I hike alone in New Jersey — here’s what I do to make sure I come home

Over the weekend, multiple emergency agencies responded to the Watchung Reservation in Berkeley Heights after a hiker suffered a medical emergency on a remote section of the History Trail. The Berkeley Heights Fire Department, the Berkeley Heights Volunteer Rescue Squad, Atlantic Mobile Health paramedics and the Union County Police Department all responded. Specialized rescue vehicles — including Rescue-1 and Ranger-1 — were needed just to reach the patient in the wooded terrain.

The Watchung Reservation is not a wilderness backcountry park. It is a Union County park system trail that people walk on every weekend. And it still took a multi-agency response to get to someone who needed help.

I have been writing about New Jersey hiking for most of this year. I have sent a lot of you out to the Delaware Water Gap, the Endless Mountains, the Pine Barrens and the ghost towns. Before Memorial Day weekend sends more of you into the woods — and I hope it does — I want to tell you how I actually do this. Not the trail guide version. The real version.

Because I hike alone a lot. And I have made enough small mistakes to know what the bigger ones look like before they happen.

SEE ALSO: The 5 best North Jersey hikes

EJ solo hike selfie | photo by EJ

Tell someone exactly where you are going

My wife Linda and I track each other on iPhone's Find My app. It has become non-negotiable on solo hikes. She does not need to worry about every step, but she needs to know the dot is moving.

Once it stopped.

She checked her phone somewhere in the middle of a hike I was on in Pennsylvania's Endless Mountains and my dot was sitting perfectly still — deep in the woods, not at a trailhead, not near a road. She tried to reach me. No answer. She tried again. Nothing.

It was not the cell service. I had none of that either, which is its own lesson. It was the battery. My phone had died. Stone dead in the middle of a trail with no way to communicate and no way for her to know I was fine and just annoyed at myself.

I carry a portable charging pack now. Every single hike. That is not optional anymore.

Download the trail map before you lose signal

Cell service disappears fast on New Jersey's best trails. The Delaware Water Gap, Wharton State Forest, Norvin Green, High Point — these are not places where you can Google your way out of a wrong turn. If you are relying on a live map that requires a signal, you are one dead zone away from a problem.

Before you leave the parking lot, download the trail map to your phone or take a screenshot of it. Tom at njhiking.com has detailed trail guides with maps for most of the routes I have recommended — bookmark it, screenshot what you need and carry it offline.

And know this: even blazed trails can fail you. I have been on marked routes where the blazes simply stop. No warning, no fork, just — nothing. We pushed forward once, hoping the trail would reappear. It did not get better. We turned around, which was the right call and felt like a defeat at the time and was not.

Know what is in your pack before you need it

Even on a short hike — three miles, four miles, something that looks like an easy afternoon — I carry a small pack. Water. A protein bar. An extra layer. That is the minimum. The extra layer has saved me twice: once when the temperature dropped faster than the forecast suggested and once when I got wet crossing a stream and needed something dry against my skin for the walk out.

I dress for the trail, not for the parking lot. There is a difference. What feels fine at the car feels very different three miles in with the wind picking up on a ridge.

SEE ALSO: The 5 best South Jersey hikes 

Batsto Village | photos by EJ

Respect your conditioning — and the trail's

Up in Pennsylvania's Endless Mountains one summer, my wife and I got a little adventurous. We took an unblazed path we thought would connect us to a marked trail. It did not connect where we expected. We added miles. Significant miles. It worked out because we were in shape and had water and knew roughly where we were — but I have thought about that day every time I have been tempted to cut a corner since.

New Jersey Search and Rescue responds to calls every month. The Stairway to Heaven trail in Vernon has seen hikers stranded on cliffsides. Norvin Green has seen ankle injuries that required carry-outs. Mendham Township had a full multi-agency response with ATVs and firefighters clearing fallen trees just to reach an injured hiker a single mile off the trail. This past weekend it was the Watchung Reservation in Berkeley Heights — a medical emergency on the History Trail that required Rescue-1, Ranger-1 and multiple agencies just to reach the patient.

One mile. A county park trail. A weekend hike.

The woods are forgiving right up until they are not. Know your level. Bring more than you think you need. Tell someone where you are going. Carry a charged phone and a backup battery. A paper map or trail guide book is always a wise addition to your back pack.  

And follow the blazes. Every time.