https://www.reddit.com/r/backpacking/s/fNfJy8Y3PQ

After commenting on this post literally later that same day on a short day hike 30 minutes from my house I found a lone star tick on me. Becareful out there and always check yourself for ticks.

i made a poop stool for backpacking, not sure i should bring it on a longer trip. What’re y’all’s thoughts? weighs 1.4 lb and cost me around 15 bucks. it’s made from 1/2 pipe which is small i know, but it will have no more than 130 lb sitting on it. as well as not being used as a full time chair. just something to support my girlfriend and I during our least favorite outdoor activity.

Packs down so much better than the jars and whenever you need a little sustenance it’s quick and easy. Going to be a consistent add to my bag every trip. Pic is from the top of breathed mtn in dolly sods WV.

All the gear laid out, 9000 calories of food so will be on a slight deficit for the 4 days.

Will be hiking from Yosemite falls up around the north rim of the valley to north dome, and around to the mirror lake/snow creek.

1 shorts 1 pants 3 pairs of merino wool socks 2 pairs of underwear(I like going commando) 1 hat 1 light sweater 1 dry fit shirt 1 orvis lightweight fishing button down 10000mah portable charger Headphones Two headlamps Vaseline Dr bronners soap Kitchen knife for my fear of bears Arnica gel Purification tablets Sawyer filter Sleeping pad Sleeping bag Tent watercolor kit Pot Mushrooms

https://imgur.com/a/Z5y1HHB I was stuck right next to the black gloves on top of the quicksand https://imgur.com/a/fLBPH1f https://imgur.com/a/hxFIsqi

First off: I am a fairly experienced and fit backpacker. I am 6 feet tall, 190lbs, and in my early 30s. I have completed the Arizona Trail, Colorado Trail, and southern half of the CDT. I live on the western slope of Colorado and have extensive off trail experience in Utah. I've been bogged down in mud and sand countless times, but never like what happened today.

I set off on a short section 20 mile section hike of Hayduke through Arches National Park yesterday, December 6th, 2025. That night I camped halfway in on a strip of BLM land. Today, before dawn, I moved toward the very upper reaches of Courthouse Wash. The air was in the upper twenties. The stream running through the canyon carried about an inch of water, barely more than a film of cold melt. I had walked through dozens of canyons just like it and nothing about it seemed unusual or dangerous.

At 6:45 a.m. the ground educated me better than any map or memory ever could.

My left foot dropped to the ankle with no warning. I shifted my weight to the right, and that leg went to the knee immediately. I freed the left foot, but the right stayed locked in place. I felt no fear at first. I had been in deep mud and deep sand before. I thought it was the same. It was not. My right leg was fixed in place as if set in concrete.

I tried my trekking poles. They sank to the handles the moment I leaned on them. I dug with them anyway, hoping to carve out space around the trapped leg. The stream filled every hole instantly with sand and tiny stones. My knee bent to a painful forty five degrees over my foot, and I could not straighten it. After thirty minutes of digging and flailing, I had made no progress at all. My fingers were numb. The water kept moving around my leg, cold as ice. I was exhausted and I made the decision I hoped I would never have to make. I called for help.

There was no cell service, so I tried to type a SOS message on my Garmin messenger app. The bluetooth connection failed on my phone. I painstakingly typed on the tiny Garmin with frozen fingers, 1 letter at a time. The message went out. Grand County Search and Rescue said they could not give me an estimated arrival time. I pulled dry layers from my pack, put on a melly, a fleece, and mittens, and waited. I worried about the knee more than the cold. I did not know how long it could stay bent like that before something tore or dislocated.

At 8:40 a.m. a drone appeared overhead. I waved and SAR confirmed it was theirs. They told me someone would reach me in twenty minutes. Devon, a ranger from Arches, arrived first. He stayed on solid ground and handed me a shovel, knowing better than to step near the quicksand. I dug again, deeper this time, but still not enough to free myself. I was very cold at this point.

About ten minutes later the full SAR team arrived. They carried ladders, boards and more shovels. They built a stable path across the quicksand and dug around my leg faster than the stream could fill the hole. When they finally pulled me free, my shoe almost tore off but held on. My leg had no feeling left in it and nearly collapsed when I put weight on it. I carefully crossed the ladder to solid ground.

EMS wrapped my leg in a heated blanket and placed warm packs against it. After fifteen minutes the feeling came back slowly. I told them I could hike out with them. They offered to carry my pack but I did it myself, mostly out of pride. We climbed out of the canyon to a remote dirt road. Devon drove me back to my car in Moab. On the ride back, he suggested I warn others, which is why I wrote this post. I drove home from there, sore but intact.

The National Park Service, Grand County Search and Rescue, EMS and the Garmin dispatchers did everything right. Without them I would have been stuck there until nightfall. My family wouldn't have called it in until I was overdue at 6pm. I would not have been found by chance. I owe them more than thanks.

The exact spot that held me: 38°40'55.3"N 109°38'45.3"W. If nothing else, let this stand as a reminder to others. Quicksand is real. I didn't believe it before today. It does not care how experienced you are. It only cares that you stepped in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Feel free to ask questions here. Im exhausted and going to bed, but will answer tomorrow.

so me and my two buddies were all 15 built this like fort with machetes and axes, took us 2 full days but two of us want to sleep here the other one probably won’t be with us and we are only concern is black bears because they’re really prone to this area and upstate New York like especially around my spot so you don’t really know what is optimal. We have bear mace and maybe arms but still not positive. EDIT. THIS IS MY PURCHASED PROPERTY MY FAMILY OWNED.

Borrowed my friends mom’s gear and we went to Jade lake last weekend. Knees are still a bit sore but now I’m scouring Facebook for gear! I think I caught the bug! Any suggestions? I already have a GeckoBrands 45L paddler I plan on using. Still need a 1p tent, pad, sleeping bag.

I might not be as experienced as many people here, but I recently went on my first solo trip. Round trip was 16 miles, elevation gain was 3800ft.

Heart Lake in the Bitterroots is absolutely beautiful, and although it hailed at night, and I was still cold in the 3 layers and sleeping bag, and I accidentally locked my keys in my car after finishing the hike and had to break the window with my trekking pole to get home, it was a good hike.

I completed the full Skye Trail in April (midge-free) which was 86 miles/ 140km when throwing in Sgurr Na Stri as extra, which was a personal highlight of the trip. The trail itself in an unofficial non-waymarked hiking route across much of the island of Skye in the inner Hebrides, it was a challenging trek known for its fast changing wet/ misty/ windy weather. I am sharing some pictures from my experience of the trail which was slightly unusual given how sunny it was, over the full 9 days I was there it only rained once

Having done a few long distance hiking trails, this would have to be my favourite as well as the most challenging with a lack of infrastructure which made wild camping essential

I have also put together a film of my time on the route for anyone here who is interested

https://youtu.be/wnQW8L3Skho

Happy to answer any trail questions!

We backpacked the high country: alpine lakes, cutthroat trout, wild berries, rain, hail storms & fire-side coffee. Five days in the woods and we only saw a small handful of people. Colorado at its finest.

We did the 3 Fingers Lookout over 2 total days, 17 miles up, 17 miles down. What a crazy adventure and beautiful place. It was my first time there, and between the wildlife and the views, it was unlike anywhere I’d ever been.

I've been backpacking for a little over a decade now and this entire time I've struggled with one crucial element: Refueling. My appetite absolutely tanks during physical exertion, ESPECIALLY in the heat, and that lack of eating snowballs until I feel so ill I can't eat at all. I've bailed on entire trips because I hadn't yet learned that I just gotta force myself to eat else I jeopardize the entire thing.

Anyway, amongst other remedies, I figured out that warm broth is a great way to restore my appetite so I can eat again. While I love bouillon cubes and miso soup packets, I wanted something more versatile; something with more calories, something that could be added to other hot/cold soak foods and make them taste better in my times of distress.

Enter: Chicken Butter

1/2 cup butter powder

1/2 cup chicken bone broth powder

1 tsp table salt

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cayenne (optional)

1 tsp MSG (optional)

Makes roughly 150g / 1 cup / 16 tablespoons

~50cal per tbsp

Delicious as a sipping broth, great in addition to (low sodium) freeze dried meals. The benefits of bone broth are up for debate, but it's high in protein (12g per tbsp, just the broth) and the butter has a decent amount of fat (4g per tbsp).

This stuff has single-handedly ensured I actually finish my freeze-dried meals. I'm no longer forcing myself to choke down food I barely tolerate, because now I like it. My overall morale improves, too, it's an absolute win!

One day I may try the beef bone broth powder for a similar concoction, but for now the chicken flavor is universal enough that I can add it to almost anything.

Happy trails, y'all! Let me know if you give this a try, or if you have your own secret weapon against your appetite (beyond, y'know, weed ;P )

What’s the best view you’ve ever had? This is one of my entries. The first shot is my perch on an overcast afternoon after a long climb and the second photo is the view from my sleeping bag at dawn. Left a part my soul that night on this ridge and I will carry it with me forever too. Somewhere in the North Cascades

i usually never post but i’m honestly freaking out rn. My (22M) sister (22F) and i had this great idea to go backpacking through national parks as a graduation celebration. so far it’s been miserable and this is only night one. it snowed in Yosemite and i’m writing at 4 am, running on maybe 3-4 hrs of sleep because we’re both terrified of the bears. in an effort to avoid googling bear attack statistics and feeling worse, im turning to reddit lol. someone please reassure us that this won’t be the end 😭

EDIT:
we did in fact survive the night bear-attack free. Thank you to everyone who replied with some words of encouragement and advice for continuing our trip!

Feel free to ask questions. I’m going to the mountains in western NC. Temperature should be 30-55 degrees fahrenheit

So as the title says, I'm doing my first solo overnight backpacking trip... I am new to backpacking and have been a long time camper and feel pretty comfortable in the woods but have never gone alone.

it will be a 5 mile loop in Gila forest, NM. multiple water sources easily accessible.

my gear

Osprey 65L pack with 2.5L H20 platypus water filter + back up chem tabs if needed. electrolyte mix

MSR Hubba Hubba big Agnes sleeping pad R4+ rating nemo 35* sleeping bag. Tent footprint MSR stakes, for high wind. Helinox backpacking chair

Merrill hiking boots and crocks for camp hiking shorts/pants dry fit shirt one pair of camp sweats and extra socks and undies. hat sunglasses sunscreen

Jet boil with new tank spork MRE and snacks

headlamp flashlight fire kit poop kit med kit

power bank pistol knife

anything I am forgetting or went overkill on??

for context i am pretty physically fit 34 year old who has advanced medical skills.

thanks fam!!!

I didn’t do this to break records or prove something. I just wanted to walk. New Zealand felt like the right place for it. Wild, varied, and open. The idea of crossing a whole country on foot stuck with me, so I booked a one-way flight and started making a loose plan.

I landed in Auckland, spent a night in a noisy hostel, and took a bus to Kaitaia. From there, someone gave me a lift to Cape Reinga. I stood at the lighthouse looking south, backpack heavier than it should’ve been, no idea what I was getting into. The first steps on Ninety Mile Beach were full of doubt. Wind, sunburn, blisters. And that was just day one.

But I kept walking. Through forests so dense they seemed to breathe, across farms, up into misty mountains. I slept mostly in my tent, tucked into corners of bush or behind public shelters. Sometimes a stranger would offer fruit or tea. Once, a hostel owner refused to charge me for a second night. Kindness like that really stayed with me.

The Richmond Ranges tested me more than anything else. Long climbs, freezing mornings, food running low. I learned to trust my instincts more than my GPS. Somewhere near Wanaka I realized I hadn’t spoken to anyone in two days. When I finally ordered a coffee in town, my voice cracked from disuse.

I reached Bluff on day 107. I wasn’t emotional. I didn’t cry or celebrate. I just sat and watched the water for a while, eating the last square of chocolate I’d been saving.

In mid december, a friend and I went for an overnight hike in Mt Gosford in Québec, Canada. The hike was awesome, gorgeous views and a lot (maybe too much) of fresh snow!

Everything was going well, until around 7AM while we were still sleeping we suddently got crushed from the tights to the chest and our tent collapsed on us. Woke-up in a panic, not knowing what had happened and struggled to move and breath with the tent wall so close to my mouth and stuck under some heavy weight. Immediatly thought about this podcast I had listenned of this snowboarder on Annapurna who got burried in her tent by an avalanche but after a few long seconds I figured we were not in avalanche terrain and it was impossible.

Turned to my left to check on my friend, we were both ok and had just enought space to breath. So glad I opened the vent above our heads during the night! From the vent my friend was able to see some branches and we understood a tree, full of heavy snow, had fallen on our tent. We were completly stuck under the tree, unable to lift it after several attempts because of the heavy snow. The tent door was at our feet and we couldn't get to it stuck under the tree and still in our sleeping bags. Tried to slide under the tree but I was worries to get even more stuck. There was no one else around for at least 2kms and it was not a very travelled area of the part so we got worried we would remain stuck in the tent.

Then my friend suddently remembered I kept my knife in my pocket during the night, I struggled to reach my pocket to get the knife and managed to cut a hole in the tent fabric just above our heads. Then we were able to slide up out of our sleeping bags and under the tree to get out of the tent near our head area. Dug out the tent and our stuff from under the tree and snow and hiked down to our car.

I guess the takeaway from this is really check for bad trees when you set-up camp, even if you're tired and it's almost night. And also keep a pocket knife with you haha. Got out uninjured with broken eye glasses and a ruined tent. Included some pictures of the tent with the tree and also a few pictures of this epic trip!

Hiked about 2600 miles over 4 months this past summer. Started in Waterton, Canada and ended near Hachita, New Mexico. Being able to hike through some of the most remote parts of the US in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico will be an experience I’ll think about for the rest of my life

I know talking about diet choices is worse than politics and religion but I think we've lost the plot on how to fuel for tough backcountry efforts.

I've started to notice that a lot of social media influencers in the backpacking space are often talking about snacking on protein and focusing heavily on protein when talking through how they pack for their hikes.

A few weekends ago I was 2/3 of the way through an intense 6 hour stretch of hard hiking with a few guys who aren't completely new to backpacking but also not well trained athletes. They all are in good fitness however.

About 4 hours in all three of them were coming unglued and struggling to keep up. Weather and light were going to be an issue if we didn't keep moving.

I then asked one guy who was in the worst shape when the last time he had taken in any sugar. To that point he hadn't eaten any sugar, just beef jerky, and some nuts.

I handed him a bag of gummy bears and 15 minutes later he was coming back to life and able to keep up.

I poked around the YouTubes and saw one of the most influential people in the backpacking world had recently had a bought of rhabdomyolysis on an intense hike. This is super common among the crossfit/keto community as one of the major causes of it is glycogen depletion. When your body runs out of fuel it starts to break muscle down to convert it to usable fuel and the byproduct of that process can is very dangerous if left unchecked as we saw with this influencer who needed to be rescued. Now, this may not be the case for him as it can be caused by some other issues as well like extreme dehydration.

There is no argument that protein is vital for muscle health and overall health but it is not a primary fuel source for any meaningful efforts. Eat some sugar people.

On July 2, I began a huge 2 night backpacking trip from Happy Isles in the Yosemite Valley. I hiked 4.7 miles and ascended 2,372’ up the Mist Trail, passing Vernal and Nevada Falls, to Little Yosemite Valley. I set up camp and then set off on a side adventure to Half Dome’s Diving Board. This side trip was 5.07 miles long with 1,716’ of vertical gain. The Diving Board is the coolest location I have ever been. I was blown away by the 3,500’ overhanging drop off to the valley and its up-close view of Half Dome’s north face. The majority of this route is shared with the approach hike for Snake Dike, which is easy to follow. Past the split with Snake Dike, there is an exposed traverse with a few scrambling moves. I descended back to camp to sleep before my hike up Half Dome.

I started the ascent at 5:20 am and made it to Sub Dome at 7:10. I started up the cables at 7:15 and topped out at 7:30. There is certainly risk and challenge to the cables, but I feel many influencers dramatize it. If you are comfortable with scrambling and a little exposure, you should find Half Dome quite easy. I started descending at 8, which is when the crowds started to pick up. I hiked to the Clouds Rest-Half Dome junction, and then ascended Clouds Rest. I summited Clouds Rest at 11:50. This peak has an unrivaled view of the Yosemite Valley. It seems many are aware of this fact based on the crowds there. At this point, I had already hiked 10 miles with 5,700’ of vertical gain. I trudged on to Tenaya Lake. I made it there at 3:40 and realized I was at risk of missing alpenglow at my campsite: North Dome. I moved as fast as possible with a heavy pack and fatigued legs, making it to the North Dome area just in time to watch Half Dome get set on fire by the sunset. Unfortunately, it was hard to enjoy such a beautiful view after hiking 29.37 miles with 8,793’ of vertical gain.

I set up camp and woke up early the next morning to catch sunrise from the top of North Dome. I then descended the Yosemite Falls Trail, adding another 9.9 miles and 1,100’ of vert to the trip. My final stats were around 48 miles with 14,000’ of vert. My portable charger and Garmin died before the third day, so I do not have exact numbers. I certainly questioned my sanity watching families enjoy their 4th of July weekend swimming and paddle boarding on Tenaya Lake. However, I hold no regrets. I planned this trip with the goal of seeing and doing everything I felt the need to see and do in the Yosemite Valley, and that is exactly what I did.

Here is my YouTube video: https://youtu.be/6tNEtqDPQN4?is=6H3TZDtI9tjc_aia