rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Sept 7, 2015 16:03:54 GMT -8
Well, you didn't say it was bad beer. If it was Coors or Budweiser, then I understand. Do you really think a batch of teens would be hauling good beer? |
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Post by hikerjer on Sept 8, 2015 7:08:44 GMT -8
Do you really think a batch of teens would be hauling good beer? Actually, I think if I lugged in that much beer for five miles, it would taste good no matter what kind it was. |
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Sept 8, 2015 7:57:05 GMT -8
Actually, I think if I lugged in that much beer for five miles, it would taste good no matter what kind it was. There is that. "Must be the altitude!" |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2015 10:23:06 GMT -8
I just started hiking a few weeks ago. And even though, I do enjoy the solitude sometimes. It is nice, to have someone to chat with as well too. I have been doing the hiking thing for almost 50 years. And that's how I see it too. There are advantages and disadvantages of either way. One other person or nobody else at all is my preference. I wouldn't want a large group for sure. -Don- Reno, NV |
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Post by williamh4 on Sept 11, 2015 12:57:24 GMT -8
The more I ponder a solo backpacking trip, the more I like the idea. It will be nice to get to somewhere not many others will go.
My father-in-law has about 200 acres in the middle of no where (SW Indiana). On the acreage is a 120+ year old refurbished farm house (the feel of a bed and breakfast). He intends to eventually retire there. The property is about 2 hours from his current, permanent residence. Also, about 2 hours from my home and the homes of my brothers-in-law. My FOL has owned the property for about 22 years. For the last several years, not much of the family would go there, except my FOL, my son and me. We like doing the maintenance on the property. i.e. Cleaning up the fallen trees, mowing, trimming, etc. I decided a couple of years ago to start and finish a project my FOL has wanted completed since purchasing the property. He wanted a trail running the perimeter of the property. It took several weekends and cutting through about 1.5 miles of woods. Since completing the trail, the "farm", as we call it, has become the go-to place for EVERYONE in the family! This was once a place of peace, quiet and solitude. Now my brothers-in-law, and their friends all show up nearly every weekend. Screaming around the property with their ATVs. I know I sound like a crotchety old man, but I liked the peace and quiet.
I'm heading down to the farm this weekend to do a little roof repair and was reminiscing. 
That was a long story to suggest why I might like the solitude. |
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desert dweller
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Power to the Peaceful...Hate does not create.
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Post by desert dweller on Sept 11, 2015 19:04:46 GMT -8
That was a long story to suggest why I might like the solitude. It took spending time alone in the back country to be able to put my daily soundscape into perspective. Cacophony and Euphony is how I would liken it. The attention demanding sounds of day-to-day vs the wind and birds for days on end. If I had to come up with a reason for solo hiking days and days it would be because of the subtle, deep desert hush. |
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Post by skuhn68 on Sept 25, 2015 8:40:56 GMT -8
Sounds like more of an opportunity than a nuisance to me. Sharing bad beer with teenagers isn't my idea of a good time... Bad beer? I didn't know there was such a thing. |
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Post by 1camper on Sept 26, 2015 7:12:21 GMT -8
...it's when she stops talking to you when you have to worry..lol.
Like many, I go with my immediate family or alone. I like going with my wife but it seems like she always manages to get hurt. .. then 6 months later she'll say "see that bump? That's when we were backpacking and I..." gets tedious after 25 years, so I got a nice dog.
I'd suggest something shorter that 20 mi one way, or round trip for that matter, but there is certainly much to choose from in your area. Expensive electronics is something else you probably won't need. Invest that money in a good sleeping bag and pad. You'll be glad you did.
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Post by xiaolichen1988 on Oct 18, 2015 23:02:34 GMT -8
I did my backpacking solo all the time(so far i have done 4 times),because my friends don't interesting about backpacking. so i decide do it by myself. it is great experience,but to be honest,first night stay in the wilderness kind of scary.because no one camp with me. I said to myself that i just frighten myself by my imagination,so i listen to the creek near my and fall sleep. after that i enjoyed all my backpacking trip. I love to camp near creek or lake,felt great. I don't have a lot of backpacking experience and i don't know how to use compass to navigation. So i choose popular trail and well maintain trail for my trip. before i start my trip i would do research about the trail and follow the design trail. so far i don't have any bad experience happen to me.
Wish you have a great trip.
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Westy
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Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
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Post by Westy on Oct 19, 2015 18:54:57 GMT -8
Over 30 years of backpacking and I'd say 90 percent of my time out has been solo. Same here, with the exception of our annual family hike and more recently my daughter has accompanied me on local hikes and rock climbing. |
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Post by trekkerman on Nov 9, 2015 11:16:05 GMT -8
Better to hike alone than not to go at all.
(Aaron Ralston excluded.)
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Post by llamero on Nov 9, 2015 18:05:55 GMT -8
Better to hike alone than not to go at all. Absolutely. I've lost my closest backpacking buddies and I miss them dearly. Not that I hiked with them on every occasion, but now when I go out alone I miss my friends and often feel too alone. |
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Westy
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Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
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Post by Westy on Nov 10, 2015 22:09:21 GMT -8
I'm seeking a rock climbing/alpine climbing buddy other than my daughter. My backcountry to-do list has objectives that would be better achieved with a partner.
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Post by trekkerman on Nov 11, 2015 12:09:49 GMT -8
Then there is the tragic story of the death of Reverend Mike Turner who was off-trail backpacking solo in the Wind Rivers in 1998. While rock hopping across Indian Pass above Island Lake a boulder shifted and trapped his leg above the knee. When they found his body several days later his shirt was off, his tent was partially erected, and a Nalgene bottle with a cord attached was nearby. (He apparently had been trying to get water by tossing it to a just-out-of-reach puddle some yards away.) Turner died of dehydration. The sheriff's department estimated he survived about three-four days while entrapped.
Unlike Ralston, they didn't make a movie about Turner. Nobody wants to die like he did. God bless Pastor Turner.
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Nov 11, 2015 22:32:00 GMT -8
I did my backpacking solo all the time(so far i have done 4 times),because my friends don't interesting about backpacking. so i decide do it by myself. it is great experience,but to be honest,first night stay in the wilderness kind of scary.because no one camp with me. I said to myself that i just frighten myself by my imagination,so i listen to the creek near my and fall sleep. after that i enjoyed all my backpacking trip. I love to camp near creek or lake,felt great. I don't have a lot of backpacking experience and i don't know how to use compass to navigation. So i choose popular trail and well maintain trail for my trip. before i start my trip i would do research about the trail and follow the design trail. so far i don't have any bad experience happen to me. Wish you have a great trip. I'm impressed by your soloing, and the rational way you dealt with the nervousness we all feel at times, especially when it's new! Do take a class (REI offers them for free, or cheap) in map and compass navigation; it will build confidence if nothing else. To be honest, I don't usually take a compass in the Sierra, but always a map, and know how to read it (and probably should have a compass, just in case of white-out or something where I can't navigate visually). If hiking in forest, or anywhere that you can't see or don't have landmarks, it can be truly important, and always--knowing how to "translate" lines on a map to actual terrain is probably the biggest thing to know. Sometimes, I kind of miss soloing. Mostly, I'm very happy to have a spouse and kids to hike with. Well, to camp with, anyway, since somewhere along the line I became the seriously slow hiker in the family! |
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Image Credit / Coolkat
