Why now is a Good Time to Start Hiking Due to COVID 19 and How to Stay Safe During the Hikes?

As we know this is a pandemic time, everyone is suffering from the COVID-19 situation directly or indirectly. Nonetheless, as a human being, you are not used to staying at home day after day if you are physically well and in perfect form.

An amazing feeling of fresh air, lovely sunshine, a long walk in the green nature, meeting with pretty small wildflowers, a sweet singing sound of known-unknown birds – all the things charmed you when you were exploring hikes at summertime before the coronavirus. Now the situation and environment are different, you should maintain the safety rules to stop the spread of this disease.

Though it’s summertime – perfect hiking season – during the hiking time your first priority is “Stay Safe.” Normally, hiking helps the traveler to improve their levels of stress, blood pressure, cholesterol, to recover mental condition, and to improve bone density, etc.

In the pandemic, people are staying at home for a long time and being detached from outdoor nature. As a result, there is a possibility to suffer from those physical problems. Hiking can be a good solution in this pandemic situation to keep fit physically and mentally.

Yes, you can! If your health supports you in going for a hike, then you can take preparation. However, you have to learn how to stay safe during the hikes before making a trip. Nowadays, it’s a kind of homework for us before going outside or for a trip, we need to make sure which trails and parks are close, which popular areas are shutting down, where it would be difficult to maintain social distancing, etc.

To stop spreading COVID-19, social distancing is the first priority to protect your life and that of others. Below I have provided for you some important points about staying safe during your hike. Let’s take a look at the given information:

• Maintain physical distance: You should keep a 6-foot distance between you and any other people while at picturesque overlooks or at trailheads
• Wear a Mask when going outside: You should keep a mask with yourself. You may require to use it depending on what kind of activity you are doing.
• Travel with family members excluding unidentified people: Carpooling may spread coronavirus from person to person because it is not possible to stay 6-feet apart in the transport. So choose rides with your nearest family members.
• Perfect hiking time: You can avoid a gathering of visitors to maintain safety. It can be off-peak times excluding weekends.
• Ignore visiting the parks: If the park or trails are crowded, you should leave or avoid the area because of being many people being there. It will be a risk.
• Runners at the park: Especially keep enough distance from runners because there is a way to spread the coronavirus when they blow their nose.

We know social distancing is a hard thing because no one is familiar with that before. However, you should check the information of the place you want to go to – national forests or national parks – hiking areas. Don’t forget life is more precious than for a moment of outdoor visiting. Try to follow the rules to stop spreading coronavirus. Happy hiking and stay safe!