First Solo Hike - Feedback please

[Goonky]

Hey all,

I am planning my first solo hike and have narrowed it down to a 2 night, 3 day hike. I just want to make sure I'm not taking on too much, so I'd appreciate some feedback.

The first day of hiking would be 4.8 miles to the first campground. The second day would be 4.6 miles. Then on the third day I would hike back to the car for a total of 9.4 miles on the last day. It's a total elevation gain of about 1500 feet, most of the uphill on the first two days. I tried to pick an easy hike for this first time out.

I run 4 days a week, I'm training for a 10K in August. I've run a couple of 5ks. I'm not fast, but I'm in pretty good shape.

This hike also gives me an out early if need be. I can always hike back out after the first day since I'm just hiking back to the car regardless. If those of you here who are more experience think it's better, I could easily turn this into a one night hike. It's just a bit of a haul to get to the hike and if I'm going there, I figured I might as well do 2 nights.

I'm well researched, have decent gear, and ready to do this, but I am a little nervous since not everyone in my life gets why I want to do this. So a little positive reinforcement would be appreciated as well. :)

I will definitely be leaving my itinerary with someone and a schedule for when I expect to be out of the woods.

Thanks for any advice and feedback.

[Rick500]

I did close to 30 miles on my first overnighter (also 3 days, 2 nights). You say you're in relatively good shape, so I don't see any reason you couldn't handle it.

Running four days a week is more than I did to prepare. :)

Stay hydrated and pay attention to what your body is telling you, and you'll do fine.

[Appalachian Tater]

You will probably do the whole ten miles the first day unless you make an effort to slow down, take lots of breaks, sleep late, go to be early, spend time around the fire, swim, etc. Sounds good to me!

[WalkingStick75]

Sounds like a good shakedown hike, have fun!

[twodifferentsocks]

You'll do great! You're going to have a blast:D
Before this year, I had never hiked more than 4 days and never by myself. This Spring, I hiked 175 miles from Springer to Fontana and was "by myself" all but 4 nights. I used "by myself" in quotes because the Appalachian Trail is well trodden, lot's of people. I recommend hiking solo your first time out on a well traveled trail if you're skiddish about injury evacs, getting lost, and such. I became much more confident seeing people every couple of hours, sometimes every 30 minutes. I used to have fun with it, asking other thruhikers even when it was obvious, "Are we still on the Appalachian Trail?" They thought it was funny/sarcasm, but the truth was I loved having my position verified:)
You probably know this drill, but I let someone at home know when I was leaving, where I was going (I left them maps highlighted with my route), and when expected to get there. I carried a cell phone and checked in when I could get a signal during lunch and/or after dinner or if I was delayed.
As far as what to carry, I hope you don't have to learn the hard way like I did. I bought too much stuff, and carried too much stuff, but left the most important items I should have carried at home (chair kit and pillow!) After 20 days I suffered the effects of sleep deprivation. Next time I've got it worked out, but I'm sure the list will always be tweaked. I wouldn't worry about your gear (as long as you're warm enough, but if you jog that much you know what it's like to exert yourself in cold weather.) Who cares if you carry too much, it's only a few days.
I'm excited for you. Stay warm, be safe and have fun!

[Goonky]

Thanks for all the feedback. My legs are quite sore, but otherwise the hike went very well.

[Lemni Skate]

I don't think the distance or elevation gain will be any problem for you. My advice is to resist the urge to speed up. Stick to your plan and you'll have a blast.

[Sunshine Tami Jo]

What kind of chair kit do you use?

[Country Roads]

Welcome to the crazy hiker club :welcome

I hope you know that there is no cure, but this disease can be treated by going for another hike, then another and another; well you get the picture.

[RedChick]

I think it's great that you're giving this sport a try. My first hike out was on Mt. Rainer in Washington, and I did a 6 night/7 Day section hike out and back. For the trail I was on you had to register which camp you were going to use for each night with the rangers, and there was little to no choice for deviation. I used camps that were 5-7miles apart because I was not sure of my hiking ability. Personally, I found this to be too short of a distance (I was in excellent shape at the time). I was done by 1pm at the latest every day which left me bored. I wrote a lot in my trail journal, talked to a lot of interesting people, and slept a lot to pass the excess time.

At first I was a little disappointed that I didn't choose to push myself a little more, but now that I look back on that first trip, limiting my mileage was the right decision! I learned a lot about how my body and gear worked when backpacking. Do your first hike the way that you think you are capable of, and you just may surprise yourself. You can always tackle higher mileage later on after this first important step. Have fun, and safe travels!