First Solo Venture

“Going on my first solo bp trip this weekend. Going to do the NCT/Manistee River Loop in Michigan. I'm a little nervous and giddy. The forecast is calling for rain and more rain, so that will add to my personal challenge. But that should also deter the loonies on the trail (hopefully).

If I don't post again by Monday, please send out the rescue heroes to find me.”

“You'll love it. I always have vivid dreams at night when I'm out alone.”

“Have fun Ruby, solo is a different experiece, but I've always liked my solo trips.

just curious, but what's your plan to kill the time between setting up camp, eating and sleep?

I usually write in the journal or star gaze, look at map or just sit and listen.”

“I'm bringing a journal and Annie Dillard. Wish I could star gaze, but I anticipate cloud cover.”

“I thought you were going alone?”

“I think I'll check on airfare to Michigan.”

“Annie Dillard is an author. I'm bringing her book.

Silly”

“That's an excellent hike for your first solo. Are you doing it in one night or stretching it into two?”

“..loonies"?

You mean the people you'll likely encounter?

They're your allies; your kindred spirits. They would quite probably (God forbid the need should arise) put their life on the line in an effort to save yours.

Camp within earshot of one of these "loonies" ... you'll sleep better.”

“Um, Phaedy, that's probably from those mushrooms you found along the trail....”

“I'm going to park by the Hodenpyl Dam this afternoon, then follow the west side of the loop southbound. Going to try to get 2-3 miles knocked out later today, hike all day tomorrow, then arrive back at my car on Sunday sometime.”

“Oops!
Now the loonies know your itenerary.”

“"Um, Phaedy, that's probably from those mushrooms you found along the trail...."
BowlderMan
10:36:57 AM
05/21/04

Ya think? Hmmm... Well, now I know!”

“Gojo, I know you're right.

My friends and family, of course, think I'm crazy (loony?) and are all very worried for my safety. Everyone is convinced I will be raped, mutilated and murdered this weekend.”

“First rule of solo hiking:
be vague about your plans.

Tell folks yer camping at X, then camp at Y (just out of sight of that other group over yonder).

Tell them yer with a group, and yer ahead of them...”

“Gotcha,

I'll be the short brunette with the purple pack.”

“Have fun!”

“Well, Ruby, if that does happen, at least they'll have the satisfaction of knowing they're right.

On a serious note, their attitudes are really the result of the media's old "If it bleeds, it leads" mentality. You'll notice that there aren't a hundred reporters with videocams standing around when you return safely from a backpacking trip. No, they only report the bear attacks, murders, falls, people getting their arms or legs trapped under rocks and either dying or having to saw them off with rusty pieces of tin cans to survive. No, coming back from a backcountry trip alive and well isn't news because it's common.

If the media would cover every auto crash the same way they covered bear attacks, no one would drive again.”

“take garlic to deter vanpires...


and loop a rope around your sleeping bag so snakes can't get in...”

“Great way to get in touch with your self.

Enjoy!!”

“I will go with you for pertectin.

I will be on my porch with my pakpak when you get here. My hubsand Gissmaeioux sayed he will go to. He is verry strowng and hamsom. He can ressel up bares even.

I will make shur no ratcoons and marmrats and tree rats and and rok rats and ferrats and parry rats and what never els chews yer pakpak and gets yer suppers.

Gissmaeioux will ressel up the luneys to.”

“BWT -
I thowt you was verry long and got yeller hare?

And a gray pakpak to
/o:3”

“Ruby,

Be vague on your plans, especially on the net. I don't think anyone is gonna kill ya, but lets be smart and not just lay out the whole trip on the net. lol

Good luck to ya.

And if sarabelle and Gissmaeioux are out protecting you, I'm jealous.

LOL!”

“Good luck! Solo trips are a blast! Thinking about doing one myself this weekend just to try out my hammock.”

“gojo and lizs stole my thunder!

First Rule of Solo Hiking;
BE VAGUE ABOUT YOUR PLANS!

Of course, you should let the family know where you're going, but if you've decided to go solo... Geez, you've gone and told the entire TT World!

Now you'll have to change your plans or expect Dub, Roam, hubcap, and myself to be hanging out at camp waiting for you to show up!”

“I've always wanted to go solo. (sigh) but I'm pretty wary. There are some really scary people in WA state. And I have an irrational fear of bears. I am a small person. There are deer bigger than me. What's to keep a bear from wanting me for dinner?
I've actually thought about going with a gun. But is that just silly?
I'm sure you will have a fab time Ruby. I'd like to hear back next week how it went and if you were at all nervous.”

“I've done a few solo trips. And had a persistent bear hanging around my camp. I liked how I felt when I didn't bail after that.”

“I've done a lot of solo trips and seen a few bear as well (blackies) it is exhilerating.

pixie, if your nervous enough to think that you might want a gun, I'd suggest going on a few trips with maybe just one other person to build your confidence up. Leave the gun at home though, carry some of that badass pepper spray, it'd be just as effective on two legged predators as it would the bears.

Get some books on bear behavior too and familiarize yourself with their habits. Knowing what to expect helps your confidence a lot, at least thats what I found.”

“I used to do a lot of solo hikes. I really was able to think and get my head straight while hiking alone.
I don't do that anymore. I could... but it's ever so much fun hiking with the perfect hiking partner who happens to be my new husband.
I do plan to do some solos in the future, though. I still want to repeat my first Grand Canyon solo hike. Without the pain.”

“I've hiked solo for years..I carry a long filet knife on my belt and I watch the world around me..I was absolutely terrified the first time I did it..I carried, and still carry, a tiny shortwave radio with me to give me something to cover the sounds in my head if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep..remember, there are very few things out there that'll actually hurt you..scare the piss out of you, yes, but not hurt you..don't eat in your tent, hang your food, don't panic if raccoons visit..after a few times you'll recognize the forest noises for what they are..browsing deer, scavenging raccoons, hunting owls..you'll have much more self esteem when you come off the trail..have fun..”

“I never got scared hiking alone. Well, maybe some of the night sounds... but I always felt very brave for making it through the night.
Other hikers never bothered me... I figure there's less loonies out on the trail than there are in my neighborhood. I was always wary near trailheads or roads. But I figured it just wasn't worth it to bad guys to hike very far into the woods to find someone to prey on.”

“Ruby/vicsaw make it back in one piece? ;-)”

“good luck, Ruby. Hope to hear a good trip report...

Like Cindy Lu, I used to solo a lot before I found a great partner. I still like the solo thing every once in a while...there is just nothing like it to clear the head and refresh the spirit (for me). Something about being out in the wilderness with only the sounds of nature and your own breathing is very therapeutic.

best.
:o)”

“it's been nothing but rain up here by the manistee river trail. She's prolly floating in Lk Michigan by now. Solo camping is great...but when it's this wet, don't count to much on a campfire...the evenings get lonely without the intertainment of the dancing flames. Course, if your an herbal american.....oh, whatever...hope you had fun Ruby”

“this herbal American solos alot

tea candles come in handy when a fire is hopeless. wrap your stove windscreen around them if it's breezy, and even if theres no wind the metallic windscreen placed in a U reflects alot of light giving the tea candles greater effect”

“I was on the Black Forest trail early in the morning when I ran across a Woman's camp and it was evident she was solo. Hiking solo myself, it was good to run into someone else to say hello to, but this chick barely even looked my way to say hello. The nasty vibes she gave off, I didn't even approach her campsite, I just kept walking.

I understand the importance of being guarded and vague if your hiking solo, but that's no reason to be ill-mannered and rude!

I'm not that scary to run across in the woods, am I???”

“herbal american, hadn't heard that before, funny, i like it.

I hardly ever build a campfire when I solo, but i use my candle lantern instead, it make a nice little light and on a clear night i can even read a map with it once the eyes adjust.”

“So I've arrived back home, had a long hot bath to ease my extremely sore and tired body, and scrubbed my tent. It's now drying out in my kitchen. As mentioned in a prior thread, it was a very, very wet weekend in the Manistee area.

I arrived at the Hodenpyl dam at around 7 p.m. Planned to hike as far as Edington Creek on the NCT. The only map I had was one I had downloaded. It was a decent map, but not altogether accurate as it turned out. I gathered my gear and headed out. I knew I was looking for the connector trail to the NCT. I couldn't find it anywhere that my map said it should be. So I wandered down the road. Then I went back to where I started from to try again. Again, no luck, no trail. I noticed off in the woods two pop-up campers and thought I go ask them if they knew where it was, but something kept me from doing that. Suddenly, a generator (in the middle of a national forest) was charged to life. Seems the campers weren't into the rustic thing. So I kept moving down the road hoping to find something. I found a trail -- glory, halleujuh!! -- but it was only a campsite. It was getting dark. I decided to keep looking and if nothing else, would just hike back to that place next to the road. I kept hiking and found a trail on the opposite side of the road, decided to follow that. Turns out it was Consumers Electric property with all sorts of signs saying "No camping." I was getting a little desperate and decided to camp there anyway. But the generator noise was getting to me, so I kept moving. Suddenly, I found the connector trail. Wahoo!!!

By now it was head lamp time. But my lamp, while bright enough around camp, was not cut out for foggy night hiking. Yes, foggy. So I turned it off, determined to get a bit of trail under my heal before I made camp. I finally reached the NCT. I know now that I probably didn't hike far, but it felt like a marathon in the dark. I couldn't find a campsite, so I decided to make my own, which I did. Turn out, though I was probably 1.5 miles off the road, the trail runs parallel to the road so I was probably 1/4 mile from the actual road. I crawled exhausted into my tent and fell asleep around 10:30.

Suddenly I was awakened by a god-awful sound. I checked my watch, it said 11:15. It was a chainsaw!!!!! And then I heard lots of whooping and hollering which was followed by vehicles with bad mufflers driving back and forth and back and forth. This went on till 3 a.m. Thank goodness for ear plugs, though I still didn't sleep much. It seems the pop-up campers were there for some sort of redneck 4x4 fest. Sheeshola! I was so thankful I had never approached their camp for directions.”

“well I know it had to have gotten better. More! More!”

“The next morning it had begun to drizzle. Not too bad. Did I mention that it was lightning and thundering the night before as I was hiking in the dark? I broke camp and got going and very soon found that I had been only a stone's throw from Edington Creek after all. Alrighty then!

I plugged along, determined to make a go of it. The weather was drizzly all day. I saw some awesome flowers: trilium, columbine, pink lady's slipper, jack-in-the-pulpit. I had been warned about the lack of water on this part of the trail so I had packed in 3.5 liters. I stayed very hydrated all day. :) Thanks to those of you who advised me.

Around noon I met up with a group of 10 hikers going in the opposite direction. They seemed surprised to see me. I adhered to everyone's advice and was rather stand-offish. Pretended like the rest of my party was behind me.

Around 1 p.m. I arrived at the southern end of the loop, my half-way point. I had no desire to make camp this early in the day, so I kept moving onto the Manistee River Trail side. Once I got into the trail a ways, I stopped to take off my poncho and shed some shirts (the rain had finally stopped and it had warmed up).

Kept on going and going, thinking that the more miles I get done that day, the fewer I'd have to do on Sunday. I knew I'd be just as sore after 10 miles as I would be after 15. Finally, in late afternoon I thought it was time to start looking for a place to spend the night. But nothing looked promising. It had started to rain again. My feet were killing me. My blisters were getting blisters, literally. At one point I found a nice little footpath off the trail. Thought it might lead to a nice site. It was a beautiful site if you didn't have to think about lightning. It was at this point that a man missing many of his front teeth came upon me. Yep, decided this was not the campsite for me after all.

I kept going until I reached Slagle Creek. It was nearing 6 p.m. now. I was really tired. I could hear a lot of yelling going on nearby which worried me. So I strode over to the next site to check it out. It was a group of 15 or so little boys and a bunch of dads. About the same time I reached their site, two guys with skinhead haircuts and hunting camo gear on but no backpacks showed up on the trail. That was just the sign I needed. The Slagle Creek site would be perfect for me. I figured I'd have to deal with laughing boys till late at night, but if I really was in trouble, help was only a shout away. I made camp (in the rain) and went to bed.”

“After a fitful sleep the night before, this night proved to be much better. I slept deeply until after 8 a.m. What a lazy girl I was! It was pouring. The lightning and thunder were going. Once again, I was thankful for my ear plugs. I read my book for an hour, hoping the rain would let up. But it did not. I would have spent some time journaling as well, but while I had brought a notebook, I had forgottne a pen. Doh!!! Finally, I decided that hiking in the rain couldn't be as boring as sitting in a tent by myself. So I packed everything up and moved on.

My hike this day was mostly uneventful except for my really hurting dogs (feet). I must work on blister protection next time. I had covered all my blisters prior to heading out, but geez-oh-man they still hurt like hell. During the morning, I once again passed the group of ten. Stopped this time to chat with them. They were a nice group of people. In hindsight I wish I had asked if they were part of a hiking group.

I arrived at my vehicle a bit after 12 noon. I was so happy to see it!!! I had had visions of being towed and being stranded. Things like that seem to happen to me.....

Anyway, left the area and stopped to get gas. Was totally craving a humongous greasy cheeseburger and a couple cold beers. Fortunately for me, in Michigan they sell beer on Sunday. So I bought a 6-pack and downed one before I got back on the road. Now that was tasty.

As I drove home I checked my voicemail. There were quite a few concerned people wondering where I was, when would I check in. When I called my mom to tell her I was safe and sound, her first comment was, "I sure hope you got THAT out of your system now." Gotta love mom.

BTW, I was the tall blonde with the green pack. And where were all of you who threatened to show up and be waiting for me? I could have used the encouragement on Saturday. Whew!!!!

All in all, I'm happy/proud that I did it especially under the circumstances. Having accomplished it, not sure I will feel so compelled to do it again only because I know now that I can. Make sense? I would love to do this hike again with other people who know it well. Nicer weather would be a bonus. A campfire would be nice.

Thanks all for your advice and encouragement. This is a great loop!!!!”

“Quick question to those of you familiar with the Manistee Trail Loop:

How many miles is the loop if I started at the Hodenpyl Dam? I'm pretty sure it's at least 22. Right?

No wonder I'm so sore. I don't think I've ever walked more than 7 or 8 miles in a single day. Saturday I know I did around 15.”

“I believe it's 22 if you start at seaton creek campground. Not sure the mileage from the camp to the dam but it's not much, maybe a mile or so.

Sounds like you did great Ruby. I have problems finding the NCT head too, sorry I forgot to tell you that. For future reference you have to go down the hill to your left instead of uphill to catch the trail. They really need a sign pointing the way. Wanna go back this weekend? ;)”

“Nice job, Girl! the rain has a great advantage, as do earplugs..you don't hear bumps in the night..I used to not talk to people on the trail but, over the years, I've learned to trust my judgement..I chat with just about everyone now. I once had an experience, long ago in Afganistan, that taught me to not be so automatically paranoid of strange men late at night..while horseback riding up into the Hindu Kush (big mountains) one full moon night my riding companion took off at a full gallop downhill..I was on a young 3 year old and I had learned, years ago, not to run downhill..I got lost and met 2 Afgani men on the trail...I did not speak Afgani then so just said the name of the village where I was staying..they motioned me to get off my horse,,oh yeah, sure, and get raped and killed up in the mountains..I think not..so, I refused..they argued with me and each other..finally, with a shrug, they led me down the trail and thru a narrow stone doorway that fit the horse, but not me..I was scrapped up really badly and fell off the horse..they threw me over the saddle, like a sack of wheat, and led me back to town. I felt a fool..now, I've learned, most strangers are friends I've not met in a long time...”

“Meanwhile, thanks for the great trip report..it was a helluva wet week-end for your first solo..may I recommend Moleshin in your first aid kit?LOL”

“that's MOLESKIN! scheesh..MUST HAVE COFFEE! by the way, Ruby, what did you manage to cook in the rain? and, did you have a tarp or umbrella!”

“Congrats for sticking it out in the bad weather! It's sometimes hard for me to stay out then when I'm solo in crappy weather. Packing up in the rain SUCKS though.

Glad you had a sucessful trip.”

“nice TR!”

“Hey Ruby!! Great report and congrats!!!! You did it! I know you're really really proud!!”

“Sass, I'd love to go with you next weekend, but I can't. I kept thinking about you Michigan people though and am looking forward to doing this trail again with some of you who know it well.

MHiker, Cool story. I agree. Most people are okay. Just have to trust your judgment. I did have moleskin, bandaids, and a blister kit. I should have used it all earlier in the trip.

For cooking, I ate granola cereal for breakfasts, Cliff bars and peanut butter for lunch. I only fired up the stove at night and just sort of hunkered over it in my poncho.

Roam, I did stick it out in the bad weather and glad I did. But there was a point on Saturday where if someone had offered me a hot shower and a cold beer to leave the trail, I would have left in a heartbeat with them.

Today when I wash my trail clothes, I'm sure my washer will get clogged up with all the caked on mud. Oh yeah baby!!

Must get out again soon. Big Z here I come.”