What I Packed For Our Backpacking Trip

We have been camping for years and have it down what we need to pack for when we stay at remote campgrounds but we have never had to pack to hike into a site. Since we have 4 kids we also have a 26 foot toy hauler we camp in just so we have somewhere dry to sleep or hang out if it rains.

Backpacking has been something I have always wanted to do but the time was never right. Since we are not very familiar with backpacking we chose one site to set up camp in for 2 nights. We had about a 2 mile hike to our campsite so if we needed something it wasn’t too hard to hike back to the car. This turned out to be a good plan because our site was on top of a rocky open ridge and it started thundering and lightning in the night so we chose to play it safe and hike the hour back to the car because it was still early enough that we could drive the 45 minutes to the nearest town and get a hotel room. This was a learning experience and I really want to try it again.

Here is what we packed:

• Battery pack and charging cord to charge flashlights and phones

• Flashlights

• Headlamp

• Extra batteries

• Sleeping Bags

• Toilet Paper

• Water filter

• Shovel (for when you don’t have a bathroom)

• Hiking bags

• Backpacking bag

• hydration bag for in our hiking bags

• Extra water bottles

• Snacks

• Multi tool

• MRE’s

• Hatchet

• Matches & lighter

• Fire starting material ( dryer lint and newspaper are my favorites)

• Plastic bags to pack out garbage

• Rocket stove

• 2 person tent

• Compass

• First aid kit

• Ropes to hang our food in trees

• inflatable pad to sleep on

• Tarp for under/over your tent

• Safety whistle or alarm to clip to you or your bag

• Pan to boil water

• Ibuprofen

• Biofreeze roll on

• Hiking boots and socks

• Rain jackets

• Bug spray

This is our first time hiking into a site and I felt we were pretty well prepared for our trip but there where a few things that we should have brought with or need better gear for next time. Our packs where to bulky and heavier then they needed to be, a more compact sleeping pad and sleeping bag would have made a huge difference.

• Hand Guns for safety

• Trip line

• A better tent - the one we used was just one i found in box from my dad or sister, I'm not even sure how waterproof it was and the wind was so bad the cover just whipped around in the wind.

• More compact sleeping pads

• More compact sleeping bags

• Walking Sticks

• More lights ( tease me all your want but I don’t like dark windy nights, i’ve seen way to many scary movies and shows)

  
  

It is important to consider the time of year your going hiking and where. Summer in the Northwoods of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Upper Michigan are the worst time time for Mosquitos. You will need a good bug net for your head and clothes thick enough to keep the mosquito bites to a minimum. No amount of bug spray will help keep them away. Thermocells do help some if your sitting. We learned the hard way when we tried a new camp ground a few years ago, its usually a bad sign when your camp host is in a full bug suit. Our toddler was bit up so badly we went home early. When we camp at campgrounds with a lot of mosquitos we use pop up tents to put over the picnic table and to put our camping chairs in to hang out in and get away from the bugs for awhile. Our favorite is this type of gazebo tent. Ours is from Cabela’s but I don’t think they make them anymore but looks just like the one linked.

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