It makes a great deal of sense to carry a defensive firearm when you’re on a remote trail. For most of my backpacking years, in Canada’s mountain parks, firearms weren’t an option. I got into the habit of carrying my hand axe on the trail. Nobody batted an eye, and only once I was asked by a stranger why I carried it. I smiled and said it was for chopping firewood, but it kept falling off my pack. The person (a European tourist) seemed to accept that.
Nowadays on the trail I have a small defensive pistol in a waist pack, and I still carry the axe. It does keep falling off my pack, you know...
