6 Things You Must Not Forget When Hiking
Cool breezes of air, chirps of birds, the rhythm of the falling leaves, colors of the trees, shapes of various rock formations — hiking is truly a refreshing and rejuvenating recreational activity that will soothe your mind, body, and even your soul.
Many people say this activity allows them to reconnect with nature and with themselves. Yet by this moment, we will hike into the highest peak of the mountains, while finding ourselves, or perhaps, you want to unwind and release your collected sentiments. Or maybe, you just really want to enjoy the moment! Whatever your reason is, we got your back. Discover the things that you should remember when hiking! Here are some of them:
Table of Contents
1. A Wristwatch
The time goes continually.no matter how long you guys sit under the tree to take a rest for an hour. Hiking is all about enjoying the moment while also being a little bit mindful with the time (take note of a little bit to not ruin your anxiety-free activity). Going up on the slope of the hill or a mountain could sincerely engulf your time. As a tip, bring a wristwatch that is intentionally-designed for traveling and hiking purposes. Dedicated to mountaineering and exploring, get a wristwatch from the Watchshopping’s Rolex Explorer collections. Engineered to endure the extreme weather conditions, they also come with various styles from oyster steel watch casing and self-winding mechanical movement among others. Having a wristwatch with you will allow you to be aware of the time, most especially when you want to go back home before the sunset.
2. A Huge Backpack
No matter how high you want to bring a smaller purse, always choose to have a large backpack. As an unwritten rule, every hiker or mountaineer, who wants to truly maximize their mountaineering experience, needs to get that enough space for all the essentials. Remember that it is all about now or never. Bringing a huge bag will allow you to bring all the necessary things, or else you could not save yourself amid exhausted feeling in the middle of the mountain or hill. Rest assured that you got a durable backpack to guarantee yourself with unfortunate, unexpected wreckage.
3. A Large Bottle of Water
Hiking is a form of physical activity. Hence, it will make you sweat a lot! Exercising will enable our body to release our body fluids through sweat as we lose our energy from calories, fats, and even muscles. Likewise, nobody wants to lose consciousness due to dehydration.Through drinking water, we replenish the lost water in our body, maintaining the normal state of hydration from our cells and organs. Water plays a vital role in our cell activities, keeping our organ systems functioning well and normally. With the lack of water, our body will struggle to move as cell activities are also hindered. As we lose water through body sweats, the heat from our body was released, giving us a more cooling and refreshing feeling. That is why hiking, as a form of physical activity, is truly both beneficial and enjoyable at the same time, despite the tiredness that we might feel after doing the activity. Besides, it allows us to feel nature as we are reconnecting to its embodiment.
4. Energy Bars
As has been mentioned, we lose energy as we are doing hiking as a form of exercise. An almost one-kilometer walk, most especially with the ascending slope, will completely lose our energy. Along with hydration, our body also needs carbohydrates that will serve as fuel for them to do the necessary cellular activities. Likewise, the water will synthesize with the carbohydrates to breakdown its essential components for body use. Thus, we want to maintain our body’s normal state without eating too much. Energy bars, like chocolate bars and candy bars, are potent sources of sugar as carbohydrates. A few amounts of energy bars equate to a large amount of flour and other heavy food like root crops and rice. Having these with you will enable you to bring enough amount of energy to intake without having a lot of trouble with its weight to carry as you walk along either with your loved ones or by yourself.
5. Insect Repellant
Insects such as bees and mosquitos are common in forests, mountains, and hills. Having an insect repellant with you will give you protection from the potential danger the insects might bring. Mosquitos might bring malaria, while bees could sting you. Putting it regularly will provide an invisible shield that will abstain from possible diseases that you do not want to have.
6. CEP (Cellphone, Extra Battery & Powerbank)
Cellphones and power banks always go along with each other when you guys want to have a hassle-free exploration on the mountain, valley, or hill. Cellphones are versatile as you could install applications such as flashlights, compass, and messaging tools, although most of the phones have a default installment of it. Cell Phones are convenient tools that will bring almost all of the essential tools for your travel. Despite being versatile, the major culprit of phones is their energy itself. Like humans, cell phones also lose energy, thus, it requires a recharge. Power Banks, fortunately, could save your phone from its energy exhaustion as it could recharge its battery. What is ironic here is that power banks also get low battery that is why it is also important for you to bring an extra cell phone battery, that it’s fully-charged, for you to be prepared.
In Conclusion
Hiking or mountaineering is an enjoyable yet tiring physical activity. Despite that, it is a fulfilling and recharging activity for your physical, mental, emotional, and even social health. As we get exhausted with our ‘real-world’ either from the job, school, relationship, and others, we always need to take a break. When you do go on a hike, make sure to have the essentials that are featured in this article. While hiking can be an exhilarating experience, it is best to be prepared for any possible scenario.
Biswajit Rakshit is a professional blogger and writer. He loves to write on various topics.