Soft Hikes and Expectations
Plus - an L.A. group hike, a clear Lake Tahoe, wildflower crushes, sustainable hiking fashion, Grand Canyon snowpack, new hikes, and more
howdy
I don’t use TikTok (but ask me offline about writing a project for them—I have stories), so when a trend pops up there I need to wait until someone else tells me about it. Enter HuffPost, who recently wrote about a brand new TikTok fitness trend. No, it’s not scantily clad aspiring fitness models posting thirst-traps masquerading as workouts or chatting about scientifically dubious diet regimes. It’s called Soft Hiking.
The term was popularized by the account Soft Girls Who Hike, who define it as simply remembering “hiking doesn’t have to be hard.” In a short explainer TikTok, they say soft hiking is “not about pushing yourself to the limit … it’s about the pure joy of spending time in nature.” The account is careful not to criticize people who do tough hikes or have a fast pace—they just want space for folks who want to do their own thing.
In a similar vein, Brendan Leonard, one of my favorite outdoor writers, recently shared a great post that divided most of his outdoorsy friends into two types: Uphill People and Downhill People. Downhill people prefer the faster, gravity-assisted motion of skiing, mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, and the like. Uphill people enjoy the slower struggle against gravity in things like mountaineering, climbing, hiking, and trail running. I knew immediately I was an Uphill Person, in case anyone couldn’t already tell.
But what both Brendan and the Soft Girls Who Hike are voicing is a sentiment that’s been floating around for a while but does need to be restated every so often—especially in an age of attention-grabbing extreme endurance feats packaged for social media and memoirs: you can and should hike your own hike.
A few years back at an author’s event, someone asked me about backpacking tips I could offer to help their camping-adverse partner enjoy backpacking more. And I was honest—all things being equal, I’d much rather sleep in my own bed than on a pad or inflatable in a tent. I think the person who asked that question was a little surprised at my answer—as a bearded white dude who runs a hiking website and has multiple books on the outdoors, I think people can assume I’m a Bear Grylls type—but after the event his partner came up to me and thanked me for allowing him the “expert-approved” excuse to enjoy the outdoors in his own way.
I’ve done “tough” hikes, and I’ve done knee-busting backpacking trips, too. I even like them! But anyone who hikes with me knows I’m usually much more interested in looking for plants and animals, ‘reading’ the terrain, chatting up rangers and other experts, and visiting places with interesting history or geology.
My husband, who grew up hiking and I think is a little tired of explaining that he’s probably more outdoorsy than I am, has started describing me as “a writer who hikes.” Although that’s not as snappy or understandable than “hiker,” it’s probably more accurate. Plus, if I start using it, I won’t have to apologize for spending so much time crouched down taking photos for iNaturalist on the trail.
Save the Date
Do you live in Southern California? Want to join me on a hike?
I’ll be in town briefly to work on a fun project and I’ll be taking some time to hike one of my all-time favorite trails with my friends from the excellent Just Trek Podcast.
Join us at 8:30M on Saturday, May 6th at the Sandstone Peak Trailhead for a loosely organized, at-your-own-risk hike around the full loop to Sandstone Peak and back.
We are limiting the spots on this hike (good trail etiquette, y’all!), so be sure to RSVP. And if you can’t make it, please remember to cancel so we can offer your slot to someone else.
Related:
The Big Story
Something to talk about
Let’s Hear it for the Little Ones
If you’ve been near Lake Tahoe recently, you may have noticed its famously blue waters are a bit clearer than they’ve been in a while. At measurements taken in late 2022, the lake was clear to a depth of 81 feet – which is almost 20 feet deeper than the same measurements taken a year prior. The last time the lake was this clear was in the 1980s.
The cause? An excess of microscopic zooplankton that eat particles that cloud up the lake waters. Why the excess? Shrimp that eat those zooplankton have dropped in number. There is good news, though – scientists expect the shrimp will return, but they also noted that until then, the zooplankton will continue cleaning up the water this season, even with the increased runoff from snowpack. Tourism officials are hopeful the depth clarity could reach 100 feet, which hasn’t happened since 1968.
Modern Hiking
Good stuff from the Modern Hiker site
New Trails!
We’ve got two new trail guides on the site this week—a fun little history and art hike in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains at the sprawling estate of a former U.S. Senator and a new entry from Maui with maybe the most intense trail name I’ve ever seen: the Acid War Zone Trail. Don’t worry—there’s no actual acid war. You just need to watch out for sharp rocks and unpredictable ocean waves is all.
Your Parks
Your Places
Your Rim to Rim Season Just Got Shorter
Hiking the Rim to Rim (or Rim to Rim to Rim) in the Grand Canyon is an epic backpacking experience that will test even the toughest of hikers. But this year may be a little extra tough. This week, the National Park Service announced the North Rim of the Grand Canyon will remain closed until June 2nd, due to the more than 250 inches of snow the area received this season—100 inches more than the average.
Right now the park has announced its tentative schedule for summer re-opening on the North Rim. Outside interviewed the owner of a local guiding company, who noted the later start to the season puts Rim to Rim and Arizona Trail thru-hikers at risk of the summer’s triple digit temperatures.
Via Outside.
Wildlife Crossing
Wildlife and the Outdoors
Invest in Citronella
When I first moved to L.A. from the east coast, one of the great joys of life was not really having to worry about mosquitos. Or at least it felt that way in comparison to the muggy, buzzy summers of my youth. Unfortunately, things are different now. The native Culex mosquitos were eventually joined by the invasive Aedes mosquitos, more commonly known as ankle-biters due to their skill at sipping from your ankles unnoticed.
Due to the unusually wet winter on the west coast, NBC4 Los Angeles says L.A. County residents may be in for “the worst mosquito season in years.” The report talks about some pesticide solutions, but the most important thing you can do is to make sure you empty or rotate any standing water around your home. We’re talking potted plants with bad drainage, bird baths, recycling bins, anything. Any container with as little as a single teaspoon of water can allow the insects to breed, and as the weather warms up, they’re gonna be busy.
Related:
More tips on solutions for mosquito problems from the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District
Leafing Out
Plants!
Use Trails in Wildflowers. Again.
A big-push round of superbloom coverage started in earnest last week, and although I haven’t seen a ton of “end of the world” disaster coverage of selfie swarms, I did come across some disheartening images. Bryant Baker, the Director of Conservation and Research at Los Padres Forestwatch, has an excellent personal Instagram account. This week he shared some aerial photographs from the Carrizo Plain National Monument of user-created trails slicing and dicing their way through rich wildflower fields.
Related:
Superbloom photos from the New York Times, which sadly also includes a photo of invasive black mustard in Debs Park.
Worried about stepping on wildflowers? Have you considered flying over them on a zipline instead? Via Los Angeles Times.
One More Thing
Oh yeah, before I go …
As an Elder Millennial, it is very strange to see young people adopting the unflattering fashions and haircuts I suffered through as a child of the 80s and 90s. My husband and I walked past some high schoolers yesterday who he accurately described as looking like TLC. But one thing I AM here for is the return of bright colors to clothing—including outdoor gear. I think of Cotopaxi as the vanguard for this sort of aesthetic, and I almost always get compliments on my Batac and Allpa bags when I’m using them.
I’ve been slowly swapping out some of my older gear for stuff with more durable construction, and while browsing Fjallraven’s site I was happy to see they’ve adopted a similar philosophy for the Samlaren collection—creating new garments out of leftover scraps of other fabrics. They are not quite as colorful as the Cotopaxi line, but it’s great to see more companies doing this. The Fjallraven gear I do own—while expensive—is freakin’ bombproof, and if you have a store near you they will do repairs and reapply their biodegradable waterproofing wax for free for the life of the garment, which is pretty neat.
Until next time, Happy Trails.
I am 100% adopting being "a writer who hikes" haha, love it. Great reminder to take it all in however you most enjoy taking it all in.