hello from corvallis

[buckwheat]

Howdy!

I've got a couple years of lurking under my belt, and felt like I should start contributing as well.

I'm a 30 year old, native Oregonian. I grew up in the Valley (Corvallis) surrounded by all these beautiful sights, smells, sounds, and people . Growing up, my family went on lots of short hikes, and the occassional overnight trip, but as my parents got older, it became more 'car camping' and less 'backpacking', and I let that itch fester for a few years. Back in 2009 or so, some friends and I went up Middle Sister and I've been hooked ever since. I love spending nights outside, I love walking until my feet ache.

I'm not in great shape, but I am always happy to push myself a little further. Beyond day hikes, I've mostly done 1, 2 and the occasional 3 night backpacking trips, but would be interested in longer trips if I had someone who has experience, knowledge, and a good destination. I've avoided technical climbs so far, but don't mind scrambles or elevation.

I just got back from a loop around 3 fingered Jack an hour ago, and already want my blisters to go away so I can get back out there.

[dikkeknodel]

Hey buckwheat,

Welcome to the forum (from another newbie ).

I've mostly done 1, 2 and the occasional 3 night backpacking trips, but would be interested in longer trips if I had someone who has experience, knowledge, and a good destination.

Multi-day hiking mainly consists of bringing more food. To accommodate it in the same backpack you may need to critically assess the other contents (what are you always bringing, but not really needing? ditch it!). You may also want to bring more fuel, or cook on a woodfire (not allowed everywhere, please mind wildfires!).
Do research on where you can re-stock your food stock.
If no shops available, you may consider dehydrated food. That would save >50% of the weight, probably more. I don't know good sources of dehydrated food in the USA, but have good experience with Globetrotter in the Netherlands (where I live). I expect there must be something similar available in Oregon.

Assess in advance where you can refill your water supply. Most water in the mountains is clean enough the drink immediately, but you may bring a water filter (for microbes, chemical contamination will most likely go through). The Sawyer MINI is convenient in my experience as it is very small and allows to be used to refill bottles or hydration packs, in contrast to Life Straw which I also have, that can only be used to suck water from directly.

Enjoy your hikes!

Cheers,
Raymond

[buckwheat]

When solo-ing, I've generally eschewed a campstove/warmfood, and just relied on cold food. Its not quite as satisfying, but it feels like a hassle to boil a pot of water for 1 cup of coffee or oatmeal.

I'll definitely look into more of the dehydrated food options for longer more serious trips. Normally I just go to the store and buy enough food for however many meals +2 without actually planning a diet out.