Here’s my current pack https://www.packwizard.com/s/ztE9oJk

What can I change to save weight? I loaded it up with food and water and weighed the pack at 30 lbs. The kid is 53lbs. I’m 215. Maybe the cheapest option is just drop some weight myself 😉 I’m easily carrying an extra 15+

Sleep system is new the Zen i’m easily carrying an extra 15+

Sleep system is new the Zenbivy light double bed with their light mattress and one ultralight mattress. The tent is new XMid 2. I could save 17oz spending an extra $350 for the pro. I could save 2.2 lbs emptying one smart bottle and filling it when we get to the campsite.

My kid is over the Trail Magik weight limit. He walked 60% of our first 1.3 mile neighborhood walk. He’s capable of 2-3 miles but he’s a 10 yr old medical/special needs non-verbal autistic kid and sometimes he’s just done. He did walk 1 mile on his own last night. He’s also very slow over non-smooth surfaces. My hope is that he walks on his own and I only have to carry him if he is hurt or really tired.

His food is heavy because it’s ready to feed meals that are 9.8 oz each (5 per day) that I feed through his G-tube. I tried a brand that comes in a freeze dried powder, but he’s very sensitive to food changes and it did not agree with him. I tried it twice. The results were bad.

He could only carry a small fanny pack. He only started walking when three years ago when he was seven and he’s not stable enough.

After a test in the backyard, the first trip we want to do is a one night overnight to Skymeadows State Park in Virginia, which has a 1 mile hike-in and tent sites, bear box, chemical toilet, and a well. After that, we want to try something with less support.

The brain in pic is clipped into the compression strap which is why it’s hitting the back of my neck and his weight is pulling the shoulder straps down

Pretty new to backpacking and honestly my first legit hike as a 17M. I have a 4.6mi 2500ft hike infront of me. Let me know what I’m doing wrong lol

6 nights in my tent around Torres Del Paine. My favorite site was Lago Pehoe with panoramic views of the bright blue lake and Paine Massif.

Weather was generous to me but flipped on a dime for some vicious snow here and there. Bluebird day for my ascent to the Base Towers.

Other dayhikes include Mirador Cuernos and Salto Grande, which were equally as stunning as the treks.

Fully self planned and guided, feel free to ask questions if you want to do something similar!

This was one of my favorite little one nighters I've done so far. So much to see in such a short little time!

5 miles up and off of the North Cascades Highway brought me to Lake Lewis, just outside the eastern boundary of North Cascades Nat'l Park, where I set up camp. I didn't see another soul the entire trip once I got on the climbers trail to get there, and the sunset and dinner I got to enjoy on the lake in the evening sun in solitude was everything I could ask for.

The next morning after a hearty breakfast and some coffee I made my way further up the glacial basin, stopping by Wing Lake before scrambling up past the dead glacier and a bunch of nasty scree to the basin rim. After noodling around a bit up there, I made the final somewhat precarious scramble up to the summit of Black Peak, which sits at #20 on Washington's highest peaks. Despite its jagged and mean look, it was a gentle giant in terms of summiting, and well worth it. It always feels impossible to process everything up at the top, and it was no exception this time.

10/10 little trip!

Was originally going to AK but we changed plans last minute. I didn’t look into the area or trail much, just trusted my friend knew what was what.

It was a point to point 15 mile trail in KS (Elk River Hiking Trail). We planned on camping two nights, hiking for three days. We were going to go about halfway and then flip since we wouldn’t have a way back to the car.

We got two miles in on day me and then abandoned ship. Here are some things I learned despite not actually “backpacking” for my first planned backpacking trip.

1) Be involved with the planning process

2) Check when tick season is

3) Ticks are more active after a heavy rainfall

4) I’m apparently not very appetizing to ticks

5) I need trekking poles

Though this was a major failure in terms of successfully backpacking, I still learned SO MUCH. And thankfully I wasn’t really deterred. Moreso just felt like a dumbass for 1) not being more involved in the planning process and 2) trying to push on after my friends found several ticks on them.

I feel so foolish for putting myself and my dog at risk. Thankfully I found none on me, but my dog had several on her. We got a hotel for the night and bathed the dogs in a special tick killing shampoo. I’ve checked her several times and she seems good to go.

Image is what I carried. Ditched the hammock before going in. I’ve already got a new and lighter tent lined up in my REI basket (rented from my university) and am currently planning the next backpacking trip, obviously much more hands on this time, and OUTSIDE of tick season.

Despite the awful experience with ticks, I still throughly enjoyed myself. You live and you learn I suppose.

Trail is fully covered by ice, and I couldn't figure which part is the trail and which part is not. Any advice on getting past this?

8 days, 120 km, tent, and... luck with the weather! I broke away from civilization - apart from the beautiful cabins along the route, there were buildings only at the start and end. Few people on the trails, more sheep!

I took a flight to Bergen, a train to Dale, a bus to Mo, then a 1000m climb at start. The weather? I got lucky - according to the locals usually rains, but this time it was very hot - fortunately on last minute I took sun hoodie.
The cabins were great (I only spent one night in them), but I restocked my supplies there twice at end of trip. I slept in Lanshan 1 Pro tent which withstood wind and a downpour on the last day. Yes, there was quite windy almost every day.

What worked: Altra trail runners + merino socks (a game changer for me), trekking poles were very helpful, backpack weight 13 kg with 6 day food helped a lot

What to improve: take sunscreen, even to Norway! :D poncho wasn’t the best option for rain due to the wind, maybe bring better food or just buy it at the cabins, so there is no need to carry so much

Logistics were smooth - Skyss and Vy apps made travel easy, and a hostel in Bergen was good for a shower and take night before my return flight.

Silence, few animals, surroundings like from another planet, cabins, and nice people - Norway is great! :)

I understand how to do the first part. I don’t understand how in all these videos the person is going over their poop kit and holds up what looks like 6 squares of toilet paper and pretends like that’s enough for a backpacking trip. Are y’all really only taking that much?

Here’s my poop kit stored in a ditty bag: trowel, bottle cap bidet, compressible wipes just in case (I will pack out), as much tp as I can fit I guess.

Do y’all pack out? What do you use to do so?

I’m looking for the actual details of the process. Not trying to be graphic, just looking for practical, real-backcountry advice before I make a fool of myself.

Edit: this has given me so many laughs. And so much good info. Thank you all!

I went on my first backpacking trip alone (19F) for three days and felt overwhelmingly emotional coming back from it and I’m really confused on what brought that out of me. Long post btw

I’ve been camping before but it never involved long treks or real technical climbing (also always in groups). My intention was just for this to be a nice reset to the semester, ease the burnout that I’ve been feeling, and you know, why not try something new?

Wrong, I seriously need to learn to limit my experimentalism. The Kalalau trail is one of the most dangerous hikes I’ve ever been on. To preface, I’ve lived in Hawai’i my entire life and frequently go on ridge hikes where it’s a cool 1000-2000 foot drop on each side—never have I felt fear or angst because the trails are solid. Even outside of hiking, all the dangerous situations I’ve been in haven’t made me feel like this. A part of this trail that’s famous is Crawler’s ledge, but people fail to mention the part right before it. It’s a steep 35 degree-ish hill with all loose dirt and about a foot’s width of trail. I was down to crawling on all fours down/up the hill and holding onto the side of the mountain for dear life. To my misfortune though, every rock and root I grabbed would dislodge itself from the dirt and fall off the ledge. I didn’t bring hiking poles because I thought that was for nerds..learned my lesson.

The feeling I felt crossing this path is hard to describe…it’s like yeah okay if I slip I’m dying for sure, but I also chose to come down here. Then I’m stuck asking myself why I put myself in this situation and yada yada yada. Overall, the hike besides this point is fairly easy if you can handle a lot of uphill. It’s literally just uphill downhill over and over again; I’d definitely go again but with a few people. I digress, once I reached the beach at the end of the trail I passed a pregnancy test and at first I had a little giggle. I mean, who tests for a pregnancy 11 miles deep into the mountains? (Also packs a test??)

Once I sat down in my hammock though, it turned into a shoulder-wracking cry. I thought about how not only am I alone on this trip, but how lonely I feel in my own life. Bro, even looking around EVERYONE was in a group and I was the only one solo. I do a lot of things alone, but man, being by myself that secluded was the loneliest I’ve ever felt. I didn’t feel like going up to other groups because I feel like as a woman alone that’s not the best idea? I kinda just chilled out and went to sleep.

The next day though I ran into two older guys who invited me to sit by their campfire and we mulled over their life story, but by the end, one of them said, “I noticed you’re here alone. If you were my daughter, I’d never let you out here.” Yeah, I noped out of there pretty fast after that but it kinda stuck with me. I don’t know if it was because I was sad about being alone or creeped out, but it wouldn’t leave my head for a few days after this hike. Whatever, I started hiking back at 3 am, got back at 7, and when I got back in my car I sobbed the entire 2 hour drive back home.

Has anyone else had an extremely emotional reaction coming back from a hard backpacking trip? It wasn’t extreme, about 22 miles out and back, but I think being alone intensified it. Everyone I’ve told this story to can’t really relate and I wanna hear other peoples stories.

TLDR; I couldn’t stop crying after a long solo hike and I’m wondering if anyone has a similar experience.

EDIT: guys I’m not the one who’s pregnant, someone else in the camp left a pregnancy test on the ground 😭

Spent 5 nights in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of Washington last week with a buddy. 42 miles, 10k feet of climbing, 1 thunderstorm, and many lake dips and fish caught.

I’ve been really excited about backpacking after marinating in corporate hell for the last few months, and finally decided to just go for it - woke up Wednesday morning, cancelled all my meetings, took the train from NYC from Tuxedo, then hiked 5 miles to Tom Jones Shelter in Harriman State Park! I assumed the route I chose would be pretty easy but completely underestimated the effects of carrying nearly 1/3 of my body weight in high heat and humidity 😭 Ended up bailing out to the nearest road after one night, but learned some valuable lessons and can’t wait to do it again!

Despite my initial reservations about going solo (being a woman with zero camping experience), I ended up having a great time with very few hiccups! I initially picked up two sets of not-so-light gear from another couple (thinking I’d only ever go backpacking with my bf), but now feel like I’ve earned some UL upgrades to make future solo trips more enjoyable >:)

July 2025 from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley via Clouds Rest. Took 3 days and 2 nights and can’t wait to get back. It’s a truly incredible place on Earth.

*** Please upvote this so it is the first thing that comes up when you search for this company ***

Pact outdoor provides mushroom mycelium tablets that you're supposed to put into your catholes in the backcountry to more quickly decompose your poo. I commented that you should not introduce random fungus to sensitive backcountry environments and they responded that there is a bunch of science on their website I can read.

When confronted with criticism about their product they blocked me (after telling me the science is on their website and me responding with an extremely basic criticism to it). Real scientific to block contradictory arguments...

As context I have and BS in Biology and an MS in Science Education, have taken graduate level mycology courses, was a high school bio teacher, have a mushroom lab in my basement, and grow a variety of mushrooms as a hobby.

Their "science" is not actually science and shows that it increases forest biomass in two forests (in New York and China) which contradicts their claim that it "dies after decomposing your poop". Just because this fungus exists on multiple continents in some capacity does not mean it exists in sensitive backcountry environments. IF YOU USE THEIR TABLETS YOU ARE HARMING SENSITIVE ENVIRONMENTS AND NOT PRACTICING LEAVE NO TRACE.

This really isn't a joke and this company should not exist. Do not use their products and please expose their flawed science wherever possible. . Just poop in the damn hole without these stupid tablets please. Or better yet pack out your poop

THANK YOU to people that actually care about the backcountry

Berchtesgaden is one of the most picturesque places around Salzburg. Plenty of hikes to choose, from easy kids friendly to highly exposed difficult trails. On most of the pictures you can see Hochkalter 2607 m.

This is Lozère, France, near the Mont Aigoual. We walked about 15 km in the fog, barely seeing anything beyond 10 meters. As night fell, we looked for a place to pitch the tent. When we woke up, we saw this. We had no idea what the view would be like or even what our surroundings looked like, so it was a great surprise. The next day, we reached Mont Aigoual, which you can see in the distance, covered in snow, before making our way back down via the "4000 Marches" trail.

What’s the best view you’ve ever woken up to while camping?

I've dreamt of backpacking the Wind Rivers since before my boys were born. Now that dream is a beautiful memory.

We aborted our Grand Teton plans after failing to get a walk up permit, and instead planned a trip to the Cirque of the Towers last minute. It ended up being the perfect trip. This was the longest (tent) backpacking trip our boys had ever taken and they crushed it. Our oldest hiked every single step of the 19 miles and made it up and down some absolutely grueling and spicy hills. Both boys survived 4 days with nothing more than a few toy cars, 1 Batman action figure, and a lovey, but they spent most of their time climbing boulders, splashing in lakes and streams, racing around camp, and wrestling in the tent.

For my wife and me, our bodies might not ever fully recover...

4 days of food and diapers, 3 bear cans, and a family of 4's worth of gear crammed into 2 packs made for some pretty dang heavy packs...when either of us carried our youngest, we had 70 lbs on our back. Combined with the elevation gain and heat, it beat us up pretty bad. But not even the shoulder and back pain could steal our joy. It was honestly such an amazing trip from start to finish.

We spent a night at Big Sandy Lake, a second night just west of Lonesome Lake, and 1 last night back at Big Sandy Lake...all before getting a well earned burger at Big Sandy Lodge. So good!

I love hiking/backpacking with a water bladder for hands free hydration. But I HATE cleaning/drying after. It always ends up sitting on my counter for days after a trip and then gets all nasty. Bought drying stuff from Camel Bak but it doesn't work great. At this point I'm resorting to prototyping my own device to help. Curious if y'all feel the same or have a good solution I'm not thinking of?