Safety 

I often go hiking alone, usually for the simple reason that other people aren't always able to come with me (or don't want to, the wimps). Hiking, whether alone or in a group, is risky but to say that hiking alone is unnecessarily risk is not exactly true. In some respects, hiking alone can be safer than hiking in a group, it all boils down to your perception of the risks.

Many people (who do not go hiking often, if at all) base their perception of risks to some extent on dramatic search and rescue stories that have been blown out of all proportion by the media in the quest of a good story while leaving the essential facts out. This leads to misconceptions of what the real risks are with hiking and what their likelihood of occurring are. Most of the criticisms I get for hiking alone relate to:

• Breaking a leg.
  I have more chance of breaking a leg cycling around Melbourne, not that some motorists haven't had some good attempts.
• Falling off a cliff.
  To fall off a cliff you first have to walk to the edge
• Snake bite.
  On average I catch a glimpse of one snake a year as it slides off into the bushes. Snakes are shy and have good hearing. You've practically got to stand on one to get bitten.
• Being swept off rocks by a freak wave
  Similar to falling off a cliff but defining where 'the edge' is can be a little harder. <--begin hide from mum and dad tag--> OK so I've been wave fodder twice but I was luckily left standing. The score stands at Camera 1: Waves 1. The wave above was shot with a wide angle lens and yes, it was coming straight for me. I saw it coming and I was prepared with a goretex jacket to cover the camera a split second before the wave hit. Grab the tripod, cover the camera and lean into the wave....<--//end hide from mum and dad tag-->
• Getting lost.
  In Victoria it is seriously difficult to get truly lost, misplaced yes, but not lost. Most people who get lost don't have a map and compass, and many of the rest don't know how to use them.

Note that in most cases the fear relates to serious physical injury. Often overlooked but equally as serious are the physiological risks, namely:

• Exhaustion
• Dehydration
• Hypothermia
• Heat stroke
• Illness/ food poisoning

These are usually easily avoided if you can recognise the early symptoms. The best way to do this is from experience, not that anyone goes out of their way to do this. It's all part of the great lesson in life called hiking. Illness and food poisoning are a little less predictable but a lot can be done to avoid them.

This brings us to the big ONE. The biggest risk to the solo hiker, mainly because of the probability of it happening, is the humble sprained ankle/ twisted knee. That and perhaps bad blisters which can sometime be equally disabling.

You could follow the same process for that other great risky activity, crossing the road. Take all of the 'freak' accidents involving pedestrians being hit by cars and jot the circumstances down as real risks. Having compiled a very long list you may be tempted to stop crossing the road. The whole point is that you shouldn't let your perceptions of unknown risks prevent you from undertaking activities and potentially experiencing something truly wonderful. You should, of course, still make an informed judgement of the real risks involved and then take the necessary precautions.... a lead in to the next section.

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"The mountains can be reached in all seasons. They offer a fighting challenge to heart, soul and mind, both in summer and winter. If throughout time the youth of the nation accept the challenge the mountains offer, they will keep alive in our people the spirit of adventure. That spirit is a measure of the vitality of both nations and men. A people who climb the ridges and sleep under the stars in high mountain meadows, who enter the forest and scale peaks, who explore glaciers and walk ridges buried deep in snow -- these people will give their country some of the indomitable spirit of the mountains."

William O. Douglass

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