About this ebook
Most guides to hiking tell you what to pack and where to walk. The Capable Hiker teaches you something most guides leave out: how ordinary, reasonable decisions on the trail — a later-than-planned start, an underestimated pack, a skipped weather check — quietly compound into the situations that end up needing outside help.
Drawing on decades of bushwalking, extensive hiking across Australia and remote long-distance treks overseas, and his own search and rescue experience, Darren Edwards shows you how to notice those moments before they become problems, and what to actually do if they already have.
This is a complete, practical guide to hiking safely and confidently in Australia, written for anyone preparing for their first walk and for experienced hikers who still have gaps in their knowledge. It doesn't just tell you what to do — it explains why, so you can apply the reasoning to walks this book never specifically covers.
The book is organised in seven parts that follow the arc of an actual hike:
Getting Started - choosing a first hike that matches your experience, understanding grades and track listings, and who to walk with
Getting Yourself Ready - building the fitness, health awareness and mindset a hike actually demands, including hiking alone
Planning the Hike - building a plan that survives contact with a real day, reading weather, fire danger and extreme heat, and managing water and food
What to Take - choosing and using your pack, clothing, navigation, communication devices and first aid kit, plus what changes once you're staying out overnight
On the Trail - settling in, staying found, handling steep or loose ground and water crossings, recognising wildlife hazards, and looking after the places you walk
When Things Go Wrong - noticing early when a day is moving off plan, turning around, what to do if you're lost or someone is hurt, and how to call for help
Getting Better at This - what to do once you're back, learning from close calls, and building genuine capability over time
Darren Edwards founded Trail Hiking Australia and has spent years both sharing trail information and searching for the hikers who got into trouble following it. The Capable Hiker is his attempt to close that gap — a reference you'll return to as your experience grows, built around the judgement to notice what matters on a given walk and act on it before a small problem becomes a large one.
Whether you're planning your first short walk on a formed track or preparing for a remote overnight trip, this book gives you the knowledge and judgement to make informed decisions before you leave home, and throughout the day.
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About the author
Darren Edwards is the founder of Trail Hiking Australia and the author of The Capable Hiker: A Practical Guide to Hiking in Australia, Small Things Don’t Stay Small, and the two-volume Hiking Australia series, Before You Go and On the Trail.
His writing focuses on preparation, judgement and the way hiking situations develop. A recurring idea across his work is that serious problems often do not begin with one dramatic mistake. They develop through smaller changes: a slower pace, deteriorating conditions, increasing fatigue, a missed signal or a decision that seemed reasonable at the time. Individually, these things may be manageable. Together, they can gradually reduce time, energy and available options.
Rather than simply telling hikers what to carry or what rules to follow, Darren explains why things matter and how different parts of a hike interact. His books explore everything from choosing an appropriate walk and preparing for Australian conditions to navigation, equipment, weather, group dynamics, decision-making and learning from experience.
He is the creator of The Hiking Safety Systems Framework (HSSF) and the ExploreSafe Framework for Outdoor Decision-Making. HSSF examines how capability, conditions, equipment, human factors and decisions interact, while ExploreSafe turns that thinking into seven practical principles for preparing, recognising change, maintaining options and making decisions before, during and after a walk.
Darren has spent thousands of kilometres walking across Australia, from well-formed tracks to remote and less-defined terrain, as well as undertaking remote long-distance hikes overseas. His work draws on those experiences alongside years of researching, documenting and communicating hiking safety.
His aim is simple: to help people prepare well, notice what matters, make better decisions and come home safely.
He lives in Melbourne, Australia.