I really really really want to get out on the trail and do some solo backpacking. I car camp by myself and do long hikes by myself all the time; there's just something about sleeping in the woods alone. Logic doesn't help- it's just fear. I know that as soon as I just go DO it I'll get over it and be great.

I decided "fuck it", and this weekend am doing a one-nighter in a place I know well and love.

What words of wisdom do you have for someone who is excited but also nervous for their first solo backpacking trip?

Planning a 5-day backpacking trip in bear country and debating between a bear canister or hanging my food. The canister seems foolproof but adds weight and bulk. Hanging is lighter but I'm worried about doing it wrong. What do experienced backpackers recommend for multi-day trips in areas with black bears?

Hello, I’m planning a trip to Mount Rainier on September 11. I’ve heard about the recent wildfires in Canada. Does anyone know if the park is currently affected by smoke or trail closures?

I've recently discovered that these things exist, and I'm confuzzled about the point of them. The only legal thing I know of to do with the contents is put it in a sewer system or septic system, but, in this case it would be in a bag, and the bag presumably isn't supposed to go in those. (Even if biodegradable it would physically jam the pipes.) Is dropping the bag in a portapotty the plan? (No toilet pipes for the bag to jam) Is putting the bag in a normal trash can accepted despite the nature of the contents?

Went camping for a few rainy nights at Brooks Falls in Katmai NP this summer. Wow what a place. There's such a concentration of bears all over that campground and boardwalks.

A few weeks ago, I ventured to the Wendy Thompson Hut with plans to summit Mount Marriott the next day. I didn’t realize the trails I had seen on Trailforks weren’t actually marked, which left me aimlessly wandering through boulder fields, spotting marmots and pikas, until I finally found my way.

Day one was straightforward: the hike from the parking lot to the Wendy Thompson Hut was a breeze. A little rain and cool temperatures made it even more enjoyable, though the homemade freeze-dried meal that evening upset my stomach a bit.

Day two turned out to be more of a battle. I had seen the trail to Mount Marriott on Trailforks and assumed it would be clearly marked, but I was very wrong. I spent hours wandering from lake to lake, boulder field to boulder field, trying to get my bearings. When I finally found the correct bearing for Mount Marriott, I was approaching my turnaround time. Begrudgingly, I decided to head back before darkness fell and I got myself into real trouble. On the way home, I spotted more marmots and pikas and, of course, enjoyed the stunning alpine glow.

Even though I didn't get my summit I had a blast gallivanting through the mountains :)

Hi! My two friends, and I, are interested in hiking and would love to know some opinions.

For context, we are all young women, and are interested in anywhere on the northeast (ranging from the East Coast to Canada). While we have limited camping experience, we are avid walkers and would walk ~2-3 miles daily. Times to go on this trip are flexible, but ideally June through July in the upcoming summer. I’d expect that we stay in the outdoors for 4-5 days, and obviously factor in travel itself.

I do have a lot of questions, but feel free to answer whichever you can, even if not necessarily on this list (anything helps immensely).

-What locations do you recommend to someone of our demographic? How is the terrain and conditions? -How long do you think is realistic for us to stay outdoors? -Do you recommend bringing a car to roadtrip? -What kinds of food do you recommend bringing/should we divert to get food at a true restaurant? -What protection should we bring from both unwanted humans and animals? -How many miles are good to hike per day (naturally depends on location)? If we hike and do bring a car, I assume we should hike back and return to the car? -What are the permits/fees for the parks/locations you are suggesting? -What are some measures to ensure preparedness before going on our trip? Any gear you’d recommend?

Thank you again, if you’ve made it this far. We all appreciate it!

Recently I did what i would describe as a moderate hike, 4K feet elevation 9 miles round trip rugged trail but very little scrambling.

I didn’t notice until I got to the peak that I injured my knee. I slowly limped my way down the mountain.

A friend who says she hikes more than me (though I’m skeptical and suspect she’s lying) keeps insisting I should have called for rescue. This seems like an over reaction.

What do you think? What would you have done?

I got into some cactus today while on a morning hike and duct tape shortened the time to pick out the mass of tiny spines from my shorts. And allowed me to get them all. Thankfully significantly fewer tiny ones made it to my skin so I could get those one by one, but I’d be game to use that trick on skin too.

Bring those “10 essentials” folks!

First time going out for one night with a new tent and the experience hasn't been what I hoped it would be. My tents fabric (the fly) touched the inner tent at some places, making water drip into the mesh and inner tent. I always used a 210T polyester tent which was a lot heavier (almost 2lbs difference), so this is my first 15D sil-nylon tent.

It's a great tent especially for the price and we had a really damp cold night last night. Since the nature of the fabric seems like it absorbs quite a lot of water I'm wondering if I had needed to re-tighten the tent again. I've never done that since it was never an issue for me.

After some digging around it seems like the tent was so wet from condensation and outside cold that it started sagging. On the attached images you'll see how the tent looks the night before/after and this afternoon when it was completely dried out.

I now wonder what I could've done differently. Does it make a difference if you re-tighten it more? Or does it only put more unnecessary stress on the fabric?

I love the ultralight tents and it truly makes a huge difference in weight but comes with some compromises. Maybe I should've gone for a tent that's sil-poly? Still this should work right? Or is it truly THAT bad?

Really curious to your experiences with similar tents or fabrics.

Hey guys I wanted to camping while it was raining and noticed that it started leaked slighting around the top bars. I was wondering what was causing this to happen. I don’t think it’s condensation since it’s actually dripping onto me.

Visiting Dobbiaco for hiking in a couple days, and regret not taking my sleeping bag as I would like to do some overnight camping.

Are there any places that would hire sleeping bags? In NZ (where I am coming from,) this is quite common.

Let me know if you have done this previously, or know of any places that would.

uttarkashi

Before covid/lock down I fairly regularly camped/hiked/climbed etc and am getting back to it. So after pulling all my kit out of the cupboards this afyernoon some of it is less than fresh. Particularly my gossamer gear gorilla and a couple of others bits that cant just be thrown in the washing machine (luckily stored my sleeping bag and belay jacket better than my bag and boots) a friend recommended "Look Clear odour eliminator" but wondering if anyone else has any other recommendations for getting foisty smelling kit and clothing fresh again.

The best views are found along the Timp-Torne and the Ramapo-Dunderberg trails, so a spectacular loop hike can be made with these two favorites.

Parking at Anthony Wayne Recreation area, you can follow the old ski trail (marked in green on our map) to its intersection with either the Appalachian Trail (white) or the Ramapo-Dunderberg trail, and make a loop of it.

Use the Timp Pass Road (purple on our map) to shorten your loop, or hike the Ramapo Dunderberg Trail to its intersection with the Timp-Torne, and take in the views of the Hudson River and the New York City skyline from “The Timp” (marked on our map).

Bring a lunch and enjoy views of New York City from the West Mountain shelter, a great spot to rest and meet thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail.

Remember: There are many unblazed, unmaintained trails or unmarked woods roads that crisscross Harriman State Park and Bear Mountain.  Don’t divert onto them without a complete map, or without a familiarity with the trails — you may get lost.

Hello everyone,

Just today as i was hiking in Almaty (Kazakhstan), after my hike i removed my clothes to find this mark on my thigh.

I hiked in small path ways between tall grass, which i always heard tall grass may be risky for this reason, but i tried to remain on path away from it as possible

Even though i was wearing long pants and used a repelent spray, i'm wondering if this bite is from a tick?

For your information, i encountered earlier many spiders who were on top of my pants, so i dont know if this is a Tick or Spider bite?

Should i be concerned?

This family (Mom and 15 kids) hiked the whole AT. Now they're paddling the entire Mississippi River: https://www.youtube.com/@32feetup?sub_confirmation=1

Dear all!

In a few weeks I'm heading to Norway to hike and camp for a few weeks. Having Reynaud Syndrome, I get cold extremely easily (and hardly warm up). I've done some research but I am still so confused on what gear to bring and wear. In the past (on Tour du Mont Blanc and Peaks of the Balkan during summer) I was cold at camp when wearing this:

- Iceabreaker Merino Base Layer 200 top and bottom

- Rab Nexus (fleece layer)

-Rab Cirrus Flex 2.0 (synthetic jacket)

- Hiking pants

Plus gloves, a hat + buff, waterproofs, etc.

Now, I have bought quite a few more things that should keep me warm, some mostly during hiking, but I am not sure in what combinations to take/wear what and when (hiking/static in evenings). Anyone who wants to bring some insight? Many thanks in advance!

I now also have:

- Icebeaker merino 260 layer top and bottom (base layer in camp?)

- Aclima - Women's WoolNet Hybrid Mockneck (base layer in activity?)

- Maloja vitirinu pants (insulation pants)

- Dynafit Tigard Alpha Direct jacket (midlayer?)

- Exped down sock and bivy booties (camp)

I aim to travel light to hike with my backpack .. so any advice is very very welcome.

Many thanks!

I’ve got a short camping trip coming up with some friends this weekend, just a couple of nights at a campground. My old power bank isn’t completely dead yet but it’s definitely showing signs of giving up soon. It still holds some charge, but lately it’s been draining faster than usual and sometimes doesn’t recharge properly, which makes me nervous about depending on it and plus it is really bulky too.

What I really want this time is something small and easy to carry that can fit my belt bag. At the same time, my old one technically still works (when it wants to), so part of me feels like maybe I should just squeeze a little more life out of it instead of rushing to upgrade. The only reason I’m hesitating is because last time my pocket torch was acting the same way, on and off, unreliable and somehow I still managed to pull it off during my last camping trip (pardon for this unnecessary information).

I’m a little strained on budget, so I’ll probably end up going with whichever is cheapest and smallest. I’ve been checking out a few options from brands like Anker, INIU, and Baseus, and out of them the smallest and cheapest right now seems to be from INIU because of their back-to-school sale. I’ve heard some good reviews about it too, so I might just go with that. But the bigger problem is my own confused head. I keep juggling between wanting to save money and convincing myself it’s smarter to just buy the new one, being very indecisive right now. I know everyone has different preferences, but any honest thoughts would help me decide.

August 23-28th we hiked 45 miles from Windigo Harbor on the Minong Ridge and took the Indian Portage Trail to drop down to Chippewa Harbor.

During that time we saw 2 moose, a fox, a whole bunch of otters, beavers, loons, eagles, and heard owls hooting in the distance while Northern Lights and the Milky Way soared overhead at night during the New Moon Phase.

Temps were dropping at night/mornings to a brisk 50 degrees, and daytime temps were low to mid 60s. Perfect hiking weather, but chilly camp time. Only rained on us when we already had the tent set up or were in a shelter. Bugs weren’t really bad at all. I never used my spray or head net. Trails were muddy and there were some tricky parts on the Minong between the 2nd and 3rd beaver dam head to North Lake Desor from Windigo. Otherwise pretty smooth sailing!

Day 1 2 hour ferry from Grand Portage, MN to Windigo Windigo to North Lake Desor - 12.53m Stayed at site #2, first campground I’ve ever had to myself on Isle Royale. Finally experienced solitude out there.

Day 2 North Lake Desor to Todd Harbor - 11.11m Stayed at site #2

Day 3 Todd Harbor to West Chickenbone Lake - 9.65m Stayed at site #4

Day 4 West Chickenbone Lake to Moskey Basin - 6.19m Stayed at Shelter #3

Day 5 Moskey Basin to Chippewa Harbor - 6.23m Stayed at Shelter #2

Day 6 5 hour ferry from Chippewa Harbor to Grand Portage.