Anyone have any recommendations on a first solo trip?

I'd do a mix of a familiar route and new areas. My first solo is in 2 weeks.. Hunter Island loop.

Many good solo loops out there- Slim Lake is an easy one. Or Kawish Triangle loop

Good to pick a first solo route that has an option to be cut short.

Route recommendations? Other recommendations?

There's a special interest group - Solo Tripping. Scroll to the bottom of the main page - See More Groups - and join. Lots of specific information there.

As for routes there are a lot of options and it depends on a lot of things - time, goals, preferences, experience, capabilities. More information will get you better, more focused responses.

billconner: "Good to pick a first solo route that has an option to be cut short."

Seconding this.

And maybe not the most popular opinion but depending on your overall BWCA experience and/or wilderness experience, I would recommend a route that has the likelihood of some other paddlers on it.

I'll second what billconner and Alex said above. Go small, preferably in an area you know. By small, I mean it's better to bite off a smaller trip than it is more than you can chew. The first trips(s) will shake out those things that work and don't work: you'll discover that there is equipment you brought and don't need, and equipment you wish you had but didn't bring; your camp routine; that type of stuff. You'll likely bring more food than you need, so pay attention to that. You'll need to get used to the solitude...it's a new experience that some find uncomfortable. Bring things to do if it's raining and you're tent-bound. Allow yourself to sleep when you're tired and get up when you want. Appreciate the freedom of being responsible to nothing and no-one.

You'll get used to the night sounds...if you can't, soloing probably isn't going to work. You'll learn the difference between a night sound that requires attention (very rare) and night sounds that don't (99.9%). Lay back and listen to the night...there is a LOT going on.

I agree about being a route likely to be frequented by at least one party per day, just in case something bad happens.

I could write a book about this. Maybe I will someday.

Mike

I’d suggest making easy certain things that could be ‘difficult’, I.e. meal planning & food prep. Dehydrated/freeze dried meals for dinner, oatmeal or similar for breakfast, & dried fruit, jerky, nut bars, + cheese for lunch. There is a lot to consider when planning & simplifying low-hanging fruit frees up mental capacity for other considerations. I found that being solo I cared less for cooking elaborate meals as there aren’t others to enjoy them with - easy prep & cleanup has been, at least for me, more enjoyable as it frees me up for other activities.

Setting up & tearing down camp can take longer being solo as you’re the only worker bee at the camp (maybe it is partially just me enjoying my mornings), so I’d recommend at least some layover days & not every day being a travel day. I was traveling more last year & found twice per week to be a good pace of moving & enjoying staying still, though that was just my preference.

The comment above about night sounds is so true. More than once I’ve sat up wondering what a noise was only to realize it was my own stomach lol. In a similar vein, it can be nice to hear human voices after a long time of silence, even just as background noise. A weather radio, which I would recommend having anyways, can be nice for that purpose.