Hello fellow walkers alone! If you’re like me, you may have some anxieties that tend to arise when you’re alone on the road (or maybe you have people in your life who try to get by his anxieties about his walking towards you). Regardless of the feelings of fear we may feel, we choose to always walk forward!
This summer I plan to embark on my first long-distance hike along the most beautiful hike in America, the Colorado Trail. Since everyone I would consider hiking with has Corporate Jobs™, I will be starting this trip alone. Here’s a list of all the ways I stay mentally sane as I contemplate a month alone in the Colorado countryside.
A commitment device is a behavioral economics tool used to ensure that a person sticks to their long-term plans. Behavioral economics studies the gap between what a rational person should do and how real humans actually act. As a rational human being, it would make sense for me to create plans to hike the Colorado Trail and then follow through a few months later. Unfortunately, I know I’m unstable enough to recognize that once CT season hits, my brain will do everything in its power to get me out of jail. This is where the mechanism of commitment comes into play, or the consequences of not doing what I say I’m going to do.
Compromise Device #1: Apply for Work Leave Well In Advance
I scheduled a meeting with my manager about 10 months before the planned start date of my tour to bring up the idea of four weeks off in 2026. After a few emails with my HR team, they tentatively approved me to save and use all of my vacation time for a summer hike. My manager had to vouch for me to senior management, HR, and even potentially our university president for this unusual request to be considered. Imagine how embarrassing it would be for me to change my mind a few months later and withdraw the time off request because I no longer wanted to hike!
Compromise Device #2: Block Your Calendar
My brain will latch onto any reason to avoid doing something scary like camping alone for thirty nights. I anticipate that one of the best reasons my brain will come up with for abandoning CT would be a more discrete event that I accidentally agreed to. It’s my personal struggle to say yes to things before even taking the time to see if I’m available. So, I’ve blocked out the entire month that I’ll be walking to ensure that I’m not presented with tempting opportunities that will allow me to quit before I even start.
I’m telling anyone who will listen that I’ll be gone for a month and don’t even try to make plans with me in August! Blocking my calendar makes this hike a concrete event, rather than a good idea floating in the ether. Every time someone who has learned about my big plan mentions it, I remember that I actually have to do the hike and I can’t just talk about it; reinforcing that the idea I have had in my head for years will come true very soon.
As you can see, social pressure to do what I say I’m going to do is a huge motivating factor for me.
Commitment Device #3: Apply to Write for the Trip
Fun fact about me: I’m obsessed with hiking culture and maybe even addicted to Backpacker Radio despite never having taken a backpacking trip that lasted more than two days. When I finally decided that 2026 would be the year I transformed into hiking trash, I knew that writing a blog for The Trek would be an integral part of this expedition. Selecting my blogger photo and posting my gear list was enough of a time investment that abandoning the trail felt ridiculous. I mean, readers count on me for daily trail updates!
Compromise Device #4: Buy All the Equipment
My idea of shopping is to add a bunch of things to my cart and then close the tabs. Since one does, in fact, need hiking gear, I strategically waited for just one week’s worth of Memorial Day sales to do some serious damage to my credit card and purchase a full backpacking kit. Now that the money has been spent, I simply have to get on with it. (I’m telling myself that returns are not an option) Nothing hurts more than a wasted paycheck!
I asked my therapist for some general anxiety-relieving skills that I know will occur when trying to sleep alone in a tent at night. She chuckled and instead taught me about stress tolerance. Discomfort tolerance is a skill used in dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) that emphasizes sitting with an uncomfortable emotion, rather than immediately resorting to a coping mechanism to «get out» of the feeling. Discomfort tolerance asks us to recognize that we are afraid, panicked, or disgusted, and at the same time know that we will survive the emotion because it will eventually pass.
The only reason I’m doing this hike is so I can expand my ability to feel discomfort. I tend to tell myself mantras like “We can do hard things” and “Everything can be solved” when I’m in a moment of distress that I’m trying to tolerate. It can be just as helpful to accept that a hike will be difficult (and painful, and exhausting, and and) as it is to plan how you will make things easier.
Fostering a growth mindset in myself and my students is a core belief as someone working in higher education. Psychologist Carol Dweck coined this idea that the beliefs we have about our abilities impact how those abilities develop. A growth mindset knows that skills are not fixed, but can be expanded through trial and error. This applies to every facet of your life: your intelligence, your athletic prowess, your public speaking ability, and your general level of outdoor activity. Having a growth mindset means that you value the time and effort required to perfect any new skill you’re learning.
I’ve only done one overnight backpacking trip along the Art Loeb Trail in North Carolina, so I can’t necessarily consider myself a backpacker. But to become a backpacker I have to do it! As part of a growth mindset, I understand that a thru-hike will bring unforeseen challenges, and I appreciate the difficulty! Figuring things out is exactly how I will learn the ropes of backpacking.
Here are some basic safety measures that will help me (and my mother) sleep better at night:
Buy a satellite communicator
I ended up choosing a Zoleo because they are cheaper than a Garmin InReach but have the same features. Of course, smartphones are increasingly useful in the field and can connect to satellites to send text messages. But redundancy gives me extra peace of mind.
Get a CORSAR card
A CORSAR (Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue) card is a voluntary contribution program that supports local Search and Rescue (SAR) teams. It costs $5 for a 1-year card and can be purchased through the Colorado State Parks and Wildlife website. It is important to note that this is not an insurance card. On the other hand, if you need a rescue, The card ensures that volunteer SAR teams can receive reimbursement for their expenses. This is just one way I can do my part to support those protecting the interior of the country!
Practice situational awareness
One of the best ways I can protect myself is not by carrying a gun or even learning self-defense, but by preventing dangerous situations before they happen. I do this by being aware of my surroundings: noticing who or what is around me, paying attention to where I’m going, and listening to my surroundings. I do my best to project (or even fake) an air of confidence that communicates «don’t mess with me.» I greet people along the way and make eye contact to let them know I’m focused on the moment. I’m also totally fine with lying to strangers to protect my safety and privacy!
Use a bear can
This is simply because I’m lazy and already own a Bear Vault BV500. I know myself well enough to anticipate that after a full day of hiking I won’t want to hang the bears or find another responsible way to store my food and other smelly items. In order to practice LNT, I decided that the Bear Vault would be my best option, as it requires very little thought or effort (other than carrying an extra two pounds across the state of Colorado, we’ll see how it goes). A Bear Vault alleviates my worries about wildlife encounters and running out of food after a hungry groundhog decides to raid my campsite. It is also a Food storage system recommended by the Colorado Trail Foundation.!
Dealing with uncertainty generates anxiety. So I make things less uncertain by doing research! I am lucky to live in Colorado and explore some of the wilderness areas that the CT passes through. Learning more about where I will be walking has really been a huge boost to my confidence. Doing research before a trip is a complete no-brainer, but as the resident Type B blogger, I hate planning ahead.
Basically, this section is a great complement to The Trek articles and YouTube videos specifically geared toward CT prep. Here is a wonderful katie video Who has actually hiked the Colorado Trail!
Reach out if you’re a woman who also loves solo adventures and share your tips on how you’ve cultivated a healthy mindset for hiking alone in the woods.
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