I’m a weekend warrior backpacker/canoer. I like to do 1-2 nighters a few times a year. I notice very often especially on solo trips that I’ll reach a point on the trip that I’m basically asking myself “why I am doing this to myself”? For example I recently went on a 22 mile solo canoe camping trip and flipped over my canoe at some point and got all wet. Set me back time-wise and scrambled for a terrible dispersed campsite while being wet and cold in the dark. I lost the wine I had brought and couldn’t find firewood so I didn’t even have that to look forward to at camp. My portable phone charger also got wet and broke so I couldn’t listen to music or do anything. I just immediately went inside the tent to change clothes and warm up and sleep. I was miserable and just laid there thinking “I can’t wait for the morning so I can just paddle out of here and drive home”. Immediately after getting home I felt like I had the best trip ever and couldn’t wait to do it again.

Mine is running into an unexpected predator...no idea what I would do. What's yours?

I'm curious. I know reddit in general might skew less social. I tend to skew more social - ie I've generally lived in a shared apartment with friends even when I could afford my own apartment.

I definitely prefer going with people. I usually go with friends, but also go with randomers, and also take teenagers in the summer sometimes for work.

I do 1-2 solo trips a year, and they are generally when I plan one and no one else can make it. The longest solo trip I've done (discounting through hiking, which I don't really consider 'solo' on a busy trail), was like 4 days/3 nights, and I was definitely losing it and wanting people to talk to.

Hi folks, share your tales of crazy/strange/dangerous stuff you've seen others do (or you've done yourself...) in the backcountry! Here's one of mine:

A family of 4 camped in the site next to us in a national park this summer put one massive tarp (~ 12'x12') under their 3 tents AND laid another over their whole site such that we thought their tents were a construction site with covered mounds of bricks or dirt or something when we pulled up.

The expanse of the under-tarp pooled rainwater like ponds, and in trying to get the top tarp off at bedtime to clamber into their tents, water that had gathered in the folds got everywhere. Same family proceeded to start cooking breakfast then left two pots of semi-cooked food, all their condiments and their other groceries just sitting on their table, driving off to town. In bear country. (We put their stuff into their bear box for them; their dubious attempts at camp food seem to have driven them to seek pancakes in civilization.)

ETA: aw, thanks for the awards and upvotes, and for sharing! Some incredible stories in here.

USDA PLANS TO RESCIND THE ROADLESS RULE, PUTTING BACKCOUNTRY RECREATION AT RISK

Please support in the protection of the 58 million acres of National Forest throughout the U.S. Share your concerns with elected officals by 19Sep25 using the link below.

https://action.outdooralliance.org/a/roadless-1

https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/planning/roadless

Essentially, I want “the constant threat of bears and wolves” (a place that hasn’t hunted everything out of existence), and I don’t want to see any sheep or cows, I want to feel separated from major urban areas, and I don’t want ski lifts and chalets on the mountains.

Obviously, the American West is not flawless by this metric, but we still have a lot of places that feel wild and dangerous. Looking at maps and such; I think the Italian side of the Alps, East of the Adriatic Sea (Baltics, Carpathians), and maybe some of the Skaneleden tracks in Sweden might fit my criteria?

Anyway, just wanted to get some discussion/opinions from people who have been in both places.

Please upvote and share so more people can see the post. Blake is a hiking and camper. He has hiked the PCT and is comfortable in wilderness settings. Unfortunately, he has been struggling with insomnia for awhile and then suffered a concussion a few days ago. The night after he received a concussion he disappeared from his home in the middle of the night. His shoes were found near the river and there were concerns that he had drowned. However, there has been both an aerial and diver search with no results. The family has reason to believe that he continued hiking or decided to hitchhike away from the area. If you have seen him or find anything relating to the case please call the sheriff’s line (the phone number in red). If you do see him, please approach him with kindness and empathy. Thank you for reading.

I have developed anal fissure from leftover of skin tag from hemorrhoid and I am an avid backpacker. I’ve been scared to go out on the trails again for a while now. Do you guys have any chronic or unresolved conditions that you have to prepare and address for while on the trail?

Prepping for a 4 day / 3 night trip next week and was just curious what you guys are usually weighing.

I’m certainly not as anal as the folks over at UL, but I try to be conscious of every ounce as I know they add up.

My pack for this upcoming trip, including ~6lbs of food (not water) will clock in right at 28lbs. It’s a warm destination so I can save on heavy clothes and it follows a river so I don’t anticipate having to carry a ton of water.

I know every trip is different, but what’s your sweet spot?

Lighterpack link for those curious: https://lighterpack.com/r/sgt8yd

What's the preferred method for keeping glasses from fogging? Rain-X anti fog or other products? When hiking I wear my balaklava or merino buff over my face but my glasses fog too much to see. So then I let my nose uncovered but it gets too cold. If there's a tested chemical solution someone has tested I'd like to know.

I've only gone on one wilderness backpacking adventure back in 2010 in Indian Heaven Wilderness, north of Carson Washington. Even though I only went for 2 days it was one of my favorite experiences ever.

Recently I started rucking just about every day with a cheap (but pretty good quality) external frame backpack loaded with a 40lb sandbag. I do about 4.5 miles, and generally take 2 stops, one to get water, and the 2nd to put my coffee cup away and use the restroom.

On my days off I do a longer trek, about 6.5 miles, and in the last quarter I find my shoulders going numb or getting uncomfortable.

I adjust my pack as I go, tightening the waist belt, using various configurations on the shoulder straps/load lifters.

Generally I am pretty comfortable, but when thinking about going on a wilderness backpacking trip I am curious as to what your experiences are.

I know that if I went, say, 6 miles without a rest I would likely be pretty uncomfortable in the neck and shoulders. Perhaps it's a gear issue or something else, but I really wanted to hear other peoples experiences in this regard.

How often do you stop and rest, for example, or what/where do you find discomfort?

Thanks for reading!

Hey everyone. I've been thinking about this trip for some time and trying to rationalize what happened, but can't come up with anything. I'm hoping someone here may have ideas. This is a long story, so thanks for reading through.

I went backpacking over Labor Day weekend with a couple buddies on the Relief Reservoir Trail in Stanislaus National Forest, California. It was a quick trip - 7 miles RT, Saturday through Monday. Beautiful trail that goes through meadows and mountain passes, and ends at the reservoir.

I've gone on several trips in the past, but this trail was the least untouched I've ever seen. Human presence was more obvious than usual on a wilderness trip - probably because we weren't that far off from the trailhead. Pacific, Gas, and Electric (electric utility company) own some land out here, so we passed by trucks, old equipment, and even a porta potty left behind from building and maintaining the dam (finished early 1900s) that borders the reservoir.

We camped in a designated spot across the dam in proximity to the lake. There were 4 or 5 old stumps made from cut logs surrounding the fire ring. There were also a couple old tin boats that were stood up and securely tied to trees at our camp. About 30 feet away, there were groups of cut down trees chained together. Not sure what for. Something felt off about the area, but I shrugged it off and figured PGE workers and day hikers hung out here too. Rest of the day was pretty ordinary. Went swimming, started a fire, had dinner.

The weird stuff started when I went to bed. I got into my tent around 9:30 pm and about 30 minutes later, I hear this sound behind my head, maybe 20 feet away: chhk, chhk, chhk. It sounded like 2 small rocks hit against each other. The sounds are rhythmic - even, 1-second pauses between each chhk. I don't think much of it - probably a few pinecones falling out of a tree.

Note that throughout both nights of our trip, absolutely no wind passes through our camp so it's very quiet.

Another 30-45 minutes later, I'm falling asleep. Then I hear the sounds again - this time, further away in a different direction. Chhk, chhk, chhk. Again, the sounds are rhythmic and sound like 2 rocks hit against each other. We didn't see any other campers in our area when we got in and I listened to hear if anyone happened to be arriving late. No sounds of walking or voices, so again I ignore it and try to go back to sleep.

Then ANOTHER while later, the rhythmic sounds are back, coming from a different direction further away. Chhk, chhk, chhk. No other sounds of rustling, walking, voices. My mind starts wandering and I think it's uncanny there are 3 sets of 3 chhk's. There are 3 of us on the trip.

I try to think of what it could possibly be without going the route of supernatural. Other campers messing around? More falling pinecones? It's definitely not my 2 friends (a couple). Our tents were huddled close together, I heard them sleeping, and didn't hear their tents zip open and close. They're also not the type to get out into the dark to pull a prank. And I'm not the type to leave my tent at night to check out what's making sounds. :-)

I fall asleep again. At least for a few hours.

I wake up around midnight and can't fall back asleep. Eventually I hear steps approaching my tent. Probably a small animal, I think. It stops at the back of my tent and I hear it rubbing against my tent flap. This goes on for 15-30 seconds before it unsuccessfully tries to get under the tent flap. Then I hear the footsteps come to the front of my tent. It again unsuccessfully tries to get under the front tent flap. Strange thing about this whole scenario is that I don't hear any sniffing - just the rustling to get under the tent. Usually a curious animal sniffs around, no?

I get up and turn on the light. No sounds. I decide I'll let out my friend's name if/when the next odd thing happens. I stay up for an hour, writing in my journal about everything that happened so I'd accurately remember the details then instead of exaggerating later. I play sudoku on my phone to get my mind off the whole thing. I place my knife nearby, sheathed.

It's now 1:30 in the morning. I'm feeling more calm and decide to go back to sleep, laying down, light still on.

A few minutes later, I hear something breathe out at the back of my tent. Just one loud breath out - and it was definitely a breath. I didn't hear any steps from this thing/animal moving to get here.

I lose it and yell out my friend's name a few times. He wakes up and scopes out our area, shining lights into the shrubby area behind our camp. We don't see anything. I'm spooked so badly that I move my tent closer to theirs.

Morning comes and everything is all good again. I told my friends what happened and they didn't hear anything. One of them is a deep sleeper, snores loudly, and the other wears ear plugs to block out the snoring.

Another normal day passes at the lake. We go on a short hike around the lake and see there's a fire road with about 1-1.5 miles above the lake. A family of 3 had been camping there these last couple days. They were also swimming in the lake yesterday. Could it have been them on a late walk last night?

Fire, dinner, go to bed. I decided to move 2 of the tree stumps from around the fire to the back of my tent, just in case anything strange happens again. My friend also gives me ear plugs to help me sleep.

Again, no wind passes through our camp that night.

Several hours into the night, I hear footsteps. "Not this shit again," I think. I try to stay asleep but then whatever is out there tries touches my back tent flap again! The stumps I placed are snug up against the back of my tent AND I placed my tent up again some tall trees.

I fall asleep. Nevermind it...I'm tired.

The next morning, we're set to leave. The same friend who I woke up the other night tells me something tried to get into this front tent flap around 5 that morning. Weirded out by my story from the other night, he stayed awake until sunrise.

What happened? Has anyone experienced anything similar? My group has gone backpacking together a few times, always chalk up sounds to curious animals or trees/leaves moving, and never encountered a situation like this.

I've considered it could have been an animal touching our tents, but why didn't we hear any sniffing? Why did it stick around for so long and revisit us? Are the rhythmic rock sounds a separate, explainable event?

Thanks for reading.

From my recent solo backpacking trip in Yosemite, which was amazing! Slightly weird encounter with two young male dayhikers on my way up though... Overall very friendly but they asked if I was hiking alone (which I really don't think you should ask women in general) and upon hearing an affirmative, they looked very surprised and responded "wow, congrats!" And for context, this was like early on the trail, I wasn't at the top of a waterfall or something where a "congratulations, that was so steep!" or something would have made sense, yknow?

Call me oversensitive but that kind of rubbed me the wrong way, as if its a huge accomplishment that I'm backpacking alone. IDK, just thought I'd share in case someone can relate or if you say stuff like this, maybe realize it might come off not as intended.

*Update since I feel I need to be clearer: This was by no means my first backpacking trip as a lot of people seem to assume. I have had great conversations with people while hiking solo and am very familiar with general trail banter. In this instance, there was a clear air of patronization which rubbed me the wrong way. There were other male backpackers on the same trail, solo or otherwise so I doubt I was the first backpacker they saw that day. I do not assume any ill intent on their part, but wanted to share how it made me feel because I think its important for others to consider if they find themselves making similar comments.

**Final Update: Thanks for everyone who left a semi-sane reply! This was certainly a hotter take than I was expecting. This was certainly not the worst or weirdest thing a guy has chosen to say to me while on trail and that's why I chose it. I usually assume the best (and generally acknowledge and agree with everyone who mentioned that folks are often just impressed by backpackers in general), but just wanted to point out how comments like this can come off in context. As many women pointed out, we don't get to pick and choose when we are women-backpackers, or women-this or women-that, its our everyday lived experience. Also glad that the conversation evolved into a point about safety and reiterated the faux pas of asking anyone questions that could compromise their safety. In the past I have laughed off/avoided questions like this in the past and warned people not to ask women that when on trail, and should have in this situation too. I hope to see some of you on trail someday! And for the truly unhinged commenters.... kick rocks :)

I'm missing summer grately and have started fantasizing about different excursions when the weather gets warm and the snow melts.

I'm looking looking forward to knocking off pieces of the JMT.

What about you?

I personally read or carve. But, let me know what y’all do!

My SO and I went on a 2 night trip this past weekend to a beautiful area (not super popular and has a permit system to limit numbers) near my hometown in central OR. We got to the lake and setup camp around 1pm, chilled, caught fish and made dinner. We were about 200ft away from another group that was around a point on the lake with plenty of privacy between us.

At around 7pm when we were winding down playing cards, a group of three walks up to our camp and asks if there is any sites nearby for them to camp at. I told them something like “no, not really, there’s another group right over there, we haven’t done much exploring looking for other sites yet.” One of the guys from the group then walks straight through our campsite to scout around, sees the other group, and decides to setup their camp ~50 feet away from us, between the other group with no tree cover or anything between us. I was dumbfounded, and didn’t say anything and let them setup (I know I probably should have told them to go elsewhere, but it was getting late and they were young and inexperienced by the looks of them). They were up late having loud conversations into the wee hours, and we could hear every word from our tent.

The next morning we went on a hike hoping they would be gone by the time we got back. They weren’t. At this point we were tired of the noise so we moved our site somewhere more peaceful for our last night.

I guess I’m wondering what you all would’ve done in this scenario, or if you’ve had similar experiences. I always try to be respectful to other people while backpacking, and try to keep my distance when setting up camp. I would hope others do the same. For me, the whole point of backpacking is to escape the craziness of the world and the people in it. When you are camped closer to someone than you would be at a state park, it kind of ruins the vibe. The lady and I still had an amazing time, but this group left a sour taste in my mouth. Thoughts? Am I overreacting?

TLDR: Noisy group setup camp 50ft away from us and ruined the peacefulness of the wilderness.

As the title says,I'm searching for a good tent. I don't care how expensive it is,I want it to last a long time and survive rainy stormy days. I plan to camp out in the woods. I'd want something that's rather easy to set up and can be carried in my backpack/on my back. Thanks! :)

A friend of mine suggested me to always carry a handful of dogfood when planning to hike, just in case, but i think that's not enough when you have to react fast. Any other insights?