Took an overnight backpacking trip to the Sky Lakes Wilderness Sunday-Monday September 23-24th 2018. This was my first time going backing overnight solo. I have been wanting to try a solo trip for some time now. I really wanted to find out if I was up to spending the night alone in the wilderness miles from any public roads and other people. Getting away from other people didn’t totally work out because the area I was in is pretty popular this time of year but I was far from any roads. I chose the Sky Lakes Wilderness because I’ve been there a few times before and its a great place to backpack. Also its popular enough that if I  did end up in trouble I could probably find help.

I started my trip at the Cold Spring trail head 11 miles off highway 140 in southern Oregon and ended the day 17 miles later at Grass lake. I returned basically the same way but took PCT to Ridge trail then followed route I took in back to Cold Springs trail head.

My plan for this trip was to recon areas of the Sky Lakes Wilderness that I haven’t yet visited and also to get away for a while. It worked out pretty well with a few exceptions. I didn’t do my homework on what kind of elevation gain there was passing over Devils Peak and I still had a difficult time sleeping like my last backpacking trip. The lack of sleep drove me to cut the trip short and push pretty hard my second day so I could make it back to my pickup and go home. The trip was by no means a bust though. I saw a large mountain lion  on the PCT section of the trail and spotted a few great camping sites.

Gear I took on trip:

1. Osprey Atmos AG 50 Pack
2. REI Co-Op Passage 1 Tent
3. Marmont NanoWave 35 Sleeping Bag
4. Klymit Static V Sleeping Pad  
5. Klymit  Luxe Pillow 
6. Snow Peak GigaPower Auto Stove with fuel canister
7. GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Bottle Cup/Pot  
8. Snow Peak Titanium Spork 
9. Sawyer Mini Water Filter 
10. REI Co-Op Flexlite Chair 
11. Osprey Hydraulics LT Reservoir 
12. Suunto M-3 D Leader Compass and area map
13. Outdoor Research Bug Out Gaiters (never used them though)
14. Leki Micro Vario Ti COR-Tech Trekking Poles
15. Petzi Tikka Headlamp
16. Pocket Guide to Outdoor Survival   
17. Adventure Medical Kit 
18. Sea to Summit Head Net with Insect Shield
19. REI Co-Op Multi Towel Small 
20. Ben’s Spray Pump Insect Repellent
21. Waterproof Matches
22. Kershaw Pocket Knife
23. Mini Tripod
24. Canon Powershot SX 230 HS
25. Rope
26. Wet Wipes
27. Clothes (Kuhl Renegade Convertible Pants, Scarpa Zen Pro shoes, 3 pairs Darn Tough Socks, 2 pairs ExOfficio underwear, Columbia Tamaimi 2 shirt, Marmot Windridge T-Shirt, Smartwool PHD beanie, Smartwool NTS mid 250 crewneck, Basic sweater, Columbia rain Jacket)
28. Food (Forgot to make list but mostly protein bars, Mountain House meals and snacks)
29. Stetson Hat 

I probably forgot something but that’s pretty much all the gear I brought. I’ll post reviews of the gear I haven’t already reviewed soon. As a fairly new backpacker I’ve still got a lot of gear kinks to work out. I’m fairly happy with most of my gear. If I take many more trips that include more than 10 mile per day I’ll have to try and lighten up my load some though. I don’t have a lot of money to spend so this is something I’ll do as my budget allows. I think my next major gear purchase will be a quilt to replace my sleeping bag. I really don’t like sleeping bags, especially mummy bags.

Snow Lake

Cowboy Coffee

Camp Site