Whenever you read about solo female
backpackers sooner or later the discussion tends to go towards how
dangerous it is out there in the woods for women on their own. The
most common question I am asked when being outdoors is „Aren't you
afraid out there – as a woman?“ And almost every email I receive
from women on my blog includes a question about how safe a trail or a
trip is – for a woman. Or to quote one recent email from a girl:
„Unfortunately it is so much more dangerous for a female to be
outdoors than for a man. [….] I cannot stop thinking that I will be
lying in my tent in the dark and a man will come to rape me.“
First all this talk about how dangerous
it is for women to be outdoors just irritated me – but the more I
hear the more it makes me plain angry. I often think that all these
„words of caution“ are just a modern version of locking women in
and keeping them from discovering their freedom. And unfortunately
this modern brainwashing is very effective: You still see very few
women alone hiking, cycling or paddling. Most either don't go at all
or only dare to go with a male partner – especially on
long-distance trips.
So how much truth is in the common
assumption that it is so much more dangerous for a woman than for a
man in the outdoors?
I will start with my own personal
experience – and in my 7 year long outdoor career I have spent
almost 2,000 nights outdoors, mostly being on my own: All this time I
have not had a single incident where I have been seriously threatend
or even attacked by a male. There have even hardly been any moments
when I have felt uneasy meeting men in the outdoors.(And these few
incidents usually involved some level of intoxication on the male
part....)
You might argue that one person's
experience can just be pure luck – but think about it logically. If
you were a (sexual) predator: Would you go into a forest and wait in
the dark and cold until (probably after days or weeks) a single
female happens to pass by who is dirty and smelly? No, you would much
more likely seek your victims in a populated urban area. The big
advantage of camping is that usually nobody knows where I am –
especially when stealth camping. And if someone would stumble across
my tent coincidentally he would probably be as scared of me as I
would be of him because he doesn't know who is in that tent.
Don't get me wrong: I do not deny that
there is a risk for solo female backpackers to be assaulted – but
by being outdoors instead of being in an urban area you are reducing that
risk instead of increasing it. Plus the risk is minimal. Personally I
am much more afraid of a traffic accident when travelling to a trail
head than of being raped while camping.
But the point of this post is a
different one: The media, friends and family and basically every one
you meet on a trail will pester a woman with what disadvantages a
solo female faces outdoors – but no one talks about the advantages
a single woman has.
Let's start with the most obvious
advantage which is actually all this „women are so vulnerable“
talk looked at from a different angle. Women are perceived as weak
and non-aggressive which means that they don't pose a threat. And
this has the wonderful effect that whenever I need help I almost
always will be helped – people don't feel threatened by me. You
don't think this is a big advantage? Believe me – it is. Guess who
gets picked up quickly when trying to hitch a ride into town to
resupply? A single female or a scruffy bearded single male?
I could give an almost endless list of
occassions when I had to ask for help and people reacted friendly and
helpful: asking for water or directions, needing a ride, having
technical bike problems, needing an extra pair of hands for portaging
my kayak.......
But it is not only when you need help
that being a female is a big advantage: People are generally reacting
much friendlier towards a single female than towards a male: Guess
who gets invited more often for dinner or given shelter in bad
weather? Guess whom people offer an extra chocolate bar or invite to
a family picnic? People are also much more lenient towards women than
towards men – a huge advantage when you are caught trespassing or
stealth camping.
I don't want to say that men are not
treated friendly or offered help but your chances are much higher if
you are a female.
Your advantages of being female are not
restricted to encounters with others. There are several female
qualities that will help you on long-distance trips. I was made aware
of this on my very first long-distance hike on the PCT. I had arrived
in the US with no experience in long-distance hiking and was
basically shit scared of what lay ahead of me when a well known trail
angel shuttled me and several other hikers to the Southern terminus
of the PCT at the Mexican border. I was whining and fretting in the
car until the trail angel told me these unforgettable words: „I
have been shuttling hikers to the Mexican border now for years. I can
assure you that statistically you have the highest chance of making
it all the way to the Canadian border because you are a single
female. Why? Single females are usually the best prepared and they
don't have to prove anything to anyone.“ He turned out to be right
– I made it not only to the Canadian border but eventually to the
Triple Crown. After meeting hundreds of male and female long-distance
hikers I also concur with his assumption. Women are usually more
problem-oriented and very well prepared because they perceive
themselves as weaker and want to compensate this with better
preparation. And they generally lack the competitiveness that drives
male hikers (especially the younger ones) to overexert themselves.
This male competitiveness is one of the
biggest problems for thruhikers. You have to hike your own pace or
you will sooner or later overexert yourself and end up with physical
problems like stress fractures, shin splints and the like. But in
predominantly male groups the fastest hiker sets the pace – and
competitiveness drives the others to follow with the above mentioned
consequences. Women don't fall into that trap that easily. Being
considered the weaker sex anyways they are not ashamed to ask for a
break when they are tired or leave a faster group when they cannot
keep up.
It took me much longer to find out
another female advantage. On the rare occasions when I have hiked or
cycled with men I was always confronted with the bitter truth that I
could not physically keep up with men when short term extreme
performance was required. Going uphill I was usually watching the
cloud of dust my male partner left behind when hiking up a steep
mountain whereas I was slowly creeping uphill behind him. The same
goes for cycling or paddling. But then came a big surprise: On long,
straight and or rather boring stretches my male partners were
suddenly lagging behind me whining how boring all this is. I just put
in my earphones and an audiobook and hiked on – up to 14 hours per
day. I put my feet on autopilot and kept my mind busy with other
things. These stretches were much more difficult for men – not for
physical, but for mental reasons. They were lacking the multi-tasking
abilities.
Bottom line: As a female backpacker you
face certain dangers and physical problems a man would not have to
deal with. But on the other side these disadvantages are more than
compensated by the above mentionend factors. Long distance outdoor
activities are not more difficult or dangerous for women than they
are for men. Don't let this modern brainwashing keep you from
exploring the outdoors. Be careful and use common sense – but don't
be intimidated. But most important: Always keep in mind that being a
woman in the outdoors also has a lot of advantages!