You're welcome! I haven't seen a bug report for this particular issue before nor did I find one when I searched for it just now, so if you want to make one, please do. There are other posts involving hiking but none that I looked at are about this specific issue. I will me too your bug report as well once you make it.
I see no difference really for any of the hiking options. Some do a full circuit of the place and end up back at the sign you started at and some are sort of one way and you end up a certain scenic spot and have to use the sign there to hike back to the starting point. Otherwise, they just walk around. If you run into trouble with the bugs and have no bug repellant, then I think that is usually what causes the terrible hike buff for some hikes for most sims. Whether a sim has an injury may impact it too. Sims with the lazy trait and maybe one other one or if they are already fatigued before starting the hike will get it sometimes without running into the bugs. I have noticed that if a lot of the sim's skills like fitness, skiing, snowboarding and rock climbing are high, that you are less likely to get the negative buffs too.
Hope this helps.
