I backpack solo almost exclusively. When I am not solo I am hiking with my wife. I have no qualms about my safety, but I do follow all the basic rules. I leave an itinerary, bring the essentials every time I hike and I am very cautious about accepting risks.

It helps immensely that I have been hiking in the forests and mountains of Oregon and Washington since I was five years old (I'm 62 now) and 99% of my hiking during my lifetime has been in those same environs. By now, the terrain, weather and plant and animal life around me are extremely familiar and I have deep knowledge and experience with them to draw upon.

I began backpacking at 16 and first went solo when I was 19. I made my share of mistakes back then, learned from them and survived them. I was not as knowledgeable nor as safe during those early solo backpacks, but I was not a babe in the woods, either. I had much more than a decade of hiking experience and several years of backpacks under my belt by then. I studied, read books and articles and planned meticulously. I was serious about it.

Most beginners do not have the advantages I had when I began to solo. I would not recommend going solo to anyone who doesn't have a good solid base of information and experience to draw on. I just happened to get an unusually early start on creating that base of experience. It has been invaluable to me.