The world’s first written call for a national park

The joint publication of Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798 is widely recognized as the birth of Romanticism in English literature. Both writers are among the first documented ramblers. In 1839, Thomas De Quincey, a contemporary writer and biographer of Wordsworth, famously calculated that William must have walked at least 175,000 miles up to that point in his life. Meanwhile, the Oxford English Dictionary recognizes Samuel Taylor Coleridge as being the first person to use the word “mountaineering" while describing an outing in a letter in 1802.

Wordsworth is also recognized as being an early pioneer in the conservation movement. In 1810, he published A Guide through the District of the Lakes, which likely contains the world’s first written support for the concept of a national park. In the conclusion of the book, Wordsworth argued that the Lake District should be considered “a sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy.” Although his wish was never realized during his lifetime, the Lake District would eventually be established as a national park in 1951, less than a month after the Peak District became Britain’s first national park.

Learn more about the pioneers of hiking in Ramble On: A History of Hiking.


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Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world.

How art inspired hiking

Though it may sound strange, or maybe even surprising, but art played an important role in the development of early American tourism and hiking. Specifically, it was a mid-nineteenth-century art movement known as the Hudson River School that celebrated the pastoral landscapes of our fledgling republic. The significance of the movement, whose artists were influenced by Romanticism and nationalism, was that it helped to usher in the acceptance and appreciation of the American landscape. It also encouraged Americans to visit the places depicted in their paintings. The founder of the movement, Thomas Cole, traveled to the Catskill Mountains for the first time in 1825. One of his first paintings, The Falls of the Kaaterskill, portrayed one of the highest waterfalls in the eastern United States, which in turn helped to make it one of America’s first tourist destinations.

Other notable artists from this genre include Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran, both of whom became famous for their paintings of the American West. In 1839, Cole painted A View of the Mountain Pass Called the Notch of the White Mountains (Crawford Notch), which by that point had already been established as America’s first hiking destination.

You can read about the crucial role the White Mountains of New Hampshire played in making hiking a national pastime in Ramble On: A History of Hiking.

The significance of the Industrial Revolution on hiking

The following is an adaptation from Ramble On: A History of Hiking.

While overcoming a fear of mountains and the gradual breakdown in the social stigmas associated with walking certainly enabled hiking to germinate, I would argue that the single most important event to spur the development of hiking was the Industrial Revolution. The social changes brought about by industrialization were profound. As explained in much more detail in Ramble On: A History of Hiking, industrialization triggered a massive backlash from certain segments of society, which inspired movements in art, philosophy and religion. These movements, in turn, would motivate people - in one way or another - to visit wilderness areas for recreational purposes. As industrialization progressed, especially in America, it gave rise to the labor movement, which eventually resulted in increased wages and significant reductions in the average number of hours worked each week. Thus, workers began to enjoy more free time, many of whom pursued recreation in the great outdoors. Industrialization also gave rise to railroads, automobiles and roads, which provided people with the ability to travel more easily to wilderness areas. As a result of these social transformations and movements, hiking emerged as a pastime. Though it was only a fringe activity in the early 1800s, the sport grew steadily through the Great Depression. After World War II, however, it exploded, and has now become one of the world's most popular outdoor activities.

Learn more about Ramble On: A History of Hiking on my author page.

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Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world.

Why did hiking become so popular across the globe?

The following is an adaptation from Ramble On: A History of Hiking:

Since the dawn of mankind, humans have walked the planet to hunt, forage, explore, trade goods with neighboring communities, and migrate to other regions. At some point in our long evolution, we realized we didn’t need a utilitarian reason to walk. Somewhere along the line we discovered the joy of traipsing through the countryside, observing the beauty of a wildflower, watching wildlife in their natural habitat, marveling at the roar of a waterfall, or contemplating the scenic grandeur from the top of a mountain. Is this a fairly recent phenomenon, or is this an innate characteristic of human beings?

While history has preserved a few examples of men scaling mountains for an assortment of reasons prior to the early modern era, these feats appear to be extremely rare. Before the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, mountains were commonly seen as dangerous and mysterious by most Western cultures, at least according to prevailing wisdom. People from the Middle Ages purportedly regarded them with fear, loathing and superstition. Moreover, they thought the alpine world was inhabited by evil spirits, witches, wild beasts and bandits. Some men even swore affidavits before magistrates that they had seen dragons in the mountains.

However, as the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods progressed and spread across Europe, fear of mountains slowly began to subside, and more men began venturing into the highlands. Several modern historians contend that attitudes towards mountains started to shift as a result of the religious and philosophical tenets of natural theology, which proposed that God is revealed through reason and nature, rather than sacred texts, divine revelation or supernatural beliefs. They argue that individuals from this era began to realize that fear and loathing of mountains wasn’t justified. The perception that they were inherently dark and evil inevitably changed after it was understood that it was God who had created them. Consequently, people started viewing mountains as images of the Creator, as sources of spiritual inspiration, or even as proof of God’s existence. Leslie Stephen, on the other hand, claimed that attitudes simply evolved in conjunction with the revolution in ideas and thinking that occurred during the Age of Enlightenment. As one of the most famous British climbers from the “Golden Age of Alpinism,” Stephen argued in 1868 that "The history of mountaineering is, to a great extent, the history of the process by which men have gradually conquered the phantoms of their own imagination."

By the mid-1700s, we begin to see the first documented rambling and walking excursions. While the historical record seemingly indicates that mountaineering preceded hiking by several decades, or even centuries, it doesn’t necessarily mean that people didn’t hike or walk for recreational purposes prior to this timeframe. Rather, it seems more likely that those who did set out on foot never would’ve considered a leisurely walk in the countryside to be a noteworthy event. Therefore, very few individuals would’ve taken the time to record their rambles for posterity, even if they were literate. As a result, hiking doesn’t have a date of birth, or even an approximated timeframe for its origins. It seems most likely that walking for pleasure has always been a natural form of recreation that evolved over time to a point where individuals began to take it more seriously, whereupon we begin to see the first descriptions of walking excursions in diaries, letters, poems and travelogues.

The roots of hiking and walking for pleasure were firmly established by the late 1700s, especially in Great Britain and certain parts of Europe. However, during the earlier part of the century, walking was generally looked down upon. “Respectable” citizens during this era usually rode in carriages or on horseback to travel any significant distances. For the most part only the poor walked. In Victorian England, during the mid-1800s, wandering vagrants were derogatively known as tramps, a word that would eventually refer to hikers, and now used by New Zealanders to describe backpacking.

While overcoming the fear of mountains, and the gradual breakdown in the social stigmas associated with walking certainly enabled mountaineering and hiking to germinate, I would argue that the single most important event to spur the development of hiking and walking for pleasure was the Industrial Revolution. The social changes brought about by industrialization were profound. As I explain in more detail in my book, industrialization triggered a massive backlash from certain segments of society, which inspired movements in art, philosophy and religion. These movements, in turn, would motivate people, in one way or another, to visit wilderness areas for recreational purposes. As industrialization progressed, especially in America, it gave rise to the labor movement, which eventually resulted in increased wages and significant reductions in the average number of hours worked each week. Thus, workers began to enjoy more free time, many of whom pursued recreation in the great outdoors. Industrialization also gave rise to railroads, automobiles and roads, which provided people with the ability to travel more easily to wilderness areas. As a result of these social transformations and movements, hiking emerged as a pastime. Though it was only a fringe activity in the early 1800s, the sport grew steadily through the Great Depression. After World War II, however, it exploded, and has now become one of the world's most popular outdoor activities.

You can learn more about the history of hiking on my author page.


Other excerpts from Ramble On:

* The Etymology of Hiking

* The Historic Circle Tours of Glacier National Park

* Women’s Hiking Attire During The Victorian Era

* The Evolution of Hiking Boots



                *******************************************************************************

Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world.

The True Realities of Women’s Hiking Attire During The Victorian Era

The following is an excerpt from my new book, Ramble On: A History of Hiking.

During the Victorian Era, women's hiking attire was an extremely complicated affair. The subject was frequently discussed and debated throughout the pages of Appalachia during the Appalachian Mountain Club’s first decade or so. The December 1887 issue of the journal ran a lengthy article by Mrs. L. D. Pychowska on the “walking-costume for ladies.” It provided head-to-toe advice on how women should dress for a hike. This included wearing grey flannel trousers beneath two skirts. The underskirt, which reached to just below the knee, was also to be made of grey flannel. The outer skirt, however, was to be made of winsey or Kentucky jean, both of which were considered to be strong enough to resist tearing while walking through briars and undergrowth. The outer skirt was also meant to be worn to ankle length. However, if the hiker was traversing along steep terrain, she could simply pull out a strong clasp pin and raise the skirt higher, “washwomen fashion,” until the difficult section was completed. “Basquines,” or corsets, were optional apparel according to the author. At the end of the detailed piece, the writer assured club members that her recommendations on female attire would be “sufficiently presentable to enter a hotel or a railroad car” after a long tramp “without attracting uncomfortable attention.”

The practicalities of wearing a “costume” such as this, however, weren’t considered or debated in Mrs. Pychowska’s article. Conversely, a passage in an article from the June 1877 issue of Appalachia put an exclamation point on the dangers women faced as a result of the clothing they were forced to wear while tramping. The author related the story of a guided hike on Mt. Washington during the prior year. While descending Tuckerman Ravine, one of the ladies in the group paused momentarily to stand atop a large rock above a 25-foot outcrop. Unbeknownst to the hiker, her tattered dress had become snagged on a sharp protrusion on the rock. When she attempted to jump to another large rock, the snag violently jolted her back and left her dangling upside down above the abyss. Fortunately, the mountain guide was nearby and was able to pull the woman to safety before falling.

Apparently, women’s dresses could be a nuisance to men as well. In a passage on how to pack and dress for an excursion in A Lady’s Tour Round Monte Rosa, published in 1859, Eliza Cole observed that “A lady's dress is inconvenient for mountain travelling, even under the most careful management, and therefore every device which may render it less so should be adopted.” She continued by offering a viable solution, while also highlighting an unusual hazard that resulted from women wearing dresses in the mountains:

Small rings should be sewn inside the seams of the dress, and a cord passed through them, the ends of which should be knotted together in such a way that the whole dress may be drawn up at a moment's notice to the requisite height. If the dress is too long, it catches the stones, especially when coming down hill, and sends them rolling on those below. I have heard more than one gentleman complain of painful blows suffered from such accidents.

In one particular instance, the burdensome attire that women were expected to wear may have been, at the very least, partially responsible for the death of one female hiker. On September 13, 1855, 22-year-old Lizzie Bourne of Kennebunk, Maine became the first woman to perish while climbing Mt. Washington, and quite possibly the first female to die while hiking in America. On that late summer day, Lizzie had planned to hike to the Tip Top House atop Mount Washington with her uncle George and her cousin Lucy. Though early morning rain forced the group to postpone their trek, the weather eventually cleared, and they set out after lunch by proceeding up the partially completed carriage road. As the party climbed higher, however, they encountered another round of foul weather while ascending the Glen House Bridle Path, which continued to worsen with each step forward. In a letter to the Boston Journal, which was intended to provide “a correct account of the whole affair,” George Bourne attested that “Elizabeth began to show signs of weariness, and needed assistance” as they continued towards the summit. With night rapidly falling upon the mountains, darkness and fog conspired to obscure the view of their destination. Extreme fatigue also crept into each of them. Not knowing exactly where they were or how far they were from their objective, the trio made the decision to lie down on the trail and wait out the night. Despite building a windbreak out of nearby rocks, George was convinced that each of them would perish as a result of the extreme cold and violent wind. Indeed, that night, around ten o'clock, Lizzie quietly passed away while lying on the icy trail. In his letter to the Boston Journal, Bourne stated that it was “evident that Elizabeth did not die from the cold alone, but from some organic affection of the heart or lungs, induced by fatigue and exposure.”

With the arrival of daylight the next morning, to their complete and utter horror, George and Lucy discovered they were within sight of the Tip Top House. Had they known they were that close, they could’ve easily made it to safety, and Lizzie likely would’ve survived. After her death, tourists and hikers began piling rocks on the spot where she succumbed. A stone monument now stands near the site to mark and commemorate her passing.

Did Lizzie’s attire contribute to her death? I think it’s very possible that it did. She wore a heavy skirt, petticoat, pantaloons and stockings. Nicholas Howe, author of Not Without Peril: 150 Years Of Misadventure On The Presidential Range Of New Hampshire, estimates that Lizzie may have worn as much as 45 yards of fabric! After the outfit was soaked in cold rain, there’s no doubt this would’ve weighed her down, resulting in more stress on her heart, and certainly would’ve accelerated the effects of fatigue, exposure and hypothermia.

While Mrs. Pychowska was espousing the benefits of wearing proper “costumes” that would comply with the mores of the Victorian Era, there was a long debate, at least among female members in the Appalachian Mountain Club, about what women should wear while hiking. During the May 9th meeting chronicled in the June 1877 edition of Appalachia, a Miss Whitman suggested that skirts be designed in a manner so that they “could be shortened to any necessary extent by rolling it up.” A Mrs. Nowell discussed the “disadvantage of ladies on mountain excursions on account of their long skirts, and recommended the use of gymnasium dresses or something similar, as an outside garment for such occasions.” In that same edition, Mrs. W.G. Nowell, one of the founding members of the club, and presumably the same Mrs. Nowell who spoke out during the May 9th meeting, contributed an article titled “A Mountain Suit for Women.” In this piece, Harriet (Mrs. W.G. Nowell) once again took issue with the garb women were expected to wear during this era. She also mentioned discussions she had with other women in the club about the impracticalities and dangers of women’s hiking attire. Apparently they had carefully deliberated over what their alternatives were and presented a possible solution: “The only thing we could think of was a good flannel bathing suit.” Mrs. Nowell continued by stating that they “could not see why it should be more improper to wear this” while hiking “than it would be along a crowded and fashionable beach.” She went on to make the point that women would be “relieved of the excessive weight of her ordinary dress,” thus allowing them to carry their own gear. She concluded her piece by declaring that “Our dress has done all the mischief. For years it has kept us away from the glory of the woods and the grandeur of the mountain heights. It is time we should reform.”

An article published on the Tramp & Trail Club of Utica’s website notes that by the 1920s women had solved the problem of impractical skirts by stuffing them in knapsacks once they had reached the trailhead, and then putting them back on before returning to town. Bold and daring women eschewed skirts altogether and simply wore knickers with long socks. Taking the Lead: Women and the White Mountains, an online exhibit on the Museum of the White Mountains at Plymouth State University’s website, notes that skirts had virtually disappeared by the mid-1910s, and by the 1930s, women were basically wearing clothes that are similar to what female hikers wear today, including shorts and halter tops.

Ramble On: A History of Hiking chronicles the evolution of hiking gear and apparel, including many other stories about the attire both men and women wore during the early years of the sport. This new, improved and expanded edition on hiking history is now available on Amazon.


Other excerpts from Ramble On:

* The Etymology of Hiking

* How did hiking become so popular across the globe?

* The Historic Circle Tours of Glacier National Park

* The Evolution of Hiking Boots



                *******************************************************************************

Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world.

The Etymology of Hiking

The meaning of the word “hiking” took a rather long path for it to reach the meaning we understand today.

The following an excerpt from my new book, Ramble On: A History of Hiking:

During the last decade of John Muir’s life, the term “hiking” was just beginning to see usage as a word to describe the act of tramping through the woods. Muir, however, hated the word. Prior to the 20th century, the expression was a pejorative, or was used to describe walking in a vigorous manner, which Muir absolutely despised. To him, it meant to hurry, thus completely missing the point of immersing oneself in nature. In his book, The Mountain Trail and Its Message, published in 1911, Albert Palmer relayed a conversation he once had with Muir:

One day as I was resting in the shade Mr. Muir overtook me on the trail and began to chat in that friendly way in which he delights to talk with everyone he meets. I said to him: "Mr. Muir, someone told me you did not approve of the word 'hike.' Is that so?" His blue eyes flashed, and with his Scotch accent he replied: "I don't like either the word or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains - not hike!

Palmer may have provided a definition of what it meant to "hike" at that point. In that same book he asserted that:

There are always some people in the mountains who are known as "hikers." They rush over the trail at high speed and take great delight in being the first to reach camp and in covering the greatest number of miles in the least possible time. They measure the trail in terms of speed and distance.

Perhaps that was an accurate description. On the other hand, it’s possible he may have conveyed a meaning that was already in the process of becoming outdated.

Over the years, many terms have been used to describe the act of walking in nature, such as hiking, rambling, sauntering, tramping, wandering, strolling, ambling, roaming, traipsing, marching and trekking. The first English term to describe this act was likely “rambling.” The word originally meant to wander, or roam aimlessly, but eventually evolved to describe hiking. The expression was widely used in England through the 19th century. It was also used in America for awhile, though much less frequently. While rambling is still occasionally used in the United Kingdom, it’s now mostly viewed as an old fashion term. Walking, hillwalking, fellwalking, and even hiking are more commonly used. Fellwalking, a word used to describe hiking in the mountains, comes from the English word fell or fjall, which is an Old Norse term that means mountain. In Victorian England, during the mid-1800s, wandering vagrants were derogatively known as tramps, a word that would eventually refer to hikers, and is now used by New Zealanders to describe backpacking. While tramping was widely used in America to describe hiking in the late 1800s and early 1900s, both John Muir and Henry David Thoreau were fond of using the term saunter.

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, published in 1985, indicates that use of the word "hike" dates back to at least 1809; however, it had a different connotation at that time. It was originally meant "to move, pull or raise with a sudden motion" or “to travel by any means.” The dictionary indicates that by 1865 the word had adopted a new meaning, which they defined as "a long walk esp. for pleasure or exercise." Etymonline.com claims that “hike” comes from the English term “hyke,” which meant "to walk vigorously." The website notes that this word also dates back to 1809. They also quote a definition of the term from the 1830 edition of the Vocabulary of East Anglia: "to go away. It is generally used in a contemptuous sense Ex. 'Come, hike,' i.e. take yourself off; begone." Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, published in 1893, defined the oldest meaning of the word as, “To move about. Also to carry off; to arrest.” A newer definition, from 1811, was updated to mean, “To hike off; to run away.” The slang dictionary then provided an example of a more contemporary use of the term, citing a quotation from the February 2, 1884, edition of the Daily Telegraph: “We three, not having any regler [sic] homes nor a steady job of work to stick to, HIKE ABOUT for a living, and we live in the cellar of a empty house.”

It appears the meaning of the word “hike” began to evolve during the Philippine-American War. This conflict began shortly after the conclusion of the brief Spanish-American War in 1898, which involved Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. Just weeks after the Spanish were expelled from the Philippines, fighting broke out between U.S. soldiers and Filipino nationalists. An article with the title, “The Vocabulary of the Philippines,” published in the August 19, 1899, edition of The Criterion, a weekly New York-based literary magazine, began with this highly illuminating passage:

Now that the volunteers are returning from the Philippines there is trouble ahead for the dictionary makers. It is a peculiarity of American slang that it is at once so concise, picturesque, and graphic that most new words of this kind eventually force their way, despite dissent, into the lexicon. The volunteers will bring back with them so many brand new expressions of this character that their vocabulary may prove all but incomprehensible. For the convenience of people who have not had the advantage of recent Philippine travel, and also for the future reference of our lexicographers, a short glossary, with comments, may be valuable.

One of the words most commonly used in this new dialect is “hike.” Its derivation is doubtful, but its descriptive power great and swift. “To hike” means to travel with amazing speed. It is generally used to give some idea of how fast the Filipinos can run when defeated in battle. Incidentally, “hiking” is a term applied to the speed which American soldiers are obliged to develop when trying to catch the fleeing Filipino. So, in a more general way, “hiking” is applied to any swift and fatiguing travel, while a “hiker” is obviously a man of hustling and enduring powers.

A review of several military-related publications from this era corroborates these definitions. Moreover, a comment in the March 2, 1901, edition of the Army and Navy Journal confirms that the terms were new to the broader civilian population in America: “Some time ago we referred to ‘hike’ and other expressive words which our boys in the field have added to our vocabulary.” It appears that soldiers used the term “hiking” to distinguish their mode of travel in this foreign land from traditional marching. As the fighting escalated, the Filipinos began engaging U.S. troops in guerrilla-style warfare. As a result, U.S. soldiers were often forced to bushwhack through dense jungles, grasslands, swamps and rice paddy fields. There are also several references to “hiking” along rugged mountain trails. What’s important to note is that both “hike” and “hiking” were scarcely used before the war, but quickly became part of the American lexicon in the years that immediately followed. Within a decade or so, the terms basically took on the meaning that we understand today. You can see how the definition evolved over a very short period of time. The 1903 edition of Supplement To A Standard Dictionary Of The English Language defined “Hike” as “The act of hiking; a weary journey on foot.” The 1911 edition of Webster’s New International Dictionary defined “hike” as the “Act of hiking; a tramp; march.” More importantly, within a few years of the conclusion of the war, references to hiking began to appear in several outdoor publications for the first time. The words “hike” and “hiker” were first used in the Sierra Bulletin, the journal of the Sierra Club, in 1905. The following passage from this edition obviously reflects the sentiment of John Muir:

There is the aristocrat of leg and lung, the “hiker,” so called, who walks up perpendicular cliffs like a fly, never misses the trail, and always reaches camp first. He is harmless, but is not generally loved, for he is a little overbearing and given to much talking of a certain catalogue of hours and distances which he keeps in his mind and calls his record.

We see additional uses of the three hiking-related expressions in subsequent issues of the Sierra Bulletin. Other examples of early usage of the terms include an article about “A Sierra Club Hike” in the August 6, 1909, edition of The California Weekly. One of the earliest uses of the phrase “hiking boots” appeared in an advertisement in the 1912 edition of The Mountaineer, the journal of The Mountaineers club out of Seattle. The October 1911 edition of The American Boy, the October 1912 edition of Boys Life, and The Boy Scout’s Hike Book from 1913 are all sprinkled with several references to hiking. Prior to 1910, most hiking clubs used the word "mountain" or "alpine" in their name. However, in that year, the Wanderlusters Hiking Club out of Washington D.C. became the first organization to use "hiking" in a club name.

The word “hiking” appears to have been adopted along the West Coast first, where it began to evolve into the meaning we understand today. The term and its related expressions were most likely introduced by veterans returning from the war in the Philippines. Indeed, the majority of troops returning from the Philippines passed through San Francisco, not far from the Sierra Club’s original headquarters. It’s fairly easy to speculate that the terms were likely introduced to the local population, and then members of the hiking community began borrowing them to describe the types of excursions they were taking in the nearby mountains. From the West Coast, the expressions spread across the rest of the country, which may have been the result of West Coast clubs sharing articles and correspondence with other clubs.

As the 20th century progressed, the expressions Thoreau and Muir preferred to use have mostly faded from the American lexicon. Nearly everyone in North America now uses the word “hiking.”



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Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world. This new edition on the history of hiking is now available on Amazon.

Key Milestones in the History of Hiking

The following timeline of key dates in the history of hiking was adapted from my new book, Ramble On: A History of Hiking:

Over the last several decades, the sport of hiking has become one of the most popular outdoor activities in the world. According to the latest National Survey on Recreation and the Environment, 33.9% of all Americans above the age of 15 participated in hiking during the period between 2005 and 2009. Amazingly, there are several other countries that have far higher participation rates than the United States. This trend, however, leads to the burning question; when did people begin taking to the trail for pleasure? Since the dawn of mankind, humans have walked the earth to hunt, forage for wild edibles, explore, trade goods with neighboring communities, and migrate to other regions. At some point in our long evolution we realized that we didn’t need a utilitarian reason to walk. Somewhere along the line we discovered the joy of traipsing through the countryside, observing the beauty of a wildflower, watching wildlife in their natural habitat, marveling at the roar of a waterfall, or contemplating the scenic grandeur from the top of a mountain. Is this a fairly recent phenomenon, or is this an innate characteristic of human beings? No matter the answer to that question, the following are the key milestones in the history of hiking that has led to its immense popularity today:

~3300 BCE: In 1991, two German tourists discovered the mummified remains of “Otzi the Iceman” in the Ötztal Alps along the Austrian–Italian border. Although scientists aren’t entirely sure what this late-Neolithic man was doing at an elevation hovering just over 10,500 feet, there are some who have speculated that he may have been an early mountaineer. More importantly, however, the remnants of the rucksack (or backpack) that he carried on his back is the oldest rucksack ever found.

125: The 2nd century Roman Emperor, Hadrian, hiked to the summit of Mt. Etna on Sicily to see the sunrise, making this the earliest recorded hike for pleasure.

1642: Darby Field makes the first recorded ascent of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, which would become the focus of one of the first tourist destinations in the United States in the early 1800s.

1760: The Industrial Revolution begins in Great Britain, and is generally recognized as lasting until the start of World War I. The Industrial Revolution gave rise to the labor movement, automobiles, environmentalism, club culture, and even art. As a result, it's arguably the single most important event to spur the development of hiking and walking for pleasure.

1778: Thomas West, an English priest, publishes A Guide to the Lakes, a detailed account of the scenery and landscape of the Lake District in northwestern England. The guide helped to popularize the idea of walking for pleasure, and is credited as being one of the first travel guides.

1786: The modern era of mountaineering is marked by the first ascent of 15,771-foot Mont Blanc in France, the tallest peak in the Alps.

1799: Williams College (of Massachusetts) President Ebenezer Fitch ascends Mt. Greylock with two other companions.

1819: Abel Crawford, along with his son Ethan, blaze an 8.25-mile trail to the summit of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. The path is recognized as the oldest continually used hiking trail in the United States, and is likely the first footpath in the entire world to be built specifically for recreational hiking.

1830: A crew of 100 students and professors from Williams College blaze the Hopper Trail to the summit of Mt. Greylock. Later that same year, students constructed a 37-foot wooden tower atop the mountain. This tower, and its replacement, were maintained into the 1850s, and were used for sightseeing and scientific observations.

1850: The Exploring Circle is founded by Cyrus M. Tracey and three other men from Lynn, Massachusetts. The National Park Service recognizes the club as being “the first hiking club in New England," thus, in all likelihood, making it the first hiking club in the world.

1854: The beginning of the systematic sport of modern mountaineering as we essentially know it today is marked by the ascent of the Wetterhorn in the Swiss Alps by Sir Alfred Wills. His book, Wanderings Among the High Alps, published two years later, helped make mountaineering fashionable in Britain, and ushered in the systematic exploration of the Alps by British mountaineers. These events also marked the beginning of the so-called “Golden Age of Alpinism.”

1857: The world's first mountaineering club, the Alpine Club, was founded in London.

1863: Professor Albert Hopkins of Williams College founds the Alpine Club of Williamstown, whose stated mission was “to explore the interesting places in the vicinity, to become acquainted, to some extent at least, with the natural history of the localities, and also to improve the pedestrian powers of the members”. It was the first hiking club to accept women as members, which likely provided an important template for future hiking clubs in America.

1867: John Muir begins a 1000-mile walk from Indiana to Florida, which was recounted in his book, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf. The trek launched a lifetime career of hiking and wilderness advocacy. His conservation efforts, articles and books would help to establish several national parks during and after his lifetime.

1872: Yellowstone becomes the world’s first national park after legislation is signed by President U.S. Grant.

1876: The Appalachian Mountain Club, America’s oldest recreational organization, is founded to explore and protect the trails and mountains of New England.

1876: Newtown, England entrepreneur Pryce Pryce-Jones designs the "Euklisia Rug", considered by many to be the forerunner of the modern sleeping bag. The rug included a wool blanket with a pocket at the top for a sewn-in, inflatable, rubber pillow. Once inside, the camper (or soldier) folded the blanket over and fastened it together, thus keeping themselves “snug in a rug”.

1879: One of the first hiking clubs in England, the "Sunday Tramps," was founded by Leslie White. These early “rambling” (the English word for hiking or walking) clubs sprang up in the northern areas of England as part of a campaign for the legal "right to roam," a response to the fact that much of the land in England was privately owned.

1882: William Pickering publishes Walking Guide to the Mt. Washington Range, which is arguably the first modern trail guide to be published America.

1887: The first external frame rucksack is patented by Colonel Henry C. Merriam.

1922: Australian climber George Finch designs and wears a knee-length eiderdown parka during the 1922 British Everest Expedition. The shell of the coat was made from the waterproofed-cotton fabric of a hot-air balloon, which was filled with duck down. During the expedition, Finch and climbing partner Geoffrey Bruce reached a height of 27,300 feet during their summit attempt, which set the record for the highest altitude attained by any human up to that point.

1922: Lloyd F. Nelson submits his application to the U.S. Patent Office for his "Trapper Nelson's Indian Pack Board," which is acknowledged to be the first commercially successful external-frame backpack to be sold in the U.S. The "Trapper Nelson" featured a wooden "pack board" as its frame. Attached to the frame was a canvas sack that contained the hiker's gear, which rested on the hiker's body by two canvas shoulder-straps. Prior to his invention most hikers used a rucksack, which was essentially a loose sack with shoulder straps.

1930: The Green Mountain Club completes construction of the Long Trail, making it the first long-distance hiking trail in the United States.

1937: Italian climber and mountaineering guide, Vitale Bramani, invents "Carrarmato," which tranlates to “tank tread" in English. This new rubber lug pattern provides mountaineering boots with outstanding traction, and allows them to be used on a variety of surfaces. The product is launched under the brand name "Vibram".

1937: America's first “grand” trail, the Appalachian Trail, was completed in August of 1937. A forester by the name of Benton MacKaye conceived the idea in 1921.

1948: Earl Shaffer becomes the first person to thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail.

1967: Climber Greg Lowe invents the internal frame backpack. The “Expedition Pack” also featured the first adjustable back system, first side compressors, first sternum strap and the first load stabilizers.

1968: The National Trails System Act is passed by Congress, resulting in thousands of miles of trails being designated as National Scenic Trails, National Historic Trails and National Recreation Trails.

1969: Bob Gore accidentally stretches a heated rod of polytetrafluoroethylene by almost 800%, which forms a microporous structure that was roughly 70% air. The discovery was introduced to the public under the trademark of "Gore-Tex," which became the first breathable, waterproof, and windproof fabric.

1992: Ray Jardine introduces the concept of ultralight backpacking with the release of his book, The Pacific Crest Trail Hiker's Handbook. During his first PCT thru-hike Jardine’s pack weighed just 25 pounds. By his third hike it weighed less than 9 pounds. “Ray’s Way” of thinking has led to several innovations that have benefitted both backpackers and hikers.

This timeline is only a brief overview of the people, events, inventions and social trends that have helped to shape the sport of hiking as we know it today. If you enjoyed this post, please check out my new book on the history of hiking, which provides a much more in-depth narrative on the rich and compelling history of hiking.



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Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world.

Vulcanization

The following is an adaptation from Ramble On: A History of Hiking:

Until the turn of the twentieth century, rubberized clothing was the most popular choice for staying dry in the outdoors. Hikers and outdoorsmen of all stripes used a variety of India rubber products to stay dry, or keep their gear dry. This included rubberized coats, ponchos, blankets and knapsacks.

India rubber was first used in textiles as far back as 1824. However, before Charles Goodyear discovered vulcanization in 1839, the first generation of India rubber products failed to perform as intended. The rubber coating on textiles from that period tended to melt in the summer and crack in the winter. A perfect illustration of the ineffectiveness of the product comes from a U.S. Naval officer who wrote a scathing complaint about this newly issued garment in 1835, exclaiming:

Oh! I wish the rascal were here, who sold it to me! I am up to my knees in water, it runs in, but ‘it won’t run out,’ and the caps leak through every seam, the jacket is not worth a groat.

After the discovery of vulcanization, it would take Charles Goodyear another five years to perfect the process of curing, which made rubber products more pliable, easier to meld, and far more durable. The process that developed from Goodyear’s invention involved mixing sulfur and chemicals with the sap of a rubber tree, which was heated to form a sticky mass. The mass was then rolled into thin sheets, which were then applied to cotton, wool or silk before being steam-heated and cut into garments.

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Check out our online trail guides:

• Glacier National Park: HikinginGlacier.com

• Grand Teton National Park: TetonHikingTrails.com

• Rocky Mountain National Park: RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

• Just released: Ramble On: A History of Hiking

The West That Has Passed

In 1911, Charlie Russell opened his first national exhibit at the Folsom Galleries in New York City. Widely regarded as one of one of the greatest cowboy artists in American history, the exhibit featured more than two dozen paintings and bronze sculptures, which Russell called “The West That Has Passed.” The exhibit was effectively a requiem for the era of cowboys and Indians, the open range, and free-roaming bison that had passed during his lifetime. This wasn’t a life he observed from afar, but rather a life he witnessed growing up in Missouri, and one that he actually lived after moving to Montana at the age of sixteen.

Fast-forward to 1968 and we find Edward Abbey railing against the National Park Service for making parks more accessible. Abbey’s now famous “polemic” was written well after the west had transitioned from a land that needed to be tamed, to a land that was to be used and exploited - save for a few islands preserved for tourists and outdoor enthusiasts. In his book, Desert Solitaire, Abbey bemoaned the idea of paved roads being built in Arches National Monument, his place of employment in the mid-1950s. More pointedly, he decried “The Developers, the dominant faction” within the National Park Service who sought to make parks more accessible by means of what he called “Industrial Tourism”. He feared, or foresaw, how more roads, hotels and restaurants would lead to national parks becoming overrun by “mechanized tourists,” those that he defined as the “indolent millions born on wheels and suckled on gasoline, who expect and demand paved highways to lead them in comfort, ease and safety into every nook and corner of the national parks.” He argued that these types of tourists didn’t belong in parks because they didn’t appreciate them the way he did, nor did they share his wilderness ethic.

Equally provocative, Harvey Manning asked readers in the Summer 1975 issue of Backpacker Magazine: “Where did all these damn hikers come from?” In this piece, Manning concluded that automobiles were squarely to blame for making trails and wilderness areas more accessible, and thus more crowded. Without question, good or bad, automobiles have played a major role in the overcrowding of forests, parks and trails. Honestly, however, when I made my first pilgrimage to the West in 1986, I never would’ve recognized either of these complaints as legitimate. Not having anything to compare with, I didn’t see those “crowds” as problematic.

If your first visit to a major national park occurred after the dawn of the social media age, you may not be aware that the experience is profoundly different from what it was just a few years before. To illustrate the extent of this transformation, consider that between 2013 and 2019, total national park recreational visits jumped by nearly 20%. That’s almost 54 million additional visits per year! And it shows. Discounting a reprieve in 2020 due to Covid, visitation remains near record levels.

I really don’t remember how the conversation started, but somehow my friends and I hatched the radical idea of driving out West from our homes in suburban Cincinnati. Radical, because I don’t believe any of us had ever been west of Indiana up to that point. Being poor college kids, there was never a question that this was going to be a camping trip. Several weeks later, the three of us packed all of our camping equipment, a box of canned foods that we appropriated from our parents pantries, and loaded it all into John’s mid-1970s Ford Pinto hatchback. If you’ve ever seen a Pinto from this era, you may be wondering how three guys and their camping equipment could fit into such a cramped vehicle. Let me tell you, it was tough! We had to lay the back seat down, which forced us to take turns lying stretched-out in the back.

We really didn’t have a plan on what we were going to do on this whirlwind trip; only the places we intended to visit, and that we would be gone for 10 days. Though there were brief stops in the Badlands and Mount Rushmore, our focus was Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain national parks. Unlike today, we didn’t need a reservation to camp in the parks. We simply drove up to the campground, paid our fee, and then selected our site. Moreover, we didn’t need any timed entry permits. We drove in and out of the parks as we pleased. In fact, I don’t recall ever having to sit in any lines at any of the park entrances. Most importantly, we always found parking spaces available at the trailheads or the points of interest we visited. We never had to wake up before sunrise to beat the crowds into the park. Nor did we ever have to fight traffic or sit in any slowdowns, unless of course they were caused by a herd of bison or some random bear sighting.

We had a great time. Though it was a lot of driving in a very short period of time, and we really didn’t do all that much hiking, this will always be my most memorable road trip. While in Yellowstone, each of us saw our first 10,000-foot peaks, our first geothermal features, our first moose, our first elk, and our first bison. One evening, after watching the sunset atop Signal Mountain in Grand Teton, we saw our first grizzly bears while driving back to the Colter Bay campground. One of the most sublime moments for me occurred one evening while taking a solo walk along the shores of Jackson Lake. While fully entranced by a spectacular fiery sunset, a gaggle of geese flew overhead in a perfect V formation. I was hooked forever.

Subsequent trips in the following years were similar. No matter the time of day, we never experienced any trouble accessing trailheads or major points of interest. Believe it or not, but once upon a time you could drive up to Glacier Gorge in Rocky Mountain, Logan Pass in Glacier, or even Jenny Lake in Grand Teton at just about any time of day and find plenty of parking spaces available. You may be thinking that shuttles should’ve solved problems with overcrowding in recent years. That doesn’t appear to be the case. In fact, there are unintended consequences associated with shuttles. According to one study, after the introduction of shuttles in 2007, the annual number of people hiking to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park had tripled to 90,000 by 2011. During that same time period, the number of visitors hiking the Highline Trail from Logan Pass to “The Loop” exploded from just 1800 hikers per year to more than 40,000, despite overall park visitation remaining flat during this time period. The study’s author, Norma P. Nickerson, Ph.D., blames the increase on the park’s shuttle system, which has made trailheads more accessible. Prior to the introduction of buses, hikers were forced to go elsewhere once trailhead parking lots became full.

Today’s experience is significantly different - in multiple ways. In recent years more precise planning is required. Hotel reservations are now needed at least 9 or 10 months in advance for many parks. In many cases you need to be at your computer at a precise moment to ensure you’ll be able to secure timed entry permits for the park you’re planning to visit. As a result, you now need to know several months ahead of time which hikes, or at least the area of some parks you plan to visit on any given day. Even with timed entry permits, it’s still a race to arrive at some trailheads in time to ensure you’ll have a parking spot waiting for you. That effectively means waking up in the wee hours and being at the trailhead by sunrise in some instances. If you wait just a little later, you run the risk of not finding a parking spot. After your hike, depending on the park, you may run into congestion on the roads. Our past two trips to Grand Teton, including this past September, were the absolute worst. We encountered major traffic jams between Teton Village, Wilson and Jackson, as well coming into Jackson from the north. We also experienced heavy traffic on the Idaho side of the park. If you plan to dine at a restaurant afterwards, you may need a reservation, arrive early, or wait in yet another line.

In short, at least for me, the national park experience has deteriorated in recent years. Perhaps my perspective is the same as that of Russell, Abbey and Manning, in that I see the West as the way it used to be, and lament for those bygone days. Whether that’s perception or reality, I’ll concede is up for debate. However, as I see it, the national parks are now in a bit of a conundrum. On the one hand they were established so that all Americans can enjoy their exceptional natural beauty, while at the same time the National Park Service has been mandated to leave parks “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Some fear that allowing too many people to enjoy parks now could irreparably impair them for future generations. While I fully embrace the broader meaning of the line “I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly” in John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High,” something clearly needs to be done. While it’s beyond the scope of this article, I do offer several detailed suggestions in my book on the history of hiking. The final chapter is dedicated to the future of hiking, and how overcrowding is currently impacting trails and parks.



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Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world.

What is “rambling”?

There are many terms that have been used to describe the sport of hiking. Perhaps the first to describe the act of taking a leisurely walk in nature in the English language was “rambling”. The word originally meant to wander, or roam aimlessly, but eventually came to describe hiking. The expression was widely used in England throughout the 19th Century. It was also used in America, though much less frequently. While rambling is still used in the United Kingdom, it’s now looked upon by many as being an old fashion word. Walking, hillwalking, fellwalking and even hiking are more commonly used today. “Ramble On: How Hiking Became One of the Most Popular Outdoor Activities in the World” explains how hiking was able to bloom, and eventually flourish throughout the world.

And with Father's Day just around the corner, Ramble On would make a perfect gift for your dear old dad! For more information on the rich history of hiking and to order your copy of the book, please click here.

As always, thank you very much!



Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

Ramble On (2nd edition book on the rich history of hiking)
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park

Enrollment Now Open for New Opportunity in Glacier National Park with the Glacier Institute

For those looking for new ways to experience and learn about Glacier National Park, there is a new option. The Glacier Institute is now taking enrollments for its Going-to-the-Sun Road Day Program. As the non-profit education partner for Glacier National Park, the Glacier Institute strives to help the park achieve their education goals by providing in-depth, field based educational experiences.

“With the expectation of transportation challenges this year, we wanted to be creative in finding ways to help visitors get out into the park and have meaningful learning experiences,” says Pete Webster, Acting Superintendent for Glacier National Park. “The Glacier Institute was eager to assist us in this way, and we’re excited to partner with them on this pilot program.”

The Going-to-the-Sun Day Program offers participants a hands-on, in-depth view of what makes Glacier National Park part of one of the world’s most critically important ecosystems. Participants can expect a full day of adventure and education with a naturalist-led hike and interpretation to some of the park’s most popular points. There are four daily options to choose from, each of which requires a different hiking ability. While there are no age restrictions, guests are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the website and choose a course that fits their comfort level with distance and elevation gain.

To meet the demand and make an impact for the community, the Glacier Institute has purchased five additional vehicles and hired seven additional staff to facilitate these programs. “We see this as a great opportunity to further our mission,” says Anthony Nelson, Executive Director of the Glacier Institute. “In addition to experiencing the beauty of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, we’ll use education to get them to fall in love with the park and understand its importance.”

The courses began on July 1st and each of the four options will be offered daily. Each course runs from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and starts and ends at Glacier Institute’s main office at 320 Nucleus Avenue in Columbia Falls. Participants can park for the day near the main office or inquire at their lodging about hotel shuttle service. In addition, the local transit system, Mountain Climber, will offer round-trip shuttles to and from the Glacier Institute main office for $5 per person or $10 per family. Current plans include multiple shuttle stops Monday-Friday in both Kalispell and Whitefish. Additional service days will be added as needed. Participation in this course acts as your Going-to-the-Sun-Road ticketed entry reservation for the day. A Glacier National Park pass will still be required and can be purchased in advance at recreation.gov.

Registration is now open online at www.glacierinstitute.org. Each course is $100. Glacier Institute members receive a 10% discount. For additional information, call the Glacier Institute at (406) 775-1211.

With more than 740 miles of trails meandering throughout the park, hiking is the absolute best way to see Glacier National Park. In fact, the park offers a wide variety of outstanding hikes that take-in the best scenery Glacier has to offer. If you do plan to visit Glacier this year, please note that our hiking website also offers a wide variety of accommodation listings and other things to do to help with all your trip planning.


Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park

Are Air Horns Effective as Bear Deterrents?

Almost ten years ago I posted a blog that explored the question as to whether air horns are effective as bear deterrents. My thoughts were that the high-decibel noise coming from an air horn might be more effective than bear spray for three reasons:

1) You don't have to worry about the direction of the wind (or rain)

2) You don't have to wait for the bear to get close enough before sounding the horn

3) Bears have much better hearing than humans, thus the noise would potentially bother them even more than humans

That posting has generated quite a bit of interest over the years - in fact, it's the most popular post on this blog of all time - generating almost 50,000 views. As a result, I decided to revisit the subject to see if there was anything new to report. Specifically, are there any new studies that provide hard evidence as to whether or not air horns actually work?

It seems that the idea of using air horns has actually gained some traction since the last time I visited this topic. However, I still couldn’t find any hard evidence on the effectiveness of them as a deterrent against black bears or grizzly bears.

Here’s what I did find:

In an “Ask A Bear” column (updated in 2017), Backpacker Magazine cited a test conducted on polar bears in the 1970s that found that "ultrasonic frequencies fine-tuned and blasted over large speakers repelled bears roughly 69% of the time from a testing perimeter that contained food. Of the testing pool of 74 bears, 51 were strongly repelled, but eight bears exhibited no response, and 15 polar bears actually chose to investigate the source of the sound." The article concluded that loud noise may act as a deterrent, but it can also act as an attractant. This conclusion is also essentially being communicated on several government websites, as we shall see further below.

The study cited by Backpacker was effectively the only research that I could find that was related to my question, but it really didn’t answer it. One, the test was conducted on polar bears, and two, air horns weren’t used in the test. I should point out that the column also states that bear guru Stephen Herrero believes that an ultrasonic bear repellent is worthy of further study and testing. There is one other study that I found that I should mention here. It was conducted by Gary D. Miller from the Zoology Department at the University of Montana. The study tested several potential bear repellents on 2 male grizzly bears and 2 female polar bears at the Churchill Bear Laboratory in Churchill, Manitoba. The study found that air horns did not repel either of the two bears tested. I have to take this result with a large grain of salt, however, given the extremely small sample size and the fact that the bears tested were not in the wild.

The Get Bear Smart Society, a Canadian organization that works to educate the general public as well as government agencies across North America, believes that air horns can be effective when used in conjunction with human dominance techniques to move a bear off (A guide to non-lethal management techniques). On their website they also state:

Noise deterrents work by making a loud, unpleasant sound that causes the bear to be uneasy and move away. Noise deterrents are advantageous if you are a long distance away from the bear. Furthermore, they cause neither harm nor injury to the bear when correctly used.

In some cases, noise deterrents do not work either because the bear has habituated to human noise or because it has no natural fear of the noise.

I found several governmental websites in the United States and Canada that offered similar advice. For example, the Kenai Fjords National Park website states that “It is a good idea to carry a non-lethal deterrent such as an air horn or pepper spray in case of a surprise encounter…”

As a result of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published Deterrence Guidelines in the Federal Register, which states that:

These guidelines…are appropriate for safely and nonlethally deterring polar bears from damaging private and public property and endangering the public. The use of commercially available air horns and other similar devices designed to deter wild animals…may be effective in deterring bears while causing no lasting or permanent harm to individual animals.

The Kluane National Park and Reserve in northwestern Canada recommends bear spray as your best deterrent, but also mentions that "Other tools can help you deter a bear: noisemakers such as air horns" can be used as well.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game links to information from several websites and brochures. This includes one from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge which states that you should "Consider the range of actions you could take. Start with the least aggressive options, such as using noise makers, grouping together, yelling or clapping, or deploying air horns". Another links to a brochure from Park Canada that states that air horns may be effective in deterring a polar bear. Interestingly, the Fish and Game website also mentions using air horns as a defense against an aggressive wolf.

A brochure published by the British Columbia Forest Safety Council states that "Noises that cannot be reproduced in the wild, (e.g. a metallic noise), will let a bear know that you are approaching and give them advanced notice to move out of the area. However, noisemakers that startle a bear, such as an air horn, can provoke an attack. If you release an air horn too close to a bear hiding in the bush and it startles them, they may charge."

The Manitoba Wildlife and Fisheries Branch asserts that "When hiking, carry bear deterrent spray and also consider taking a walking stick and an air horn as further deterrents."

The Government of Alberta's website provides this guidance:

The two most effective bear deterrents are bear spray and noisemakers. Carry both when in bear country.

The most effective noisemaker in bear country is you. Talking or singing loudly can help prevent surprise encounters with wildlife. With enough warning of your approach, wildlife typically remove themselves and their young from the area.

When I see a bear, should I use a noisemaker or bear spray?

* Noisemakers are best used to deter a bear that is at a distance – one that sees you and continues to approach or one that's heading to your camp or settlement.

* Before using noisemakers, be sure to assess the situation. Make sure the surroundings are clear of people and the bear has an obvious way out. A bear that's been startled by a noisemaker may not be able to avoid groups of people as it flees the area.

* Remember, the noisemaker may not immediately deter the bear, especially if the bear has had previously experience with noise deterrents. Also, noisemakers may not prevent the bear from returning to the area.

* Bear spray is best used when you need to deter a bear at close range.

Finally, a brochure from the Nunavut Department of Environment states that "Noisemakers are a simple, first level deterrent. However, bears quickly become accustomed to sounds when no other negative effect is present. Have other deterrents or a lethal firearm present and ready in case the noisemakers are ineffective."

I think the bottom line is that there’s no 100% safe and reliable way to deter a bear. Each bear has a different personality, and each encounter is essentially a unique situation. Your best bet is to make sure that you make a lot of noise while hiking in bear country, and to practice bear awareness and avoidance techniques. If you do encounter an aggressive bear, and wish to use an air horn, my advice would be to have bear spray as a back-up in case the air horn doesn't work as intended. You can certainly make the argument that its probably best to have both in case one of the products fail for one reason or another.






Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

Ramble On (2nd edition book on the rich history of hiking)
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park