First Time Backpacking
Labor Day Weekend marked my first backpacking trip.
The Details
Location: Shasta Trinity National Forest, Stuart Fork Trail to Emerald Lake Distance: ~30 miles round trip Time: Around 48 hours
Meals:
Gnocci + Pesto, Cheetos Instant coffee, bars, peanut butter pretzels Tortillas, sandwich meat, guacamole, cheese Spanish Rice, Ramen
Clothes
2 athletic tank tops Under Armour Heatgear Moisture Wicking tee Under Armour Moisture Heatgear Wicking long sleeve half zip Columbia Pilsner Peak Pants North Face Down Jacket Outer shell of my North Face Triclimate Jacket Light sleeping pants 3 pairs of hiking socks, 1 REI lightweight cushion merino wool socks
Gear (mine, not including my friends' stuff, who had the stoves and bear cans, filters, etc.)
Osprey Ariel 65 REI 15 deg sleeping bag Camelbak 2L bladder Snopeak spork Therm-a-rest Z lite sol sleeping pad Rei cup
So my first backpacking trip happened this year. This was back in September, and since then time has just flown by. The year is almost over, crap!
A few posts back, I mentioned that I'm a pretty terrible hiker. Inclines will be the death of me and I thought that carrying my laptop around was heavy. Boy, this trip was an eye-opener.
Luckily for me, a few friends have shared with me their experiences and tips with backpacking, so I didn't go into this trip completely blind. The usual first mistake novice backpackers make is overpacking, and I'm pretty confident that I carried all that I needed and nothing more... aside from my dslr, but I was still on an Iphone 4S during this trip and I don't own a point and shoot.
So what did I take away from my 48 hours outdoors?
The pack is going to feel a little heavy after a while, no matter what. It may dig into your hips if your pack is a bit heavy.
Spread the gear. I didn't own a lot of backpacking gear so I carried the bear can that held our food while my friends had the tent and stoves, snacks and other gear. Rearranging gear:
Layering is essential. It's going to get hot while you hike and then it's going to cool down as soon as you stop. Then at night, it'll be chilly. Ideally, have a decent base layer (synthetics are good, wool is even better, but stay away from cotton), and nice insulating layer (fleece or down) and then an outer shell to keep out the wind and chill.
Prepare for plans to go awry. When we got to the ranger station to grab a map, it was closed. We ended up getting to the trailhead 2 hours after our original planned time. Also because we didn't get a chance to talk to the ranger, we made a mistake on our 2nd day and went up the WRONG scramble to the lake. Spoiler alert: we didn't have enough time to make it to the lake even though we were only a mile away! Whoops. Next time. The wrong scramble. If you look VERY closely you may see one of us scrambling up in the far back.
Any food will taste 50% better on the trail. After setting up camp the first night 8 miles in, our group shared a bag of hot cheetos and it tasted freakin' amazing. The tortilla wraps we made for lunch the next day were equally as satisfying.
Prepare for the creepy crawlies. As soon as the sun set, all the spiders came out. I'm talkin' long, lanky spiders the size of your hand that like to crawl all over your tent. It was a true nightmare for anyone with arachnophobia. I tried to journal outside on a log and found spiders crawling up my leg. Shudder.
The mornings will be cold, but the view will be great and pretty peaceful.
The trail back out will feel great if it's downhill. It'll also be pretty harsh on the knees. Trekking poles will do wonders, so bring those if anyone has knee problems.
Also, don't make fires where fires are prohibited. If you had to make one because of an emergency, make sure to put it out fully, damnit. My group stumbled upon a campfire along the trail that was still hot at 11 in the morning and had pieces of cans/other packaging they tried to burn. We used a good portion of our water to put it out.
Take time to have fun and explore.
Don't forget to do some stargazing, because it's going to look real cool if the skies are clear:
All in all, a great 48 hours outdoors. Aside from a little scare we had the 2nd night involving slow footsteps near our camp (couldn't figure out the source, sounded like a person walking around our camp trying to be quiet), the rest of the trip went smoothly.
Hoping to hit up this trail again next year when it's warm again and finally make it to the lake!
I'll end the post with a funny group picture that took two tries to get because I couldn't run fast enough. Haha.
Happy Holidays everyone. Hope you all got a chance to opt outside for a bit!
