The Hiker's Trip Plan

A hiker's trip plan and an essential part of the planning for a backcountry hunt or hike.  Never leave home without leaving one behind. 

Recently I attended one of Peter Kummerfeldt’s seminars titled Getting Rescued Quickly.

From the “get go” Peter talked about the importance of a trip plan.  The trip plan is like a pilot’s flight plan.  It outlines the essentials of a backcountry journey.  The plan should be left with several responsible people, people who will notify the authorities should the hiker fail to return.

The trip plan need not be too complex.  As a minimum a trip plan should provide:

1.    The names of those in the party.

2.    Contact data for those in the party.

3.    Vehicle identification.

4.    Medical conditions

5.    Geographic coordination information where the party plans to enter the wilderness, park a vehicle and point of exit.

6.    Identify what livestock and pets that may be with the party.

7.    Next of kin information.

 

A sample trip plan can be found here.

 

A related post about getting lost and how to avoid such a situation can be found here.