Hiking Australia: Volume 1 – Before You Go
A practical guide to building preparation that still works when conditions don’t.
A good hiking plan is built around reasonable assumptions: how long the walk will take, what the weather will do, where water will be available, how difficult the terrain will feel and how the group will perform.
The problem is that reasonable assumptions can still be wrong.
Before You Go is about preparing for that gap. It explores how to assess your current capability honestly, understand what Australian conditions can add to a walk, interpret weather rather than simply check it, choose an appropriate hike, and build enough margin into the plan that one unexpected change doesn’t unravel everything that follows.
The book treats preparation as more than a checklist. It is about creating a resilient system that preserves options when the trail, the weather or your own performance turns out differently from what you expected.
Start with Volume 1
Build the system before you step onto the trail.
Paperback and Kindle editions available at Amazon →
eBook edition available at Kobo →
eBook edition available at Google Play →
Hiking Australia: Volume 2 – On the Trail
A practical guide to attention, judgement and decision-making once the plan meets reality.
Preparation gets you to the trailhead. What happens next depends on how well you read the day that actually unfolds.
On the Trail begins where Volume 1 ends. It explores the first kilometres of a hike, moving efficiently through different terrain, navigation, changing environmental conditions, weather, fatigue, decision-making under pressure and the small signals that tell you when the original plan is beginning to lose its fit.
At the centre of the book is attention: noticing discrepancies early, acting while useful options still exist and restoring margin before a small change becomes a defining one.
It also follows the process beyond the trail itself. The final chapters look at what can be learned afterwards, because experience only becomes useful when you examine what actually happened rather than simply remembering that the hike ended well.
Continue with Volume 2
Take the system onto the trail and learn to adjust it as conditions change.
Paperback and Kindle editions available at Amazon →
eBook edition available at Kobo →
eBook edition available at Google Play →
What these books do
Together, the two volumes follow a hike from the decisions made before departure through to the lessons carried home afterwards.
They:
- Show why a trail grade, distance or forecast is only the beginning of understanding a hike
- Explain how reasonable assumptions can become outdated as conditions change
- Help you build and protect margin in time, energy, water, daylight and available options
- Develop the habit of comparing what you expected with what is actually happening
- Explore how terrain, weather, fatigue, navigation and group dynamics affect decisions
- Show why acting early is usually easier than solving the same problem later
- Turn experience into something you can use on the next hike
The books are practical, but they are not built around rules to memorise. They explain the thinking behind good preparation and good field decisions so you can apply the same principles when the circumstances are different.
Who they are for
The Hiking Australia series is for hikers who want to understand more than what to pack or which safety rules to follow.
It is particularly suited to:
- Hikers who already have some experience and want to become more deliberate in the way they prepare and make decisions
- Bushwalkers moving towards longer, harder or more remote walks
- People who want to understand why apparently reasonable decisions sometimes lead to poor outcomes
- Group leaders who carry responsibility for other people as well as themselves
- Hikers who want to become better at reading changing conditions rather than simply following a predetermined plan
You don’t need to be undertaking extreme walks. The principles apply just as readily to an ordinary day hike where the weather changes, the group moves more slowly than expected or the track turns out to be different from the one you planned for.
Where this fits
If you want one complete practical guide to hiking in Australia, start with The Capable Hiker. It brings preparation, equipment, navigation, trail judgement, emergencies and learning from experience together in a single book.
The two Hiking Australia volumes take a more focused and reflective approach to two parts of that journey.
Before You Go goes deeper into the thinking that happens before departure: capability, Australian conditions, weather, route choice, planning, equipment, water, food and the people you walk with.
On the Trail examines what happens once those preparations meet reality: movement, observation, navigation, environmental signals, fatigue, field decisions, restoring margin and learning from the walk afterwards.
Read together, the two volumes explore the continuous cycle of prepare → observe → adjust → learn → prepare again.
Publication Details
First edition: 2026
Author: Darren Edwards
Publisher: Trail Hiking Australia
Published in: Melbourne, Australia
Hiking Australia: Volume 1 – Before You Go
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-7646398-2-8
eBook ISBN: 978-1-7646398-6-6
Hiking Australia: Volume 2 – On the Trail
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-7646398-3-5
eBook ISBN: 978-1-7646398-7-3
All material on this website and in associated downloadable publications is protected by copyright and may not be reproduced, republished, or redistributed without prior written permission from Darren Edwards. For full details, please refer to the Terms of Use, Copyright and Title of Ownership information.
