Knee pain on a solo trail: My packing wake-up call

I've noticed more solo travelers ignoring pack weight until it hurts them. On my last solo hike in Colorado, I stuffed my bag with extra clothes and food. By day two, my knees were throbbing with every step. I had to sit out a planned summit attempt and rest at a lower camp. This taught me to weigh my bag before any trip now. It's a simple fix that keeps my adventures smooth and my body happy.

3 comments

3 Comments

diana_grant311mo ago

Yeah, you learn that lesson fast, don't you? I wrecked my own knees on a solo trip in Utah because I packed way too much water 'just in case' - had like eight pounds of it. Could barely walk downhill by the end of the first day. Now I weigh every single thing and it makes such a crazy difference.

colel881mo ago

Water weight is a killer, especially in dry places like Utah. Now that you weigh everything, how do you decide what's essential? For example, do you set a max weight for your pack before a trip? Or do you just go by feel after weighing each item? I'm curious about the process after the scale tells you the numbers.

nguyen.wade1mo ago

My own knees screamed at me after carrying a huge camera lens up a mountain. Diana_grant31 is right about water weight adding up fast, that stuff is heavy. I finally bought a cheap kitchen scale to weigh my gear, it was a game changer. Leaving extra stuff behind lets me actually enjoy the hike instead of just hurting.