How to Hike Safely and Avoid Common Injuries

How to Hike Safely and Avoid Common Injuries

M Hasan    5:23 AM   

Understanding Preventable Hiking Injuries

Many hiking injuries are preventable, yet each year in North America, approximately 500 hikers lose their lives, and over 10,000 others require some form of rescue. These statistics have long been a source of frustration for Dr. Robert Scanlon, a physician with over two decades of experience in critical care and an avid hiker and backpacker.

Scanlon took up hiking later in life as a way to manage the stress of his profession. However, he quickly became aware of the number of people who were injured, killed, or required search-and-rescue efforts. This realization led him to examine the recurring issues that contribute to these incidents. He found that most of these situations could be traced back to five key preparation skills: hydration, weather awareness, navigation, crossing waterways, and height and fall risk management.

The Importance of Preparation

Scanlon’s research led him to a quote by Desmond Tutu that resonated deeply with him: “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” This insight inspired him to explore the root causes of hiking-related accidents and develop strategies to prevent them.

His findings culminated in a new book titled Surviving the Trail, which offers practical advice on how to prepare for hikes effectively. Scanlon emphasizes that while trails welcome all, many hikers arrive with more enthusiasm than knowledge. His goal is to provide a foundation of knowledge and pre-hike strategies that can significantly reduce the likelihood of dangerous situations.

Hydration Strategy

One of the most crucial aspects of trail preparation is hydration. Simply bringing water is not enough, according to Scanlon. The amount needed varies based on factors such as pace, terrain, humidity, and temperature. For instance, a hike in a desert environment like southern Utah may require significantly more water than a walk through the Adirondacks.

Hikers should calculate their water needs based on these variables and decide whether they will carry it themselves or collect it from natural sources. If collecting water, it’s essential to have the necessary tools, such as filters and purification tablets, to ensure it’s safe to drink.

Scanlon notes that even a basic hydration strategy is better than none, as dehydration can lead to serious health complications.

Preparing for the Elements

Weather conditions can change rapidly, especially in mountainous regions. Hikers often underestimate how quickly the weather can shift, leading to unexpected challenges. For example, a hike in Colorado might start off sunny but quickly turn into a stormy situation due to the unpredictable nature of mountain weather.

To stay safe, hikers should familiarize themselves with the expected weather conditions for their destination. Dressing appropriately for both hot and cold temperatures, carrying multiple layers, and planning the timing of the hike to avoid extreme heat are all essential steps. Staying hydrated and taking regular breaks to assess one’s condition can also help prevent heat exhaustion or hypothermia.

Learning to Navigate

Navigation is another critical skill for hikers. Many people get lost due to wandering off the trail, poor weather conditions, or losing their group. Solo hikers, particularly men, are at a higher risk of getting lost, with 79% of those who become lost hiking alone.

Scanlon suggests that hikers learn to follow trails, recognize site-specific markers like cairns or tree swaths, and know how to read a map. Investing in a GPS device or learning to use a compass can also be invaluable. Additionally, hikers should carry a headlamp in case they need to navigate at night.

Minimizing the Risk of Falling

While hydration, weather, and navigation are the most common issues, hikers must also be prepared for potential hazards like water crossings and heights. Even a short fall from a height can result in serious injury. Scanlon recommends that hikers study maps and satellite images of their intended route to understand elevation gains, difficulty levels, and potential risks.

The Ultimate Goal

Scanlon believes that by focusing on these five key areas—hydration, weather, navigation, water crossings, and height awareness—hikers can significantly improve their safety. In today’s social media-driven world, it's easy to get caught up in the idea of reaching a scenic vista for a perfect photo. However, Scanlon reminds readers that the ultimate goal of any hike is to return home safely.

Survivor Rides Pan-Mass Challenge After 9/11, Two Cancer Battles

Survivor Rides Pan-Mass Challenge After 9/11, Two Cancer Battles

M Hasan    7:57 AM   

A Journey of Survival and Resilience

Kathy Ball-Toncic's story is one of survival, resilience, and the enduring strength of the human spirit. Almost 22 years after she ran barefoot from the North Tower on September 11, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. While her medical team at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute cannot definitively link her illness to the toxic dust she inhaled during the attacks, she is part of the WTC Health Program. To date, more than 44,000 individuals exposed to the World Trade Center site have been diagnosed with cancer.

The Morning of September 11

In 2001, Kathy was commuting between Boston and New York, working on Wall Street. On the morning of September 11, she had helped organize a conference at Windows On The World and was in a meeting in the lobby when the first plane hit the tower. At first, no one knew what had happened. She recalls a roar that sounded much like a subway train and flickering lights. She and her colleagues were standing up, pushing papers into their bags, when she heard a BOOM!

The explosion caused glass to shatter in businesses along the first-floor concourse. Kathy and her colleagues were "dressed up" for their meeting. In the moments after the explosion, one of them didn't feel that Kathy was moving quickly enough—probably because she was in shock. He urged her to take off her heels and run from the building. With bare feet, over broken glass, she did.

Blocks later, they stopped. "We stopped and turned around just in time for the second plane to hit," Kathy said. "My memory of that morning is a little bit like a film that's missing a few frames. But I vividly remember when we turned around and the building in flames... I pointed to it and said, 'We were in there.'"

By the time the group arrived at their office, Kathy's feet were bleeding, and she was covered in a thin layer of dust. She remembers feeling fortunate to have escaped and that night, to have been able to return home to Boston.

Healing Through Running

Processing the trauma of the attacks took a lot of intentional, emotional work. There was also a physical component to Kathy's emotional healing. After 9/11, Kathy, who had been a runner for years, began running marathons for charity. "It really felt like a wonderful way to be able to give back, to do something meaningful," Kathy said.

The 2002 Boston Marathon was her first. Running became a way to celebrate her health, nourish friendships, process difficult emotions, and raise money for organizations she believed in. In 2014, the year after the Boston Marathon bombings, she ran for Dana-Farber.

Facing Cancer Head-On

Her breast cancer diagnosis in 2023 was shocking enough. Kathy was treated at Dana-Farber for a full year. The following February, right around her birthday, she celebrated being cancer free. In a photograph with her son Henrik and daughter Maja, she is beaming as she holds a cupcake. That sense of elation, though, was short-lived. Two weeks later, she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. (Breast cancer and colorectal cancer are two of the almost-70 cancers that have been traced to 9/11 exposure.) She had surgery and chemotherapy.

As someone for whom exercise and physical activity are so important, Kathy recalls her exhaustion at the end of 2024. "The chemo took everything out of me ... I remember lying on the couch thinking, I'm a business owner who's not working. I'm a chef who can't eat. And I'm an athlete who can't make it up a flight of stairs. Who am I?" she asked.

She answered that question by focusing, minute-by-minute, on healing and small victories. Knowing when to give herself grace. Knowing when to ask for help. "I'm someone who's fighting and I'm someone who is visualizing health and wellness," she said.

Riding Toward Recovery

During radiation, she visualized that the treatments were working. In early 2025, still healing from those treatments, Kathy knew that running a marathon was out of the question. But desiring a goal, she asked her doctor (Dr. Brandon Huffman) and physical therapist whether she could ride the Pan-Mass Challenge, an event to which she had donated for years. "They both emphatically said yes and were super supportive!" she said.

Kathy, who works as an executive leadership coach and facilitator, is riding the two-day PMC route from Wellesley to Provincetown. She hopes, with some nervousness, that she will be able to ride the entire route. Those who know her have little doubt. Henrik is a registered volunteer in Bourne and Provincetown. Asked about his mother's decision to take on this new challenge on her bike, he says what she brings to the ride makes him proud. "Grit and determination and perseverance and love and honor and all these wonderful characteristics that make her who she is," Henrik said.

A New Chapter

While she does not miss cancer treatment, she does miss her team at Dana-Farber. "They are so extraordinary," Kathy said. "I think it's a part of cancer. People don't talk about a lot, that you finish your treatment.... And there's a bit of 'now what?' And you are not regularly seeing your care team." She says she will think about them while she is riding.

Kathy is again cancer free. She has regular check-ups, and her team promises to watch her "like a hawk." The colorectal cancer she survived has a high recurrence rate. But she says smiling, "it doesn't know who it's messing with."

PMC Living Proof Rider

A few weeks before the PMC, Kathy enjoyed an experience that offered a new feeling of community. Smiling and flexing a well-toned bicep in a PMC t-shirt at Fenway Park, she was among the Living Proof riders (cancer survivors) who rode the warning track and paused for the national anthem and a standing ovation.

It was PMC Night at Fenway and the ballpark was full of fans. "They announced, 'These are the cancer survivors riding the PMC.' I almost wanted to look around and say, 'Who-like--who are the cancer survivors?' And it's like, it's me!" That realization came with a flood of emotions. "I burst into tears at first. And then I just, I thought I want to be here. I want to take this moment in."

She now looks ahead to the ride and imagines it will feel like a victory lap. "It's a way to celebrate all the people that have supported me. It's a way to celebrate my health," she said. "And it's a way to do whatever I can to make sure people don't have to go through this by raising money for research."

"We are all touched by this horrible thing called cancer," Kathy said.