I had done a trip or two a year for ten years prior to my first and I'd practice w/ solo daytrips and even ask my bow paddler to stop paddling and read a book or whatever as much as she would allow. I even took her kid the year before (kind of as ballast but the kid is still one of my top three favorite bow paddlers ever. Never uttered a discouraging word and paddled. Paddling ain't that hard - he kept at it - instead or futzing with stuff like some do instead of paddling.)

I planned a route I knew well. My biggest worry was if they'd let me go in solo. When she asked for the alt trip leaders name I thought here we go... You didn't hear about solos back then. I was literally embarrassed to be going in alone. Now it seems it's all the rage.

With groups it would take me three four days to get into it. I was in the zone within minutes. I hit what I thought would be my day two campsite early afternoon the first day and was amazed at how much easier traveling was for one person. I was kind of wondering what I'd do the next nine days as I had left an itinerary I swore to follow. Had I asked a usual group to go that far in one day there would have been a mutiny for sure.  It wasn't that far at all btw but one person has to pee and there goes 15 minutes if not 45.


I remember noticing that laying down on a rock to star gaze gave me an uncomfortable feeling once I realized that one pair of eyes and no hushed conversation could lead to me getting stepped on unexpectedly. I remember because to this day I'll actually talk out loud to myself every so often - just to let anything wondering about know I'm lying there in the dark...especially after I've been dozing on/off.)

There is one thing I would suggest that it took me a while to grasp. On my first couple solos I felt selfish and quite frankly, embarrassed that it would look like I had no friends willing to go with me. Plus, I was using a permit good for 8 other people so I sought out and claimed the small crappy campsites. These days I take the best campsites there are based on weather, amenities and my itinerary. I no longer feel the slightest bit guilty if there's three wonderful (unused) tent pads. One day it dawned on me that my solo use would give those sites a little break for a night or two. No more guilt!Whooo Hoooo.

You might find more helpful comments by searching the old forum (I fixed the search function):
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Solo was new for everyone it seems back then so you might get fresher opinions.

FWIW - I think this was my first (if not an early solo). Other than that, everything else in there is true and happened on the same trip. I remember the instances but not the entire trip like I once did. Well, I'm pretty sure the northern lights pic was the second bear night. Both had lights though. They can take your mind off anything. The first night was just the green boring ones and the opposite shore was not that close.
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Bottom line, it's a truly liberating experience. There really is nothing like it that I know of. Nothing to compare it to. I was forever changed.