Your Most Unhinged Hiking Takes, Analyzed by Our Editors

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Whether it’s about food, packing, fitness, or something else, everyone has that one hiking opinion they’re afraid to share. So, naturally, we asked you to share yours. We solicited readers’ hottest takes—not “people should pack lighter” or “national parks are overrated,” the truly off-the-wall stuff—then asked two of our staffers, Editor-in-Chief Adam Roy and Senior Editor Zoe Gates, to react to them live on video. From bathroom etiquette to being eaten by bears, here’s what you told us—and what we had to say in response.

Adam Roy: Hey, everyone. I’m Adam Roy, editor-in-chief of Backpacker. I’m here with my colleague, Senior Editor Zoe Gates, and we are going to be reacting to your hottest backpacking takes. Zoe, how are you feeling today? You ready for some hot takes?

Zoe Gates: I’m good. I’m so ready.

Adam: Let’s kick it off.

“If you don’t want people to visit the secret spot, don’t share it on social media. Sharing a photo without sharing a location is gatekeeping.”

Adam: I feel like there’s a middle ground here. I don’t know if we want to show exactly where every cool tree is on Instagram. We don’t need the GPS coordinates for everything. But I do kind of think there’s a point at which, you know, you’re kind of trolling people a little bit. If you really want it to be secret, maybe just keep it in your memory.

Zoe: Yeah. You know, I’ve shared a lot of photos without really thinking about sharing the location. Sometimes I just want my mom to see the lake that I hike to. And I’m not thinking about whether I’m gatekeeping or not. So I think it’s all right to share a photo without sharing the location.

Adam:  I think maybe we all just need to be a little less online and worry a little less about sharing pictures of things. That makes me sound like the oldest old person.

A Kula Cloth makes a good rag for your pot.

Zoe: I’ll just preface this by explaining what a Kula Cloth is, because some viewers out there might not know. But I personally love the Kula Cloth, I’ve written about it for Backpacker. The Kula Cloth is a designated pee rag. Kula is a specific brand, beloved by many hikers and backpackers. Just a little swatch of fabric that has antimicrobial silver woven into the fabric so it doesn’t get all disgusting on your backpacking trip. However, I’ve never used my Kula Cloth to clean my pot, so I’m curious what you think about that.

Adam: I feel like there’s an important distinction we need to make here: Is this a used Kula Cloth, or is this a Kula Cloth that’s specifically for cleaning your pot? Because if it’s the second one, yeah, sure. It’ll probably work. You’re probably overdoing it. You could probably do that with any rag,

I also kind of want to know…what are we doing here? Like, why? What are we … Is this an ultralight thing? Because I think there’s a point at which ultralight goes too far. And I think when you’re discussing how much poop and pee is okay to have in your food, it’s probably gone too far.

Zoe: Yeah. We love to talk about multi-use gear here at Backpacker, and ultralight gear. And you know, I mentioned that anti-microbial fabric, I don’t think it’s that anti-microbial. So an unused designated pot Kula? For sure. It’s ultralight. It’s absorbent. It packs down tiny. But I think I’m with you—used Kula, no way.

“The hiking boots versus trail runners debate misses the point: Return to nature. Hike barefoot.”

Adam: That’s a spicy take. I might kind of agree with that, Zoe. Not for everything, but it might be kind of cool. You know, you get a nice, soft, mossy trail, take off the shoes. Earthing? You earth a little bit, maybe. Feel that duff underneath your feet, maybe feel some bugs underneath your feet. On the other hand, I guess, you step on one sharp spine, and there goes your day. So maybe, I think there might be something to this.

Zoe: I went swimming in the lake the other day, and I wore my Chacos to swim because I didn’t want the mucky gunk from the bottom of the lake and the rocks between my toes. So I think I’ve got to disagree on this one.

“Bear bells are annoying and unnecessary. Specifically in a state that doesn’t have bear attacks!”

Adam: This isn’t a take. This is just true. Nobody thinks that bear bells work. No bear expert thinks that bear bells work. But capitalism is a big freight train that doesn’t stop that easily, and I think we’re just kind of going to keep selling them forever.

If you’re in a state with no bear attacks, I think at that point…I don’t know who left this comment, but I think your hiking partners might just be trying to troll you. They might just know it bothers you. So maybe don’t say anything or they’ll probably keep doing it.

Zoe: I’ve got to agree with you there. No bear attacks, no need for the bear bells. All you’re going to do is let the other hikers on the trail know you’re coming.

“If I don’t feel like being social, I’m not going to talk to other hikers, especially if they’re trying to get me to slow down my pace or stop to chat. I don’t owe anyone a conversation, even if we haven’t seen anyone else in days.”

Adam: Fully agree. This is completely true. I think that sometimes it’s fun to just, like, see how long you can go without talking. I think that you you don’t have to talk to anybody. I mean, you know, you know, go talk to yourself.

“Bug spray is a myth.”

Adam: This was written by somebody who’s never lived in a place where there are bugs. Bug spray is most definitely not a myth.

There are places where you don’t really need it. I don’t really wear it that much here in Colorado. I wear it sometimes, if I’m in, like, wetter areas, but we’re pretty dry. We don’t have a ton of mosquitoes. But in a lot of places, if I’m in a place where it’s a little more moist—the northeast, you know, parts of the Midwest—I just I have it on all the time, even if I’m not hiking,

Zoe: I’m a 100 percent DEET girl. That’s my stuff. I’m blessed to not really be mosquito bait. They don’t love me, which I’m very, very happy about. But nevertheless, I’ve been on canoe trips up in Canada and we’ve spent a lot of time in Maine, New Hampshire, where those mosquitoes are absolutely atrocious. I am always packing my DEET for sure.

“Most advice from outdoor influencers / publications is West-based and thus mostly wrong for trekkers in other regions/biomes.”

Zoe: I grew up in New England, learned to hike and backpack out there, so I definitely hold, that region very dear. But I do live on the West Coast now. And Adam, you as our Coloradan are the easternmost Backpacker editor. So we definitely have a little bit of a bias on our staff, but it’s something we think about, and that’s a good point. We try to remember our backpacking pals out east for sure.

Adam: Yeah. But I will point out, like you said, you and I are two of the many Westerners here from other parts of the country. I grew up in Chicago. I started doing outdoor stuff in Massachusetts. So, you know, I know my way around a couple different biomes.

“I think you can use your spoon as a poop hole digger, only because it’s just touching the dirt.”

Adam: But do you want to eat dirt? The answer to this take is right there in the take. You have dirt on your spoon.

Zoe: I’ve got to say, also, if you’re just digging your cathole one teaspoon at a time, you better not have to go too urgently because it’s going to take you a while to get down there.

“Bear spray is anti-nature. You’re on the bear’s turf. Let them eat you.”

Adam: I don’t really want to be eaten. I don’t! There are some natural things I’m not in favor of. Smallpox, that would be an example. Anthrax is natural, you find that in the dirt. Being eaten by a bear would be another one for me, personally.

“I’m taking that rock. Come take it from my cold dead hands.”

Adam: Yeah, all right, Charlton Heston. Whatever, man. I don’t think taking a rock is the worst act of rebellion most people do in the wilderness. Maybe there are places where it would be a problem if everyone started doing it. Definitely don’t go start taking pretty rocks from national parks and stuff like that. Probably you shouldn’t be taking any rocks at all. But, like, there are a hundred worse things people do. This is a misdemeanor in the litany of outdoor crimes.

Zoe: Let me ask you this: So maybe one rock here and there is okay. But where do you draw the line with taking stuff from the side of the trail?

Adam: I wouldn’t take anything, Zoe! I am the editor-in-chief of Backpacker and I am a saint outdoors. But I know other people do.

In all seriousness, I tend to think people should probably not do this. This is the kind of thing that doesn’t hurt anybody when one person does it. But it’s never just one person. We’re all just a bunch of one people.

“Catholes are overrated. If a pack horse, llama and donkey could relieve themselves directly on trail, I could go behind that tree over there without issue.”

Adam: Let’s go on a little mind journey here together. I want you to imagine that you were hiking down the trail, and you step in a pile of horse droppings. What do you do, Zoe?

Zoe: I’d probably grab a stick if there is one nearby. Scrape it off and continue on with my hike.

Adam: Yeah, me too. I’d probably just wipe my foot on a rock or something and keep going. Now, I want you to imagine that instead of a pile of horse droppings, it is a fresh, steaming, fragrant pile of human s**t. What do you do now?

Zoe: You know, I better hope that there’s maybe a creek nearby. I’m not trying to contaminate this creek, especially if there’s campers drinking. But I need to clean my shoe as fast as humanly possible. Or, you know, I might just bag up that shoe and try out your barefoot hiking for the rest of the hike.

Adam: Horse poop is mostly grass and hay, it’s just fibrous, and it’s not so bad. Human poop is a little different. I’m not sure I’d want to step in that. I think it’s worse.

“I should be able to establish new campsites.”

Adam: This hot take was sent in by friend of the magazine Steven Reinhold. Occasional backpacker writer as well. Steven, I believe you should be able to establish new campsites. I don’t think anyone else should. I just don’t trust them.

Zoe: Regulations exist for a reason. On different lands and some places, you’re allowed to camp wherever you want, so go for it. Find those durable surfaces and bed down.

Adam: I think sometimes making new campsites is the solution to the problem of overcrowding.  I think usually those campsites aren’t quite the ones that campers would make themselves or backpackers would make themselves. Usually they’re a little more durable. They’ve got the retaining wall, the gravel pad, probably an outhouse to make sure that people don’t, you know, foul up the wilderness with their catholes.

That’s never the kind people think of. And that kind of campground isn’t usually super attractive to backpackers as opposed to, like, having a more secluded, kind of open campsite. But I think if you’re going to make new campsites because of overcrowding, that’s probably the kind that people need to go for, just because that does, like, localize the impact that people have. It keeps them in one place.

“Normalize toplessness for women in all wilderness areas! After a long day of backpacking, I hate wearing a sweaty, smelly sports bra in a busy backcountry area while my husband gets to lay out by an alpine lake in the sun with no shirt on.”

Adam: I fully agree. I think people should do whatever they want. I don’t think it hurts anybody. I don’t know why we don’t.

Zoe: Yeah, sure, you do you. I can empathize with that—sweaty sports bras, terrible feeling. Sometimes all you want to do is take it right off. So, yeah, go for it.

Adam: If you’re going to go topless, though, let me say from experience that bug spray does work. You will find that out very quickly.

What’s your hot take?

Zoe: Last summer I wrote an article for Backpacker on how I thought ultralight hiking was overrated. And that might be one of my hottest takes. I went out on a trip with some friends and we brought all kinds of food and drink. We bought inner tubes, we brought margaritas, and it was an amazing time.

So I think that’s my hot take: Sometimes you just need to pack a whole bunch of junk in your backpack, and it’s going to be heavy and the hiking is going to be harder, but you’re going to have a ball.

Adam: My hot take is that if I catch you carving your name into a tree on the trail, and I can beat you back to the parking area, I should be legally allowed to carve my name into your car.

And if you find my name carved into your car in a parking area, you can come to www.backpacker.com to yell at me about it. But until then, I’m Adam Roy. See you next time.

Zoe: Thanks everyone!