I don't see how I'm not acknowledging the truth here.



Well, it doesn't hurt to bone up on it



Geez Lori, I feeling kind of hammered here.

I discussed some of the risks and some ways to decrease those risks, and in no way down played them. I concede that you're better qualified to articulate those risks than I am, but I think if you read my comments again you'll see I was not being dismissive of the risks.

I don't think it's near fair to put solo bushwhacking up there with rock climbing. It's not near that level of risk, at least not the way I do it. And I am not offering my comments here as a complete course on solo bushwhacking. I am offering some general observations and tips on going solo and solo bushwhacking.

And I am not professing to be some kind of expert on bushwhacking, nor am I extolling the virtues of the pastime or recommending it. But I cannot, in all honesty, warn those who ask about going solo that it's anymore dangerous than driving your car to the corner store. I have no evidence or experience that leads me to that conclusion.

I honestly don't think solo hiking, or solo bushwhacking, actually increases your risk of death or injury by any significant amount. If I saw statistical evidence that indicated it does, I would acknowledge it. I live in Missouri, our State motto is "Show me". If you have proof that it does increase the risk of injury or death significantly, or even at all, show me.

If you do not, tell us.

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I suspect this maybe another sort of regional thing, like having campfires. I recall getting blowback about bushwhacking and going solo when I lived in Ca, and I was always the only one perturbed with the "Stay on the trail" rules they love so much out there. Life is different here...

Here, in the Ozarks, you don't hear that "Stay on the trail" mantra. Not even from the Forest Service. In fact, the last time I looked, the NFS encourages hikers not to use trails in the wilderness areas. The Leatherwood Wilderness, for example, doesn't really even have any trails. None that are maintained by the NFS, though there are some that are maintained by Horsemen and the NFS does not prohibit them from doing that.

The popular outdoor guidebooks written by Tim Ernst lists dozens of "Bushwhacks" to scenic spots. Hillbillies go into the forests and trails don't matter much to most of those that backpack. Tourists Hikers use trails here, and attracting tourist is the main reason they were made. Hillbillies bushwhack.

Our children grow up bushwhacking here. It's what they do when their parents chase them out of the house. They have campouts with friends by the time they're 8-10 years old, and every parent and kid knows that they go way further than they're told they can, but they almost never go so far as to not figure out how to get back. That has not happened once since I've lived here. When they turn 16 they drive further into the boonies and have creek parties and hike and explore where there are no trails, and parents everywhere rejoice in the opportunity to get some alone time.

I cannot recall one solo bushwhacker dying here because they were not found in time (or any other reason) in the 20 years since I've lived here. During that time I know of one solo hiker that died on the Ozarks Highland Trail, and that's it. Most of the fatalities I can recall are people falling off of cliffs. Most of those are day hikers traveling in groups.

Trails are fine. I have no problem with trails or those that use them, but you can't make trails to all the good spots and they kind of screw up the scenery anyway. And not every place should have a trail going to it. You'd never find those special camp sites, or best hunting & fishing spots, or where the morels are growing, because a trail would change all that.

Ozarkers bushwhack solo all the time here, and we are not falling on our heads and dying out there. I swear this is true. Maybe in California they do. It wouldn't surprise any of the hillbillies I know if they heard that's the case

To put this in what I believe is a proper perspective, I do know of a lot of Ozarkers that have been injured or died while driving solo on our curvy mountain roads. That's something to really be worried about.