The first weekend of June is a great time to get out and enjoy your local trails, so here's how to be prepared to do that safely.
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00:00 Well, if you have great weather,
00:01 as accurate are showing you
00:03 from coast to coast here,
00:04 it's going to be a good day because
00:06 tomorrow is National Trails Day for 32 years.
00:08 The first Saturday in June is a day
00:10 for getting outdoors to enjoy,
00:12 but also protect the hiking trails.
00:14 Maggie Pycon is the manager of
00:15 communications for the American
00:16 Hiking Society.
00:17 Thank you so much for joining us and Maggie.
00:20 How did this all begin?
00:21 How did National Trails Day start?
00:23 And what is the mission?
00:24 So as you mentioned,
00:26 we're celebrating our 32nd annual
00:28 National Trails Day on Saturday,
00:29 but the idea actually came in 1991
00:31 when American Hiking Society was
00:33 ideating a program that would
00:35 highlight the importance of trails
00:36 while also advocating for trail stewardship.
00:39 So by June 5th in 1993,
00:41 AHS launched its first ever National
00:43 Trails Day with hundreds of organizations
00:45 participating across the country.
00:47 Now National Trails Day is the day
00:49 of public events aimed at advocacy,
00:52 trail service,
00:53 and encouraging local communities
00:54 to connect in the outdoors.
00:56 And it's a day for all of us to
00:59 connect and it's a day that brings
01:01 people across the country together
01:02 to advocate for, maintain,
01:03 and clean up public lands and trails.
01:05 It's a really important day and it's
01:07 a really great day to get outside.
01:09 Yeah, and how do we do that?
01:10 What needs to happen to protect
01:12 the hiking trails and what are the
01:14 threats and how can people help?
01:16 That's a great question.
01:17 I think we all know that trails can't
01:19 advocate for or maintain themselves,
01:20 so educating yourself on what it means
01:22 to be an impactful trail steward
01:24 can be really helpful.
01:25 There are so many ways to be a great
01:27 trail steward, including cleaning up
01:29 trash you find on trails,
01:31 always remembering to stay on trail
01:33 when you're hiking and following
01:34 Leave No Trace principles,
01:35 and using your voice to advocate
01:37 for trails and preservation of
01:39 trails on the local and national
01:40 level and threats to trails could
01:42 be due to a host of different
01:44 issues from environmental,
01:46 like invasive species,
01:47 human impact, of course,
01:48 like litter or hikers repeatedly
01:50 wandering off trail and damaging
01:52 the ecosystem or a lack of trail
01:55 funding for trail building and
01:56 trail maintenance.
01:57 So being a good trail steward can
01:59 definitely help preserve and
02:01 protect trails across the country.
02:02 I love that and I love hiking.
02:05 It's such a fun family activity
02:06 and some people may be expert
02:08 hikers but other people may be
02:09 looking to just get started and
02:11 this weekend might be great to do that.
02:13 Do you have any tips for the best
02:14 way to get started and then of course
02:17 prepare for possible weather conditions?
02:18 Yes, national trails is definitely
02:20 a great day to get out on the trails,
02:22 whether it's your first time or your 100th.
02:24 It's a great family activity and
02:25 it's always a great idea to start small.
02:28 So meaning taking shorter hikes
02:29 and to start local checking the
02:31 weather before you head out on the
02:32 trail is always a good idea and in
02:34 the summer months it can actually be
02:36 especially helpful to head out early
02:38 so you can avoid those afternoon pop
02:39 up storms and heading out early will
02:41 also help to avoid the high heat
02:43 of the day in the summer.
02:44 Alright, how about a navigating the trails?
02:48 I know they've got the trail
02:50 blazers out there.
02:50 I had a scary situation.
02:51 My husband, I were on a loop and he
02:53 exited the loop and I kept going.
02:55 So do you have any advice for people
02:57 to stay safe on the route and what
02:59 they may need to bring to help them?
03:01 Yeah, it's a totally reasonable
03:03 concern to have before your hike.
03:05 It's a great idea to look at a trail
03:07 map and familiarize yourself with it.
03:09 You can read recent trail reviews,
03:11 see what other people are saying.
03:12 If there's anything to look out for,
03:14 you want to download a map that you
03:16 can use offline or print out a paper
03:18 map if you're comfortable reading a
03:20 paper map. We always recommend that
03:21 hikers bring the 10 essentials with
03:23 them on every hike regardless of how
03:25 far or how close to home it might be.
03:27 And we always also say that it's a
03:28 great idea to tell somebody where
03:30 you're going again, regardless of
03:31 how close to home you are or for
03:33 how long you're going to be gone.
03:35 It's always good for someone
03:36 to know your plans.
03:37 Maggie, I don't want to throw you off.
03:39 Did you say the 10 essentials?
03:41 Could you break some of those down?
03:42 Yes, the 10 essentials are appropriate,
03:45 but where a map and a compass or GPS
03:48 like I was saying so that you can
03:50 just have that navigation on you.
03:52 Water, of course.
03:52 It's recommended that you take a
03:54 half a liter of water for every
03:55 hour you plan to be hiking.
03:57 But if you're in the summer heat,
03:58 you might want to bump those
03:59 numbers up a little bit.
04:01 Food, of course, to refuel.
04:03 Rain gear and dry fast layers in
04:05 case of those pop up storms.
04:06 You want to have safety items like
04:09 a flashlight or a fire starter and
04:11 a whistle, a personal first aid kit
04:13 just in case, a knife or multi-tool,
04:16 sun protection all seasons,
04:18 but especially in the summer,
04:19 you want sunscreen, sunglasses,
04:21 some protective clothing and shelter
04:24 of some kind is always a good idea
04:25 just for protection from the elements.
04:27 And like a space blanket is a
04:30 lightweight and generally pretty
04:32 inexpensive option to have on you.
04:34 That's a lot of gear,
04:36 but you've got us all set to go now
04:37 head hiking this weekend.
04:39 Maggie Peiken,
04:40 Manager of Communications for
04:41 the American Hiking Society.
04:43 Thank you so much again for joining us.
04:44 Yeah, thanks for having me.