As usual, very interesting and diverse comments from fellow soloists.  Safety is always of paramount concern, especially on the difficult, rocky, steep, slippery portages with heavy pack and/or canoe.  A blown out knee, ankle or back could end the trip pretty quickly.  As for gear, I take the same as when I’m paddling with my teenage boys, minus their personal stuff, downsizing from a 3-man tent to a 2-man tent, and bringing one less pot and eating utensils.  I bring a lot less food (they are teenagers after all).  Then again, without the boys as my pack mules, I find portaging is quite a bit more physically taxing, especially with the main packs.  I usually carry the canoe, paddles, rods, etc with the boys or without so no big deal there.  And I can't wait for the day I actually solo with a real solo canoe and not a tandem.

Unlike what appears the majority, I like layover days during solos.  I typically travel a day or two and then spend an extra day or two at a nice campsite on a lake or area I’d like to fish or explore.  I really look forward to evening fires, so a couple hours hauling, cutting and splitting wood is food for my soul.  Loneliness has never been an issue to date.   I’ve spent several days at a time without seeing another paddler, and never thought that it’d be nice to finally see someone….if anything, it brought the wilderness to an even higher level—everything felt more acute—the inspiration, awe, and pleasure that you just don’t get when someone else is around you.  Of course, if the weather’s been rotten for more than a couple straight days, the inspiration, awe and pleasure would be pretty far from my mind and it might actually be better to have someone with which to share that misery.  That and paddling into stiff winds for hours on end alone...the words that come to mind is...it sucks big time.