Any tips for off trail hiking? I pretty much covered all trails at my go to out location but there's still plenty of unexplored land and terrain to hike on but I'll have to find my way through dense scrubland and hilly/rocky terrain. I'm in pretty good shape and have all the gear since I already day hike at least a couple times a week(15 or so miles).
>>2855436Map, compass, and have fun.
>>2855436gloves. I always bring a light wt pair of gloves to use when bushwacking. very useful.
>>2855443Will I really need to bushwhack? I assumed that wearing a thick jacket would be enough to plow through.What I'm more concerned about is falling and ankle breakers due to not seeing the path.
tough pants that you don't mind ripping, boots, knee high gaiters. depending on brush height also gloves and thick jacketthere is more risk of falling than normal obviously
Stomp as much flauna as possible. Even better if you didn't even notice it until after you stomped it.
>>2855436Get some colored flagging tape (I recommend bright pink).If all else fails then you'll at least have a marked trail to follow back out
Gloves, goggles, gun and gps
>>2855436Plan on moving far more slowly than you normally do.
>>2855436heavy gloves and a billhook..depending on the underbrush.problem with just 'pushing through' is that it makes it that much harder to find your way back. Where I live (western OR) the back country is a solid mass of blackberry brambles and assorted sticker bushes, can make it very difficult to stay on a heading as well as finding the route you took on your return trip.
I used to track animals using radio telemetry so I'll say to buy some Carhartt overalls or comfortable knee boots to deal with brambles. Gloves are good for when some bullshit line blackberries gets caught on your clothes so you can just pull them off.
Mountaineering helmet. You will fall over. Don't be like so many who fell over and one shot themself.
>>2855452>Will I really need to bushwhack?depends on the terrain/flora etc....if you are really going thru hilly rocky terrain then yes- gloves are very handy and give your confidence to grab any bush or rock as you scramble thru dense vegetation and/or go up hill etc...if you are falling and need to grab that pricker bush to stop your fall, you'll be glad you have gloves on
>>2855436Go during deer season and don't wear any orange, that's just for hunters.
>>2855436carry a physical map and compassgps, I have a topographic app installed on my phone that shows where I am, don’t even need reception.Gaiters are a must unless you like wet boots and pants.Personal locator beacon is a must because if you run into to trouble no one will find you unless your phone can connect to emergency satellite call.
>>2855436Ya just hike. That's p much it. Don't overthink it.
You will encounter much more wildlife than you would normally and depending on where you are at that could be snakes, spiders, ticks etc
>>2855436this is such a strange question to me since i from being carried in a backpack-thingy as s toddler and up to this day has always hiked off path or trail. kinda misleading, off-trail implies there is a trail somewhere and there is no such thing here.i only do such hikes for a reason>reach that summit>fish in that lakeand then its pretty easy to plan them ahead on good maps or preferably google satellite view. or you just go and see where your feets take you.
>>2855436i have spotted 2 "hills" in the forest near me, no trails. there is what seems to be a creek between em. there is gold in the area so i thought i should go check it out. but i am not sure how to get there. what app should i use, google earth?
I appreciate all the advice guys, the entire area isn't crazy large maybe 100 square miles and 15 miles on a straight line in its "wildest" stretch but there's plenty of small (100 people tops) settlements all throughout it.Elevation varies from 5k ft to 2k, very hilly, brush isn't crazy dense since it's also very rocky but there's plenty of room for injury since there's big drops from large boulders or creeks.Went there today(on trail) and saw a fox, supposedly there's wolves but I have never seen nor heard one, plus deer and hogs, no large cats nor bears. Large guard shepherd dogs are aplenty and get pretty aggressive if you come close to the herd. Besides a couple spots phone reception is normally fine.Lots of heavy rain and wind lately but as soon as it calms down I'll give off trail solo hiking a proper go, it should be fun.
