Packing for my first backpacking trip

My first backpacking trip is to Havasupai Falls. Its a small trip, but for my first time backpacking, it’ll be a good experience before I try anything longer.

I’ve been camping several times to King’s Canyon National Park, Zion National Park and Yosemite National Park. I love being in the outdoors. It is a beautiful feeling waking up early when the sun is coming out, stepping out of your tent and smelling the fresh, clear air. With camping you can take everything you need and have it at the ready in your car. I have a big box that contains everything: tent, sleeping bag, stove top, extra fuel for the stove top, flashlights, cooking utensils, pots/pans. I just have to pull it out and place it in my car along with an ice chest and I am set to go.

With backpacking I realized that I would have to condense all of that so that it could fit into a single backpacking back pack. I am going to be carrying everything in a Teton Sports Explorer 4000.

The idea of carrying everything I need is a bit intimidating.  I am a small person; 5’1″ and 115 lbs, and I knew that if I didn’t plan carefully, I would end up overpacking and making my pack extremely heavy.

Havasupai is deep in the Grand Canyon, on the west side of the Grand Canyon National Park. It is a 10 mile hike to the waterfall and is only accessible by hiking, horseback or helicopter. My boyfriend, our friends and I have decided to get the whole experience and hike. Here is a video I found that shows Havasupai Falls. It is absolutely beautiful and I am excited to see it for myself.

Before I actually started packing, I made a list of all the things I would possibly need. This included my sleeping bag, tent, a sleeping pad, clothes, cookware, and food. I also made a list of things I needed to stock up on in my emergency kit. My list also included items that both my boyfriend and I would need (he is a last minute packer and I know I would be in charge of making sure we had everything).

Once I made my list, I started taking out my items and laying them in my spare bedroom and crossing them off from my checklist. This is what my second bedroom looked like with all my items

This photo doesn’t show all of the food we will be taking on this trip. I will be eating MRE’s (Meal, ready to eat). Its essential a dehydrated meal that only needs hot water to be poured over it. I don’t know what that will taste like, but I hope it’ll be filling.

It’s a 10 mile hike from where we will be leaving the car  to the campsite. I’ll be writing a post about how it went, things I wish I had and had not brought, and the overall experience.

 

Wish me luck! Have you been backpacking before? Do you have any tips that you found very helpful when you went? I’d love to hear all about it!

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