When I asked if there was any interest in me sharing how I started hiking and my experience as a plus size hiker I figured a few people would be interested but I was blown away by the response! I got questions on everything from how to start, to what shoes to wear and I’m going to answer all of these things today.
How to Start
To be honest, hiking was something I wanted to do for a long time but I was too intimidated to start. Hiking was something only for for young, lean, tan people in my mind. I spent years pinning places I wanted to hike to someday but that someday day always seemed to be a distant alternate reality for me. I think with any behavioral change you just have to one day wake up and decide to do it but for most people there is some kind of trigger to cause that decision. If reading this post right now makes you think hey, if she can haul her big butt through trails than I can too than that makes me very happy to be that trigger for you.
For me, it was the traumatic experience of going through an ectopic pregnancy. To be honest I’m not a crazy dreamer and tend to focus on being happy with my reality. I’m very much a planner, but when I found myself unable to make my plan of starting a family happen and I desperately needed something I could control. I really struggled with my mental health those first few months – I didn’t just need a distraction, I needed a win. So while I was on bed rest in between feeling sorry for myself I started planning to get better and went back to my Pinterest board to pick something off my bucket list it was time to make happen.
Picking your first Hike
While I am ultimately glad to have finished what wound up being our first hike it was in hindsight a terrible place to start so I’m going to let you learn from my mistakes and tell you what I go right and what I got wrong. Hiking at it’s most basic definition is walking outdoors in a natural environment so really you could just head to your local park, find a non side walk trail and boom, you just hiked! The first mistake I made was I wanted a big reward right off the bat. Our first hike was to Cummins Falls which is arguably the most impressive waterfall we have hiked to. Instead I should have started off small to get some experience.
Things you’ll need to consider when picking your first hike are location (are you willing to travel or do you need to stay local). Time of year and day and how long you think is reasonable. We did our first hike in late October and this is something I got right – between the cooler air temp and it being a cloudy, overcast day we never worried about over heating. You’ll also want to think about what kind of trail – do you just want to be one with nature or are you looking for a sight to see? I tend to need a destination – real talk: at some point on almost every single hike Shaun will have to listen to me complain about something, bless his heart – I’m too hot, this is harder than I thought, there are too many bugs, and I hate this are my biggest hits. But I keep going because of what I came to see and I’m not leaving until I see it damn it. And for the record, once we finish I am always glad for the experience.
If I had to start over again I would pick a small hike close to where we live and focus more on building the experience vs the destination.
How to find trails
I do most of my pre-hike research on Pinterest. I’m not really comfortable with super remote, off the beaten path trails so most trails we’ve hit up have had several blog posts written about them. I like to read several posts on the same trail and then check out the all trails reviews to get a good wholistic opinion of the trail. Trail conditions and sights can vary by season so I try to make sure and find a review from the season we are hiking to give the best idea of what our hike will be like.
How I determine if a trail is a good fit for us
All Trails is a great app not only for finding hiking trails but reading reviews. Keep in mind that there will be people of all skills leaving reviews. In the beginning I put way too much stock in reviews vs the official trail rating. Reviews are great to read to get an idea of the trail but what an experienced hiker considers easy is not what I find easy and I find the official trail rating to be more accurate. There’s three things that contribute to the difficulty of a trail in my opinion: distance, elevation gain, and the trail itself and all three of these balance out for an overall trail rating. For example – 2.5 miles on a boardwalk trail is easier than 1.5 miles on a rugged trail and elevation gains are much easier on a paved trail (such as Laurel Falls) vs a rugged trail. Personally I find that I am able to keep moving when the trail is relatively level but areas of elevation gain are where I get a bit out of breath and need to stop for short breaks.
What to Wear
The great thing about hiking is that it doesn’t require a lot of gear to get started. I’ve seen people on trails in regular jeans and sneakers – and you probably have those in your closet already. However, I personally think even when starting on small trails it’s better to wear hiking pants or workout clothes.
When it comes to clothing it’s all about balance – you want clothing you won’t get overheated in but will also keep you warm during cooler weather, you want clothing that is lightweight and comfortable but also sturdy, and you may also want to use your clothing as protection from the sun, bugs, and well, nature. These all come down to personal preference and balancing your needs. For example, Shaun is prone to getting heat rash on his legs so he prefers to hike in shorts. On the other hand I am very attractive to bugs and am very clumsy and prone to falls so I always hike in pants.
For a traditional hiking pant I like the trekkie pant from Athleta. This material is very sturdy so it isn’t going to tear if it get brushed or dragged on rocky, jagged surfaces. As a negative, I find these too hot for warm weather hikes.
The dance studio jogger from Lululemon isn’t marketed for hiking but I find it to be a good hybrid between a hiking pant and legging. The material is sturdy but much more lightweight. Since the are so expensive I’ve only worn mine of paved trails so I cannot attest to how they stand up to scrapes and bumps.
My absolute favorite pant to hike in though is the trinity legging from Fabletics – but any legging made with the Motion365 fabric will do. This fabric is designed to be cooling, moisture wicking, and stretchable and I find it excels in all of these areas – and I have never torn a pair in all my tripping, scooting and scraping.
For tops I am far less particular. Moisture wicking materials are typically recommended for hiking but I find it needs to be below 60 for me to find these comfortable. The lightweight material is great but as a plus size person I already have a lot of natural insulation – I find a breathable lightweight cotton to be far more comfortable.
My favorite tops to wear on hikes are the weekender from Chic Soul or Athleta tanks
The most important thing to wear imo is a proper pair of shoes. This is an area where I made a huge mistake on our first hike. A lot if reviewers said to wear water shoes because a significant portion of hike was along the river. However, while they did have good rubber gripes they did not provide any support. Lesson learned and now I always wear shoes meant for hiking.
Like clothing, there is also a balance to shoes. Hiking boots do provide more support but they are hotter and heavier. Trail runners are lightweight but lack ankle support. My general rule of thumb is rugged trails need hiking boots. I tend to roll my ankle even on paved ground so I need all the support I can get on uneven terrain.
For sneakers I wear New Balance trail runners. For new balances the price on these is pretty affordable but I find them to be very sturdy and these sneakers are very breathable. Plus, I can just run them through the wash and they look brand new! You’ll want to break these in walking a few miles around your neighborhood before hitting the trails.
My boots are Columbia. I picked these because they came in a wide width and are pretty lightweight as far as boots go. I do not find them to be comfortable to wear sitting still so I typically bring them in the car and put them on right before we hit the trail.
One other important thing to wear is proper socks. I wear feidder socks and have not gotten any blisters or ever felt like my feet were hot and sweaty.
What to bring with you
Once you’ve picked your hike and dressed appropriately for it it’s time to pack your bag and hit the trails. I use a knack backpack but any backpack with padded straps is fine.
It is very tempting to not bring a backpack on a hike. Sometimes we determine that it’s unnecessary for both Shaun and I to bring one and I’ll leave mine in the car. This past year we’ve kept our hikes up to five miles total so we’ve never been more than 2.5 miles from our car but close to your car doesn’t necessarily mean easy to get to in an emergency. When packing your bag you want to pack for worst case scenario but also realistic worst case scenario. For example, because we only do short day hikes I know that worst case is falling on the trail and not being able to physically make it back to the car. In the US day hikers are most likely to be rescued in 24 hours so carrying a lot of food is not a priority but I will pack some snack bars and a piece of fruit.
Here is what we always bring on a hike:,
Jacket / sweatshirt – I like this one
Water – I use a 64oz Iron Flask
Snacks
Phone
Trail map
There’s a lit of 10 essentials that are universally recommended to pack and I do plan on filling out the rest of the list because it’s better to be safe than sorry.
The last, and honestly the most important thing you need to bring on your hike is the right mindset. When we headed on our first hike I was so self conscious and couldn’t help but think how everyone was more fit than we were or how every other hiker passed us. But you have to remember that no one is there to judge you. Hikers in general are pretty friendly people – we’ve always had someone volunteer to snap a pic for us or say hey, you’re almost there when I was struggling to keep going. Your hike is just that, YOUR journey. It’s polite to let a group behind you pass if you are going slow but there’s no shame in it. Hiking is not a race and there’s no score for who needed the least breaks.
You also need to have a good balance of caution and confidence. Of course you want to challenge yourself, but you also want to be safe. Before our first hike I was not familiar with the concept that the hike out is harder than the hike in.
Finally, be sure to follow the leave no trace principles. It always makes me sad to find graffiti or trash along the trail and we do try to pick up trash as we are able to carry it. It’s important to keep nature as natural as possible so it continues to be something we can all enjoy as well as future generations.
I hope you have found this post helpful! If you have any questions about our hiking adventures let me know!