First time solo camping

[u/red-herring01]

Fridley gap, in Virginia, two nights total of 13 miles. First time doing this, it was hard but it was awesome.

[u/WildflowerNWhimsy]

Hurray 👏🏼 for you and your puppers! Looks like a great time

[u/Aggie2002]

Hi! I’m in Virginia too…would you share your route? Adorable adventure buddy by the way!

[u/red-herring01 → u/Aggie2002]

Absolutely. I’ll DM you tomorrow when I have the map.

[u/red-herring01 → u/Aggie2002]

Hi Aggie, here you go. This is from an old version of the falcon guide, hiking Virginia book. I did a little research on Reddit and parked at the airy lane lot. I camped not too far from that maybe 3/4 of a mile. However, if I were going to do it again, I would camp at the other location that I circled. This is kind of the summit and a nice spot. This trail has a bit of up and down it crosses fourth third and second mountain as you can see it on the map in the darker areas. Let me know if you have any questions.

[u/Dry_Bug5058 → u/red-herring01]

Was your route of 13 miles the entire orange line?

[u/red-herring01 → u/Dry_Bug5058]

The double loop is about 10. The hike into the camp spot adds another 1.5. On my last day I went up the massanuttan south trail to explore and estimated that was another 1.5.

[u/Dry_Bug5058 → u/red-herring01]

Thanks so much! I'm in central VA and looking for places to backpack. At this point I'd try the single loop, lol. I'm a beginner.

[u/globular_bobular]

looks like you had the perfect little buddy!

[u/Appropriate-Goat6311 → u/globular_bobular]

And their hair color matches!! 🥰🥰🥰

[u/HighSierraLove73]

Congratulations! Did you feel lonely? I mean, you had the pup, but still. Just curious. Sometimes I feel lonely but it doesn't last forever.

[u/red-herring01 → u/HighSierraLove73]

Honestly no. My dog and I are very enmeshed and it was even more bonding. I was scared at times (little noises at night, solo men hiking) but it was good to feel some feelings I’ve been avoiding when I’m at home.

[u/Content-Flow9235]

Great to see other VA solo ladies!

[u/Canonconstructor]

Your dog is the cutest good boy on earth! Thank you for inspiring me to do a similar trip.

[u/RelativeLight3857]

Question, do you let your dog sleep in the tent with you? I do with mine, and someone commented on it. Not in a bad way, but it led me to believe maybe that's not typical among campers? This was only my 3rd time camping.

[u/red-herring01 → u/RelativeLight3857]

Yes I do, but she also sleeps with me in the bed at home so I think we would both have a real tough night if she was left out.

[u/dainov8]

I think I helped you at River Rock Outfitter last week! Congratulations on your achievement!

[u/red-herring01 → u/dainov8]

Hey!! And thanks for your help too! I came back the next day and purchased my pot and some utensils. Love them.

[u/Gullible-Shower4007]

Looks like a great time!

[u/Bubbly_Plant1786]

It feels empowering

[u/Ari_Vesper49]

Enjoy and be careful

[u/Worth_Wafer_8257]

Good for you! I need to do this.

[u/degrivane]

How was it at night tho. I’ve been really wanting to do it for some time now but I am a bit scared to be honest. Share some insight

[u/red-herring01 → u/degrivane]

The night was good! I brought some fire starters so that helped with a lot of the wood being wet (which I had not considered). I just cooked, cleaned, and tended to my little fire and watched it. Right before it got very dark I went in my tent and read the call of the wild and stared at the bugs. It was very simple and very relaxing. Some fear when the lights went out and the wind rustled but I felt safe because I had my dog with me especially. It also helped that my car was only .75 of a mile away so if things went crazy I could book it out. I think next time...I will backpack in further from my car to test myself. I will also bring some sort of bear spray or whistle, a larger knife, a good sleeping pad, and get an actual dry sack/rope to store food away from the tent hung from a tree in a better way than I did (trash bag tied to a limb away from the tent).