Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Group Forum: Solo Tripping :: 1st and possible last solo
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twston |
1-All the food I repackaged ended up tasting like chemicals. Made me sick. 2-Pretty sure my camp was very close to a wolf den. Kept hearing faint dog whimpers all afternoon. Then after sunset just as I nodded off heard barking and howling and little puppy noises like my hammock was a few yards away. Only lasted 30-45 seconds. Scared the you know what out of me. 2-Could not sleep cause of the above. 3-Just as the slightest of light was shinning and I just started to dose off something with heavy footsteps hauled #%$ out of my campsite. Sounded like someone running with boots on this time within feet of my hammock. this scared me more than the wolfs. 4-What was barley a sore shoulder was hot to the touch and very sore after 1st travel day. 5-see trip report when I decide to writ it. |
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Mort |
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bhouse46 |
A little advice, rehearse your plan a little more. This is really important for every trip, but especially the solo. And stick it out a couple nights. If it still doesn't work then good luck in companions for future trips. |
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bwcasolo |
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butthead |
Twston, you gave it a good shot and didn't like the experience. There are lots of deep personal feelings that make or break the whole solo/wilderness camp thing, it's not for everyone! If you decide to try it again make sure all your gear works out including the food, I still like to take an easy trip (even a local campground), to test my solo setup each year. For things that go bump in the nite, sometimes a small radio or mp3 player with headphones can help out. I know several travelers who like solo paddling and camping yet get the hebe-gebies at nite. They make great travel partners on group solo trips! butthead |
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Sierra1 |
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missmolly |
quote Sierra1: "I've been fortunate on my solo trips that I haven't had problems with gear, food or things that go bump in the night. I did a lot of camping before I started my BWCA trips and was pretty used to the odd sounds of night in camp. That said I completely understand your feelings about what happened on your first trip. You did the right thing by coming in early. Don't fret about it just take another trip to a different spot and try it again. On way I find to avoid camp noises is to stay on an island for the first couple of nights until you have your routine down. The big animals tend to not be on the islands. Another thing to remember is that critters don't spend all of there time in the deep woods tramping through brush and what have you. They will wander at night through open areas like campsites. Usually they're just passing through. Finally animals are not quiet in the woods, they make all kinds of racket. After a while you'll be able to tell the small from the not so small and sleep right through it. " I also stay on islands, but even islands are noisy at night. The night belongs to critters. I've soloed for months by myself, but the first night is always scary. The second night is scary, but not quite as scary. It takes me about a week to relax at night. They now make the most amazing flashlights and those help. They turn night into day. Plus, you can use them as a weapon because they hurt, but just being able to see EVERYTHING helps. I've bought mine here. I even walk through my local cemetery and park at night now with my flashlights. It's being able to not see that scares me and the new superlights return full sight to me. Plus, they can light up a lake at night, which is handy if you're paddling at night. A couple years ago, I was coming back late from fishing. I knew where the campsite was, but I called my friend on the walkie-talkie and had him walk out to the point and turn on the flashlight. It was a handheld lighthouse, both comforting and dazzling. |
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quark2222 |
If this is real, try it again. You will love it. Been on about 12 solos, and I will never go on another group trip again, unless someone wants to carry all my stuff on the portages. Tomster |
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boonie |
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twston |
I think it was a bear in my camp in the morning but was told there are no bears in the numbered lakes. Was thinking i have read trip reports that had bear encounters in them for that area but could be wrong. Thanks for the responses. |
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kanoes |
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yellowcanoe |
Sometimes these things happen for a reason. First solos seem to be a challenge for many. I remember I heard sounds in the night on my first, and slept badly, mostly cause I think I wasn't used to it. Don't feel bad. I just read on another canoe forum on someone who was got lost and wind slapped that they turned around aborted the trip and felt like a loser. Which is not true.. they probably made the best decision for them at the time. I hope for you there will be another day and another time. |
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twston |
quote kanoes: "why was your food bad? or were nerves involved and you just thought it was bad?" I had some powdered eggs that were left over from last year and when I scooped it into the ziplock it smelled strong but it always does and a bit clumpy. Somehow it made all my repackaged food taste very chemically to the point where just the smell made me gag. |
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kanoes |
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twston |
quote kanoes: "my third solo was when i wrote them off forever (bear encounter). went back up a month later to get back in the saddle. never looked back. dont cash in just yet." Its like bicycle touring. When I get home I always think its time to do something else then a year later its time to do it again. Only time will tell. Thanks for all the encouragement. Don't get much from the family they think its crazy. |
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yellowcanoe |
quote Sierra1: "The key word there was "tend". In my experience of both solo and group camping I've never had a large animal go through my camp on an island. Not once. I didn't say "never occur on islands". I've had moose walk through camp in broad daylight on the mainland. Not on an island. If I was on a lake for the first time on a solo trip I'd find an island to camp at. You may have different thoughts. Just my .02." Oh its not my thoughts! Its my experience! On an island one fine summer day I woke up, poked my nose out and counted eight legs standing about ten feet away. Mom moose and calf.. I have watched bears island hop on the French River, Algonquin, Wabakimi and Quetico.. In broad daylight.. I would say the tendency is for more large mammal use of islands than avoidance of islands. Animals do want to save energy. I would camp on the mainland and not in sight of an island for my first solo. |
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hobbydog |
1-All the food I repackaged ended up tasting like chemicals. Made me sick. What do you mean by repackaging? Is this stuff you dehydrated yourself? How old was it? I am having a hard time understanding how one package of food could contaminate the rest. It seems like bad food would have ruined a trip whether solo or otherwise. (same for #4) I have had insomnia on trips before and learned not to fight it. Get up and build a fire, try night fishing (fresh food), carve a stick, read by the lake...anything but fight a bad night in the tent. Snooze during the day. Did you write in a journal while on the trip? It can be helpful when you don't have someone else to bounce your thoughts off. |
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yellowcanoe |
When I mention something, it's usually something I have learned and often from someone else. I suggest you read the first paragraph( Introduction) here But that is a digression. Back to food. While freeze dried is often less than gourmet and sky high in sodium (often), it has its place for the solo traveler. It won't make you ill as it has a long shelf life. Moving beyond that dehydrated items usually in the noodle aisle of the supermarket (like Lipton sides) are fine. It is possible to have home dehydrating errors. I tried to dehydrate shrimp once. On the third day of the trip the ammonia odor was a clear warning not to eat. Sometimes there is still water left in our home efforts. (dried shrimp bought at an Asian market proved to be no better). And hmmm..SPAM keeps! You probably are thinking downsizing your boat. A tandem paddled solo can be exhausting if the wind is even thinking about exercising. |
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OBX2Kayak |
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missmolly |
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Exo |
I was in Wabikimi with 3 others when a wolf pup decided to visit our camp one night. It whimpered and barked perhaps 10 feet from my 16 year old cousin's tent, which was perhaps 20 feet from mine. The adult wolves were howling and growling and barking perhaps 100 yards off. The pup figured things out soon enough. It was an interesting story the next morning...because I had slept through it!!! It was also to far north for whitetail to thrive and my uncle told us a moose walked by camp one night and it wasn't quiet about it...again, sleeping right through it. Perhaps the one thing that freaks me out the most is a deer whistle/snort. It wakes me from a dead sleep. I know from first hand experiences that at night a mouse sounds like a raccoon, a coon or possum like a bear, and a bear...well like a bear. Beavers can sound like Bigfoot taking a bath in front of your site, and you swear you saw chupacubra running in the woods...but it was just a beaver. As your woodscraft increases, you will be able to tell what sound is what and decipher all those wonderful, glorious, night sounds. Just ask yourself, would you have the same fears if not solo? How would you have acted differently? Should you have acted that way and didn't? My hairiest experience on a solo (a few years ago due to having a child)?? The portage from the northwest arm of Insula to Kiana Lake. Something wasn't right, something was watching me. Still get chills thinking about that stretch of water and subsequent portage. |
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gnegard |
I've been solo tripping for years, both backpacking and canoeing. I still go with a group now and then, and in fact will be headed to WCPP in a month with a friend. It will be fun, and adventure. But, I will miss the solitude of a solo trip. After all these years of going solo, I still am nervous, and cautious especially the first few days. Around the 4th day, I begin to get into the element of everything, and then I really enjoy myself. Good luck, and let yourself recover, then maybe try another. If it's not for you, 'so be it' at least you've tried it, and experienced it. |
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muddy |
quote twston: "Thanks again for all the encouragement and advice. Now that things have settled down a bit I am starting to think of trying again. Making a August trip with my adult son. Not a solo but will just be the 2 of us and I have never tripped with less than 3. " Good for you!!! Get back on that horse cowboy! |
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inspector13 |
The heavy footsteps could have been a deer that finally caught your scent, although I was surprised that I was able to hear heavy galloping noises when three large wolves went running through the yard of my cabin last year. I haven’t done a canoeing solo in the BWCA yet, but have done others in the SNF where if something happened I could get to my car easily. Don’t worry about it. Solos are not for everyone. And with all that activity I would have left too. Once the fun run out, I’m out. |
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Exo |
quote gnegard: Good luck, and let yourself recover, then maybe try another. If it's not for you, 'so be it' at least you've tried it, and experienced it. Yes! |
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Mort |
It also sounds like some good learning took place that could definitely increase the chances of a better outcome the next time around. I hope you'd give it another try in the future. |
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TomT |
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HansSolo |
Sorry to hear your first solo outing was such a bummer twston. I sincerely hope you don't give up on it, because as others have mentioned, it gets better after you get a few more solo trips under your belt. It's funny how so many other solo trippers mentioned getting the jitters the first time out. When I read TomT's trip report and he mentioned this, I thought; "Wow, it's not just me!" Although my first BWCAW solo trip in September of 86' went well, after sundown I'd get this strange feeling of anxiety. It was weird, because it wasn't so much a fear of "things that go bump in the night", but there was just this uneasy feeling I could not really define. I think it was partially due to trip reports I'd heard from customers when I was working at Rutabaga, and other outdoor retail stores. On several occasions, customers returning from the BWCAW would tell me about gear that was trashed because of a bear. Some also told me of how they needed to take turns throughout the night keeping a pesky bear at bay in an attempt to guard their food until daybreak. Additionally, on a backpacking trip to the Grand Tetons, I also experienced several backpackers packing out when I was just heading in. When I inquired about their trip experience, many of them reported their trip was cut short, because a black bear had decimated their food supply. (Strangely, I never saw one black bear on that backpacking trip.) With those stories in mind, I didn't relish the fact of being the lone Sentinel if I found myself in a similar situation on a solo canoe trip. I value my sleep and I didn't want to spend an entire night fending off a persistent bear by myself in-order to protect my food supply. I wasn't really concerned about personal injury from a marauding bear though. But, I really didn't want my expensive gear trashed, or have my trip cut short because of a lacerated tent, or because I lost my food cache to a hungry bruin. After a few subsequent solo canoe trips though, and the fact I realized the threat of food robbing bears was over-rated, those feelings of anxiety faded. A few years after my first BWCAW solo adventure, I no longer gave it a second thought and I was completely at ease with my surroundings. So hang in there Bro, because it does get easier and better with experience. Hans Solo |
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twston |
As far as #4 I would have did a lay over day but since i could not trust my food supply I thought it was better to leave. The other issue with that is that it is much harder to paddle solo than tandem. Not complaining just when tripping with other than the work load can be shared and when someone is sore or week than the others are able to pick up the slack. I had this happen last year when a member of our group was feeling under the weather the rest of the group was able to help. |
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twston |
quote yellowcanoe: "I am thinking something physiologically was off.. something like an infection. Sometimes these things can screw peoples taste buds. Well just went to go thru the rest of the food now that I have been home and it still smell horrible. It all smells like bad eggs. I broke my own rule, when in doubt throw it out. |
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bumabu |
I have done quite a few solo trips since then and always have the Heebee Jeebies for about the first 24 hours of the trip until I find my solo groove. Don't give up on it, just use it as a learning experience and adjust accordingly. Solo tripping has a lot of great advantages to not be missed out on. You got over the first major hurdle by popping the solo cherry. |
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nctry |
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FOG51 |
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muddy |
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Frenchy19 |
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Jeriatric |
For me, the only thing I had to overcome when I first soloed in a canoe was the newness of canoeing. The mental aspects of camping alone were not a factor. Most of my friends, as a kid, went fishing, hunting, or hiking in groups. They tended to be more social. Traveling and spending the night alone, at least in the early attempts, would be more of a trial for a social camper. The silence would be loud and the little noises even louder as the mind considered Sasquatch, alien abduction, red-eyed moose or other unhappy situations. Many young social campers come to enjoy being alone in the woods in later years. They probably appreciate the solitude even more than me because it was not a part of their early lives. The most retold stories of my life are from times I was alone. Hang in there and you will create the memories of a lifetime. |
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yellowcanoe |
What did you take? (realizing you probably don't want to remember and talk about that awful part) |
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luft |
quote yellowcanoe: "I am kind of wondering about the food that tasted like chemicals. Bad powdered eggs that were past their due date were packed in and made all the rest of the food smell/taste bad. I am assuming the eggs smelled like sulfur since that is what breaks down in eggs when they go bad and it is NOT a pleasant smell :-) |
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armydaddy |
quote butthead: "Solo camping and tripping seem like normal, but this is a Solo Tripping forum. For my experience the average camper/wilderness traveler thinks anyone who solos is an oddball. Great advice butthead! |
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yellowcanoe |
quote Sierra1: "I've been fortunate on my solo trips that I haven't had problems with gear, food or things that go bump in the night. I did a lot of camping before I started my BWCA trips and was pretty used to the odd sounds of night in camp. That said I completely understand your feelings about what happened on your first trip. You did the right thing by coming in early. Don't fret about it just take another trip to a different spot and try it again. On way I find to avoid camp noises is to stay on an island for the first couple of nights until you have your routine down. The big animals tend to not be on the islands. Another thing to remember is that critters don't spend all of there time in the deep woods tramping through brush and what have you. They will wander at night through open areas like campsites. Usually they're just passing through. Finally animals are not quiet in the woods, they make all kinds of racket. After a while you'll be able to tell the small from the not so small and sleep right through it. " Where did you get that information? Bears and moose use islands specifically for rest stops while swimming across lakes. Most of my bear sightings have been bear in water or entering or exiting water. True they are just passing through. Bears and moose both can be quite quiet. And squirrels raccoons and birds etc , small stuff not so much. I am amazed how quick and quiet moose can just vanish and bears too. We have both at home. |
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missmolly |
quote yellowcanoe: "quote Sierra1: "I've been fortunate on my solo trips that I haven't had problems with gear, food or things that go bump in the night. I did a lot of camping before I started my BWCA trips and was pretty used to the odd sounds of night in camp. That said I completely understand your feelings about what happened on your first trip. You did the right thing by coming in early. Don't fret about it just take another trip to a different spot and try it again. On way I find to avoid camp noises is to stay on an island for the first couple of nights until you have your routine down. The big animals tend to not be on the islands. Another thing to remember is that critters don't spend all of there time in the deep woods tramping through brush and what have you. They will wander at night through open areas like campsites. Usually they're just passing through. Finally animals are not quiet in the woods, they make all kinds of racket. After a while you'll be able to tell the small from the not so small and sleep right through it. " If you're in a canoe or camping by water most of the time, most of your bear sightings will be when bears are by water. |
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twston |
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missmolly |
quote Sierra1: "The key word there was "tend". In my experience of both solo and group camping I've never had a large animal go through my camp on an island. Not once. I didn't say "never occur on islands". I've had moose walk through camp in broad daylight on the mainland. Not on an island. If I was on a lake for the first time on a solo trip I'd find an island to camp at. You may have different thoughts. Just my .02." I've had one moose on an island and no bears. I heard the moose swimming out to the island, so I was ready to shoo it. |
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Sierra1 |
quote yellowcanoe: "quote Sierra1: "The key word there was "tend". In my experience of both solo and group camping I've never had a large animal go through my camp on an island. Not once. I didn't say "never occur on islands". I've had moose walk through camp in broad daylight on the mainland. Not on an island. If I was on a lake for the first time on a solo trip I'd find an island to camp at. You may have different thoughts. Just my .02." Well then we have had different experiences and they are both valid in their own way. That's why there are differing opinions as to what is right. I'd still camp on the island. :) |
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missmolly |
quote muddy: "quote twston: "Thanks again for all the encouragement and advice. Now that things have settled down a bit I am starting to think of trying again. Making a August trip with my adult son. Not a solo but will just be the 2 of us and I have never tripped with less than 3. " Or not. Some see soloing as an experience where one can tap into the esoteric ether and descry the secrets of the universe or a rite of passage, like the Masai slaying a lion. I see it as paddling alone. If paddling with others is more comfy for you, do that. |
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missmolly |
quote Sierra1: "quote yellowcanoe: "quote Sierra1: "The key word there was "tend". In my experience of both solo and group camping I've never had a large animal go through my camp on an island. Not once. I didn't say "never occur on islands". I've had moose walk through camp in broad daylight on the mainland. Not on an island. If I was on a lake for the first time on a solo trip I'd find an island to camp at. You may have different thoughts. Just my .02." Islands are purty too, plus if you camp on a western point, the breeze discourages bugs. Now, I do have a bears-on-island experience. It was so traumaztizing that I only just recovered the memory via therapy this morning. I was paddling in central China and camped on an island, as is my wont and want. I awoke the next morning to discover my tent was surrounded by pandas. They forced their way into my tent and wanted to cuddle, which was fine for the first few hours, but pandas have an insatiable appetite for cuddling. Don't ask me why. Being Chinese, they are inscrutable. So, the moral of the story is to avoid islands in central China, unless, of course, you like cuddling that goes on and on and on. |
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Sierra1 |
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Exo |
I'm also amazed at how stone dead tree stumps can just get up and walk off in that light between darkness and just before twilight. The mind can be your worst enemy. When you go back up, maybe sleep in separate tents? If your wish is to solo, that could be a good jumping off point. And pay attention to the night sounds...investigate if necessary and figure out what a frog sounds like, etc. |
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missmolly |
quote KT: "take any pics?" Panda pics? I wish. I had my camera, but it was loaded with color film and you need black and white film to take pics of pandas. |
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KT |
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