Summer dangers you don't think about: active chicks like to head outdoors, but going "into the wild" carries risks. Learn ways to protect yourself.(REAL-LIFE READS)

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When Meredith Emerson, 24, went for a hike on Georgia's Blood Mountain this past New Year's Day, she took plenty of precautions, as always: She hiked on a well-traveled section of the Appalachian Trail; she brought her Labrador-mix dog, Ella; she left word with her friends; she carried ID. Meredith, a University of Georgia graduate, was petite but strong--at 5 feet 4 and 120 pounds, she held a green belt and a blue belt in two different martial arts.

But none of those measures helped that day in January, when Meredith encountered Gary Michael Hilton, a 61-year-old drifter. He accosted her on her way down the mountain, brandishing a knife. She fought him fiercely, he told investigators later, managing to disarm him of both the knife and a baton he wielded.

But he eventually subdued her, kidnapped her, and tied her up in his van. He demanded her bank PINs (she kept giving him the wrong ones, probably to buy herself time) and raped her when he became angry about her lying. Finally, after three days, he beat her to death with a tire jack before decapitating her. Hilton confessed to her murder and was sentenced to life in prison. He has since been indicted for killing another female hiker, 46-year-old Cheryl Dunlap of Florida (he pleaded not guilty). At press time, he was a key suspect in two other trailside murders but had not been charged.

Road Hazards

The Hilton horror story is an extreme example of a reality that women face every time they venture into the great outdoors. Sure, anyone who goes out jogging, biking, or hiking can encounter danger--injuries, flash floods, wild animals, or getting lost. But women face all those plus an additional risk: human predators who see them either as easier targets than men are or as sexual prey. Hilton told investigators that he had specifically chosen Meredith in part because she was female.

You don't have to go far off the beaten path to encounter a predator--urban and suburban running and biking trails can be magnets for attackers as well. "Women are particularly susceptible to being victimized while they're running," says Jean Knaack, executive director of the Road Runners Club of America. According to Department of Justice statistics, nearly one-quarter of violent crimes occur during "leisure activity away from home"--a greater percentage than during any other category of activity (like shopping or traveling to and from work).