hiking gearAfter my brother gave me a call this past weekend to tell me about a hiking adventure that went somewhat wrong, I have a renewed sense of importance when it comes to going out with the correct hiking gear. He went out with a couple of friends to a well-traveled mountainous trail that has a lot of switchbacks. It is a popular trail but physically demanding just because the trail is so steep at parts. It winds back and forth up the mountain so a person can see the further reaches of the trail by looking up the mountainside. There are points when you can run straight up the hill, on an unbeaten path to circumvent the switchbacks. My brother and his friends did this on one part. One of his buddies wasn’t wearing hiking shoes, slipped on a wet log and rolled his ankle.

He couldn’t keep going on account of his ankle so my brother decided they would need to carry him. I’m sure all the hikers coming up past them thought something was seriously wrong. Just a sprained ankle because of a lack of hiking gear. Hiking gear makes all the difference.