Hike Your Own Hike – Lessons Learned on the Trail

Time for another installment of “Lessons Learned on the Trail.” Part of a series of unknown length where I share practical, and often not so practical, lessons learned while backpacking.

There’s a common phrase among the backpacking community: Hike your own hike. Try not to meet other people’s expectations but instead, go at your own pace. This outlook serves us well on and off the trail.

It’s important to remember where “Hike your own hike” comes from. We all watch too many YouTube videos, read too many books & articles, and talk to our friends about the best gear, trails, miles, etc. In reality, we have to find what works for us, sometimes through painful trial and error. This process allows us to truly experience the outdoors.

When I first started backpacking it was always in a group setting with friends. It wasn’t long before I started taking my childhood dog, Bree. She looked like someone crossed a Golden Retriever with a Weiner dog. She could hike for hours; just a lot slower on her stubby, little legs. Hiking with my friends in college was a true tortoise vs the hare. They’d all race ahead and Bree and I would plod along leapfrogging them up the mountains as they were stopping to gasp for air. She and I would eventually be relaxing at the camp as everyone else arrived looking like the befuddled hare.

I forgot this lesson when I first tackled the first day of my 343-mile Sheltowee Trace Hiker Challenge in 2022. Instead, I struggled to keep up with people clearly faster than myself. Afraid to be left alone in the woods, I was nonetheless equipped with a well-marked trail map, a digital map on my phone, and an emergency satellite communicator. I let fear take over common sense. I told myself stories that only lived in my head.

“I can’t be left alone. I’ll get lost.”

“They look too old or out of shape to be faster than me.”

“I can’t be the last one to camp because everyone will make fun of me.”

“I have more experience than most of them so I can’t be dragging up the rear or make any wrong turns.”

The list went on. I told a story of doubt for every hiker who passed me that first day. And the pressure only mounted if I dared to pass someone else.

I would come to learn that everyone had different levels of experience coming into that first night on the trail. Some had hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. A lot were seasoned weekend warriors like myself. While others were about to sleep in a tent for the first time in their lives.

While sitting around a campfire with 20 random strangers in the middle of the woods everyone began to share their struggles from the day. Or the hard time they had in preparation for the trip. I realized a funny thing: We all have the same fears and insecurities. Yet everyone openly shared those doubts and in exchange we all created great memories and friendships. In the end everyone hiked their own hike that day and in exchange got to enjoy the warmth of that communal fire.

So go on, hike your own hike on and off the trail. Maybe you’ll be more willing to be your genuine self and make lifelong friends in the process.