Getting Ready for the Hike

I never realized that so much went into hiking. I always thought that if I had a water bottle and shoes on I would be ok... that was until I got stuck... Once. Once was all it took and before I would go hiking again I made sure that I had prepared for the hike. Now, most hikes that I will write about will be simple enough or short enough that you will only need one or two water bottles BUT if there is any chance whatsoever that you could get lost or stuck or be longer then 2 hours, always bring at least a backpack with extra water and snacks (such as nature valley bars or triscuts, beef jerky, stuff that can sustain your body but isn't too big or heavy).

The one time that I got stuck I was free climbing (without a trail) up some big boulders in Red Rock. Once we had got to the top we realized that we couldn't go back down the way we came up so we continued to go up further and eventually got to a point where we could continue but we would have to scale a boulder, on it's side, over a 150 foot drop. If I had been prepared with the bag I now carry we would have been able to use rope as a safety harness. This is the content of my bag, which is the bare minimum I would suggest just because the day I got stuck it was supposed to be an out and back hike but apparently was not:

-My bag is a camelback, and a backpack, you have the option to have just a camelback however if you are going to carry something on your back anyways, it's easiest to just have everything in one place.
-Rope, not too thick and not too thin, I carry 1/2" rope with a 300 -400 pound weight resistance that is about 20-25 feet long

-Wool gloves and socks, these may not be the most comfortable but they keep your hands and feet very warm and if they happen to get wet, the wool will actually retain the water, allowing your body to warm up that water and will continue to keep you warm

-Waterproof bags to keep your cell phone, cash, i.d. and any other equipment that you do not want to get wet, dry - also, if you are going anywhere that water will be in abundance, a waterproof bag large enough to hold your clothes. (that way you can place your clothes in the bag, walk across the water, then put them back on and don't have to continue hiking in wet clothes)

-extra water, if the hydration pack is full, between 1-2 bottles

-snacks

These are the minimum of what should be taken. Each hike is different so it can be adjusted accordingly and items can also be added.

Hope you have fun getting ready!

The Beginning

I have always loved hiking and until now have never given myself the time to enjoy it. I recently went hiking and while trying to find a trail along with reviews and how to get to it I noticed that there is really no plain, common sense information. I either got stuck at a website that wanted me to buy a trail map/their book with a trail map in it, or could only find a review that talked in degrees and latitude and longitudes and used technical hiking terms. Instead I ended up just using a trail map from Red Rock (I live near Las Vegas) which wasn't bad but still left us confused at points since there were no directions or pictures.

I decided that I wanted to try and help others by providing simple directions, along with pictures, my thoughts on the difficulty of the hike, if the hike is children safe and hopefully reviews from others that try the hikes and leave their comments. Even if this only helps a handful of people I will be glad to know that their hiking experience was made easier by me and will hopefully allow them to enjoy it that much more!