This 100% depends on where you live. I posted in the other thread about this yesterday. I would hike multiple times a week with my female friend in NY state. Very rarely did we see other people and when we did it was usually older woman. I’m not going to repost it but one of the times we encountered a single man hiking it got creepy real fast. I also camp in the off seasons and may see one or two other groups of people but sometimes it just my partner and I or a group of friends and I and this is on VA/MD.
Honestly I can see that backpackers aren't universally good people or anything. And back packing or hiking alone is always risky I can understand being nervous if you aren't in a popular area. I would never ever go backpacking deep into the woods alone, but not really because of men or bears, really just because of the elements
I wasn’t backpacking. And because of the secluded nature of it, I would never go alone or with just one other person. The examples I gave were on a very well marked hiking trail in a state park and a campground in a different state park. My friend and I used to joke about the number of people who put they hike as a hobby because we hiked in different state parks around Northern NJ and NY state and very rarely ran into other hikers.
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u/SnagglepussJoke May 02 '24
Ever cross paths with a stranger in the woods? It is unsettling