what's up guys welcome to the channel if you're new here we're Trekking Pals
Habiba and Alex, amateur hikers and backpackers and we create video content
every Tuesday The reason we're making this video today
is to first of all say hi check on you and to share with you updates about how
Covid-19 or corona virus is impacting the hiking and backpacking
community and as a consequence how it's impacting us trekking pals.
In this video we're gonna talk about three things; first of all we're gonna talk
about how our content is going to be impacted we're gonna talk about how our
plans were impacted in the third thing we're going to talk or answer the
question whether we're gonna continue on hiking or just stay home so as far as
content creation go as you guys know we do create video content every Tuesday
and the plan as of now is to continue to do so now we do have a good amount of
content from our last trip to Yellowstone National Park
we already release three episodes that you guys can check here and there are
three more episodes that we are currently working on from there the plan
is to focus more on how-to videos that we can film at home such as how to
organize hiking and backpacking gear help to clean hiking and backpacking
gear and perhaps some gear review so you guys have any topics that you are
interested in just make sure to leave a comment and we're gonna make it happen
now the second thing as far as how our plans were impacted so first of all I
was going to Morocco earlier this week but I ended up canceling my trip because
my company requested us to refrain from any unnecessary personal traveling which
I did and then anyways Morocco a week or a couple of days later they actually
closed the borders for any incoming or outgoing trip I did have a couple of
hiking trips planned in Morocco but that was cancelled the second thing is the
sixth pack of peaks 2020 here in Arizona that we talked about in another video we
did cover two peaks out of six so far there are a couple of other hikes that
are located in Tucson Arizona that will require a little bit of traveling I
think at this point we're gonna place the challenge on hold and we'll resume
while things get better the third trip
we had planned this year is backpacking to Havasupai Falls which we were very
excited for now when I checked the website Havasupai reservations calm it
seems like they are asking reservation holders with campground reservations
running from March 16th up to April 14 2020 to reschedule the reservation for
the 2021 season now our reservation happened to be after April 14th so we
pretty much just wait for a new announcements from the reservation and
then just decide as we go and this is pretty much it for our plans that we're
either suspended placed on hold or canceled and the last thing we will talk
about here is the most asked question are you guys going to continue on hiking
or not yesterday I posted a question to a hiking group asking how the cove is 19
is impacting the hiking and backpacking community just to kind of understand how
is the general feel and see what people think now it seems like there are
different opinions in the community there are groups of people who think
that it's good ethics and good manners to stay home and stay away from the
outdoors there are other people who think that this is the best opportunity
for them since they are either working from home or not working at all to go
outside explore the outdoors and take their kids out and there are other
people who are kind of annoyed of the fact that there are more people than
usual on the trail and with that comes some irresponsible behaviors from
leaving trash and not respect and Leave No Trace principles now there are a
couple of national parks and even state parks who decided to shut down their
parts just to make sure that people are staying safe there are a lot of people
who cancel their true hikes in either the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific
Crest Trail just to make sure they're not impacted into small communities
around those hiking trails and to make sure that they're not impacting other
people on the trail now for hours tracking thoughts we don't understand
the importance of staying home and the importance of practicing social
distancing we actually went for a high couple of days ago hoping that the trail
would be probably empty but to our surprise there were a lot of people and
probably more than usual with all families and kids outside now we were
already there I don't it was the smartest thing to do but we
were making sure that we are sanitizing and trying to keep some distance between
us and other people even though everyone was touching the same rocks everyone was
touching the same rail but as I said we just made sure that we were using the
hand sanitizer not touching our face and following some safety measurements now
we're not here to tell you to stay home or go outside and explore the outdoors
but just make sure that you are using your best judgement and make sure that
you are being considerate and you're not impacting people around you or small
communities around the trail we believe that it's very important to think about
yourself and also think about other people around you this is pretty much it
for today's video I hope that you guys stay safe and sane during these rough
times just make sure you follow your state regulations and follow the
nationwide regulations your trekking paths have Eva and Alex and we'll see
you soon on another adventure