Best single piece of advice for new UL backpackers? Particularly women?

[Donna C]

Bear safety

Don't tell strangers you are hiking alone

Plan your trip and share it with those who are staying at home.

[David Thomas]

>"Don't tell strangers you are hiking alone"

I was hiking Resurrection Trail south from Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula and a woman was heading out. I smile, say, "Hi!" and she averts her eyes while turning her torso away from me. I think, "Not very Alaskan, but typical 48-state, single-woman behavior. Maybe she's a tourist or new arrival. Whatever." But as we pass, I catch a glimpse of a wicker basket and realize she's been picking mushrooms.

She's not concerned about her personal safety, she doesn't want anyone to know where her secret patches of morels are.

[Larry De La Briandais]

My wife had three real concerns.

One was having good tasting food. Packit Gourmet solved that one. I purchased several long before the trip and we ate them at home. She loved them and the concern about how the food would taste was gone.

Next was having enough food. This one I did not solve the first time. We were in Yosemite and needed to carry a bear can. I had all the meals figured out and asked her to pick up some snacks for the three night trip. They covered a small kitchen table! I reduced it A LOT, but I still ended up with two Garcia bear cans. We actually ate a lot of what we brought, but we didn't need anywhere near what we brought. It was a learning experience.

Lastly was having enough water. My wife drinks 1 gallon of water (she ALWAYS has water with her) without exercising. I solved this by carrying too much water (a learning experience for me) and by hiking either near streams or having a crossing stream or two along the way. We also always camped for the night at a stream.

Oddly, for someone who had never backpacked, having a toilet wasn't a problem at all. For my sons girl friend (a different trip) it was a MAJOR issue.

[d k]

Regarding hygiene, absence of a toilet was never a major concern for me, not sure why. It was absence of a SHOWER, with hot running water, that initially gave me pause when deciding whether or not to go trekking in Nepal (which I did prior to anything remotely resembling backpacking). I really wasn't sure that I could go 19 days without a shower, as silly as that may sound now. When I expressed this thought to the trek organizer before committing, he said "Weeeelll now, maybe this just isn't the trip for you, then" (I could practically see his spinning eyeballs even over the phone that day). But he explained the options for cleaning up along the way, I figured I could manage with that, and it was really never a problem after all (I found on that trek that when I'm cold enough, I have no desire to wash up, and when I'm warm, any little bit of water will do).

Come to think of it, perhaps it was my experience with the wretched "toilet tent" on that trek that made me realize digging my own cathole outdoors was paradise by comparison.

Dena, I think your approach of providing a spectrum of options is a great one. While I was eventually able to figure out what works best for me hygiene-wise (bandana for face and body washing, soap, and a squirt bottle, a washable/reusable Softcup or equivalent rather than tampons back in the days when I needed one, and a small amount of TP), everyone has a different comfort level, and sometimes you just need to hear what the options are to find the level you're willing to start with.

[Susan D]

"Best single piece of advice for new UL backpackers? Particularly women?"

Well, here's three things I wish I'd heard about decade or two before I did:

If you have long hair and want minimal fuss and mess and rats' nests, keep it braided. I put mine in a ponytail and braid that. Used to just have a ponytail, and it is MUCH easier to keep under control when braided. I usually unbraid and rebraid at night and in morning to get all the flyaway pieced back under the band. Also, somehow having it pulled back tightly and braided makes it less noticeable that it goes unwashed for days on end. (Out of sight, out of touch, out of mind? Can't run your hands through it and think, "yuck"?)

Also, I wish I'd heard a long time ago about using a dedicated bandana for a pee rag. Saw it on thru hiker forums a couple years ago. Makes an enormous difference. Tie bandana on pack. Rinse in ziplock baggie when desired. I carry two bandanas – 1 "pee rag", one for all else; different colors so I don't confuse the two. (you did ask…) ;-)

Finally, shop towels cut in three long strips are MUCH better for use as TP for when you need it than any kind of TP I've ever used.

[Mobile Calculator]

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[Dena Kelley]

This is great material, everyone, thanks so much!!! I am reading every post and taking it all into account and will make it all part of the presentation, even the conflicting stuff because it will show that different stuff works for different folks.

Love the women-specific suggestions, and Roger's last post about why they are interested in backpacking. I see that as the flip side of what they fear, and both have to be addressed.

The ideas of things to cover will all be included. I may draft someone to help me on a presentation on navigating with a map. I can do it, but it's been a while since I had to triangulate my position. Usually I just ballpark it.

Thanks for all the ideas so far, and looking forward to any additional thoughts!

[David Thomas]

"lose weight?
photography?
Independence from a significant other?
plain curiosity?
midlife crisis?
nature rehab?
a new experience?
to impress a dude?"

Or perhaps,

Gain muscle mass.
Develop survival skills.
Train for an ultra.
Doctoral research project.
Kill and eat tasty critters.
Bag a first ascent.
Prep for the zombie apocalypse.
Impress a girl.

[Glenn S]

I read an interesting article the other day extolling the wonders of the umbrella. Not just for shedding rain, or blocking wind, but apparently women find it a comforting privacy block when squatted behind. Something i'm sure I'll never fully understand, but I did feel it worth forwarding to those who might fully appreciate its encompassing umbrances.

[Dean F.]

>> Don't tell strangers you are hiking alone.

I think that most women have decent radar for this. I mean, if you're a solo PCT thru-hiker who wants some company on the trail for a few hours and met some obvious fellow hiker trash I don't see a problem.

On the other hand I've definitely run into groups of rednecks in the back country who made me seriously consider claiming that my armed Navy-SEAL boyfriend was just around the corner.

And I'm a guy. And married. (To a woman.)

"Hey, did a 6'7" hockey-player-looking guy with a machete walk by yet?"

[Dena Kelley]

Although we will address the hiking-alone safety issues, at this point with these women I doubt it's an issue. Right now, they're already nervous about going out in a group so probably they won't be going out alone. But it's a discussion worth having, definitely.

I love the idea of using an umbrella for potty privacy assistance. That's a super idea.

[D S]

Some women are so hung up on not being seen taking a nature call that they go very far off trail and cannot find their way back.

[Larry De La Briandais]

Tell them to cut their toenails before the trip. If there will be any significant elevation drops you can loose a toenail as your foot slides forward in your shoe. Two women lost toenails because they didn't listen to me. One guy I know also lost one because he forgot to cut his.

[brian H]

Do your best to lighten your load, while keeping a simple idea in mind…

"it's better to be warm & dry & safe, than to have left 8-16 oz behind."

Then share the Grandma Gatewood story. And don't forget to quote her,
"Most people today are pantywaist".
Google her if not familiar.

Oh and for those that want an great book by a woman, more UL-inspired than the recent blockbuster [the film from which was filmed in my hometown], heres one i keep on the nightstand. Hitting the trails, lightening her load, and the freedom it gave her, absolutely changed her life:
"My Journey To Freedom And Ultralight Backpacking" by Carol Brawny Wellman
she has a couple others too, on amazon

Good luck.

[Nick Smolinske]

So I feel a little sexist writing this, but it's worthwhile advice for anyone, really. The more often you wash your hair, and the stronger shampoo you use, the more oil your body produces on your scalp.

So if you wash your hair every single day, your hair will be a mess by the end of a 3 day backpacking trip. If you wash it every 2 or 3 days, you can do a weekend trip without having super oily hair at the end of it. I've noticed a huge difference myself, working for a conservation corps, and other people I worked with had the same experience.

[Kelly G]

" Really, why would be sleep like Haitian refugees, under a tarp, on the ground in the mud with insects around us, when we have reasonably sufficient indoor accommodations. "

Ha my sister likes to say "why do you work all year to pay for a house and then go on vacation and live like you don't have one." Or something like that.

My biggest fear when backpacking has been not enough food. Usually I come home with at least an extra days worth. Appetite just not the same when on the trail, for me. Although I understand that appetite picks up after several days. My longest trips have been 4-5 days I think.

If I bp alone, I go somewhere that my husband is familiar with. So I know that no matter what, someone knows exactly where I should be.

Kelly

[Billy Ray]

what your own pace don't feel like you have to keep up with everybody else. Also if you're walking around pace when you're by yourself that's not a bad thing. You actually see more experience more of the wilderness if you're not talking someone else as you're walking. So walking your own pace usually being by yourself very good thing. Billy

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