All my trips have been solo, except for one about a month ago where I took someone who had never been camping before, and it was fun having someone else along. But due to scheduling of trips and generally being a loner, all my other trips have been solo. My first backpacking trip was about 13 years ago, when I just decided I wanted to do it, went to REI and bought everything in site and went. Although its been so long ago, I still consider myself and feel like a newbie. I am a middle aged female, not that I guess this makes any difference, just I am pretty sure someone looking at me would not imagine me the type to be going backpacking alone, if at all
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Anyway my first trip, I hiked in about 7 miles to a lake (this was the Caribou wilderness near Mt. Lassen), set up my new tent and stuff, and got settled. I had seen no people and was feeling mighty proud of myself and how comfortable I was. Yep, I'm pretty amazing. I went to sleep. I woke up late in the night and was all of a sudden terrified. I could hear something walking around outside my tent. I felt trapped. I knew logically that there probably wasn't anything out there at all, and even if there was it wasn't likely to be a serial killer, or a bear. I was mad at myself because I knew this was in my head, yet I could do nothing but lay there wondering if I should make noise, or play dead
. I could not drive away this fear with logic. Finally I bolted out of my tent, saw nothing, and spent a few hours sitting with my back against a tree until I fell asleep.
I hiked back out and went home the next day and was annoyed at myself for having given in to this fear. I found another place to go later in the week, that was closer, off HWY 20 somewhere where there are a lot of little lakes..I can't even remember where it was. I was determined to go out again, and get over this. I hiked in a short ways and set up camp by a little lake. I stayed awake this time after it got dark, and stayed outside my tent and every time I heard a noise I went and tried to find it. I found that two squirrels chasing each other around at night make a LOT of noise. That there are weird sounds made by birds that I can't find but that aren't things that care whether I am there or not. Anyway I got over it.
Now, sometimes I hear things and might be slightly uneasy for a minute or two, but you know..even at home that happens occasionally. It's a great feeling to me being out there all alone and feeling at home and at peace. My main concern is just being careful when I'm hiking to take it easy and watch my step so that I don't fall off a cliff or otherwise become injured while alone. I do take a SPOT and leave an itinerary, and send SPOT check ins where I am camping, or if I change my route or destination. Also I find that the more I tire myself out, the less attention I pay to the little noises. I'll hear the noise, I might imagine it being a bear or something and then say to myself, I'm too tired to worry about it (knowing it isn't really a bear
)
