Here are the lessons learned from my first backpacking trip in over 15 years.

Location: Archers Fork Loop in Southeast Ohio for two days, one night. We were on the trail around 11:30 am and completed the loop counterclockwise.

Saturday

Duration 3:44:40

Distance 7.0

Hiking Calories 1,907

Total Daily Calories 3,729

Elevation gain: 896

Elevation loss 1,132

Average Pace: 17:19 min

Breaks: Lunch for about 41:47

Sunday

Duration 3:06:25

Distance 6.77

Hiking Calories 1,569

Total Daily Calories 3,216

Elevation gain: 1,309

Elevation loss 1,076

Average Pace: 17:58

Breaks: 16:38 Water / Snacks

Fitness:

The sustained back-to-back days were hard for me. Towards the end of Sunday, the tree cover was sparse, and it heated up, so I was a bit drained.
I need to work on my leg strength for hills both up and down.
Forget about dropping ounces out of my pack – I need to drop bodyweight. Get down into the 190s for my ideal weight.

Hydration / Nutrition:

I need to drink more water – first time with the water bladder and didn’t drink as much water as I thought. I see this as an issue with water bladders as you can’t see how much water you have consumed.
I was getting in the routine of taking regular drinks but needed to get used to taking more water.
I had enough food for the trail on Saturday – the sandwich was good, the payday bars were excellent, and the trail mix added the right calories for the day – I didn’t feel undernourished.
I took too many snacks for the time I was on trail as we finished by lunch on Sunday.
Two oatmeal containers for breakfast were a lot – needed more water with the oatmeal – 150 mg of water. The banana chips I added to didn’t hydrate.
The Ucan was an excellent addition to the morning nutrition.
My estimated daily calorie burn was pretty accurate for the entire day.
The nutrition plan seemed to work – I didn’t each as many snacks as I thought I would.

Gear:

I tried to use one of the dehydrated meal bags as a reusable bag for hydrating my meals in freezer bags.

It didn’t work. It wasn’t big enough.
I need to make a koozie for the food or keep the meals in the original packaging.
The tent needs to be replaced – too heavy, but I like the room. – a two-person will do the trick.
I need to bag and secure my food – I was anxious about not hanging my food and maybe a good dry bag – I have one I use for kayaking that may work, although it is a bit heavy.
I need a little bag to hook onto the rope to swing over the tree to hand up.
Next, I need to look at upgrading my sleeping bag.
I need to upgrade my cooking system – the MSR WhisperLite stove is heavy with fuel. In addition, I need to investigate a canister stove.
Bring my plate that would have made eating much better – dump the freezer bag into the dish to eat.
I need a dirty water bag with a bigger opening, not the screw opening of the Sawyer bags I currently have.
The Smart water bottle is hard to fill up from a top standpoint.
Didn’t use the Nalgene bottle at all.
I didn’t encounter any ticks, so the spray worked – or at least it didn’t not work.
Look into the pump filter for ease of getting water when there is no moving water.

Summary

Areas for improvement, but I enjoyed the experience. Nice to get to camp, enjoy the campfire and relax. Getting away from the city lights, cell coverage, and just enjoying the outdoors was awesome. I am looking forward to the next trip.

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