In honor of the beautiful summer weather we’re having here in Denver, here’s some miscellaneous thoughts on backpacking I’ve had over the last few weeks. For the past three weekends, I’ve had the chance to do short, overnight backpacking trips – and it’s been great. It’s also reminded me of some thoughts on backpacking that I haven’t captured elsewhere yet, so here goes!

If you’re new to backpacking, I’d suggest starting with my packing list and my list of things to know before your first backpacking trip.

1. You don’t have to be an ultralight backpacker

There’s a whole world of very fancy ultralight backpacker gear, aimed at a niche market for people who have their gear tuned to perfection. For most of us, that gear isn’t worth the money. Even as a self-proclaimed gear nerd, I really don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars to upgrade my gear to ultralight – and honestly, I love the comfort my normal backpacking gear provides. To make the weight of my pack manageable, I look for other things to cut, such as extra clothes.

2. You don’t have to go 15-20 miles per day

In fact, shorter trips can be quite nice! These past few weeks, I’ve had days as short as 2 miles and as long as 9. The shorter days can be quite nice – as long as you can get to a good campsite that’s sufficiently remote.

3. Speaking of mileage, AllTrails is probably wrong

Yes, that’s right – everyone’s favorite hiking app (AllTrails) probably has inaccurate mileage. I’ve encountered this time and time again, and somehow it always takes me by surprise. That 9 mile day I mentioned earlier was definitely supposed to be 8 miles…

Generally speaking, AllTrails shouldn’t be your sole source of information about a trail. A few years back, a friend and I were talking to a ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park, asking about a trail that looked particularly adventurous. She warned us that it wasn’t actually a trail…and that the route was very dangerous and they had to regularly rescue people off of it. She said someone had added it to AllTrails, and that they hadn’t managed to take it down or warn people about the dangers of it.

4. Don’t forget to stop and enjoy the views. Or smell the roses. Or whatever it is that you like to do.

I enjoy the rhythm that backpacking provides…something about the sound of the poles hitting the ground, timed with my steps, timed with my breathing is calming and almost meditative. But after you get into your rhythm, don’t forget to stop and enjoy the wilderness. You worked hard to get somewhere remote, so stop to give yourself the chance to take it all in.

Maybe that looks like taking pictures of flowers along the way, or capturing beautiful mountain views. One of our friends enjoys taking audio recordings of streams and waterfalls, and he has amassed quite the audio collection.

And don’t forget to take a selfie or two!

5. Make plans, and backup plans, and backup-backup plans

I tend to plan routes very carefully – and I have strict requirements when I’m backpacking alone or with other women. I look for trails that have campsites with water and no road access, but aren’t too remote (I always want to have the option to bail and hike out if needed). If it’s a flat trail, I aim for a slightly longer mileage (5+ miles per day), but if it’s steep or at high elevation, I prefer shorter routes (3-5 miles per day).

On our most recent trip, we’d picked out a few options for campsites near what appeared to be good water sources. The first water source barely existed…we walked as close as we could, but it was swampy and hard to get to the actual water, which was…murky at best. Our second water source was dreadful – we smelled the horse manure long before we saw the lake.

Technically, we could have probably survived drinking from either of these water sources using our filters, but we didn’t have to risk it, because we had a alternate plan to hike out to a few larger lakes. If that didn’t work out, we had an option to bail and get back to the car before dark. Having lots of backup plans allowed us to hike stress-free. Granted, having this many backup plans isn’t always an option – but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

6. Replace your first aid kit occasionally

Things don’t last forever, and you don’t want to discover something is expired right before you have to use it while in the middle of the woods. I recently discovered that all of my old Moleskin was…less than sticky. I made it work with some old bandaids (also not that sticky), but it wasn’t ideal. So before each season starts, check the expiration date on all of your medications, and replace those bandages every few years.