r/Outdoors

I know this isn’t east coast-specific but I’m from VT originally and wanted to know your guys’ thoughts. I was up hiking by the Maroon Bells last week and you couldn’t pay me to ski that shit. Rotten snow and crazy amounts of rockfall like this mean one mistake is instant death. All over Instagram and YouTube I’ve been seeing guys underprepared mountaineering and skiing dumb stuff like this in Colorado for no reason. It doesn’t even look fun. What’s behind this new wave of idiots in the sport?? Are you guys seeing this where you’re from?

Apologies for the basic realization, but man, I finally get it after spending the day on a desert trail in Arizona.

The sun is absolutely relentless out here, and the back of my neck is completely fried from a 4-hour hike this morning.

It gets brutally hot on exposed trails, and that sun just beats down on you constantly when there's no tree cover.

So yeah, I now understand why experienced hikers swear by wide-brim hats. Makes total sense.

Now I'm looking into getting a proper one for future trips. Probably my first serious hiking hat lol

I’m going camping on the northern side of the UP in late June. What should I prepare for?