Tips for solo backpacking

Just read the entire thread. Getting ready to do my first overnight solo thing. Have some jitters but I guess that is normal. Starting small, something just a few miles out from a group camping area...feels safer that way, real or imagined. People and predators are my fear. No griz down here, occasional blacks in central and northern part of the state. Panthers and hogs we do have. I may look goofy but will carry spray for man and hog alike


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Kim, your best safety bet is to camp where no other human has gone before (j/k). Animals typically will leave you alone. I've backpacked and camped solo a bunch (I'm a woman) and the further I get away from people, the safer I feel, and I'm not at all the paranoid nor the antisocial type. I'm a light sleeper and prefer total quiet, and I always pitch my tent where it's hard or impossible to see from a trail (I've been known to lose a tent here and there - not really, but almost). The only problem I've had in years of solo camping/packing was one July 4th weekend when I camped at the foot of Wetterhorn Pass at 11,000 feet and woke up in the night with a hypoxia attack and irrationally wanted to pack up and hike out in the dark. I finally pulled myself together and went back to sleep, but if I hadn't, there was no safety net, which you do have when camping with others. I do carry bear spray, but I've never had a critter or person threaten me in any manner - probably because I seldom see anyone else and critters usually run. It's getting harder to do, but just pitch your tent in a thicket or behind a big rock where no one even knows you're there. Just don't ever get lost, cause they'll never find you (unless you carry a PLB, which I do).

I used to carry a .22 pistol, but finally gave it away, as I felt it was more of a liability than a help, especially when I wanted to go into Canada and had to figure out what to do with it. I love going solo. I've experienced things I would never have seen when with others, like the time I rounded a corner and came upon a coyote ahead of me on the trail. I walked behind it for a good 50 feet before it became aware of me and bolted. I could've reached out and grabbed its beautiful bushy tail. Or like the time I was in Drowned Hole Draw and saw desert bighorn playing. One tip - I've found that sleeping in a tent with a mesh top really reduces any night fears, as you can star gaze and appreciate where you are instead of being in a sort of black hole.
 
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