Absolutely. If you know how to hike, trails are suggestions. I'm not getting caught in the British Columbian mountains five minutes off the trail. I go for my normal hike, then have my own way around a forest that I hike for a long while. I got a clearing I like to have lunch, spend the day and get absolutely destroyed by a dog knot before I'm gone.
I'm also not screaming my lungs out, that also helps.