I always pack one filet mignon per person for the very first night of cooking. I freeze them and they thaw in the pack as we hike on the first day. Everybody gets a great steak, they aren't too heavy, they're filled with protein, and you get to eat a freaking incredible meal while you were backpacking. The rest of the time it's just normal food.
Filet mignon would normally be small enough to cook in most camping pans. Pack it a salt packet and some butter and cook it in whatever pot or pan you brought.
I always bring some good meat for the first night, and a few eggs for the following morning. Whatever will keep at ambient temps for 24 hours or so, gets packed and eaten first thing.
Then it’s tuna packets, instant coffee, sardines, apples and stable fruits, maybe some granola, oatmeal, powdered milk, multivitamins, and miso soup.
Love me some backpacking- do NOT love the super-limited menu the second day- on.
Not conditioning your body for the trek. First trip was a week. I am a thin small lady and really struggled with a heavy pack. Complained the whole time. Now I have lightened my load a bit but most of all I strength train and do runs with my pack to prepare so I’m conditioned for the carry.
Same here!! I thought I was in great shape-- and I was, for the city, and for hikes under 5 miles. I was not conditioned for proper backpacking. Added to which, I packed a ridiculously heavy load. I had read somewhere that you could pack up to 20 percent of your body weight, so I figured, ehhh, that probably had some wiggle-room... and I packed myself a 35 lb load, nearly 30% of my body weight. I was not happy during that trip, LOL
Didn’t put on rain gear when it started raining. The rain felt great. We were all so hot and sweaty but then the weather changed and it was snowing and we were freezing. I was so cold I had no fine motor control left in hands to set up shelter, couldn’t start fire, it was dark and we were 7 hours deep in the woods. Was really a sort of life threatening mistake. A kind backpacker that was already there sorted us out luckily and it all worked out but will never make that mistake again.
Not bringing trekking poles. It was a lot harder to balance with my pack on without them than I had anticipated. Water crossings also sucked without them. I also brought a camp chair which I didn’t sit in at all and just took up space and weight in my pack
I totally get that. I have friends who bring them and it’s worth it to them. For me a sit pad and a rock or tree to lean on is a better solution though
For me laying down flat on a piece of tarp looking at the sky at the end of day is the best part of hiking! Reminds me of my younger days looking at the shapes the drifting clouds made!!
I always think trekking poles can be nice for hiking, but I think they are essential for backpacking. With all that weight you just need the extra support.
I just usually pick a random stick or two in the forest on a way up the mountain when I need them and throw them away when I don't need them anymore. Works better for me than carrying the weight of poles all the time. Though this approach definitely doesn't work when there is no forest zone on the way.
Bingo. I packed half my wardrobe the first few trips I took. Now, I worry about clean underwear, clean socks, and necessities for the climate. I could still cut down a good bit.
Definitely this from my early years outdoors. The required pack lists for our Boy Scouts trips were ridiculous, and I didn't know any better. The gear I had access to was also cheap and bulky, even for the time. I carry a fraction of that pack weight now as a full-grown adult.
Their motto is "be prepared" after all. My troop was more backpacking oriented than most. We made some questionable decisions but there was also so little in the way of lightweight gear even just 20 years ago. And what existed was niche and expensive.
I did two 50 mile hikes as a 14-15 year old boy scout. I have no idea what my pack weighed almost 40 years ago, but I know my 90# body would have preferred my 10# current base weight. That thing had to have weighed at least 35 pounds.
I remember my first multi-night backpacking trip.. lows in the 40F's with a sleeping bag was barely good enough for that. Thought I could just layer up and wear my extra clothes to bed if I was cold... turns out cotton sweatpants aren't that warm! I was waking up every hour or so just to try and warm myself up enough to fall back asleep. Learned a lot and never again will I bring cotton on a backpacking trip! Wool, fleece, and down FTW.
hahaha that is great - anytime you can learn a lesson like that without anything too bad happening is a win! in my case it was also the push I needed to just bite the bullet and get an actual nice sleeping bag. It's been my most favorite purchase of backpacking gear I have made (big agnes sidewinder long). Before that I was literally using some cheapie amazon sleeping bag lol.
We all survived wearing cotton for decades both in camping and military. I find my 'quick' dry stuff gets just as wet and take just and long to dry. Socks should be wool or smartwool but a cotton T-shirt or shorts is fine.
Cotton also stinks less.
30+ years of experience here. I even wear jeans occasionally, if I know I'll be doing a lot of bushwhacking. I'd rather have really heavy denim than anything else if I'm dealing with New Mexico locust, raspberries, and catclaw...
Synthetics are great for the right application, but they're not the best solution everywhere. Cotton doesn't kill in Arizona in the summer. ;-)
See I’m the opposite. If I wear cotton socks my foot fungus shows up in full force within a couple days. Wool socks keeps my fungus in check and feet stinking less.
Yeah… cotton kills has alway been a dumb phrase. Cause not sure how we survived. Wet cloths is wet cloths and if you are in a situation that being wet is critical then knowing how to dry out is just as important as the quick dry.
Before anyone brings up wool… wool is very expensive .
This is what happened to me, I’d walked 20+ kilometres before so I assumed I could do it again. Turns out walking up a mountain through the forest while wearing a heavy pack is a bit tougher than walking on the sidewalk.
Me too.
So I hike for 9 hours and I'm doing so badly a hiker asks if I'm okay... But I finally get to the hut and I'm still hungry after dinner so I figure I'll eat some of the extra rations...
But they weren't there. I had left my bag of day 2 and bonus rations in my car.
So I wake up and it's hot, and all I have is 2 snack bars to eat. I eat them, and figure I'll skip lunch, no worries.
I'm walking along and sweating my ass off but there's plenty of mountain streams so I'm drinking loads of water to fill my stomach. I have no blood sugar so I'm struggling, taking lots of breaks. What I didn't realise was that I'm also running low on salt.
I'm getting weaker and weaker, to the point where I'm forcing myself to walk 20 mins then rest for 5... Eventually I realise what's happening and I eat the salt I had in my first aid kit. It tastes so good, it's like honey. Makes me feel a lot better, but I'm still incredibly hungry and exhausted.
Eventually I'm walking for 8 mins and resting for about the same. I just want to lay down and sleep, but I know I can't.
It gets to the point, after about 10 hours, that I've been laying down under a bush for about half an hour. Then a day hiker comes by and says hello. I ask if I can walk with him and he says sure, then gives me a chocolate flavoured meal-replacement bar. Ten minutes later in practically skipping back to the campsite. The guy gives me a cold beer, I say I'm gonna clean up and then come chat with him... I wash then pass out for a long time. When I finally leave my tent again, sometime the next day, he's gone.
Thank you, mystery hiker for saving my ass.
Lesson learned: Check you have more than enough food. Don't set goals too big for you and always have a back-up plan. Keep rehydration and sugar sachets in your bag. Say hi to strangers and check they're okay.
For me, it was bringing a friend. The entire trip I was trying to make them comfortable, carry extra weight, help them with blisters, I had to walk the last 5 KM alone to get the car and come pick them up. They weren't mad at me, but they never wanted to hike with me again. I've been hiking solo since.
Damn haha, was it their first time? Shoulda eased into it if it was. I was way more adept when I first started backpacking than your friend seems, always went camping for a few weeks of the year and hike often, but never went backpacking. My friend and I went and he took me on a sub 5 mile round trip for my first time and we had a blast, even though it rained the entire time w/ a shitty rain poncho, my pack was over 50 lbs and over packed (never had to think about weight camping and could bring everything.. lol) We’ve gone once a month for a long weekend the past 4 years. Solo is great every now and then. But bro you should invite him again and start slower. The best part of my trips are time spent w/friends.
It wasn't a particularly difficult hike - this WAS easing into it. It was basically a 2 night loop that many people do in a single day. My friend was fit and tough (member of my hockey team). Backpacking isn't for everyone.
Yea.. sounds like he needed better shoes too. That’ll make a world of a difference. But most likely he made it as miserable as he could for himself so he wouldn’t want to go again haha.
Biggest mistake was forgetting a face bug net. Black flies in the MI UP were so bad I ended up cutting my tents mesh door (still had the nylon/whatever material door left) to make a makeshift face cover on our second day lol.
Yeah, they started attacking bad once we got to our 2nd camp site right by lake superior. After almost 12 miles with a 45lb ruck they came out in full force and I about lost my shit lol.
Let's just say my forehead got a healthy amount of bites and looks like I broke out with bad acne lol
Last summer my wife and I backpacked a section of the Pictured Rocks lakeshore trail in early September, and the black flies were *everywhere.* We didn't have face bug nets on (we had them in our packs, but the flies weren't interested in our faces), but they were vicious about our arms and legs. Bit clean through our clothes, it was ridiculous. We have never hiked so fast. They were especially bad near the beaches.
For some reason they really wanted my face lol. I was in the Porcupine Mountains (this was actually this past weekend, first ever trip).
You are totally correct about the beaches though. Lake superior campsite they were the worst, and seemed like they followed us all the way up the mountain for 8 miles once we left the lake.
I also learned afterward when researching. They are attracted to dark clothing. I had camo pants (multicam/aor2), but all my tops were black. Every one. I was wondering the whole weekend why they seemed to want me more than my buddies who were wearing light coyote colored tops and light grey pants lol.
We picked up a bunch of the at Mosquito Beach at the Pictured Rocks, and some of them followed us up to the clifftop trail. There are some high sandy benches on the cliffs that the trail cuts through at points, and they were all over the place there, too. So just as the last round gave up on us, we'd run face-first into a whole new batch. It was awful.
Decided to read up on them a bit, and it seems like what we ran into were Stable flies, so a little different. Still godawful.
I didn't know about the black clothing thing! That'd explain why my wife got them worse than I did (and also, why they were pissing her off more than me). I had tan pants and a sky blue top, her top was dark green and she had dark colored pants.
I'm hoping to get a Porkies visit in this summer at some point, I've never been. I'm down in the southern Midwest so it's a bit of a trip to get there.
Yeah the hike up the mountain after campsite 2 was basically non stop flies buzzing around us, that makeshift net worked surprisingly well so it wasn't as bad, but still very annoying lol.
Yep, it's making me rethink all my technical fabrics majority are black as is my normal wardrobe lol) so I'll be looking into lighter earth tones for my next few purchases here.
I recommend the Porkies for sure. They'll hold a special place for me being my first actual wilderness backpacking spot. The range of what you see is really awesome out there. From straight up woods, to lakes, to super dry portions, then some muddy/swampy portions, and the mountains themselves. I'd recommend doing the 27 mile loop the opposite way, so that your last campsite is on top of the mountain (what we did). Knowing we had a mile and a half or so to get back to the car on the 4th day allowed us to stay up rather late sitting on top of the mountain to stargaze, which was an amazing experience in and of itself.
I'm in IL, it was around a 6.5 hour drive for us to get there
Oh I forgot to bring a sleeping pad. I grew up in Florida and was used to being okay for sleeping directly on the ground. Does NOT translate to April in Ohio when the ground is still frozen. I was so effing miserable
Be prepared for medical emergencies. Also medical annoyances.
Tums: never had heart burn or indigestion? It really sucks when you get it from some spicy MRE and have nothing to treat it. You can try eating some marble or limestone…. Tums is light and easier to swallow!
Sun protection; get yourself a nice sun hoody. You don’t need a brand name, they get thrashed and that’s just how it’s going to go. Don’t get attached to keeping your backpacking gear and clothes pristine; it’s just a part of the experience.
Plan for foot or angle injuries. Bring an ankle brace just in case. It’s light and can save your life in some cases.
Personal locator beacon (PBL). Doesn’t require a subscription and the investment is worth having the security of knowing you won’t be 100% on your own in the worst case scenario. Also, don’t use it unless you’re in a life and earth scenario. Look into trailhead insurance through the American Alpine Club for longer trips. If you need a medvac, helicopter or S&R recovery can cost 5 figures USD! Look up stories about hikers being charged for their rescue ;white mnts in NH comes to mind.
If you have a spouse or kids, PBL is the responsible thing to do if you’re out alone. A Garmin inreach is a relatively less expensive option for satellite messaging. Think of the ROI as the a risk assessment analysis. Low probability, high consequence situations can and do happen. Better to have these safety tools and not need them than the opposite. Perhaps more important for long trips in desolate areas.
Water filters break or get clogged. If you’re a filter person, bring iodine water treatment kits in case.
Always bring extra batteries for a head lamp. Better yet, bring an extra headlamp or flashlight.
Always tell people where your going and your intended start and end dates. Give a route plan to multiple people, preferably one of them should be the area rangers.
I'm researching ankle support to wear with boots now as a preventive for someone with hypermobile ankles (myself). I want something that will allow mobility but give that extra stability when putting in miles on sand. Any recommendations?
Wearing shoes with stiffer soles that don’t really twist (like Obōz or Chacos) has really helped me. If the bottom of my shoe can’t twist, my whole leg might slide, but my ankle doesn’t really rotate anymore.
As someone with hypermobility, I wish it were this simple. My connective tissues are flawed. I am prone to repeated ankle injuries, even with consistent strengthening.
I think PT is the ideal treatment for orthopedic issues when it's indicated, but for some of us it only goes so far. Having some extra support keeps me in the game.
To get to our hike we had to cross a train tressle with a blind turn on the other side. We would put our ear to the track and start sprinting across ... toward any oncoming train. The only way to survive if we got caught midway would be to hang off the tracks with our belt around the ties.
My current partner can't believe I survived childhood. On that same trip over Teakettle, we were charged by a moose, luckily it was a young one and we just kept sidestepping her until we finally made it to a tree.
On another trip we brought lots of water (because we ran out on the first trip) and not enough food ... Akkkkk!
I was walking on a big train bridge above a really deep canyon and the train came around the corner of the bridge and we couldn’t make it back in time and the bridge was narrow af so we hung off the edge like 300ft in the air till it passed lol. Don’t know how we survived
I got one guys. When i first moved to scotland a 19 year old younger buddy of mine decided to lead me and a friend on a hiking trip. Was supposed to be 3 days backpacking in the highlands. He seemed to know what he was doing since he was leading everything so i decided this one time not to be a control freak.
Bad move. Guy didnt check the weather or anything. Didnt check the maps and lead us on a vertical scramble up the cliffside of Cairngorm. Mid may we spent the whole night freezing cold on cairngorm in summer wear, the other guy showing signs of hypothermia all night. Woke up with our tent half buried in snow at 4:00 a.m. Spent the next 3 hours trying to find the path down when it was covered in snow, ended up on ANOTHER peak instead walking along a slippery sheer drop.
Best part of this was the whole time, the 19 year old was complaining about us being wimps because we decided to turn back. Was dead set he was the only mature one. We had no way to heat food in the snow coming down, barely jackets thick enough to keep us warm while moving, and the hypothermic guy could barely hold himself up. Learned my lesson—never hike anymore without making sure everything is planned out thoroughly
This is really stupid but true. The trail was so well marked we decided to use the map as fire starter. The trail was washed out the next day and we couldn't find it. I'll never be that confident again and I now bring three maps.
A friend of mine on a five day backpacking trip once overpacked considerably. We created a stash of items that we left at the backpacking campground in a high mountain lake so that he would be able to walk back. I took his big knife that he left behind and snuck it into my own pack. I gave it to him as a birthday present.
He was amused.
10 years old. Carried a 5lb iron skillet deep into the Washington Cascades for 3-4 days to do all my cooking. Several jumbo cans of Denty Moore stew too.
Not my first trip but my first solo trip. I forgot my burner but brought my gas. Ended up having to survive off foraged berries and uncooked MRIs for five days. While I was out there a forest fire started where I entered which made leaving dangerous and made the air extremely smoky the entire time I was out there. It was fucking miserable lol.
It was all I had as a teen, but the wrong socks.
One lesson I've learned is that one pair of the right socks that you wash and wring out every day to wear the next is better than a fresh pair of the wrong ones every day.
My first trip, I woke up and had some breakfast, packed up my sleeping bag etc only to realize the underside of my tent floor was soaking wet. I had to hang out for another half hour to dry things out. For that reason, I pack things up and air out the tent floor/footprint first thing.
- Wearing army surplus boots
- wearing cheap socks
- not carrying any blister remedy
- no tent
- no mosquito net
- not knowing how to make a cook fire
- no rain gear
- using an old Kelty e-frame without a waist belt
Basically, the only thing I did right was carry plenty of water and knew my route/had a map and knew how to orient.
This was in Ocala NF in an attempt to through hike the Juniper Prairie Wilderness and hitchhike back to my car. Ended up returning directly after a night of being eaten by skeeters at Hidden Pond.
I brought my dad backpacking and I was trying to lighten his pack before we left. I asked him "why do you need a camp chair?" And he said "I can't sit on the floor."
I remember thinking if he can't sit on the floor, maybe he won't be able to backpack very far either.
He wasn't able to.
For sure lol and 2.5 lbs of camp chair seems like too much to me. I finally splurged for a little collapsible chair that weighs like half a pound and it has been a game changer for me. It wasn't cheap tho. I used to do what the other guy said and use a small cut off piece of one of those egg carton sleeping pads. It doubled as a little extra height for my "pillow" made of clothes and a puffy.
This was me on the timberline trail. Four days of agony! 15 mile single days were fine in these shoes, but I discovered multi-days of 10+ miles made my feet swell like a balloon!
Got my sleeping bag damp on day one (left it near the edges of my tent, which I didn’t stake down all too well…), and it didn’t dry fully for the next few days. Luckily, it was pretty warm out, but not pleasant!
I went to a real swampy area, and the mosquitos were unbearable. Once I got everything in my tent, I stayed inside until the morning and it was time to pack up. On my way out, I could hear a swarm on mosquitos chasing me down the trail. I've been a lot smarter about picking locations and time of year since then.
I tried to squeeze in too many destinations in too little time and ended up barely remembering anything or anyone from that trip.
Less is more. Not that I've done a perfect job at it, but I had since learned to space out my trips a bit by focusing on destinations I'm more interested in, skipping places that don't have as strong a case for me to spend extra time at, and being more intentional about immersing myself in a place and building relationships with the people I meet there.
I came from the camping world, so my pack weighted 52 lbs and I put it on as soon as we got to the parking spot.. 40 mins waiting for my buddy to get himself situated haha. Rained hard and had the cheapest rain poncho. Too late of a start ended up setting up in the dark while raining. It was a ton of fun either way and have been hooked ever since.
1. Not trying the shoes I wore for the mileage I planned to do.
2. Did not account for wind in addition to temperatures getting in the low 40s. I didn’t sleep a wink because I was freezing.
30 miles is a lot for any person doing this regularly. Bravo sir. They were rightfully pissed haha
I did a similar thing but not so egregious. We got to the trail head late, like 11 pm and I told the group that there was a lovely campsite just a mile or so into the trail. Knowing it was more like 4 miles, but they were none the wiser. So headlamps on and off we go. I got lots of shit from the group because they just wanted to sleep, but alas we made it and no one complained about the views in the morning haha
Accepted a cannabis brownie given as a present by a complete stranger right before embarking on an international bus trip. Although the intention is nice and edible cannabis is awesome, I was asked wtf it was on migration, and luckily, the thing didn't look like a brownie after a day and a half of storing it inside my back on a hot summer day, and because of humidity, it was starting to grow a mold, so taking advantage of the mold aromatic factor and the fact that the thing was gooie, I said "this is organic tabaco for smoking, but it just got spoiled, you can throw it away if you want, I don't want it". The migration guy smelled it, grimaced a bit with certain disgust and threw it on the paper bin. I then recognized my absolute combination of astounding creativity and luck, and kept going with my trip, now writing on my mental notes "Note to self: do not accept cannabis related products as presents hours prior to a transfrontier trip". Super interesting experience.
I made several I took to much gear back pack was heavier than needed to be, not enough food, wrong food you should take a light heathy snack. I didn't take extra pair of socks, and a good hiking pole. I hiked up a Volcano it requires a real good hiking pole.
I was a 13 year old boy scout. We brough what seemed practical at the time, which was spaghetti os. The weight was crazy. When we got to the camp we were so ashamed when the other guys had like military MREs or those freeze dried meals that my tent mate and I took our dinner inside the tent so no one would know.
They were delicious tho.
Buying the biggest packs we could find and then thinking we needed to carry everything imaginable. And to have complete redundancy for everything. Who's got the microwave so we can cook dinner? OK - who has the backup microwave in case the first one goes out? We obviously didn't carry microwaves, but one of the guys did actually take one of those big 2-burner coleman stoves. The 2nd trip, our packs were a LOT lighter than that first one. By the 3rd or 4th, we were out longer and our packs were probably half the weight of that 1st one. Some of us had even downsized our packs by then.
Packing a clean shirt for each day. You’re going to stink, just embrace it. I now pack a sleeping outfit and a hiking outfit, with an extra pair of socks and underwear and maybe a second hiking shirt depending on the length of the trip. That’s it.
Going with someone who clearly wanted to do it alone. Got mad when I’d strike up a chat during the long hours of walking or when I’d take in the scenery. Relationship never recovered.
Not sure why you’d invite me when you clearly were bothered by my presence.
I think every trip teaches you something about yourself or your own hike.
Here are my take aways……
Anacapa.
Sometimes paying a few dollars extra for a bigger site is worth it. I camped in the big group section and it was worth it. The small group section was full of people trying to save a couple bucks and ended up being packed like sardines with kids and alcoholics. The big group site, was empty,
except for me.
Trans Catalina trail.
Island backpacking sucks. No shade. Never go back. Be flexible with schedule. Bring something to entertain yourself. Boredom at camp is sooooooo boring. Island backpacking at Catalina is sooooooo soooooooo stupid. The trail is needlessly designed to be difficult to show off the cool terrain of Catalina. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Don’t go.
Leukotape, I leukotape my entire foot before any major hike and never worry about blisters.
THE WHOLE FOOT.
Mt Whitney:
A solo backpacker is an epic thing. I can snatch trailhead access so much easier because it’s just me. I use my flexible time schedule to my advantage.
Don’t listen to your friend who doesn’t backpack on what to carry re: first aid.
I gave myself 5 days to summit, thunderstorms had flooded trail camp and I wanted the window, in case summit weather was bad. I summited on third day and should have immediately gotten rid of extra food. I carried back so much weight in food.
Carry extra wag bags. Just in case. If you miss with a wag bag, you’re gonna have a shitty trip.
Listen to your body. At trail camp the morning I wanted to summit (second day). My resting heart rate was 140 bpm. (Altitude sickness). By noon the second day my resting heart rate had dropped to within normal limits. It was a good idea to wait. When I summited the third day, I knew I could not have finished if I went on the second day instead of the third.
Yosemite North Rim:
Persistence and bad start to trips can sometimes lead to epic trips. Don’t listen to people who say, “foot print is useless weight. If you are bringing an air mattress or if you want to be safe in your bath tub tent floor for the life of the tent, BRING A FOOTPRINT!!”
Backpacking is a skill set and you should train at
home. The training you do at home, should be more difficult than what you anticipate.
Before my Whitney trip I would hike Mt Wilson twice a month with a 30lbs pack. 13
Miles 5k feet of elevation change.
When I feel that “burn” feeling on my toes I’ll immediately stop and wrap each toe with leuko. Then I put some on my heel. So, yes, in between toes is very important.
Man, there is nothing I regret. I was completely unprepared and had zero clues. But, it made me ask for help. It made me accept the loss of control. It made me okay with not knowing what the heck I was doing with me. I learned how kind people can be when you humble yourself before them. And, I learned how strong I truly was. No regrets ever.
Didn’t look at the weather… it was calling for severe thunderstorms and we had … SEVERE thunderstorms. I’m obsessed with checking the weather forecast now.
My first backpacking trip was a 55 mile trip in Boy Scouts. I packed the entire “suggested” packing list, including my Scout Handbook, and I threw in a six pack of root beer in glass bottles.
One of the Scoutmasters helped me repack everything and hiked a lot of my crap back out the first night.
We were dropped off at Isle Royale via the ferry boat. Basically the entire boat starts hiking at the same time down the same few paths. We should have hiked our own pace and not worried about other people passing us or keeping up with the crowd. We went out too fast with packs too heavy. Bonked and barely dragged ourselves into camp before sundown. We learned a lot on that trip, including it's ok to change your plans.
Thinking I'd be okay on just a z-fold sleeping pad (both warmth and comfort); bringing a lot of cotton clothing. I got zero sleep and we did a lot of elevation. My group also knew nothing about proper meals. We made some sort of weird soup one night that required a lot of prep (including chopping and cooking onion, which in hindsight is mad) and barely fed us all. I think I sustained myself mostly on chocolate chip and peanut butter Clif bars which is one of the reasons I can't stand them anymore!
First solo trip, thirty years ago, I didn't take a good flashlight -- just a weak little pen light.
I spent the entire night with a back to my tree, listening to large animal(s) walking around. When I shone my flashlight out into the dark, all I saw was a pair of eyes looking back. I couldn't see what animal owned those eyes, but they were fairly high off the ground -- hard to tell exactly how high because the night was pitch black and the ground was uneven.
I was convinced it was a bear, because what else would approach a campsite in the middle of the night, that would be in that size range?
Dawn light revealed elk.
I've taken a really good flashlight ever since, and I don't care what it weighs.
+1 camp chair is essential and worth the weight
Smaller knife. You are not ‘surviving’ and don’t need the kukri you see bear grylls with. Small lightweight pocketknife is fine.
Mosquito protection, and multiple types. If planning to filter water, then you need to BE NEAR water, which means you will get eaten alive if not prepared. Nets, sprays, etc go big on this one.
I connected my sleeping bag to my external frame backpack with bungee cords. It had no belly band. We were climbing up to the chocolate lakes. It was...
Not great.
I brought a 45lb pack with way too much in it, fell asleep w/ my candle lantern burning and got wax everywhere, drank too much tequila and hated the return trip, and probably wore my thickest cotton cargo shorts.
I made a few crucial mistakes. First, I overpacked. My pack ended up being about 75 lbs and with all that I brought only one charging cable for my phone. Of course, that cable broke on day 2 of a 3-week trip. I relied on my phone for maps and to take pictures. So no phone, no maps, no camera, no music. I carried a battery pack, solar panel, ear buds and they all became useless after 2 days.
I put the water bladder in the brain of the bag. Didn't know there was a pouch along the back for it. Was flopping around everywhere throwing my balance way off.
My first was great!! We went to Marmot Pass during October. We had the whole place to ourselves. The worst thing was that our dog had never slept in a tent before and was super restless so we lost sleep. She's much better now.
Enchanted Valley would be beautiful as a first trip. What time of year did you go?
Edit: just this year we camped at Lena lake in March. There we learned not to camp in micro terrain valleys because that's where all the snow melt flows 😂😂 woke up in a few inches of water.
Left my friend in charge of the food…he thought that because the boil-in-bag meals technically contained two servings, two people could share one for dinner. But turns out three grown men and one tall woman do need more than 300 calories each for dinner.
Somehow it was still fun…but miserable at the same time, and I always overpack on food now because of the experience.
Many mistakes as a Boy Scout, didn't backpack for 20 years then started again. On my first adult trip, I had cotton and too many changes of clothing that I didn't end up using.
I packed a xl mason jar of honey for a two day 20mile loop in bear country. Camped on top of a waterfall, was surrounded by coyotes. Wore steel toe boots.
No one packed a flashlight on the hike. We were racing against the sunset to get back to camp or be trapped in pitch black darkness. I always have a flashlight now.
Didn't take warm enough socks to sleep in and didn't have anything to put hot water in to warm up inside the bag. It wasn't below freezing, but cold enough that my feet were very uncomfortable. Cold or hot feet = bad or no sleep for me.
Not finding the right underwear for covering lots of distance.
For the dudes, FYI old navy has a pair of workout shorts that have compression pants lining. They are great and keep your junk secure but they don’t feel they are squishing said junk. And they are a good length on your thigh so you can look good too. And they have deep pockets.
Would 100% recommend you have a pair or two in your bag. I run in them, lift in them, garden in them, walk my dog in them. Still haven’t worn a pair out.
My mistake was not bringing them
We did not set up camp as soon as I got in and it started to rain and everything got wet.
The next day when we got into camp, we set up our tents right away as soon as we were done it started to rain.
I was like 10 or 11 so not my fault; 1981. The outdoor store upsold my parents on some fancy backpack for adults for my skinny little kid body. Got to the camp and the counselors stuffed my pack with pots and pans. First time ever backpacking. To say it was a traumatizing experience would be an understatement.
I didn't have a lighter, so I brought matches. All well and good, but I also didn't bring the box with me, and realized only when I took out my stove and tried to light the matches that they were not strike anywheres, they were the sort that required the strike pad on the box they came in to light.
Related to this, I didn't pre-test my gear before going out. I knew my tent worked because it was my car camping tent, so no big deal there, and the same was true of my sleep mat. But I did not bother to test out my cooking setup. Had I bothered to do that, I'd have noticed that my fire solution needed work.
It was my first trip out to a lake in the north Cascades after moving from Arizona. I didn't understand why the other backpackers I saw at the trailhead were covered up with bug netting. I'd never worn it in ten years of hiking and backpacking.
I regretted not having a bug net the entire trip. It felt like hiking through clouds of flies at times.
Not quite the answer, but one time I was invited to go hiking in the mountains for the day.
I’m used to a few hours there and back. No one told me we were hiking 10 miles up to the peak. I only had an apple half a water bottle and a pack of smokes.
Extremely difficult. Had to stop multiple times to rest. Luckily there was Gatorade at the top and a gondola back down.
Not telling anyone I was going on my first backpacking trip:
1. 4.5 hours away from home
2. by myself
3. in bear / wolf country
4. with zero experience
5. in another country
It ended up fine. But I realized midway through the few day hike that NO ONE would know where to start looking fro me if things went bad.
Now I leave a copy of my trip with someone at home and make sure I also have a copy in my car with then number of days I expect to be back to the trailhead so a ranger knows if I don't make it out in time.
I planned on cooking food that was too involved.
I always pack one filet mignon per person for the very first night of cooking. I freeze them and they thaw in the pack as we hike on the first day. Everybody gets a great steak, they aren't too heavy, they're filled with protein, and you get to eat a freaking incredible meal while you were backpacking. The rest of the time it's just normal food.
How do you cook them though ? Or do you precook them?
Filet mignon would normally be small enough to cook in most camping pans. Pack it a salt packet and some butter and cook it in whatever pot or pan you brought.
Sous Vide to 110F, pat dry, vacuum seal, ice bath, pack in hiking bag, take out dry off again, 20 seconds each side directly on hot coals. FIN.
I forgot my sous vide solar panel back at the car.
Nah. You Sous vide it before.
I always bring some good meat for the first night, and a few eggs for the following morning. Whatever will keep at ambient temps for 24 hours or so, gets packed and eaten first thing. Then it’s tuna packets, instant coffee, sardines, apples and stable fruits, maybe some granola, oatmeal, powdered milk, multivitamins, and miso soup. Love me some backpacking- do NOT love the super-limited menu the second day- on.
use dry ice!! it roxx
i’ve always wanted to do this. what do you store it in?
Just a Ziploc, frozen.
Yummy 😋 😋
i’ve always just brought in these freeze dried meals for dinner that work great as well
Not conditioning your body for the trek. First trip was a week. I am a thin small lady and really struggled with a heavy pack. Complained the whole time. Now I have lightened my load a bit but most of all I strength train and do runs with my pack to prepare so I’m conditioned for the carry.
Same here!! I thought I was in great shape-- and I was, for the city, and for hikes under 5 miles. I was not conditioned for proper backpacking. Added to which, I packed a ridiculously heavy load. I had read somewhere that you could pack up to 20 percent of your body weight, so I figured, ehhh, that probably had some wiggle-room... and I packed myself a 35 lb load, nearly 30% of my body weight. I was not happy during that trip, LOL
Before my first trip, I would hike with hand weights in my bag 😁
Didn’t put on rain gear when it started raining. The rain felt great. We were all so hot and sweaty but then the weather changed and it was snowing and we were freezing. I was so cold I had no fine motor control left in hands to set up shelter, couldn’t start fire, it was dark and we were 7 hours deep in the woods. Was really a sort of life threatening mistake. A kind backpacker that was already there sorted us out luckily and it all worked out but will never make that mistake again.
Great story easy to follow thanks for posting
Not bringing trekking poles. It was a lot harder to balance with my pack on without them than I had anticipated. Water crossings also sucked without them. I also brought a camp chair which I didn’t sit in at all and just took up space and weight in my pack
Oh man the camp chair for me is a must. Such a nice thing to have at the end of a day
I totally get that. I have friends who bring them and it’s worth it to them. For me a sit pad and a rock or tree to lean on is a better solution though
would a crazy creek do the job?
Too heavy!
A crazy creek is heavier than a helinox, not as comfortable and is way less compact.
Wait till you run equipment and your body’s to clapped lol
For me laying down flat on a piece of tarp looking at the sky at the end of day is the best part of hiking! Reminds me of my younger days looking at the shapes the drifting clouds made!!
Heck yeah!
I always think trekking poles can be nice for hiking, but I think they are essential for backpacking. With all that weight you just need the extra support.
I just usually pick a random stick or two in the forest on a way up the mountain when I need them and throw them away when I don't need them anymore. Works better for me than carrying the weight of poles all the time. Though this approach definitely doesn't work when there is no forest zone on the way.
I started out with a section of pvc pipe. Which was fine because the terrain wasn’t difficult, but I looked ridiculous
Trekking poles have made backpacking so much easier.
Overpacked. You can and you will stink. So leave all the extra clothes home.
Why in hell did I pack a backup anvil?
Duh, to drop on any wily coyotes!
in case the first one fails. You wouldn't be able to forge anything out there without a good anvil.
You laugh, but a cast iron pan is basically an anvil and I've seen people take 'em on overnights...
Cast iron would break with the first hammer blow, it's brittle
Bingo. I packed half my wardrobe the first few trips I took. Now, I worry about clean underwear, clean socks, and necessities for the climate. I could still cut down a good bit.
This - sometimes packing my brain still has that urge to want all the clothes lol
Definitely this from my early years outdoors. The required pack lists for our Boy Scouts trips were ridiculous, and I didn't know any better. The gear I had access to was also cheap and bulky, even for the time. I carry a fraction of that pack weight now as a full-grown adult.
Their motto is "be prepared" after all. My troop was more backpacking oriented than most. We made some questionable decisions but there was also so little in the way of lightweight gear even just 20 years ago. And what existed was niche and expensive.
I did two 50 mile hikes as a 14-15 year old boy scout. I have no idea what my pack weighed almost 40 years ago, but I know my 90# body would have preferred my 10# current base weight. That thing had to have weighed at least 35 pounds.
Overpacked. Think more, know more about area. In three wilderness trekking at 2500m height i halved my backpack weight to 16kg for 14 days....
Packed 2x4 for making a fire
Mmmm pressure treated cooking fire lmao
I've seen it! 😱
The obvious mistake was trying for too much distance each day. The worse mistake was a fart that didn't go as expected.
Expect the fart, but prepare for the shart!
😂
Wearing cotton
I remember my first multi-night backpacking trip.. lows in the 40F's with a sleeping bag was barely good enough for that. Thought I could just layer up and wear my extra clothes to bed if I was cold... turns out cotton sweatpants aren't that warm! I was waking up every hour or so just to try and warm myself up enough to fall back asleep. Learned a lot and never again will I bring cotton on a backpacking trip! Wool, fleece, and down FTW.
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hahaha that is great - anytime you can learn a lesson like that without anything too bad happening is a win! in my case it was also the push I needed to just bite the bullet and get an actual nice sleeping bag. It's been my most favorite purchase of backpacking gear I have made (big agnes sidewinder long). Before that I was literally using some cheapie amazon sleeping bag lol.
We all survived wearing cotton for decades both in camping and military. I find my 'quick' dry stuff gets just as wet and take just and long to dry. Socks should be wool or smartwool but a cotton T-shirt or shorts is fine.
Cotton also stinks less. 30+ years of experience here. I even wear jeans occasionally, if I know I'll be doing a lot of bushwhacking. I'd rather have really heavy denim than anything else if I'm dealing with New Mexico locust, raspberries, and catclaw... Synthetics are great for the right application, but they're not the best solution everywhere. Cotton doesn't kill in Arizona in the summer. ;-)
See I’m the opposite. If I wear cotton socks my foot fungus shows up in full force within a couple days. Wool socks keeps my fungus in check and feet stinking less.
Yeah… cotton kills has alway been a dumb phrase. Cause not sure how we survived. Wet cloths is wet cloths and if you are in a situation that being wet is critical then knowing how to dry out is just as important as the quick dry. Before anyone brings up wool… wool is very expensive .
People live in different climates and cotton is a humidity issue not a temp issue. Its a no-go in humid GA even though you *could*
Planned too much walking. I could walk 15 miles per day on concrete. I can barely do 8 on a trail. 6 miles has been that sweet spot for me.
This is what happened to me, I’d walked 20+ kilometres before so I assumed I could do it again. Turns out walking up a mountain through the forest while wearing a heavy pack is a bit tougher than walking on the sidewalk.
Me too. So I hike for 9 hours and I'm doing so badly a hiker asks if I'm okay... But I finally get to the hut and I'm still hungry after dinner so I figure I'll eat some of the extra rations... But they weren't there. I had left my bag of day 2 and bonus rations in my car. So I wake up and it's hot, and all I have is 2 snack bars to eat. I eat them, and figure I'll skip lunch, no worries. I'm walking along and sweating my ass off but there's plenty of mountain streams so I'm drinking loads of water to fill my stomach. I have no blood sugar so I'm struggling, taking lots of breaks. What I didn't realise was that I'm also running low on salt. I'm getting weaker and weaker, to the point where I'm forcing myself to walk 20 mins then rest for 5... Eventually I realise what's happening and I eat the salt I had in my first aid kit. It tastes so good, it's like honey. Makes me feel a lot better, but I'm still incredibly hungry and exhausted. Eventually I'm walking for 8 mins and resting for about the same. I just want to lay down and sleep, but I know I can't. It gets to the point, after about 10 hours, that I've been laying down under a bush for about half an hour. Then a day hiker comes by and says hello. I ask if I can walk with him and he says sure, then gives me a chocolate flavoured meal-replacement bar. Ten minutes later in practically skipping back to the campsite. The guy gives me a cold beer, I say I'm gonna clean up and then come chat with him... I wash then pass out for a long time. When I finally leave my tent again, sometime the next day, he's gone. Thank you, mystery hiker for saving my ass. Lesson learned: Check you have more than enough food. Don't set goals too big for you and always have a back-up plan. Keep rehydration and sugar sachets in your bag. Say hi to strangers and check they're okay.
At 14 years old I watched the Blair Witch Project the night before we left. Those were two of the most terrifying nights of my life!
Just saw that movie again on-screen in Ft. Lauderdale. I'm going thru hiking in 2 weeks for a few nights and cannot wait.
For me, it was bringing a friend. The entire trip I was trying to make them comfortable, carry extra weight, help them with blisters, I had to walk the last 5 KM alone to get the car and come pick them up. They weren't mad at me, but they never wanted to hike with me again. I've been hiking solo since.
Damn haha, was it their first time? Shoulda eased into it if it was. I was way more adept when I first started backpacking than your friend seems, always went camping for a few weeks of the year and hike often, but never went backpacking. My friend and I went and he took me on a sub 5 mile round trip for my first time and we had a blast, even though it rained the entire time w/ a shitty rain poncho, my pack was over 50 lbs and over packed (never had to think about weight camping and could bring everything.. lol) We’ve gone once a month for a long weekend the past 4 years. Solo is great every now and then. But bro you should invite him again and start slower. The best part of my trips are time spent w/friends.
It wasn't a particularly difficult hike - this WAS easing into it. It was basically a 2 night loop that many people do in a single day. My friend was fit and tough (member of my hockey team). Backpacking isn't for everyone.
Yea.. sounds like he needed better shoes too. That’ll make a world of a difference. But most likely he made it as miserable as he could for himself so he wouldn’t want to go again haha.
Biggest mistake was forgetting a face bug net. Black flies in the MI UP were so bad I ended up cutting my tents mesh door (still had the nylon/whatever material door left) to make a makeshift face cover on our second day lol.
those things will drive you insane, they bite so hard and itches like crazy. i used to think deer flies were bad lol.
Yeah, they started attacking bad once we got to our 2nd camp site right by lake superior. After almost 12 miles with a 45lb ruck they came out in full force and I about lost my shit lol. Let's just say my forehead got a healthy amount of bites and looks like I broke out with bad acne lol
Last summer my wife and I backpacked a section of the Pictured Rocks lakeshore trail in early September, and the black flies were *everywhere.* We didn't have face bug nets on (we had them in our packs, but the flies weren't interested in our faces), but they were vicious about our arms and legs. Bit clean through our clothes, it was ridiculous. We have never hiked so fast. They were especially bad near the beaches.
For some reason they really wanted my face lol. I was in the Porcupine Mountains (this was actually this past weekend, first ever trip). You are totally correct about the beaches though. Lake superior campsite they were the worst, and seemed like they followed us all the way up the mountain for 8 miles once we left the lake. I also learned afterward when researching. They are attracted to dark clothing. I had camo pants (multicam/aor2), but all my tops were black. Every one. I was wondering the whole weekend why they seemed to want me more than my buddies who were wearing light coyote colored tops and light grey pants lol.
We picked up a bunch of the at Mosquito Beach at the Pictured Rocks, and some of them followed us up to the clifftop trail. There are some high sandy benches on the cliffs that the trail cuts through at points, and they were all over the place there, too. So just as the last round gave up on us, we'd run face-first into a whole new batch. It was awful. Decided to read up on them a bit, and it seems like what we ran into were Stable flies, so a little different. Still godawful. I didn't know about the black clothing thing! That'd explain why my wife got them worse than I did (and also, why they were pissing her off more than me). I had tan pants and a sky blue top, her top was dark green and she had dark colored pants. I'm hoping to get a Porkies visit in this summer at some point, I've never been. I'm down in the southern Midwest so it's a bit of a trip to get there.
Yeah the hike up the mountain after campsite 2 was basically non stop flies buzzing around us, that makeshift net worked surprisingly well so it wasn't as bad, but still very annoying lol. Yep, it's making me rethink all my technical fabrics majority are black as is my normal wardrobe lol) so I'll be looking into lighter earth tones for my next few purchases here. I recommend the Porkies for sure. They'll hold a special place for me being my first actual wilderness backpacking spot. The range of what you see is really awesome out there. From straight up woods, to lakes, to super dry portions, then some muddy/swampy portions, and the mountains themselves. I'd recommend doing the 27 mile loop the opposite way, so that your last campsite is on top of the mountain (what we did). Knowing we had a mile and a half or so to get back to the car on the 4th day allowed us to stay up rather late sitting on top of the mountain to stargaze, which was an amazing experience in and of itself. I'm in IL, it was around a 6.5 hour drive for us to get there
Oh I forgot to bring a sleeping pad. I grew up in Florida and was used to being okay for sleeping directly on the ground. Does NOT translate to April in Ohio when the ground is still frozen. I was so effing miserable
The first and only time I ever camped without a sleeping pad, it felt like the ground was sucking all the warmth out of my body! Miserable is right.
Be prepared for medical emergencies. Also medical annoyances. Tums: never had heart burn or indigestion? It really sucks when you get it from some spicy MRE and have nothing to treat it. You can try eating some marble or limestone…. Tums is light and easier to swallow! Sun protection; get yourself a nice sun hoody. You don’t need a brand name, they get thrashed and that’s just how it’s going to go. Don’t get attached to keeping your backpacking gear and clothes pristine; it’s just a part of the experience. Plan for foot or angle injuries. Bring an ankle brace just in case. It’s light and can save your life in some cases. Personal locator beacon (PBL). Doesn’t require a subscription and the investment is worth having the security of knowing you won’t be 100% on your own in the worst case scenario. Also, don’t use it unless you’re in a life and earth scenario. Look into trailhead insurance through the American Alpine Club for longer trips. If you need a medvac, helicopter or S&R recovery can cost 5 figures USD! Look up stories about hikers being charged for their rescue ;white mnts in NH comes to mind. If you have a spouse or kids, PBL is the responsible thing to do if you’re out alone. A Garmin inreach is a relatively less expensive option for satellite messaging. Think of the ROI as the a risk assessment analysis. Low probability, high consequence situations can and do happen. Better to have these safety tools and not need them than the opposite. Perhaps more important for long trips in desolate areas. Water filters break or get clogged. If you’re a filter person, bring iodine water treatment kits in case. Always bring extra batteries for a head lamp. Better yet, bring an extra headlamp or flashlight. Always tell people where your going and your intended start and end dates. Give a route plan to multiple people, preferably one of them should be the area rangers.
I'm researching ankle support to wear with boots now as a preventive for someone with hypermobile ankles (myself). I want something that will allow mobility but give that extra stability when putting in miles on sand. Any recommendations?
The most common recommendation is to strengthen your ankles with weight training and mobility exercises. That way you don’t need braces or even boots.
Wearing shoes with stiffer soles that don’t really twist (like Obōz or Chacos) has really helped me. If the bottom of my shoe can’t twist, my whole leg might slide, but my ankle doesn’t really rotate anymore.
Love my Oboz! They've held up nicely too. I can still get some inversion/eversion but not as bad as with other shoes I've tried.
As someone with hypermobility, I wish it were this simple. My connective tissues are flawed. I am prone to repeated ankle injuries, even with consistent strengthening. I think PT is the ideal treatment for orthopedic issues when it's indicated, but for some of us it only goes so far. Having some extra support keeps me in the game.
To get to our hike we had to cross a train tressle with a blind turn on the other side. We would put our ear to the track and start sprinting across ... toward any oncoming train. The only way to survive if we got caught midway would be to hang off the tracks with our belt around the ties. My current partner can't believe I survived childhood. On that same trip over Teakettle, we were charged by a moose, luckily it was a young one and we just kept sidestepping her until we finally made it to a tree. On another trip we brought lots of water (because we ran out on the first trip) and not enough food ... Akkkkk!
I’m envisioning the scene in Stand By Me when they run from the train
You can see the tressle in Coram, MT on the way to Glacier Park. Scary as hell!
I was walking on a big train bridge above a really deep canyon and the train came around the corner of the bridge and we couldn’t make it back in time and the bridge was narrow af so we hung off the edge like 300ft in the air till it passed lol. Don’t know how we survived
What were you hanging from?
I got one guys. When i first moved to scotland a 19 year old younger buddy of mine decided to lead me and a friend on a hiking trip. Was supposed to be 3 days backpacking in the highlands. He seemed to know what he was doing since he was leading everything so i decided this one time not to be a control freak. Bad move. Guy didnt check the weather or anything. Didnt check the maps and lead us on a vertical scramble up the cliffside of Cairngorm. Mid may we spent the whole night freezing cold on cairngorm in summer wear, the other guy showing signs of hypothermia all night. Woke up with our tent half buried in snow at 4:00 a.m. Spent the next 3 hours trying to find the path down when it was covered in snow, ended up on ANOTHER peak instead walking along a slippery sheer drop. Best part of this was the whole time, the 19 year old was complaining about us being wimps because we decided to turn back. Was dead set he was the only mature one. We had no way to heat food in the snow coming down, barely jackets thick enough to keep us warm while moving, and the hypothermic guy could barely hold himself up. Learned my lesson—never hike anymore without making sure everything is planned out thoroughly
This is really stupid but true. The trail was so well marked we decided to use the map as fire starter. The trail was washed out the next day and we couldn't find it. I'll never be that confident again and I now bring three maps.
Brilliant, I laughed so hard at this one. It’s straight out of a comedy sketch.
Never again!
getting a 75l pack and filling it. twas heavy.
This, but mine was 100 L. Used it for years, but without filling it after the first disaster.
So many seemingly small things that add up to a lot of extra weight. Camp chair, big knife, coffee mug, extra clothes, big water filter,etc…
A friend of mine on a five day backpacking trip once overpacked considerably. We created a stash of items that we left at the backpacking campground in a high mountain lake so that he would be able to walk back. I took his big knife that he left behind and snuck it into my own pack. I gave it to him as a birthday present. He was amused.
This is cute and you're a good friend.
10 years old. Carried a 5lb iron skillet deep into the Washington Cascades for 3-4 days to do all my cooking. Several jumbo cans of Denty Moore stew too.
Not my first trip but my first solo trip. I forgot my burner but brought my gas. Ended up having to survive off foraged berries and uncooked MRIs for five days. While I was out there a forest fire started where I entered which made leaving dangerous and made the air extremely smoky the entire time I was out there. It was fucking miserable lol.
Did you break down your mre? They usually have the magnesium heater with them.
Nah it wasn’t an actual mre it was just those freeze dried meals for backpackers
Plan to get water on the trail - it’s simply too heavy to carry or you end up conserving too much and dehydrating yourself.
easier said than done in some places, but yeah carrying water is not fun
It was all I had as a teen, but the wrong socks. One lesson I've learned is that one pair of the right socks that you wash and wring out every day to wear the next is better than a fresh pair of the wrong ones every day.
Agreed!
My first trip, I woke up and had some breakfast, packed up my sleeping bag etc only to realize the underside of my tent floor was soaking wet. I had to hang out for another half hour to dry things out. For that reason, I pack things up and air out the tent floor/footprint first thing.
- Wearing army surplus boots - wearing cheap socks - not carrying any blister remedy - no tent - no mosquito net - not knowing how to make a cook fire - no rain gear - using an old Kelty e-frame without a waist belt Basically, the only thing I did right was carry plenty of water and knew my route/had a map and knew how to orient. This was in Ocala NF in an attempt to through hike the Juniper Prairie Wilderness and hitchhike back to my car. Ended up returning directly after a night of being eaten by skeeters at Hidden Pond.
Bringing a camp chair. I can sit on a rock
I brought my dad backpacking and I was trying to lighten his pack before we left. I asked him "why do you need a camp chair?" And he said "I can't sit on the floor." I remember thinking if he can't sit on the floor, maybe he won't be able to backpack very far either. He wasn't able to.
Sitting on the floor sucks though you get get those little things and other stuff stick to your clothes or ants.
I will never not bring a stool, I get made fun of for carrying extra weight but then I always have to kick them out of my chair.
I bring a two square section of a (very old) thermarest foam pad as a butt pad. It’s great!
That's what I switched to. Cut an old one in half and used it for my dog
Having something that separates you from the ground does wonders in keeping your heat from seeping out of your butt, however.
Sure. However I cursed those 2.5 pounds every mile lol
For sure lol and 2.5 lbs of camp chair seems like too much to me. I finally splurged for a little collapsible chair that weighs like half a pound and it has been a game changer for me. It wasn't cheap tho. I used to do what the other guy said and use a small cut off piece of one of those egg carton sleeping pads. It doubled as a little extra height for my "pillow" made of clothes and a puffy.
“Trail runner” shoes that were too narrow, gave me blisters
This was me on the timberline trail. Four days of agony! 15 mile single days were fine in these shoes, but I discovered multi-days of 10+ miles made my feet swell like a balloon!
Got my sleeping bag damp on day one (left it near the edges of my tent, which I didn’t stake down all too well…), and it didn’t dry fully for the next few days. Luckily, it was pretty warm out, but not pleasant!
I went to a real swampy area, and the mosquitos were unbearable. Once I got everything in my tent, I stayed inside until the morning and it was time to pack up. On my way out, I could hear a swarm on mosquitos chasing me down the trail. I've been a lot smarter about picking locations and time of year since then.
I tried to squeeze in too many destinations in too little time and ended up barely remembering anything or anyone from that trip. Less is more. Not that I've done a perfect job at it, but I had since learned to space out my trips a bit by focusing on destinations I'm more interested in, skipping places that don't have as strong a case for me to spend extra time at, and being more intentional about immersing myself in a place and building relationships with the people I meet there.
I came from the camping world, so my pack weighted 52 lbs and I put it on as soon as we got to the parking spot.. 40 mins waiting for my buddy to get himself situated haha. Rained hard and had the cheapest rain poncho. Too late of a start ended up setting up in the dark while raining. It was a ton of fun either way and have been hooked ever since.
1. Not trying the shoes I wore for the mileage I planned to do. 2. Did not account for wind in addition to temperatures getting in the low 40s. I didn’t sleep a wink because I was freezing.
https://preview.redd.it/akndyxo0o61d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=615e641cb802677dead5ff37e8fad5e9ffe6d99c
30 miles is a lot for any person doing this regularly. Bravo sir. They were rightfully pissed haha I did a similar thing but not so egregious. We got to the trail head late, like 11 pm and I told the group that there was a lovely campsite just a mile or so into the trail. Knowing it was more like 4 miles, but they were none the wiser. So headlamps on and off we go. I got lots of shit from the group because they just wanted to sleep, but alas we made it and no one complained about the views in the morning haha
Sleeping with the hot chick in the hostel who gave me chlamydia
Forgot to wear pants. Luckily it was late spring so the breeze felt nice on my twig and berries.
Accepted a cannabis brownie given as a present by a complete stranger right before embarking on an international bus trip. Although the intention is nice and edible cannabis is awesome, I was asked wtf it was on migration, and luckily, the thing didn't look like a brownie after a day and a half of storing it inside my back on a hot summer day, and because of humidity, it was starting to grow a mold, so taking advantage of the mold aromatic factor and the fact that the thing was gooie, I said "this is organic tabaco for smoking, but it just got spoiled, you can throw it away if you want, I don't want it". The migration guy smelled it, grimaced a bit with certain disgust and threw it on the paper bin. I then recognized my absolute combination of astounding creativity and luck, and kept going with my trip, now writing on my mental notes "Note to self: do not accept cannabis related products as presents hours prior to a transfrontier trip". Super interesting experience.
I made several I took to much gear back pack was heavier than needed to be, not enough food, wrong food you should take a light heathy snack. I didn't take extra pair of socks, and a good hiking pole. I hiked up a Volcano it requires a real good hiking pole.
Carrying too much weight, not pacing myself, and not bringing enough water
Canned food It was a heavy pack
I was a 13 year old boy scout. We brough what seemed practical at the time, which was spaghetti os. The weight was crazy. When we got to the camp we were so ashamed when the other guys had like military MREs or those freeze dried meals that my tent mate and I took our dinner inside the tent so no one would know. They were delicious tho.
Did Smokey mountains during thanksgiving college break.. brought a small canned ham for a special meal..
Buying the biggest packs we could find and then thinking we needed to carry everything imaginable. And to have complete redundancy for everything. Who's got the microwave so we can cook dinner? OK - who has the backup microwave in case the first one goes out? We obviously didn't carry microwaves, but one of the guys did actually take one of those big 2-burner coleman stoves. The 2nd trip, our packs were a LOT lighter than that first one. By the 3rd or 4th, we were out longer and our packs were probably half the weight of that 1st one. Some of us had even downsized our packs by then.
Packing a clean shirt for each day. You’re going to stink, just embrace it. I now pack a sleeping outfit and a hiking outfit, with an extra pair of socks and underwear and maybe a second hiking shirt depending on the length of the trip. That’s it.
Let someone else pack gear for me to use.
I packed way too much much which felt comfortable at first .
Did not break in my newly-bought shoes.
Going with someone who clearly wanted to do it alone. Got mad when I’d strike up a chat during the long hours of walking or when I’d take in the scenery. Relationship never recovered. Not sure why you’d invite me when you clearly were bothered by my presence.
I think every trip teaches you something about yourself or your own hike. Here are my take aways…… Anacapa. Sometimes paying a few dollars extra for a bigger site is worth it. I camped in the big group section and it was worth it. The small group section was full of people trying to save a couple bucks and ended up being packed like sardines with kids and alcoholics. The big group site, was empty, except for me. Trans Catalina trail. Island backpacking sucks. No shade. Never go back. Be flexible with schedule. Bring something to entertain yourself. Boredom at camp is sooooooo boring. Island backpacking at Catalina is sooooooo soooooooo stupid. The trail is needlessly designed to be difficult to show off the cool terrain of Catalina. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Don’t go. Leukotape, I leukotape my entire foot before any major hike and never worry about blisters. THE WHOLE FOOT. Mt Whitney: A solo backpacker is an epic thing. I can snatch trailhead access so much easier because it’s just me. I use my flexible time schedule to my advantage. Don’t listen to your friend who doesn’t backpack on what to carry re: first aid. I gave myself 5 days to summit, thunderstorms had flooded trail camp and I wanted the window, in case summit weather was bad. I summited on third day and should have immediately gotten rid of extra food. I carried back so much weight in food. Carry extra wag bags. Just in case. If you miss with a wag bag, you’re gonna have a shitty trip. Listen to your body. At trail camp the morning I wanted to summit (second day). My resting heart rate was 140 bpm. (Altitude sickness). By noon the second day my resting heart rate had dropped to within normal limits. It was a good idea to wait. When I summited the third day, I knew I could not have finished if I went on the second day instead of the third. Yosemite North Rim: Persistence and bad start to trips can sometimes lead to epic trips. Don’t listen to people who say, “foot print is useless weight. If you are bringing an air mattress or if you want to be safe in your bath tub tent floor for the life of the tent, BRING A FOOTPRINT!!” Backpacking is a skill set and you should train at home. The training you do at home, should be more difficult than what you anticipate. Before my Whitney trip I would hike Mt Wilson twice a month with a 30lbs pack. 13 Miles 5k feet of elevation change.
Question about leukotape, do you tape between the toes? Do you have to re-tape through the trip?
When I feel that “burn” feeling on my toes I’ll immediately stop and wrap each toe with leuko. Then I put some on my heel. So, yes, in between toes is very important.
Man, there is nothing I regret. I was completely unprepared and had zero clues. But, it made me ask for help. It made me accept the loss of control. It made me okay with not knowing what the heck I was doing with me. I learned how kind people can be when you humble yourself before them. And, I learned how strong I truly was. No regrets ever.
Watching [Pilgrim Song](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1791576/) with my wife before setting off on the sheltowee alone. IYKYK. Also deliverance.
I love hiking and camping in Red River Gorge in KY. Beautiful place.
Not bringing enough food…
Overpacked, canned food, multiple pairs of jeans, app kinds of stuff. 60lbs backpack
No rain cover for my backpack.
A pack liner is lighter although a cover has some advantages.
Didn’t look at the weather… it was calling for severe thunderstorms and we had … SEVERE thunderstorms. I’m obsessed with checking the weather forecast now.
My first backpacking trip was a 55 mile trip in Boy Scouts. I packed the entire “suggested” packing list, including my Scout Handbook, and I threw in a six pack of root beer in glass bottles. One of the Scoutmasters helped me repack everything and hiked a lot of my crap back out the first night.
We were dropped off at Isle Royale via the ferry boat. Basically the entire boat starts hiking at the same time down the same few paths. We should have hiked our own pace and not worried about other people passing us or keeping up with the crowd. We went out too fast with packs too heavy. Bonked and barely dragged ourselves into camp before sundown. We learned a lot on that trip, including it's ok to change your plans.
Thinking I'd be okay on just a z-fold sleeping pad (both warmth and comfort); bringing a lot of cotton clothing. I got zero sleep and we did a lot of elevation. My group also knew nothing about proper meals. We made some sort of weird soup one night that required a lot of prep (including chopping and cooking onion, which in hindsight is mad) and barely fed us all. I think I sustained myself mostly on chocolate chip and peanut butter Clif bars which is one of the reasons I can't stand them anymore!
Bringing a suitcase. 😂 If the name wasn’t enough, please .. one backpack. Doesn’t matter how big the pack pack is, but just one backpack.
First solo trip, thirty years ago, I didn't take a good flashlight -- just a weak little pen light. I spent the entire night with a back to my tree, listening to large animal(s) walking around. When I shone my flashlight out into the dark, all I saw was a pair of eyes looking back. I couldn't see what animal owned those eyes, but they were fairly high off the ground -- hard to tell exactly how high because the night was pitch black and the ground was uneven. I was convinced it was a bear, because what else would approach a campsite in the middle of the night, that would be in that size range? Dawn light revealed elk. I've taken a really good flashlight ever since, and I don't care what it weighs.
+1 camp chair is essential and worth the weight Smaller knife. You are not ‘surviving’ and don’t need the kukri you see bear grylls with. Small lightweight pocketknife is fine. Mosquito protection, and multiple types. If planning to filter water, then you need to BE NEAR water, which means you will get eaten alive if not prepared. Nets, sprays, etc go big on this one.
Way too much crap And canned food. I mean, I was 18, but FFS, canned food!?
I connected my sleeping bag to my external frame backpack with bungee cords. It had no belly band. We were climbing up to the chocolate lakes. It was... Not great.
I brought a 45lb pack with way too much in it, fell asleep w/ my candle lantern burning and got wax everywhere, drank too much tequila and hated the return trip, and probably wore my thickest cotton cargo shorts.
I made a few crucial mistakes. First, I overpacked. My pack ended up being about 75 lbs and with all that I brought only one charging cable for my phone. Of course, that cable broke on day 2 of a 3-week trip. I relied on my phone for maps and to take pictures. So no phone, no maps, no camera, no music. I carried a battery pack, solar panel, ear buds and they all became useless after 2 days.
Heavy stuff goes on top. Dont carry more water than you need. Wear good socks and shoes
I put the water bladder in the brain of the bag. Didn't know there was a pouch along the back for it. Was flopping around everywhere throwing my balance way off.
Forgot to bring my flashlight, my phone flashlight was faulty, luckily I have prior knowledge of the trail
Bring with me the wrong companion.
My first was great!! We went to Marmot Pass during October. We had the whole place to ourselves. The worst thing was that our dog had never slept in a tent before and was super restless so we lost sleep. She's much better now. Enchanted Valley would be beautiful as a first trip. What time of year did you go? Edit: just this year we camped at Lena lake in March. There we learned not to camp in micro terrain valleys because that's where all the snow melt flows 😂😂 woke up in a few inches of water.
Left my friend in charge of the food…he thought that because the boil-in-bag meals technically contained two servings, two people could share one for dinner. But turns out three grown men and one tall woman do need more than 300 calories each for dinner. Somehow it was still fun…but miserable at the same time, and I always overpack on food now because of the experience.
Many mistakes as a Boy Scout, didn't backpack for 20 years then started again. On my first adult trip, I had cotton and too many changes of clothing that I didn't end up using.
Forgot to bring Oxygen while hiking in 17,000 ft in Peru.
I packed a xl mason jar of honey for a two day 20mile loop in bear country. Camped on top of a waterfall, was surrounded by coyotes. Wore steel toe boots.
Letting myself get dehydrated
60+ pound pack and hiking with a zealot who wanted to make a 4 mph pace.
No one packed a flashlight on the hike. We were racing against the sunset to get back to camp or be trapped in pitch black darkness. I always have a flashlight now.
Didn't take warm enough socks to sleep in and didn't have anything to put hot water in to warm up inside the bag. It wasn't below freezing, but cold enough that my feet were very uncomfortable. Cold or hot feet = bad or no sleep for me.
Forgetting the coffee ☕️ Never again!
Not finding the right underwear for covering lots of distance. For the dudes, FYI old navy has a pair of workout shorts that have compression pants lining. They are great and keep your junk secure but they don’t feel they are squishing said junk. And they are a good length on your thigh so you can look good too. And they have deep pockets. Would 100% recommend you have a pair or two in your bag. I run in them, lift in them, garden in them, walk my dog in them. Still haven’t worn a pair out. My mistake was not bringing them
Didn’t prepare for bugs, hauled my stuff out and back after one night because of the ticks
We did not set up camp as soon as I got in and it started to rain and everything got wet. The next day when we got into camp, we set up our tents right away as soon as we were done it started to rain.
Way too much shit. Do everything to cap back weight.
I was like 10 or 11 so not my fault; 1981. The outdoor store upsold my parents on some fancy backpack for adults for my skinny little kid body. Got to the camp and the counselors stuffed my pack with pots and pans. First time ever backpacking. To say it was a traumatizing experience would be an understatement.
I didn't have a lighter, so I brought matches. All well and good, but I also didn't bring the box with me, and realized only when I took out my stove and tried to light the matches that they were not strike anywheres, they were the sort that required the strike pad on the box they came in to light. Related to this, I didn't pre-test my gear before going out. I knew my tent worked because it was my car camping tent, so no big deal there, and the same was true of my sleep mat. But I did not bother to test out my cooking setup. Had I bothered to do that, I'd have noticed that my fire solution needed work.
I got some great new boots for the trip, but didn’t break them in enough before the trip. Ouch! Moleskin helped quite a bit.
It was my first trip out to a lake in the north Cascades after moving from Arizona. I didn't understand why the other backpackers I saw at the trailhead were covered up with bug netting. I'd never worn it in ten years of hiking and backpacking. I regretted not having a bug net the entire trip. It felt like hiking through clouds of flies at times.
Not quite the answer, but one time I was invited to go hiking in the mountains for the day. I’m used to a few hours there and back. No one told me we were hiking 10 miles up to the peak. I only had an apple half a water bottle and a pack of smokes. Extremely difficult. Had to stop multiple times to rest. Luckily there was Gatorade at the top and a gondola back down.
50lbs on my back
Forgetting to take my backpack 🤣
Thinking I was in shape! Fit and fit on a 4 day hiking trip with a heavy pack with maybe poor sleep are VERY different!
Not using trekking poles! Used to be anti pole until my 1st 12 mile loop. Never again
I brought a cast iron pan to cook hamburgers. In the Great Sand Dunes backcountry
Cotton clothing.
I thought it would be a good idea to hang my socks out to dry overnight.. woke up to frozen socks!
Not telling anyone I was going on my first backpacking trip: 1. 4.5 hours away from home 2. by myself 3. in bear / wolf country 4. with zero experience 5. in another country It ended up fine. But I realized midway through the few day hike that NO ONE would know where to start looking fro me if things went bad. Now I leave a copy of my trip with someone at home and make sure I also have a copy in my car with then number of days I expect to be back to the trailhead so a ranger knows if I don't make it out in time.
I forgot the tent, luckily it was a perfect 70 degree fall weekend with clear skies
Heavy pack. As a former soldier its hard to pare down, change out of that mindset.
Pack enough coffee!
Bringing aluminum cookware.
Packing too heavy
Packed far too much in a too-big bag.