weekend. So from 212F the water cooled down to ambient at like 100F. Miserable! Now I bring treatments tablets as a back up.
That was a really great video. Just an FYI-my husband and I hike sections of the Appalachian Trail on the weekends(hubby still works). We have met quite a few thru hikers and every single one watches your videos! Love it!
My dumbest mistake was on my first hike. I was doing the Ocean To Lake trail in central Florida. It's about 60 miles through wildlife preserve, very remote, you can do the trail in 3 days and not see any other people until the last day. Being my first long hike, I did not know what to bring and what not bring so I brought WAY too much stuff. After the first day I ended up leaving a lot of gear at my first camp site and picked it up a few days later on a day hike.
Haha, my dumb mistake: I was BPing the High Sierra Trail in 2015, I think. I had a Spot device that I also used on the JMT. I would send messages to my mom every night & morning on both trips. I also informed her how it works so not to freak out if she doesn’t get a message every time. So my mistake was leaving behind my Spot on a log where I was camping! There was a signal about 50 ft away from my tent & it takes 10-15 min to send a message. I reminded myself a bunch of times to get it later, but I didn’t. I realized I didn’t have it after hiking all day, up 3000 ft from where I left it. 🤦🏼♀️ I wasn’t gonna go back for it, but I gave a couple headed the other direction my mom’s number and asked them to call her to tell her I’m ok. They did, and my mom was super relieved cuz she hadn’t gotten any updates for several days by the time they got to civilization. My bad.
You'd BETTER NOT Do That Again!!
Why Do You Hate Mildred??
Geeezz, Hon!!
I learned a long time ago how long nylon pants and long sleeved nylon shirts and a full brim hat can keep the sun from burning you without much sunscreen. Also sunglasses to keep your eyes from burning especially if there's snow. If there's water near by splash some on shirt and pants and they can keep you cooler than shorts and a tee shirt due to evaporative cooling. In camp while others in the group are uncomfortable and complaining about sunburns I'm feeling great!
Also, I LOVE the reasoning you used for the locator beacon... you can use it to help someone else! What an excellent point!!!
My dumbest mistake was not checking my tent before going up for a week-long solo trip years ago in the Porcupine Mountains. We had two Mountain Hardware tents that were exactly the same except one was a three-person tent and the other was a two-person. We somehow had put the two-person tent away with the rain fly belonging the three-person. I didn't realize it until I made camp the first night. Luckily, I survived a torrential rainstorm by staking out the large fly to a log - had the parts been mixed a different way -- the fly too small or the poles too big, I might have been in big trouble. Now, I take everything out of the bag and make sure everything is the way it should be before going anywhere, even if I'm sure things are fine.
Great video, I have followed your You Tube channel since you were on the AT and always enjoy your content. My dumbest mistake was my first hike in 1989 through the Linville Gorge in NC. This was before ultralight backpacking became the norm. My pack weighed 60 pounds! I'll never do that again. Now I carry about 25 pounds and I'm just as comfortable on trail.
It's nice to see you come around on a few things I always had on my list of priorities that were never on yours... namely sunscreen and bug spray/long pants. I am extraordinarily pale and I burn so easily and so badly. My skin is so precious, a burn on my shoulders can sometimes make me vomit and lay me up for days. So I take EVERY precaution all the time. I wear long sleeves and long pants always, and spray them with permethrin for bugs. So many of my family members have had skin cancer, it doesn't need to be that way not into today's day and age and especially when literally my cuffed up sleeves come down! LOL
I'd begun new blood pressure meds about two weeks before an AT section hike. I'd not not taken them long enough, and not before a long hike. Near the end of the section, it caught up to me. It fortunately wasn't serious, and only required a few hours rest. It taught me to prepare ahead, especially with "new" stuff.
Hi Jesse/Dixie. Very much appreciate your passing on lessons you've learned. As simple as it sounds to throw a pack full of stuff on your back there is much to learn and know before doing so. Thanks to folks like you, us newbies have a chance to be more prepared and avoid a few of the pitfalls. Happy trails!
Experience is the best teacher, and sometimes.... someone else's experience is even better!! Thanks Dixie.
BTW, a shout out for another well thought out satellite messenger, the Zoleo. It pairs with a smart phone and works just like texting to anyone you give your Zoleo call number to. SOS and check-in messages as well.
You talk about an umbrella as being not just to keep off the rain. It's interesting to me that the root of the word is the Latin "umbra" which basically translates as shade. Thus, the word itself indicates that it's a device for making shade. It's basically a different version of the same word as "sombrero", a shade-maker.
I did not test out my tent before my first hike, So there I was, thankfully with signal, looking at youtube videos on my phone for setting up an REI Halfdome. All I can say is that when you're exhausted from a day of hiking, it's better to rely on muscle memory than on your brain.
I'm just stoked for another video where I get to hear you say "night hike" 😁. Seriously though I'd much rather learn from other people's mistakes so thank you for sharing!
I thought she was saying "not hike", until it dawned on me it was "night hike."
What i like about the personal location device is the ability to send a thumbs up each evening to my family. This includes GPS coordinates and if i want, some words about my trip. I use the device by Zoleo, which is a little cheaper than the Garmin and happy with its features.
We treated the clothing with Permethrin on our Across Norway small thru-hike. Problem is it rained so much, the spray protection did depleate pretty fast.
My son is hiking either the AT or the CDT when he graduates from UT next year. He’s leaning more towards the CDT. You can bet you’re sweet petunia me and his Dad will be buying him the InReach and paying for the subscription while he’s gone. We’ll consider it a graduation present ….or another graduation present. Haha.
I need that peace of mind. We’re from East Tennessee and bears are part of our lives and we respect them and have a “healthy” fear of them but still enjoy them. Grizzlies scare the hell out of me though. I need that text that he’s ok when he’s where brown bears live.
Not checking my gear after it sat unused for a year. Water filter no workie. Thankfully my friend's water filter was working fine. 😣
Love that your first ever trip was a thru-hike of the Appalachian amazing.
That is an excellent point about using a locator device to not only help oneself but others as well.
Love your thumbnails! ❤️
My big mistake dates back to Boy Scouts. I was as green as they come, so my patrol leader have me a packing list for our weekend hiking trip. (Late 1960s, when even the packs were heavy.) Then Mom started adding more stuff just in case it might be useful. The pack was so heavy I could not get it on without a picnic table or tailgate. That was a painful trip.
Live and learn!! LOL...as long as you're learning from your mistakes, that is a good thing.
I have used insect repellent and permethrin my whole life. I joined the Army at 18, and we would treat our uniforms and gear with permethrin prior to going out in the field. It really does work, and after goin on 40 years now of using it, I have had no adverse effects. I do a lot of hiking here in KY, and we have a huge abundance of ticks and chiggers. And I have only had a couple of instances where I found a tick stuck to my skin.
Thanks for the vid and enjoy the trails!!
Hello 👋 Dixie, greetings from Northern California. Thank you for sharing this vital information. I always enjoy your videos. All the best to you. Stay safe and healthy out there. 🤗
Dixie, many thanks for these very useful life-saving tips. You are a gem!
I love your tips, especially sun protection and satellite communicators. So important for long term health and safety.
Sun protection very important is Rockies...less air can burn as well as snow or water can reflect a lot
Good points Dixie. Living in the PNW I can't tell how many people get lost or hurt because they head out into the back-country uneducated and most of the time unprepared. I blame social media a bit for this because most all the videos and pictures you see are blue sky wonderful days. Never underestimate mother nature, she can be your best friend or she can kill you in a heartbeat. Come back out to the west coast and Gus and I will show you some little known beautiful places. Ear scratches for Fancy Mae! Cheers!
Thanks so much for sharing all you've experienced on the trail. I hope you can keep doing this for years to come!
400K subs!! Congrats!!
Definitely right about skin protection and satellite devices!
I Florida hiker here, and I'll say standing water can be deeper than you realize, and mud is no joke, and there can be mud below that standing water. I had a situation that especially in retrospect was a bit sketchy where I tried to get through water I thought was ankle deep, it ended up being closer waist deep, and the mud tried suck my shoes off. It made for some tense moments, and a lesson learned, I'm happy I got out of safely.
Dixie sees a massive Black Bear coming straight for her, licking his chops, and she smiles sweetly and says "Hi Honey!" .............we love you Dixie, so please don't do that one again 😉
I've heard of people not testing out their stove before they leave only to discover the type of fuel they brought doesn't fit the stove, so they have nothing to eat! a word to the wise!
Thank you for sharing your insights.
Oh girl, swamp night hiking and no protecting against ticks, not a good thing. But……some love to hike BCP on a full moon, no lamp.
I love ur shows u always have great info for people that helps us out keep up the great work and keep production these shows
Just thinking the sandwich shot at 6:58 would have looked so much better with Dukes instead of Jergens lol
Great and relevants advices. Thanks!
Looks like Dixie uses moisturizer as a Mayo substitute. 🤣
Your videos are amazing. I am so impressed that you just went for it on your thru hike of the AT. Also, have you ever considered reviewing a Hyke & Bike big 3 set up? The fact that you buy your own gear lends a superior level of credibility (at least for me!) Thanks...
Good comments from Dixie, ALWAYS do at least an overnight hike with new gear BEFORE using it on longer trips, to practice with it and to ensure it works, and YOU know how to operate it.
I never could figure out why most U.S hikers seem to wear shorts instead of cargo pants or equivalent, skin cancer is a big issue here , not to mention abrasion, bug bites and sunburn.
There are a lot of hiking apps that you have mentioned here and there. Maybe a video about the ones you have used and how they work would be interesting for the trails you’ve done? I would have no idea what apps I could use. I bet others would also be glad to follow your lead.
WOAH! Having a squeeze bottle of lotion that close to a sandwich @6:59 is the most dangerous thing I’ve seen you do! Imagine mistaking Jergens for Blue Plate!
You do amazing work for the backpacking community !!
Was you hiking mount Elbert today? Seen someone coming down that looked like you.
Hi Dixie, you have to try Rescue mosquito clips, all natural and tested by me, my wife and dog on the CDT in Co. And the cirque of the towers.
The In-reach thing is something I've been thinking about. I don't do huge thru' hikes though, mainly a few days or weeks, at most. So, despite backpacking for 50+ years, I've never felt the need. But as I get older and my bones get more brittle and my balance isn't as good, I'm beginning to think some extra insurance might not be so bad. Just a pity it's so danged expensive! It will be the single most expensive item in my bag for sure!
On the other points, I *always* try any new kit out before taking it further than my driveway!
I love your transparency.
Permethrin, & Picardin best 2 to have for skin and gear.
Went into the Sierra's without a raincoat. Luckily no significant rainfall while I was there.
I’m saving up for the garmet inreach not only for my safety and helping others on the trail as you mentioned.. but also to save my mom/family from a heart attack while I’m gone. They aren’t hikers so the thought of me out in backcountry alone is insane to them. They agree that device will give them some peace of mind
I ended up learning Wilderness First Aid. Not just for myself but others I kept running into.
I still will never forget the look you got from that cougar. You were a nano second away from some cat scratchin' fever. One lucky hiker!
1:59 "Ah Sax"?
eye sacks lol
@@dagnolia6004
Just proof; adequate sleep on the trail is absolutely crucial!😉
@@dagnolia6004 braht waht laht
@@1jesus2music3duke
Makes me squint and gives me headaches.
I felt the inreach was also reassuring when it was necessary to hitchhike but also it can be used to text a ride.
Been a day hiker for over 5 years and ~6 miles into my first backpacking trip with my partner I fell forward and hit my head on a boulder. Didn't have any bars but had just enough for my bf to send a text to my mom to come get us. Never leaving home without a zoleo ever again!!!
Thanks for doing this video. Yes, sunscreen several times a day. And have a pair of good quality sunglasses. I love my Maui Jim wraparound sunglasses, but they’re probably more than you want to spend. At age 62 I realize more than ever how precious sight is.
Yeah, I wondered how you avoided stepping on a gator or getting snake bit when you night hiked the FT.
Love your humbleness!! You rock Dixie thanks 😊
Ticks rarely ever carry Lyme in the south, fyi. Just doesn’t seem to happen down here
If there's anyone who loves you or if there's anyone who would risk their life to come help you if you needed it, you can't afford to hike without a Sat device. Work extra jobs for a bit, sell something, whatever. But if you can't afford it, you can't afford to hike.
Permethrin is the synthetic equivalent of pyrethrin found in chrysanthemums, it's one of the oldest organic insecticides available!
So honest and so informative 👏 👌 👍
I found it enormously reassuring that prior to the AT you did not test out your stove or hammock. Then I reminded myself that you are an engineer. Unfortunately I am a completely impractical, when it comes to how things like equipment work, judge. So I will rehearse time and time again before attempting a long hike on the AT in 2026!
Thanks Dixie. Makes me feel better about getting out of my hammock for a pee and not leaving a light on. Went for a pee turned round and couldn’t find the hammock. Ended up standing in boxers for two hours until the sun came up.
Permethrin doesn’t hurt you if used correctly, you can treat dogs, and big farm animals! Cats are too small and it can kill them!❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍
Thank you for sharing
Sheesh, people who get out and do outdoorsy things don’t always get it right. I was swinging on a rope, over a blue hole, in the mountains, miles away from the car. Rather than drop off, into the deep water, I decided to swing back to the cliff. My plan was to push off the cliff with my feet/legs and dive into the deep water. Swinging back, I hit the cliff, with bare feet, and sliced the bottom of the ball of my left foot, 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep, 3 x 4 inches around. The slab of flesh hung on by one edge, like the page of a book. It was so sharp and cleanly cut that I didn’t know, until I swam back to shore. I scrubbed it clean in the creek water. I pulled a white sock over it. Put on my shoe , tied tightly and walked miles back to my truck. At home I put duck tape around my foot. The slab reattached and grew back onto the bottom of my foot. Kentucky
Ouch!
I've seen a similar injury be fixed with superglue. The guy cut the top of his thumb off to the bone only attached by a bit of flesh, but he flipped it up and stuck it back together. He barely has a scar now. Amazing.
😲
Ouch!
I hate it when I do Dumb stuff that I know better than to do! 2021 thru attempt: Be careful setting up camp, I got soaked 3 times because I didn't. Eat more than you want, didn't, blood sugar got wanky. and etc. I've done 900+ miles on the at prior to my thru attempt, I quit at about mile 170 because I couldn't be bothered to listen to ME.
Good advice!
Thanks for the video 👍👍👍
I’m a Cali kid (maybe not so kid anymore 😅) who’s been in Tuscaloosa for the past two years. Really thinking I should have gone out and hiked more. I’m heading home in May, hopefully I don’t see gator eyes glowing in the dark before then.
My mistakes were all the same mistake: getting into camp too late so I only got the worst site and ended up with my tent in the water runoff for the whole campground because it was too dark for me to read the land! Second, getting into camp too late and taking the last site, only to wake in the morning and find a huge pile of human poop right outside my tent! and why I didn't step in it setting up in the dark, I do not know! Guardian Angel, obviously!! And my third mistake was getting into camp too late and finding out that the soft long grass I set up in in the dark was some kind of long California grass full of tiny little blonde burrs with sharp, sharp barbs all over my ground cloth, tent, and me with very time consuming, and very bloody results! And my fourth mistake was putting my tent against a bush so that bears couldn't get me. ??? Bushes are full of ticks. And bushes won't stop a bear! 'nuf said. So I admit that the Dummy-o-meter hit 100 once again, as my dad says. Sadder but wiser! So now I try to quit an hour before sunset. Its much better.
Thank you!
Love the video!!!!!!!!!!! very informative
I use Sawyer to treat 2 sets of "woods clothes." I've never had a problem with it but I have had great joy watching ticks stagger around in disoriented circles on my T-shirt. I'm a tick magnet and I don't want Alpha-gal! So I'm a Sawyer fan.
You can get sunburned underwater. Always remember that...
Sunboiled? 🤔
hey, if i was younger you could make me wanna hike.. i would have a problem with bugs at night.. i hate roaches a lot.. i would carry 6 cans of bug spray.. i don't know how you deal with it.. love your videos a lot..
How would you rate your 'luck' in avoiding serious outcomes considering the "dumb mistakes"/'wrong decisions' you have made? We all make them and shake our heads when we're on the other side of them - "whew!" I'm in Ontario Canada, I don't have gators and such ( can't imagine! 😨 ). Moose, fishers, cougar, coyotes can occasionally be a pain. Black bears are a given. Ticks are grossest and qeverywhere - worse this year than ever. We do have Icaridan but I wish we could get permethrin.
Great video Dixie
Thanks so much!
I agree about the skin....too many naive people out there in shorts and t-shirts (That's what you wear when it's hot, right), no sunglasses....You wear a sunhoody and they ask you why you wear a sweatshirt???
Very first hike I forgot to fill my water containers!! Boy was I thirsty and dehydrated that evening
@HomemadeWanderlust Looks like the bots are out in force!
Today I had a precancerous spot burned off my upper rear cheek. In my teens I went through a short stint of using a tanning bed. So dumb. Protect your skin!