«Who’s There?»: Irrational Fear in the Mountains

In the previous articles of this series, we talked about why solitude in the mountains is a conscious choice, went over general safety rules, what to do “when things go wrong”, and discussed how to behave when encountering wild animals.
But let’s be honest: the scariest “beast” in a solo hike is our own imagination. And the fear it creates is often irrational. Logic is powerless here.

Alone in Trouble: What to Do When Everything Goes Wrong?

Imagine the worst‑case scenario: you’re alone in the mountains. You get caught in a prolonged downpour, a mudslide sweeps down, or you simply lose the trail. Your smartphone is smashed or drowned, your map is gone, there’s no signal. You don’t know exactly where you are, and there’s no one to expect help from. At that moment, your life depends on only one person—yourself. There’s no room for illusions.

Wild Animals: How to Avoid Becoming "Dinner" and Part Ways in Peace

Many beginners haunt their own imaginations with grisly scenes: hungry wolves lying in ambush or a bear specifically stalking a tourist around the next bend in the trail. Let me ease your mind: you are not on the menu. To a wild animal, a human is a strange, loud creature that smells like "chemicals" (laundry detergent, deodorant, or a gas stove). In 99% of cases, animals scent you from hundreds of meters away and quietly slip into the brush. They want to meet you even less than you want to meet them.

Alone in the Mountains: "Aren't You Scared?"

In the comments on my previous post, a question kept coming up: "Aren't you scared alone? It's so risky!"
I'll be honest: fear is normal. It's a basic survival mechanism. On a solo trek, it doesn't disappear—it transforms into heightened caution. When there's no group behind you, the responsibility for every decision rests solely on you. And that keeps you disciplined.

Alone in the Mountains

In one of my previous posts, I apparently didn't express myself very clearly about hiking in the mountains alone. Some readers assumed it was a forced circumstance and started encouraging me, saying things like, "Don't worry, things will work out, you'll find company eventually."

A Ring for a Solo Hiker — A Short Story

People usually go hiking in groups — it's more fun and safer. But there are exceptions to this rule. There's such a thing as solo hiking, where being alone in the mountains is a conscious choice, not a forced situation. Everyone has their own reasons, and it applies to all kinds of mountain travel. There are even climbers who summit peaks alone — that's a solo ascent. The phenomenon isn't new; it's just not very common. In the Soviet past, for example, such individualism wasn't encouraged, so it's more developed in the West.

The Cave of the Mountain Spirit — A Short Story

After hiking four kilometers up the gorge along the river, I reached a wide hollow nestled between mountain giants. Just above this spot, three small mountain rivers merged into a single stream. For reasons unknown to me, the locals called this hollow the "meadow of power." It was oval-shaped. At its northern end, near the confluence of the rivers, it was fringed by a juniper grove. A river meandered along its western edge, and to the east, an expanse of scree and enormous boulders encroached from a spur of the massif crowned by the peak of White Bars.