Originally Posted by New_to_it

Great trip, all in all. I do still want to really try the backpack thing but I want my destination to be somewhere I want to be. I don't mind stopping at sites to sleep along the way even if they are just places to pass the night, but I'd like to end up at a base camp that offers a pleasant environment. Either a nice view, or swimming, or wildlife or something. And I want to do it really alone -- having my dog was wonderful but she is still another being to think about; a distraction from really just being completely alone in my own skin. Not that every trip has to be a navel-gazing transformational event, but I do want to experience that, in at least semi-wilderness, really on my own.