Hiking for beginners: how to start from scratch

Between January and July 2023 the Spanish Guardia Civil rescued 899 people in the mountains. The number one cause wasn't bad weather or bad luck: it was overestimating your own ability, present in 58% of cases. And the activity generating the most rescues isn't technical alpinism: it's hiking.

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I'm not telling you this to scare you, but because almost all of it is avoided with two things that cost nothing: choosing the right route and telling someone where you're going.

I've spent over twenty years in the mountains and I've seen it all: people breaking in new boots on a 20 km traverse, families setting off at three in the afternoon in November with no headlamp, and far more people than you'd think walking up in jeans. This guide is what I wish I'd read when I started: the real basics, in order, without telling you that you need €300 boots for a walk in Guadarrama.

Hiking, trekking and mountaineering are not the same

This article is about the first one. The good news: hiking is the cheapest and safest way into the mountains. You don't need previous experience or special fitness. You need judgement.

The first thing isn't gear: it's choosing the right route

This is where 90% of beginners go wrong. They spend €200 on boots and then pick a route three sizes too big for them.

Elevation matters more than distance

The most repeated mistake. You see a route, read "8 km" and assume two hours of walking. But 8 km with 800 metres of ascent can take you 5 hours and wreck you, while 12 flat kilometres go by chatting. Cumulative ascent is the number to look at first.

How to work out how long it'll take

Naismith's rule: 1 hour per 5 km of distance, plus 1 hour per 600 m of ascent.

Example: a 10 km route with 600 m of ascent is 2 hours for distance plus 1 for climbing, so 3 hours of actual walking. Add stops, photos and food: in practice, multiply by 1.3. If you're starting out, be conservative: 4 km/h on the flat and 300 m/h climbing.

MIDE: the rating system worth learning

In Spain many routes carry a MIDE rating (Excursion Information Method), recommended by the Spanish mountain sports federation. It scores 1 to 5 across four parameters:

• Environment: how severe the natural setting is.
• Itinerary: navigation difficulty, whether the way is obvious.
• Movement: how hard the ground under your feet is.
• Effort: 1 is up to 1 hour, 2 is 1 to 3 hours, 3 is 3 to 6 and 4 is 6 to 10 hours of walking.

For your first routes look for MIDE values of 1 and 2. If you see a 4 or a 5 in any of the four, save it for later.

1. Routes 1 to 3: 5-7 km, under 200 m of ascent, circular and well waymarked.
2. Routes 4 to 8: 8-10 km, 300-400 m of ascent.
3. From route 10 on: you can consider 12-15 km with 600-700 m.

Learn to read trail waymarks

In Spain and much of Europe, official trails use a colour system registered by the FEDME. Knowing it saves you trouble:

• GR (long distance): white and red. Trails over 50 km.
• PR (short distance): white and yellow. Between 10 and 50 km.
• SL (local trail): white and green. Under 10 km.
• Two parallel rectangles: continuity, you're on track.
• Angled stroke: change of direction, turn.
• A cross: wrong way, go back.

High up you'll also see cairns: small stacks of stone marking the way, especially valuable in fog. Don't knock them down and don't build new ones where they don't belong: you'll confuse whoever comes next.

Basic gear: what you actually need

Let me be blunt: of everything you can buy, only two things are worth really investing in, footwear and a waterproof jacket. The rest works fine with own-brand kit.

1. Footwear (here, do spend)

If you're starting and can only buy one pair, go mid-cut: it covers 90% of situations. In the video I build the kit around the Quechua MH500, the step-up model that comfortably handles 20 outings a year; if you'll go out less and on easy ground, the Trek 100 is more than enough and leaves more budget for the jacket.

1. Buy half a size up from your street shoes: on descents your toes slide forward and you end up with black toenails.
2. Try them at the end of the day, when your foot is most swollen, wearing the technical sock.
3. Your heel must not lift when climbing. If it moves, blisters are guaranteed.

About Gore-Tex: it keeps you dry in mud, rain or snow, but in summer your foot runs hot. And most important: don't break in boots on the day of the hike. Wear them two or three weeks beforehand, just going to the shops. It's the most expensive mistake in pain per euro spent. If you want the fine detail on this, I break down my three pairs of boots and the terrain I use each one on in a separate article.

2. Socks (the most underrated item)

Drop the cotton: it holds moisture, and a wet sock inside a boot is a blister factory. Go merino wool or technical synthetic. Two pairs is plenty, they cost €8-15 and are the best suffering-avoided-per-euro on the market.

3. The three-layer system

• Base layer: its job is pulling sweat off your skin, not keeping you warm. Technical polyester or merino, never cotton.
• Mid layer: insulation. Fleece (cheap and works wet), down (ultralight but useless wet) or synthetic.
• Outer layer: protection from rain and wind. Look for at least 10,000 mm water column and taped seams. Without that it isn't waterproof, it's a fairground poncho.

The point of the system is adding and removing layers as your effort changes. You set off with three, ten minutes into the climb you're down to one, and at the top you put them all back on. That management is the difference between enjoying it and freezing.

4. The backpack

To start, 20 litres is plenty (15-20 L for half a day, 25-35 L for a full day or hut trip). And here's what almost nobody tells you: 80% of the weight should sit on your hips, not your shoulders. The hip belt goes on your hip bone, and only then do you tighten the straps. If you finish with wrecked traps, the pack isn't bad, you're wearing it wrong. The Osprey Stratos 24 is what I use for day routes because of its ventilation, though any pack with a decent hip belt will do to begin with. Weight rule: never carry more than 20% of your body weight.

5. Trekking poles (the underrated ones)

Plenty of people see them as an old-timer thing. Biomechanical studies measure load reductions on the legs of 12-16% climbing and 19-22% descending. Translation: your knees will thank you, especially on long descents, which is where the damage happens. To start, aluminium (cheaper and tougher than carbon). Set them so your elbow sits at 90 degrees: shorter uphill, longer downhill.

The 10 essentials that fit any pack

1. Navigation: offline map, compass, GPS.
2. Sun protection: SPF 30+, sunglasses and a cap.
3. Insulation: one more layer than you think you need.
4. Illumination: a headlamp. Yes, even on a day walk.
5. First aid: a basic kit with blister dressings.
6. Fire: lighter or waterproof matches.
7. Repair kit and knife.
8. Nutrition: extra food for one more day.
9. Hydration: extra water or a way to purify it.
10. Emergency shelter: a space blanket. 50 g and no bulk.

Of all of them, the two most often forgotten and most life-saving are the headlamp and the space blanket. They cost little, weigh nothing, and the day you need them you'll really need them.

Water, food and weather

Water: 0.5 to 1 litre per hour of walking, up to 1.5 L/h in strong heat. Drink little and often, around 200 ml every half hour, without waiting to feel thirsty: at just 2% body-weight water loss your performance and decision-making already drop. And in the mountains, deciding badly is what's dangerous. Food: carbs before setting off, then nuts, fruit, bars and some salt along the way.

Google Maps is useless in the mountains: no trails, no contour lines, and no signal means no map. Use Wikiloc (free, the biggest Spanish-language route database), Komoot, the official IGN maps or Organic Maps, and always download the offline map before leaving home. For weather, don't check the village: check the mountain forecast by zone. And beware summer afternoon storms: plan to be heading down before 2 pm.

Safety: what actually saves you

Always tell someone your route and your estimated return time. It's what turns a twelve-hour search into a one-hour rescue.

Send the track over WhatsApp before you leave, literally that. In an emergency, 112 is free and works with no credit and even without your own operator's coverage if another network is available; also install My112 or Alpify, which send your exact location, the thing that wastes the most time in a rescue.

And something that surprises a lot of people: public healthcare doesn't cover sports accidents, and in several regions mountain rescue is billed. The cheap fix is a federation licence from your regional mountaineering body: it covers medical care, rescue and liability for a few tens of euros a year. If you go out more than 10 times a year, it pays for itself from day one.

1. If you get lost, stop. Don't push on hoping it works out, because it almost never does.
2. Don't descend gullies or streambeds: the classic mistake that ends at a drop.
3. Go back to the last point where you knew where you were.
4. If you can't, call 112 before dark. Don't wait out of embarrassment.

How to build your kit for under €200

This is exactly what I do in the video above: build a complete, functional kit from zero without spending a fortune. A rough breakdown:

Where to invest: footwear and the waterproof layer, those are safety, not luxury. Where to save: base layer, fleece and accessories, where own-brand is plenty. And an option almost nobody uses: second hand. Decathlon's used-gear section, technical shop outlets, Wallapop and Vinted are full of kit used twice. Second-hand packs and jackets are an excellent buy; footwear, better new.

Leave the mountain better than you found it

• Plan and prepare before you go.
• Walk and camp on durable surfaces.
• Whatever goes up comes down with you. Fruit peel included.
• Leave what you find and minimise fire impact.
• Respect wildlife: don't feed the animals.
• On the trail: everyone yields to horses, cyclists yield to walkers and, between walkers, the one descending yields to the one climbing.

Watch out for national parks: several have restrictions and mandatory bookings. At Peñalara bivouacking requires a prior request, at Ordesa it's only allowed in the Góriz area with a booking, and access to the Teide summit needs a permit. Check before you go.

Three easy routes to start near Madrid

• Senda Ecológica de Canencia: about 6 km, gentle gradient, shade and a stream. Perfect for a first time.
• Charca Verde and Angostura, Rascafría: about 6 km, well waymarked, fine with kids.
• Laguna Grande de Peñalara: about 7 km with 600 m of ascent. A step up, already high-mountain scenery. Always check the mountain forecast.

Now go for a walk

1. Pick a route below your level for the first outings.
2. Invest in footwear and a waterproof layer; save on everything else.
3. Always tell someone where you're going.

With that you're already ahead of the 58% of people who end up needing a rescue. In the video above I show you hands-on how I build the full kit for under €200, piece by piece, so you can see exactly what to buy and what to skip.

If you enjoyed this, watch these

Once you've caught the bug for day routes, the next step up is a multi-day traverse. I did the Anillo de Picos solo: six days and 100 kilometres crossing the three massifs of Picos de Europa, sleeping in mountain huts with the sea of clouds below. It's filmed end to end and it's by far the most beautiful thing I've done in the mountains. Get comfortable, hit play and enjoy it: that's exactly how far this thing you're just starting can take you.

And if the Sierra de Madrid is closer to you, the Camino Schmidt is the perfect route to break in everything you've just read: 13 km through pine forest, well waymarked, with real history behind it and no complications. See you out on the trail.

Some links are affiliate links (Amazon and Decathlon): if you buy through them I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I only recommend gear I actually use.