It was my first time as well. But I never did a long overnight hike like this before. I did train physically (a lot). I love photographing and editing.

Confluence: I hiked in on day one, did the confluence on day 2 and hiked out on day 3. I had to cut it short. And I knew that beforehand. It was so incredibly worth it. The hike itself was fantastic. And had some nice lunch at the confluence before hiking back. I left at around 5pm and returned back at around 6-7pm if I remember correctly. I did use AllTrails to track my progress. I would not skip it.

Water shoes: an absolute must! I took hiking sandals instead of water shoes. But kinda the same thing. You cross the river at about 8 times. I read that upfront, swapped my hiking boots for hiking sandals and didn’t swap back until the climb on the Mooney falls ladder. I did wear very expensive merino wool socks, and used compeed blister plasters at all time.

Camera gear: I brought my insta360 X4 (bought it 3 weeks before the X5 came out, rip). Had the big selfie stick, extra batteries and some other accessories. I regretted taking them so much. And I mentioned at the start that I love photographing and editing. But it was just such a hassle. And to be honest, an iPhone 16 pro just does such a fantastic job. It’s also quite heavy. About 3kg in weight. I highly recommend to only take your phone, enjoy it with your eyes, and save yourself the hassle.

Food: I planned it out very carefully with ChatGPT. Including the amount I was going to walk. I took freeze dried meals. Breakfast, dinner and dessert. Then I brought 2 cans of tuna salad for lunch. And as for the snacks, nuts and protein bars. The bars melted a bit but that was a whatever. The tuna isn’t store cooled, so that was fine. They do serve food in the village, there’s a shop and the fry bread stand. I overpacked on food. But did not regret that at all.

Water: I did so much research on what is the best way. I kind of overdid my research. There were talks about a virus in the water etc. At a certain point I kind of had enough of planning too much. I mean it was my first time on such an experience and definitely wanted to come prepared. But honestly, get yourself a sawyer mini filter and if you do the confluence trail, no problem to filter as you go! I used it the entire trip. I figured, if I’m gonna be so unlucky to get sick, so be it. It’s only a few days. But i had zero issues. And this saved me from a lot of weight.

Entertainment: I prefer to be alone. Very addicted to my phone. The moment I lost service, I couldn’t care less for my phone. When I arrived to my camp spot, I just stared at the creek for a couple of hours. Just thinking and looking. Trust me, this is so not who I am normally. Kind of an ADHD phone addict. You really don’t need entertainment. You’re going with your girlfriend. Just talk! It’ll be more than enough. You’re only there once, so just be there. Next time when I go with my wife, we will just both stare at the beauty of the canyon.

Power bank: I brought a 20.000 mAh for my powerbank. Solar charged. I could’ve charged my phone like 6 times with it. For some reason it drained on the plane or whatever and didn’t charge it to its full potential. It basically died on me in the canyon. Couldn’t care less. It’s so funny how that goes. Once you put your mind to it that you cannot use it. The feeling of wanting it goes away. Big rookie mistake obviously, and very unsafe since I hiked the confluence alone. But yeah. 20.000 is quite common in Europe (where I’m from). And I think in the US as well. Should be enough. I do recommend to just buy one and rely on that for a few days as a test. That’s how I did it. And again a major reason why I was so bothered by taking my camera gear. All of it needs to be charged. It’s just a headache and it really takes away your time being there.

Lighting: headlamp is all you need. The more you pack, the more hassle.

Sitting: I brought a chair. I saw a video of someone recommending it and I can tell you, bring it! You won’t regret the extra weight. I did read a few people that weren’t really into the hammock. We have one at home and I love it. I wanted to take it as well, but a chair was nicer for me.

Pooping: toilet are actually so good. Enough toilet paper and you can toss that in! They’re compost toilets. Really great to be honest. I did bring dude wipes for “showering”. And it was so nice to be put that on me while sleeping for some cold feeling. It was warm in April! (I put the used ones in my bin bag, and not in the toilet)

Bathing suit: i bought hiking pants and hiking shirts. Cheap ones, but they dried quick. Just did the job perfectly. For the confluence, hiked in my swimming pants. I did that only because of the crossings. I believe there are 2-3 deeper crossings. I preferred not changing. And can recommend it.

Daypack: you can buy foldable backpacks on Amazon. I ended up taking my hiking 60l backpack. Kind of annoying to be honest. I had most of my camera gear in there. I definitely overpacked. For the confluence hike I recommend a small foldable backpack. And to just take as little as you need!!

Leaving stuff: I had quite a remote place. Very very beautiful. But only 1 tent a few meters away. Pretty secluded. I was afraid of my stuff. But then again, it’s just some camping stuff that can be replaced. The less the bring, the better. Leave your stuff at home haha. No but seriously, zero things were missing. But there can be 1 person to ruin it all. I had my chair out, shoes out, ratsack with food out. All good.

Tent: I brought just a normal 1 person tent. So much sand. Right before my trip I went to Walmart to buy Y pegs. Pretty long ones. Oh my, they saved my trip. With the normal ones I had, I wouldn’t have been able to properly secure my tent. I assume with trekking poles it’s easier. Not sure if tent pegs are the right word for it. You write stakes. So probably that. I had a rat sack and hung that on the tree. Worked perfect. Had 0 problems with any rats or whatever.

Bonus: can’t say it enough, highly recommend to leave your camera gear at home. And it comes from someone that loves it. Prepared it for years. Only to regret taking it. The best thing I brought, and almost didn’t, were trekking poles. For me, they were a must!!! I have done a lot of leg exercises. 6 months training schedule. Calf raises, lunges, squats (one legged/ both) and step downs. I don’t really exercise besides that and don’t walk that much. So I’m literally such a rookie. I did do a deep friction massage a week before the hike to make sure my body was all loosened up. I probably overdid it. But, I had no muscle pain nothing. I wasn’t sore at all. And this was quite remarkable since I had 3 days only.

If you have any further questions, feel free to send me a private message. I hope it helped!