Spring is the perfect season for outings and enjoying nature. Every weekend, many city dwellers put aside their stressful routines to immerse themselves in the great outdoors, breathing in the fresh air and listening to birdsong. With winter’s icy grip gone, spring beckons people to hit the trails. Here are some essential hiking techniques to help you out:
1. Walking Uphill
Try to put the weight on your heels. Your heels naturally align with your body’s center of gravity, which allows your body weight to be distributed across your thighs and even your lower back. This method uses about one-third less energy than climbing on your toes. Walking uphill on your toes will exhaust your calves while leaving your thighs underused. On an uphill path, if there are protruding rocks or ledges, step on them with your heels. If the slope is relatively gentle, try to keep your entire foot flat on the ground. Another tip for uphill walking is to straighten your supporting leg fully with each step as you shift your weight. The slight “pop” of the joint helps transfer some of the load to your hip muscles. Don’t dismiss this as a hassle—it gives each leg a 0.3-second break with every step. Anyone who hikes uphill using only their toes without straightening their knees is essentially training their willpower the hard way.
2. Use Your Hands When You Can
Using your hands lightens the burden on your legs. Most of the time during a hike, your hands are free and well-rested. When you can use them, do so—plant them firmly and push. Why are four-legged animals better at climbing than humans? Because they distribute their weight more evenly. To animals, watching humans hike upright must seem strange—it’s like watching acrobatics. When the slope exceeds 45 degrees, use both hands and feet. It saves energy, is more efficient, not ungraceful, and even has a back-to-nature charm.
3. Walk with a Slight Outward Toe Angle
Stepping slightly outward (in an “outward eight” stance) helps shift weight to your heels and reduces the angle between your feet and calves, making your tendons more comfortable. I’ve noticed that locals carrying loads uphill (like manure or water) often walk this way. Though they may not move very fast, they keep going without stopping, straightening their knees with each step as if marching.
4. Use Your Palm to Push Against the Lower Thigh for Support
This technique serves two purposes: it forms a torque between your arm and leg, transferring arm strength to your legs, and pressing your palm against your thigh helps tighten the thigh muscles, aiding propulsion. As you press down on one leg while lifting the other, it feels like pushing against a rock, giving you extra leverage.
5. Breathe Deeply While Climbing
Don’t be afraid to breathe heavily. The more air you take in, the better—it strengthens your lungs and heart, helping your muscles work more efficiently. Practice deep abdominal breathing, expanding your lungs fully from your throat to your diaphragm. The air in the mountains is cleaner, and circulating fresh oxygen through your body is like an internal cleanse. If it’s cold, press the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth to warm the incoming air, preventing a shock of cold wind.
6. Use a Walking Stick to Reduce Leg Strain
Two legs are no match for four, but with a stick, you effectively have three. A shorter stick (reaching from your hand to the ground) works best—you can lean on it so it carries weight like another leg. A longer stick also helps, functioning like a pole, though it requires slightly more arm effort to maneuver.
7. Tilt Your Head Slightly Back While Climbing
Visually, this makes the slope appear less steep. Tricking yourself with an optical illusion is a way of mentally overcoming the challenge.
8. Wear Sturdy, High-Cut Leather Shoes for Hiking
Hard soles protect your feet from sharp rocks, allowing full foot contact even on uneven terrain, and prevent toe pain if you kick a stone. High-cut uppers support your ankles, creating a more flexible connection between your feet and calves. Casual shoes aren’t suitable for hiking—their soles are almost as thin as your feet, so any bump feels direct, and accidentally kicking a rock can feel like it’s hitting your toes.
9. Bring Gloves for Off-Trail Hiking
Near the summits of wild mountains, paths often become extremely narrow or vanish entirely, forcing you to push through thorny bushes. Gloves protect your hands from scratches, and when you need to use your hands and feet on steep slopes, gloves act like extra footwear. Gloves are especially important in summer, when thorny undergrowth is denser than in winter.
10. About Mountain Trails
Hiking in areas without trails takes much more time and effort—finding a path is like searching for a mentor. But here are some signs that a trail likely exists: where power lines cross mountain ridges, there’s usually a maintenance path; the same goes for areas with fiber optic cables. If your destination includes terraced fields, charcoal kilns, or small landmarks (towers, springs, monuments, graves), there’s bound to be a trail. Generally, trails adapt to the terrain and may not lead directly to your goal—they might loop halfway around the mountain or even backtrack at times.
If you suddenly find yourself off the path, chances are you've taken a wrong turn. Retrace your steps a bit and carefully examine where the trail branched off. Don't force your way forward—even if you manage to climb over thorny bushes and reach the summit directly, you'll lose the smart exercise that comes with proper hiking. Sometimes, a trail may split into branches of similar width. It could be a temporary fork that rejoins the main path shortly ahead, or it might be a real divergence. In such cases, judge by the terrain, or even try taking one branch for a few hundred meters.
12. Don’t hesitate to ask locals for directions on mountain paths
Ask in detail—and memorize—the information, such as which fork to take after the previous one, what landmarks to look for, how many miles apart the forks are, at which fork or location you can see your destination, how long it takes from the last fork to the mountaintop, etc. The more specific, the better. It’s also wise to ask one or two more locals to get additional or corrective information.
13. Always find and confirm north before starting your hike
Usually, you can see the mountaintop you plan to climb from the small village. Observe the angle between the line connecting the two and north to establish a clear sense of direction as you move forward. Keep checking north as you hike, and roughly estimate how many degrees you’ve turned at each bend. In the mountains, people’s sense of direction often gets skewed—sometimes you might even think the sun is in the “north.” But the sun doesn’t lie; even if you don’t want to believe it, you should.
14. If you get lost while descending, follow the gully downhill
Following a small mountain gully downhill will eventually lead you to a larger one, which is bound to have a path leading to human settlements. You might not return to your exact starting point, but you’ll avoid danger—especially when it's dark or foggy. Heading downhill along the gully is the safest option.
15. There’s no shame in sliding down steep slopes on your butt
When descending steep slopes, it’s generally best to sidestep down with your weight slightly shifted back, stabilizing one foot before moving the other. Walking backward facing the slope gives poor visibility and is too slow. Instead, try sitting and sliding down face-up—that is, “butt-sliding”—while using your hands to help move along. It’s safe, fast, and only slightly hard on your pants.
16. When going down gentle slopes, a light jog is most efficient
On gentle descents, taking quick, short steps—or even jogging lightly—can be most efficient. Using energy to “brake” with tiny steps is wasteful and uncomfortable for your feet.