Lessons learned from 1st solo overnight Did my 2nd…
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Lessons learned from 1st solo overnight
Did my 2nd overnight and 1st solo overnight trip this past weekend. I learned A LOT, embraced the suck, and am already looking forward to implementing changes next time. These are my biggest take-aways:
1. **Trekking poles are mandatory.** I couldn't find my poles the morning I left, so I decided to do without. Big mistake! I greatly missed the extra balancing and pack weight assistance they give. Additionally, I tend to get "sausage fingers" from blood pooling when I walk with my harms swinging by my sides. Poles help the blood flow in my arms and hands. Luckily, although I slipped a few times, I only fell once. Of course that fall meant even my forearms are sore today!
2. **Regular sit-down, pack off breaks are mandatory.** I stopped very briefly to snack on the hike out, never taking real breaks. On the hike out, I stopped every hour to take my pack off, sit down, and eat larger snacks. Doing this, I shaved an hour off of the return hike and hated life a lot less. It also helped mentally to break up the travel time into smaller bites.
3. **Packing my fears was dumb.** Even though I was staying in a shelter, I decided to carry a tent in case I got lost, especially since it was going to rain the entire first day and overnight. That was extra weight I definitely did not need. A decent emergency bivy and/or tarp would be plenty if I really felt like I wanted to carry some kind of emergency shelter.
4. **Freeze-dried meals are too much of a hassle for me**. Other than biscuits and gravy, I have never found a freeze-dried meal that I could stand to eat (I'm autistic and have texture and flavor issues). I can't even eat all of a biscuits and gravy meal in a single sitting. This means I end up carrying out rehydrated meals that are now no longer lightweight. If I stop taking these meals, I can also stop carrying a stove, fuel, pot, and lighters (I always carry two). The only downside is not having hot cocoa and night and hot coffee in the morning. I could try solid fuel or alcohol stoves, or just stick with instant cold brew options. Regardless, it's going to be no-cook food options for me for the foreseeable future.
5. **Better clothing choices are needed.** I love overalls because I don't have to hitch up my pants every five minutes, but canvas was a mistake. The lack of stretch hindered my hiking at times, and putting on cold, damp overalls yesterday morning was NOT fun. Ditto for my still-wet bra. Quick-dry pants and an extra set of underwear is now mandatory. It was nice to have a spare pair of socks to put on, but the still-damp shoes the number of water crossings made them a bit moot. Having cozy camp socks for the evening was amazing, though. I will continue to pack those!
There are some additionally little upgrades that I would like to make, but these are the big lessons I learned this weekend. I would love to hear what lessons others learned when they were starting out and what things are now mandatory.
#activity #nature
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Did my 2nd overnight and 1st solo overnight trip this past weekend. I learned A LOT, embraced the suck, and am already looking forward to implementing changes next time. These are my biggest take-aways:
1. **Trekking poles are mandatory.** I couldn't find my poles the morning I left, so I decided to do without. Big mistake! I greatly missed the extra balancing and pack weight assistance they give. Additionally, I tend to get "sausage fingers" from blood pooling when I walk with my harms swinging by my sides. Poles help the blood flow in my arms and hands. Luckily, although I slipped a few times, I only fell once. Of course that fall meant even my forearms are sore today!
2. **Regular sit-down, pack off breaks are mandatory.** I stopped very briefly to snack on the hike out, never taking real breaks. On the hike out, I stopped every hour to take my pack off, sit down, and eat larger snacks. Doing this, I shaved an hour off of the return hike and hated life a lot less. It also helped mentally to break up the travel time into smaller bites.
3. **Packing my fears was dumb.** Even though I was staying in a shelter, I decided to carry a tent in case I got lost, especially since it was going to rain the entire first day and overnight. That was extra weight I definitely did not need. A decent emergency bivy and/or tarp would be plenty if I really felt like I wanted to carry some kind of emergency shelter.
4. **Freeze-dried meals are too much of a hassle for me**. Other than biscuits and gravy, I have never found a freeze-dried meal that I could stand to eat (I'm autistic and have texture and flavor issues). I can't even eat all of a biscuits and gravy meal in a single sitting. This means I end up carrying out rehydrated meals that are now no longer lightweight. If I stop taking these meals, I can also stop carrying a stove, fuel, pot, and lighters (I always carry two). The only downside is not having hot cocoa and night and hot coffee in the morning. I could try solid fuel or alcohol stoves, or just stick with instant cold brew options. Regardless, it's going to be no-cook food options for me for the foreseeable future.
5. **Better clothing choices are needed.** I love overalls because I don't have to hitch up my pants every five minutes, but canvas was a mistake. The lack of stretch hindered my hiking at times, and putting on cold, damp overalls yesterday morning was NOT fun. Ditto for my still-wet bra. Quick-dry pants and an extra set of underwear is now mandatory. It was nice to have a spare pair of socks to put on, but the still-damp shoes the number of water crossings made them a bit moot. Having cozy camp socks for the evening was amazing, though. I will continue to pack those!
There are some additionally little upgrades that I would like to make, but these are the big lessons I learned this weekend. I would love to hear what lessons others learned when they were starting out and what things are now mandatory.
#activity #nature
source
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