Many of us are ordered to shelter in place to help slow the spread of the virus and if you’re lucky enough to have some hiking available to you for exercise here are some considerations to keep your hikes safe, fun, and kind.

Bring the hand sani.
Bringing a travel sized hand sanitizer with you makes it easy to sanitize your hands before touching the door handle to open your car.
Don’t touch the trees!
Think you’re the only one using trees to boost your step up or avoid the mud? Think again.
Be willing to move aside.
In my experience most hiking trails were not created with a potential virus outbreak in mind and do not comply with the “6 feet apart” standard. Be willing to share the trail with your fellow hikers.
Be flexible.
Consider taking the path less traveled and avoiding the crowds by avoiding peak hiking times. This one is tricky now that every day is a Saturday for a lot of us. If the parking lot is overflowing with cars you may want to check out a different route or time for your hike.
Make it fun.
Trail running and hiking is my absolute favorite way to play outside! To make it fun I like to give myself a challenge and make it a game by recording my time and/or distance traveled. Then when I come back I can try to beat my time or increase my distance. If you’re hiking with kids, create a scavenger hunt or collect specimens for a fun learning experience. Be sure to tell them about “Leave No Trace” practices and have them photograph their specimens logging their discoveries in a photo album.
Keep it kind.
We’re all in this together. A friendly hello to passing hikers may be the only in person contact some of us have. It’s cool to be kind.

As we head out onto the trails stay safe, have fun, and be kind - happy trails!