r/WildernessBackpacking

I have mostly backpacked in Washington state. I'm doing a trip this year in Sequoia / Kings Canyon NP. We'll be a lot in areas where it's more granite than trees. I'm curious what's the poop situation like? Like, in Washington it was really easy to get to camp and get up in the woods behind a bunch of trees. That won't be the case I would think in the Sierras.

It's given me a little anxiety because I'm also going with people I haven't met yet.

Is it difficult to find places?

Hey guys, i need help knowing what tent to purchase. I've never been backpacking, but I have all the gear other than a tent. I've tent camped my whole life, even through the winter, which would have to be my favorite. This tent will get 4 season use. It will probably see more car camping than backpacking, but I have limited storage space, so 1 tent will have to fill several roles. I believe in "buy once, cry once" so I'm looking for a tent that will suite my needs for a long time, and that I won't outgrow (weight, build quality, or usability) for a long time. Also, I am frugal, so I don't want to blow a bunch of money on something I don't need. Anyway, most of my other gear would probably be classed as light weight, but not ultralight... the friends I'll be backpacking with are all across the board (16-60 lb loaded packs) so I don't really have that as a guage to go off of, other than somewhere in the lower half of that range. I'll mostly be using this tent with another person, but there's a good chance I'll be packing it in, so I don't want something crazy heavy. I'd like to order one before Memorial Day in hopes of getting it on sale. Any recommendations? I've heard really good things about Nemo and Big Angus, but don't have any specific models that I'm looking at from those two brands. I've also heard excellent things about the REI Half dome, but it's heavier and about 2x the cost as the Kelty Grand Mesa 2 which has sort of caught my eye. It's on sale for $100, and seems like an excellent deal given that it's about 4 lbs, but I guess I'm wondering if there is a better tent in the $300-400 price range that I'll be happier with longer? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hope this is my last post trying to decide on my new tent.

Narrowed my choice down to the Copper Spur 2 XL or XDome 2. For the most part, they are tied for my use.

So I figure the final feature that matters most for me will help me decide: Durability.

Am I wrong to conclude that the Copper Spur has a slight edge on durability? Mostly concerned about the fabric, as I would get the aluminum poles anyway, and the zippers are probably pretty much the same.

Thanks if anyone has experience with both of these. The price is pretty close with the REI sale going on now. Ends tomorrow I think.

Hello! I need help finding a trail in Dannebrog. I went there around this time last year with an old friend, and I’d really like to revisit it. I tried looking it up, but the hiking trail that keeps coming up isn’t the one we went on.

All I can remember is that we went from Roger Welsch Ave E onto Liberty Rd. I have no idea how far we drove after that, but the location we ended up at had an old wooden sign, from what I can remember. I’m not even sure if it was an official hiking trail — my friend just said it was.

We had a falling out, so there’s no way I can ask them. Any help would be deeply appreciated!

First overnight backpacking trip coming up. I’m not new to hiking, but this will be my first time sleeping overnight on the trail.

Location is around 6,000ft, river in canyon terrain, with recent lows around 39 to 42°F.

Sleep setup:

Tent: Naturehike Mongar UL 2

Pad: Therm-a-Rest Trail Pro Max Large

Quilt: Paria Thermodown 15 Down Quilt

I'm not sure about the quilt rating. It looks thinner than what I expected. I'm also wondering about drafts from the tent and quilt.

Does anybody have experience with this gear? Will it likely be enough for nights around 40°F?

I am moving to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, this summer for an internship. Does anyone have any good suggestions for backpacking routes near the northeast part of North Carolina? I will have 3-day weekends and a car, so I can drive a bit to get to good places, but the further I drive, the shorter the backpacking trip will have to be. Currently I live in Utah and I spend most weekends backpacking around northern and southern utah for 3 or 4 days at a time, I would love to do this on the east coast this summer!

I’m planning my second backpacking trip and looking for where to go! Husband and I live in SLC and our first proof of concept trip was to Little Grand Canyon in the San Rafael Swell- just 8 miles RT to give it a try. I really enjoyed it - we only saw 2 other people the whole time - and would like to do another 1-2 night trip next week.

I’ve done some research here but I’m open to other - shorter? - ideas! Some possibilities are:

La Verkin Creek Trail / Kolob Arch, Zion

Coyote Gulch, Escalante

Fish Creek - Owl Canyon Loop

but I am concerned that it’s already getting too hot (and dry of water sources?) down south, while it’s still not hot enough at higher elevations (Uintas, Wind River range, Idaho, etc.). Im still a beginner so feeling unsure about some of the challenges I’ve heard about in Escalante (quicksand, scrambling).

Thank you for weighing in!

Recently getting into wilderness backpacking and trying to build a setup that’ll work for most of what I want to do without immediately spending ultralight money.

I live in NC and will mostly be backpacking in the NC mountains/Blue Ridge/Smokies during 3 seasons, but I also want to occasionally take trips out west. I don’t really plan on camping below 30 degrees, although I guess that could change later on.

Right now I’m looking at the Kelty Cosmic 20 as my sleeping bag. Would that work well for most of my use cases or would I regret not going warmer/lighter?

Current setup is an REI Flash 55 and a Half Dome 2 Plus. Also wondering if all of this should fit reasonably well in the Flash 55 or if I’m pushing it too much volume-wise.

Just trying to build a solid beginner setup that I can grow into over time

Hello everyone, I will spend my last summer in Sweden hicking as much as possible. I live in Skåne and I really would love to hike in the Swedish mountains. I have been checking around and the main-must to do hikes suggested are King's Trail Abisko–Nikkaluokta (100ish km) or the southern one Ammarnäs–Hemavan (70ish km).

Me and my partner idea was to travel to the beginning point of one of the above paths and start walking. However, we are not sure about our phisical condition and 70 to 100 km might be a lot for us (especially in this remote area were we can not take a taxi and drive back to the city let´s say). We train constantly and do many sports but we are self awere that it still might be challenging for us.

Because of this I was thinking to still travel to one of the biggest cities (Abisko, Kiruna), rent a car and still go camping in the mountains trying to do shorter paths (30-40 km max), sleeping overnight in the tent.

I have been using All Trails my whole life but I can not really spot a cool, shorter, path to do in this mountain area.

If any of you have been experiencing this situation and have some suggestions, please let me know!

I’m sure there is a ton of these threads already but why not. I have done a lot of car camping in the eastern sierras and plan to go on some Backpacking fishing trips soon. These will likely be 1-3 nights. Mostly curious of what I should prioritize buying new and used. Found a fair amount of gear online used and some new is around the same price. Don’t need the most up to date light weight bla bla bla. Just good quality for price gear. I hope to go about 3 times before winter. I found a guy near me with great reviews selling patched nemo pads so sleeping pad is out the way. Wondering for input on many things one of which is my tent. The trekking pole tents seem pretty great for weight and size. I’ll likely have my gf for most of these trips so a 2 person is mandatory. Also how to choose the size of bag I get. I like to buy companies that are willing to back there products with warranties. I know this is rather vague just want to hear others options and advice. Thanks and happy trails.

Heading to backpack lost creek wilderness in a few weeks and will be arriving from low elevation. After spending first night in Denver, hoping to walk in next day and camp about 1 mile in from trailhead which looks on maps to spot where two branches of the creek converge and looks relatively flat. Does anyone know if should be suitable camping in that area including meeting the 100 feet from water and trail. I can tell how sloped it is. Or if you know generally that there are camp spots about that far in. Aim is to camp closer to 8000 feet that second night if possible. Thanks

I am looking to buy a new sleeping pad, I just am stuck between a few different options. The top contenders are the Nemo Tensor, S2S Ether light or big agnes rapide. I have gone to my local rei and was able to test the big agnes and the Nemo, however they do not carry s2s pads. I am a side sleeper so I need something that is comfortable and thick. What are your experiences with these pads? Is there one you would choose over the other? Whats your experience when contacting these companies for help with your product?

I currently have the Bi Agnes Rapide mattress, and it pretty solid and I get a decent nights sleep. I keep hearing and reading though that the ZenBivy Flex Air Matress is a BIG step up in terms of comfort and quality of sleep.

Those who have experience with these two. Is there any truth to the claims? Is it worth the money to buy the Zenbivy Matress?

Really random question - back in the 70's, we could still drink water straight from streams/lakes in Yosemite. No fears then of Giardia, etc.

Is there anywhere in the U.S. that one can still drink water straight from a body of water, untreated?

EDIT: To clarify, I don't drink untreated/filtered water while backpacking, as now days it just seems too risky (have had Giarda once - that was enough). The trip I referred to above was in pretty high trail areas of Yosemite, so perhaps less risky, as there were fewer people running around the mountains then? Our leader (I was a kid then) was not concerned (and we were clueless).

Guess my question had more to do with any perceived/real changes in water quality since that time.

I've been trying to find a good route for a weekend trip around the Delaware water gap. Ideally, we would hike for just a few miles on Friday and camp, have a main hiking day on Saturday (10-15 miles ish), and have a few miles on Sunday (Idealy less than 10). Im looking for either a loop, or a route where we could car shuttle- but an out and back is good too. Does anyone have any Ideas? Thanks for any help!

Hi there. Asst. Scoutmaster with a Troop based near Charlotte, NC. We are supposed to backpack in the Panthertown area this weekend, however, weather is not looking all that great with rain both Saturday and Sunday. Our Scoutmaster has tasked us with finding alternatives.

The rain situation looks better closer to the coast, but I can't seem to find any backpacking trails that have 4-6 miles of total hiking (whether in a loop or out and back) with an overnight camp.

Any ideas?

Hi everyone, im planning on going hinking in the swiss alps for 7 days in late august. since i only had a 30l daypack before, i went to my local globetrotter store to look what they had to offer. upon reaching the second hand section i saw they had a 70+15l tnf rogue backpack for 20 bucks. i bought it, thinking even if its too big, its too good of a steal to let go. its in good condition, but im kind of worried its too big/bulky for summer conditions. i will be carrying food for 2 days since there is a 2 day stretch without resupply, if this changes anything. would love to hear your thoughts. i also today saw a 55l secondhand fjallräaven backpack for 130 bucks. if it helps im 19m, 190cm, 74kg