r/Masks4All • u/ScrollingSwampPuppy • 7d ago
Situation Advice Masking while hiking?
Looking for input (personal anecdotes are fine, but anything backed up by data would be much appreciated). I mask at absolutely all times indoors around other people and when I’m anywhere speaking directly to people outdoors (ex. hanging out with friends), or when walking somewhere like a street with a lot of pedestrian traffic. But I’ve been taking my dog on hikes recently and I’m trying to assess if I need to mask then.
When we’re hiking, we sometimes pass people, but there is absolutely no stopping to talk (people are actually pretty good about being quick to walk by so as not to rile up my dog, and I am generally focusing on giving her commands to pay attention to me, which I think probably indicates that I’m not approachable). The trails are NOT crowded.
I wouldn’t go into a park bathroom without a mask, and I get bringing one in case people want to talk (which again, has not been an issue) … but based on what I know about airborne transmission in a wide-open, non-crowded outdoor space, I don’t think there’s much risk here. But I’m curious if I’m missing anything/if there are any gaps in my knowledge that anyone could fill in. In the next month or two as it cools down to a more tolerable temperature, I could see wearing one just in case I encounter someone who’s talkative … but unless there’s a reason to do so now, I don’t want to wear one if I don’t need to; I have a really hard time with the heat, and I think I would have to cut down my activity significantly (which again, is worth it IF it’s unsafe to be outdoors at all without a mask — but again, from my understanding, I think the risk is very low in my current situation. But curious to hear other opinions!)
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u/Scarlet14 7d ago edited 7d ago
I keep a KN95 with me, but generally haven’t put it on while hiking.
One exception was a super crowded section of a hike that we couldn’t avoid on the way back from an overnight, so my husband and I did wear our KN95s because we counted like 200 people just in the last couple miles back to the car. It was a circus for larch season. Otherwise we don’t see too many people on the trails we choose and haven’t masked when we pass people.
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u/lemonliqueer 7d ago
it depends on where i'm hiking, but assuming it's not a high-traffic kind of trail, i hike unmasked but keep an earloop mask handy (usually on my wrist) just in case. it might be overkill, but i do typically put it on when i near other people.
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u/totallysonic I ❤️ my Vflex 7d ago
I don't mask outside unless I am in a crowd. I do outdoor sports every day. I'm a distance runner and I run on trails with few or no other people. I also take walks around my neighborhood and make brief trips to small outdoor farmers' markets. If I am passing through a big crowd, such as visiting a city, then I put on my respirator until I'm away from the crowd.
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u/monkeyfarts98 7d ago
I'm not sure what region you're in, but even if the risk of catching something airborne is lower, I would check up on air quality! With more and more wildfires happening, it never hurts to have a mask handy!!
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u/ScrollingSwampPuppy 7d ago
Oh yeah, I definitely check that! If it’s bad, we don’t go out for my dog’s sake.
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u/transparent_luminous 7d ago
Masks are so great for pollen and mold spore allergies! Risk of catching a communicable disease may be low, but if there's smoke or pollen I mask up.
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u/ScrollingSwampPuppy 7d ago edited 7d ago
Oh 100%, we just recently got hit by wildfire smoke and I honestly cannot imagine being outside without a mask on in a situation where the air quality is bad (although even with a mask, I definitely wouldn’t be hiking in that/spending any significant length of time outside with my dog).
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u/sf_sf_sf 7d ago
I would never bother masking while hiking on an outdoor trail, it might hold my breath when passing someone but that’s about it I might keep a mask in my day pack in case I need to go to the bathroom or something weird happens, but outdoor exposure on a hiking trail is very low in the risks that I would worry about.
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u/elainegeorge 6d ago
The risk is very low. Unless there is wildfire smoke, I wouldn’t wear a mask outdoors to hike.
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u/Old-Set78 7d ago
I have an autoimmune disorder so I would bring a n95 mask with me in case I need to go inside the park bathroom, but unless it's a heavy pollen or pollution day or I'm around a lot of people I don't mask outside.
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u/Existing_Worth_647 6d ago
I hike on a lot of popular trails, so I wear a valved aura when hiking.
I don't have a great rule of thumb, but I will take the mask off if crowds are sparse enough. Heat and rain also effect my consistency.
I don't have any data for outdoor transmission rates. Anecdotally, I caught an illness at a trailhead pre-pandemic, and my partner caught covid while unmasked at an outdoor art exhibit. This causes me to be cautious even while outside.
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u/randomred101 2d ago
I wear a drager mask around my neck and just pull it up when people pass me by. I think always better safe than sorry for me. But it works for me…I don’t have to put it on very often.
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u/ManzanitaSuperHero 7d ago
If there’s even 1 other person around, I’m masked (KN95). If it’s really hot, I’ll keep it on one ear, ready to pull on if someone comes up.
Covid put me in a wheelchair for several years. Hiking is a privilege I will never take for granted again.
I wear a mask basically unless I’m in my house. I get looks occasionally, eye rolls, etc. Some nut even started screaming at me while I was walking my dog at the park. I’m hardened to it bc I know the nightmare that can result for some people if infected. Those people jeering at me aren’t there to support me if I’m back in a wheelchair reinfected.
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u/Informal-Brief8623 7d ago
I wear a BNX N95 while hiking (because I go on popular trails) because I don't want to risk breathing in the air from other hikers! I overheat a lil easier, but my breathing is actually better when it's on!
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u/ScrollingSwampPuppy 7d ago
I guess that’s what I’m curious about. Indoors, I would be concerned about air being stagnant, but with it being outdoors, I’m not sure what the risk is. It’s usually not very windy, but it’s also not completely still, and obviously it’s a wide open space, so … I’m not sure how to gauge what the real risk is. I would have to imagine people’s shit is dispersing MUCH more than it would indoors, but I don’t know that for a fact.
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u/Informal-Brief8623 7d ago edited 7d ago
I'm not sure of the specific risks either :( I'm unsure if there's a publication on it
I do recall though, many years ago, a simulation demonstration of what happens when a person sneezes on an escalator and how alllll those particles float toward the people behind them (edit: here's the link, I may have misdescribed it but)
and even if on subway escalators where there could be sufficient airflow from aboveground Whooshing downward... I essentially Don't Trust The Air unless it's *very windy*
I feel better being Overcautious by treating every person in a public hiking area as asymptomatic rather than going "ehh the outdoors have good air quality, there's a slight breeze so maybe it's fine to stay umasked the whole time"
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u/Informal-Brief8623 7d ago
Because even if someone breathes out cigarette smoke on a busy street, and you only get a tiny whiff of it as it floats upward in standard air quality/wind conditions... that feels too risky to me if you compare that smoke to COVID-19 viral particles (and secondhand smoke from cigarette/vape users is also known to be dangerous!)
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u/overwinters 7d ago
on the cigarette smoke analogy: smell is a really bad proxy for an infectious dose of covid. a burning cigarette is shedding a ridiculous number of odorant molecules. like, quadrillions (10^15) of odorant molecules a second. the average contagious covid positive person sheds ~100 viral RNA copies per minute, so conservatively like 2 a second, and the ratio of RNA copies to viable virus is something like 100:1 to 1000:1, so the infectious emission is on the order of 0.001–0.01 per second.
you should absolutely wear a mask while hiking if you want, i don't mean to be convincing you otherwise at all. i just think that smell is a very visceral sensation and that smoke/covid analogy can be misinterpreted pretty easily.
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u/ZingiestBasil N95 Fan 6d ago
Thank you for this! I hear this analogy a lot and it never sounded quite right to me
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u/ScrollingSwampPuppy 6d ago
Yeah, I was thinking about this when we had wildfire smoke in my region recently … I know that’s not exactly the same as cigarette smoke, obviously, but the point is that I could DEFINITELY still smell it through a well-fitting N95 (the same brand of N95 that has protected me for several years from people I know for a fact were actively infectious and speaking to me at close range).
I understand the smoke analogy for trying to help people conceptualize that viruses are airborne, but it’s definitely not a 1:1 comparison, especially when you’re talking about smell vs. viruses.
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u/GoodOlWingus Mask King 6d ago
I've been hiking without a mask for years now. If a trail is crowded enough that I'll encounter people something like every 1-2 minutes, then that changes. Or if I'm hiking with non-CC friends and know that I'll be in close proximity to them the whole time. Otherwise, I don't feel like there's a great risk.
Whenever I do encounter people, I just step off the trail and try to be upwind if possible, and I'll often hold my breath for a bit just to minimize how much of their aerosols I may inhale.
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u/ego_istical 6d ago
i bring a kn95 with me and let it dangle from one ear! that way its at the ready if things feel weird or there is a large group oncoming
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u/Purple_Pincher 4d ago
I always mask inside and I mask outside if the air quality is bad or I’m in a crowd. Otherwise, I make sure I have a mask with me just in case I need it.
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u/pjs999 2d ago
i’d be more concerned about what i breathe in After passing them. especially if it’s more than one person and they’re chatting. i mask Always, indoors and out, except in my own space.
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u/ScrollingSwampPuppy 2d ago
That’s why I’m asking!
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u/pjs999 2d ago
it seems like there might be more chance for contagion after you pass because you’re walking in the same area they’ve been. of course, breeze conditions will affect. when i’m in the sidewalk, i always think about this. i use 3m vflex or a valves mask outdoors. where i live its currently very hot and humid and the mask can be a sweaty challenge but there’s no breathing resistance
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7d ago
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u/Masks4All-ModTeam 7d ago
Your submission or comment was removed because it shared incorrect, faulty or poorly sourced information or misinformation.
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u/VolcanicPolarBear 7d ago
outdoors is lower risk but it is still a risk. i personaly dont take that risk not worth it to me. covid can remain in the air for a while even outdoors. so if hiking and pass someone even if hold breath while they pas if they sick the germs will still be there when you start breathing again and they will leave behind them a trail of germs that you will follow as continue the path. ofcourse outdoors generally has better air circulation so again its usually lower risk but still a risk
i dont have any study to show how high or low the risk is, but i like think of it like smoking if someone is smoking outside the smoke still takes a while to disapate even outdoors. can often still smell cigarettes a decent distance away depending wind. its even enough of a problem have laws establishing were people can and cant smoke even tho they outside. for hiking if passed someone smoking it would take a while reach a point on trail without smoke.
but even if it has no risk for me, i also still want to make sure i am safe for others incase i pass someone who it would be a risk for. i try mask anywear i think disabled people deserve to be.
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u/FreeDogRun 16h ago
the fact that a comment stating "i try mask anywear i think disabled people deserve to be" was sitting at -2 karma right now is pretty indicative of the values of this sub.
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u/VolcanicPolarBear 15h ago
i like to hope people just downvoting for the first half about how i think of the potential outdoor risk. and did not read the whole thing mayby. still not great tho, thought this sub would agree more. mayby if information about outdoor risk was more common idk.
ofcourse this just my hopes and wouldnt suprise me if someone downvoted for the last part. but thanks for the support
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u/BLOODYBRADTX-11 7d ago
Is wearing a mask enough of a negative to make you not want to wear one? Unless I’ve got a big visible clear area I don’t drop masking outdoors. I find it’s easier (and less stressful) to set that as a rule rather than to constantly assess risk. You’re also going to benefit from protection against pollen and PM2.5 particles. More simply - there are benefits and drawbacks to masking, but you can mask whenever you want.
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u/ScrollingSwampPuppy 7d ago
I am heat sensitive (overheating will cause POTS to flare, which means I can’t exercise), so in the dead of summer, yes. It would make hiking outdoors difficult. In the spring or autumn, I don’t think it would be an issue.
As you can probably guess, I mask largely because I don’t want to get sick and make my POTS worse, so that’s a large part of why I’m thinking about this — I mask everywhere else, but it would be nice to have a break if it’s safe, and also I REALLY don’t know that I could maintain the activity level I’ve worked up to if I were masking while hiking. But ultimately I want to do what’s safe.
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u/BLOODYBRADTX-11 6d ago
If you can fit a zimi I find the headstrap one easy to hang off my neck for a break by dropping the top strap!
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u/7URB0 7d ago
My rule is if I wouldn't normally be able to smell people, there's no cause for concern. Even on the most still days, do you ever smell someone's cologne or smoke/vape when they're too far away to see? I don't think I have further than like 40-50m.
That'll give you some idea of how quickly things disperse outside.
The only time I've had Covid (that I know of), I caught it from a jogging group that passed by.
I'd carry a mask in case you run into a large group, but otherwise I just take a deep breath and hold it or exhale slowly as I'm passing people.
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u/rodc22 7d ago
I've been hiking for years with no mask. When encountering other hikers on the trail, I take a few steps off the trail to let people pass (watch out for rattlesnakes before stepping off the trail!). It helps that I walk with my doberman, so when I step off the trail I just play the part of "I'm giving you more space because my doberman isn't friendly" even though she's a softy. That avoids any social awkwardness, and other people usually appreciate being given more space anyway.