The Visible Transgender Hiker

I am always urging transgender people to not be afraid to go out and follow their interests. This includes walking and hiking. I thought that my walking and hiking days were over when, about two years ago, I broke through an improvised wooden bridge and fell into the North Fork of Nancy Creek. It was a full immersion. My transgender BFF and a trail gf (genuine female) lady helped me back up the trail to my car. I managed to get up the stairs to my apartment and order crutches from Amazon. I had badly sprained my ankle but kept up my usual schedule until, due to overuse, my opposite knee developed problems. It took me a year and some rehab to walk without pain and it has taken me another year to be able to walk a mile a day. There is hope yet.

I have been inspired recently by the exploits of hikers on the Appalachian Trail (AT) which runs from Georgia to Maine with extensions to Florida and Newfoundland. There is a transgender non-binary hiker that completed the 2020 mile-trek in 2019, Lucy Parks, and another (Lyla Harrod) trying to complete it this spring. You can subscribe to Lyla Harrod blogposts here and follow her progress. There may be other transgender hikers unknown to me who have conquered the AT or the equally epic trails in the Rockies (Continental Divide Trail) and West Coast (Pacific Crest Trail).

Hikers on the AT have been increasingly been going high-tech. They are using GoPro and cell phone cameras to capture the sights and sounds on the trail. You can now get daily video blog posts from several hikers on the AT. I am currently following two hikers (Nahamsha and Colleen Hikes) on YouTube who do daily video posts but there are many others. Nahamsha does at least 20 miles a day, while Colleen does about 12, so their experiences are somewhat different. You get to experience the changes in weather, trail difficulty and minor injury that they nearly always face with good humor. There is even a mother-daughter duo who post videos every few days (Mommy & Me Adventures). I cannot get over how well-behaved the daughter, Finn, is. Next up will be real time video links as soon as satellite Internet is common.

Being a good hiker groupie, I follow some of the “through -hikers” progress on AT maps. I have a few maps from the 1970s when I was hiking regularly and got some updated maps when I was working on some fiction. Although they usually confine the subjects of the videos to themselves, sometimes they also video their willing companions as the hikers tend to form impromptu groups with similar capabilities. There are several hundred through-hikers each year trying the AT.

What makes this all possible is better batteries that last three or four days to power their devices between stays in hostels and hotels. A series of hostels has now developed, catering to hikers at points where the trail intersects roads and comes close to civilization. When I lived in Virginia and hiked portions of the AT in the 1970s, there were no hostels. But hostels on European trails have existed for many years. And once in a while, the featured hikers actually stay in the luxury of hotels. Stopovers provide battery charging opportunities and connections to the Internet for video uploading but most of the hostels are cheap and primitive.

Trying to complete the AT is daunting but to enjoy walking and hiking does not require such a commitment. It is good exercise and there is no disgrace to take day hikes or just go for a walk in the park. It does not require great athletic ability, only the determination to put one foot in front of the other. Get out and move and be visible!

There are some things to be cautious about. One should stay on the trail. The critters are usually more afraid of you than you are of them, so they typically shun the trail or hear you coming and move out of your way. Colin Fletcher, a famous hiking expert used to carry a staff to give him more stability on rough trails. He was more concerned about possible threats from human animals, so the staff also provided some protection. He notably hiked the length of the Grand Canyon and his book The Complete Walker (now in its fourth edition since 1968) inspired my generation to get out and walk. The book is fundamentally sound although new technologies have reduced pack weight. My backpack usually weighed in at about 40 pounds but today’s hikers carry packs less than 25 pounds. Fletcher was not concerned about dangers from critters although his description of his encounters with pink baby rattlesnakes still stays with me (the rattlers were on a ledge and not on the trail). Analogous to The Complete Walker, the current generation has been inspired to walk and hike by the book A Walk in the Woods (2004), by Bill Bryson.

Hiker Lyla Harrod

One should not hike alone if possible, and always go with people you know. These days many walkers carry two staff-like devices that are similar to ski poles and are sharp on the ends. If you are going to hike alone, they now have emergency radio devices which lead rescuers to you. And amateur radio has a Wilderness protocol for those hams on the trail to listen for other hams who have emergency situations.

Being transgender on the trail supports trans visibility but there are some subtleties to observe. There is no requirement to flaunt one’s gender category by one’s appearance. As in regular life, it may not be a good idea to share that you are trans until you know a person you may meet. It is also a good idea to share a “safe word” with friends, so that if one encounters a “creepy” situation on trail, anyone can sound an alarm to scoot off from the source of unease.

Lyla Harrod our current intrepid transgender person attempting the AT provides a list of tips to be “trans competent” on the trail for non-trans people:

• Use gender neutral greetings
• Don’t make assumptions about gender from appearances
• When appropriate share your pronouns
• Believe people when they reveal their gender
• Read contextual cues about gender (e.g. trans flag pins)
• Know about being transgender, don’t burden trans people

And the first transgender person to complete the AT, Lucy Parks, says:

“If we can teach ourselves to be welcoming and accepting on the trail, that’s a step toward being better to each other in everyday life.”

I figure I am about two more years of rehab from even thinking about attacking the AT, but I plan to get out and be visible on shorter walks and hikes in the meantime. Recently the attraction of walking inspired me to write this:

The Trail

The trail tells me to go on

Beneath me are the soil and the rocks

And yes, the streams and mud

The trees of spring

And the laurel follow me until

I reach the whole sun

Further and further up

Climbing the rocks

Views of hills and mountains

The wind pushes against me

As I settle down for the night

It will whistle to me

Up early to see the sun

You cannot miss it

And then on my way

Plunging back downward

Once more

Into the cavern of trees

Going down is harder

All you can do but

Keep from skidding

I will ford this stream

And listen to the

Waterfalls chorus

The next stream has a bridge

But it also connects me

With what is outside

Across the bridge is a road

Today’s walk is over

Soon the trail will speak again.

–Dana Bevan, 2021

Like to make a comment? Login here and use the comment area below.

Tags: featured, hiking, Transgender

Category: Transgender Body & Soul