Welcome abp. Backpacking can be addictive <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. And it’s nice to get out and unwind from commerce and enjoy Mother Earth.

Some of my random thoughts:
“Eureka Solo Backcountry”
This is a good bomber tent that I’ve backpacked in a few times. Very durable and waterproof. The fly underside will have condensation but the tent will keep your stuff dry. I liked its small footprint so it could be set anywhere. And you can change your mind and move it again with ease. And then when I got a little more money, I got a lighter tent. Eureka can be had for lower cost on eBay. Bring a ground cloth to:
1. keep bottom of tent clean
2. during rainstorm, the tent floor won’t sop up water
And make sure none of the ground cloth sticks out from under the tent. I sometimes use a 0.7mil painter’s cloth bought at Walmart. For solo use it should weigh < 3oz.

“so I can run it off Isopropyl alcohol”
This stuff (rubbing alcohol) will leave you disappointed. It won’t burn long. Burns dirty. Leaves left over water. Use Heet or Walmart’s copycat brand of Heet. This is cheap and will give much better results.

“chimney-style soda can alcohol stove”
This is nice for the real narrow base pots. It boils slow because it doesn’t get as hot as a pressurized soda-can stove. There are a lot of sites that show you how to make a pressurized stove. Anyway, this is a whole book in itself.

Randomly, I’ll answer a few of your other questions; realize, your results will vary a lot.
“- Is a solo trip a good idea?” Well, you’re only going to be 20 minutes away from your car; so that’s a starter. Plus that’s an excellent way to see if you have everything. Soloing is fine. However, do you have a friend that would like to try backpacking? I personally have more fun w/ 2 or more. When you see a triple rainbow, you just want to share it with someone. But others do better soloing. They cover more ground; see more mother nature; like to sleep in or wake up early…
You can rent items initially. That will reveal a lot (‘I won’t take that again’ or ‘that was heavy’ or ‘that was useless’ or ‘is there something less tedious’, ‘that was too hot’, etc.,)

“- What weather should I keep an eye out for?”
For me, it’s tornadoes. I don’t go out if there’s a chance. I live with long rainstorms (though I prefer the sun <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />). I love the rainstorms out West since they’re shorter.

“- What should I bring food-wise?”
Hot meals: Alcy stoves are good for ziploc bag cooking. Sarbar (here) has a freezer-bag-cooking site. I love this type of cooking since there are no dishes to clean; just lick your spoon clean. Some of my easy stuff is oatmeal packets. Grocery stores also have foods that you ‘just add boiling water’.
Cold meals and snacks: You can probably think of ideas for this. To keep weight down, try to think of ~100calories/ounce.

“- What are the odds of having a black bear rip into my tent in the middle of the night?”
If you’re in bear country, this month’s Backpacking Magazine discusses all fears and phobias; bears being one of them. It has/shows some real statistics and gives advice on how your camp should be set up; basically, keep the food/smelly-stuff away from the tent site.

“- Are there any other important rules I might naively ignore only to face severe consequences later?”
Since you’re not going far, you’re already playing it safe; but if you were going far, I would put a lot of attention in footwear. Who wants to be distracted by painful feet?


Read a lot (all over this site), ponder, arrange, pack, and then go out and have fun <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />.

-Barry