What Is Scrambling In Hiking?
This page may contain affiliate links. For more information, see our "About Us" page.
What is Scrambling in Hiking?
When I was a kid, there was this giant mountain behind our house. My sister and I’d traverse the quarter of a mile loop to its foot where we’d then scramble to the top only to run back around and do it over again. The top of that mountain stretched from the bottom of an Arkansas creek bed, through the clouds, and out into our backyard. The quarter of a mile we trekked to get to the bed of that dry creek went from our front yard, through a cow pasture, over a rock wall built during the Civil War, down a short hill through the trees, and then up a rocky creek. Little did we know back then, but our hiking adventures had transformed into scrambling.
So, what is scrambling in Hiking? Scrambling is a type of hill walking which exists somewhere between hiking and climbing. It covers the middle ground. Basically, Scrambling requires using your hands and your feet while you climb from point A to point B. Sometimes scrambling is part of another sport like climbing or hiking. The rest of the time it’s a sport unto itself.
If you google the question, you’ll find numerous articles written by hikers, and mountaineers alike from the States to the UK. The best part is that nearly every one of them have a different definition of what scrambling is in hiking. You’ll find a plethora of tips, do’s and don’ts, lists of best places to scramble, and safety briefs.
Scrambling is to Hiking and Camping as...
Scrambling relates to hiking and climbing in different ways. Many rock climbers learn how to climb by first scrambling up mountains. Learning the required skills for advance rock climbing begins with scrambling. Learning where your best center of balance is, best practices for precise footwork, using hands and feet, finding the best routes, testing your path before committing, etc…, are skills you develop while scrambling.
For hikers, Scrambling is a whole different story. Personally speaking, I’ve met hikers who prefer to avoid scrambling or climbing. I’ve also been 3 days out on a trail with hikers who look for opportunities to scramble rather than take the hiking path.
Scrambling means different things to different people in different sports. For hikers, a path or trail that requires scrambling requires advanced skill and mentality. For climbers, it’s the place to start.
Classes, Grades, and Levels
While a few experts will classify scrambles into as many as 4 grades, or offer more detailed classifications, the measure that’s caught on with any kind of uniformity is a Grade 1 through 3.
Grade 1 is a hiking or walking route with at least some exposure. Exposure is distance present between where you are, and where you would stop should you lose balance or footing and fall. Exposure can be as little as a few feet to much more.
Grade 2 is where Scrambling moves from being difficult hiking to blurring lines with climbing. At Grade 2 there might be sections where you need a rope for safety. If you’re going to try a grade 2 scramble, or a hike with grade 2 scramble sections, it might be advisable to take a guided tour or class first.
Grade 3 Scrambles are close what an experienced climber might consider a moderate climb. This is where you’re at least one step over that blurred line into climbing. These scrambles are for the confident and experienced. Use of rope for most, if not all, of the scramble is likely for Grade 3’s, and experience in rock climbing is necessary as these scrambles can become difficult.
Danger and Joy
There is a misconception that because the most useful definitions of scrambling make it sound like fancy hiking, that it’s without danger, easy, and possibly a joke. On the contrary, scrambling, like all mountaineering and outdoor sports, should be approached with respect for the activity, trail, and environment. There are several hazards associated with Scrambling as with any sport of its kind.
To a 12 year old tomboy, that little hill behind our house was a mountain made for giants. A couple of years ago, I found myself in the same neck of the woods on a trip home. Two decades after my first climb up that hill, I revisited the place where I first fell in love with the adventures and dangers of the outdoors. The house was gone, but the hill was still there; even if it felt smaller somehow.
I can’t tell you how many times I returned home from climbing up that hill with a strained this or that, bruises, bloodied lips, concussions, fractures of various kinds, black eyes, blisters, and splinters in strange places. Luckily, I broke no bones. That being said, that little hill that my sister and I braved every day was, at best, a level 1 scramble. It was a bit of a hike getting to it, and that creek bed proved to be almost as much of a hazard.
The First Time
The first time we climbed it, our step-dad had taken us out to it. Apparently he’d gone exploring the week before I returned from my Nanna’s house for summer vacation. It was like he couldn’t wait to show us. The first time me and my sister climbed it, he told us not to climb down it. We soon found out why. As kids will, we pushed the boundaries of the rules laid out before us. I waited until we weren’t being supervised and dove in head first.
Well, not literally, but you get the idea.
I tried to walk down the hill so I could climb back up it. I was 12, fearless, and without experience. It didn’t end well. That’s when I learned that going up a scramble is always far easier than going down. I also learned how to test the terrain I was challenging. Our little hill had a lot of unique features. It would dip and sway with the creek bed, and some places required a straight climb to get started.
About 7 meters in from my favorite starting point was a huge boulder. I knew that if I went right around it, the ground was sturdy. Once I got up to the boulder, I could stand up, and walk nearly the rest of the way. However, if I went left around it, the grade was still steep enough that I had to use both my hands and feet. If I started at my favorite spot, went left from the boulder, and kept my center of balance just right, I could reach the cave. If I tried to climb from directly under the cave, I was at a steep grade, and needed ropes.
In The End
I tried that last one so many times without ropes, or success, that eventually my mom tried to ban me from the hill. I might have strained my fingers, sprained my ankle, hurt my toes, torn up my shoes, and matted my knee length hair on the rest of the hill, but when I started walking through the back door with head wounds, busted lips, and black eyes, she threw a flag on the play.
My Point is This...
Scrambling, like hiking, is a joy but it requires skill, experience, and respect. There are 7 skills essential to scrambling:
- A knowledge of rock climbing, gear, using a rope for belay, setting an anchor, and rigging a short rappel
- If there is snow, then scrambling becomes mountaineering in that you’ll need avalanche awareness, mountain safety, and comfort with an ice axe and snow travel.
- You’ll need to be able to guide yourself through backcountry with use of a map and a compass.
- Understanding and selecting the proper equipment is important. You’ll need the 10 essentials of gear, appropriate clothing and footwear, food, and knowledge in accessing drinkable water.
- Recognize, understand, and know how to avoid mountain hazards like loose rocks, lightening, and floods.
- Wilderness ethic is important: Leave no trace of your presence, don’t destroy the immediate environment of your scrambling location; do as little physical damage as possible to the terrain you traverse; etc.
Scrambling is a lot of fun. It’s freeing because you can climb without the cumbersome entrapments of technical climbing. However, this can lull a scrambler into the false sense that scrambling is essentially safe, or rock climbing for children. It’s a sport. Your environment, trail, and personal capabilities all have to be respected.
Places to Go
Aside from my little hill behind one of many of my childhood homes, there are a lot of places you can go scrambling. You may even find yourself greeted with the opportunity out on the trail somewhere. The trail most known for its exposure is probably going to be North Guardian Angel in Zion National Park. New Hampshire hosts Caps Ridge on Mount Jefferson. Oklahoma is home to Rock Room on Elk Mountain in the Wichita Wildlife Refuge, and then there’s Mt Arête in the Sierra’s.
What Is Scrambling In Hiking - Conclusion
Wherever you decide to go scrambling, be sure to invest in a guide. Every popular trail, mountain range, and tour has been documented so there is a guidebook of some kind out there for you. At the very least, defer to the National Park Service’s website for each park for trail information. This will tell you the trails scramble grade; technical difficulty; how long a hike, climb or scramble will take; and it might even notify you of any special circumstances or equipment you should consider.
Scrambling is a risky and rewarding sport. There is always an adventure to find.
