>>1018133I locked it. When I was in areas which seemed sketchy and/or busy I tried to put it someplace out of sight. I did most of my hiking in National Parks, where I optimistically assumed that no one would come with the tools/desire to snip my 0.5 inch thick cable lock, or just take my panniers off.
I visited 12 National Parks and hiked in 10 of them, 5 for more than a day, and Yellowstone was the only one where I felt motivated to hide my bike a significant distance from the parking lot.
It ended up working out, but I would be cautious about leaving my bike in places where people might see it just driving by.
Picture is from Teddy Roosevelt NP, while my darling bicycle sat locked to a fence at the trail head.
