Hi!
I was recently diagnosed with T1 diabetes and LOVE to hike! 
Typically my husband and I will go for a weekend, hike for several hours to a back country site with packs, camp overnight and hike out. Iām still very new to this and learning to manageā¦
Any tips on what to bring or what to do on an overnight trip would be much appreciated! 
When ever I travel or leave home, I calculate what supplies I will need for the duration of my trip and then take along double. I have pen and needles in case the pump fails to work and I need to go back to MDI. Donāt forget batteries for the pump etc. I donāt hike, but I ski and for that I deliberately let my BG run higher than normal and I test often. There arenāt many limits on what you can do!
Hi,
As suggested by Pam above, I always ensure I have double the amount of infusion insets/tubing required for my insulin pump for the duration of the trip, sets can fail, so it is always good to have a couple spare. I also take insulin pens in case of pump failure.
Glucose tabs and blood testing kit as standard.
Donāt know if you are on a pump, MDI or if you use a CGM etc?
If Iām hiking Iāll always reduce basal by about 50%, have about 15g of carbs for every hour of exercise and check my sugar more frequently.
Then just the common sense things like keeping hydrated and out of the sun for extended periods.
Your mileage may vary, so best just to keep an eye on your BG and respond accordingly.
Good luck with it and enjoy the trip.
I am very newly diagnosed after going into DKA on Valentineās day of this year, so donāt have any pumps or a CGM yet. Right now Iām doing MDI (Levemir and Novolog), and have a standard bg monitor.
Thank you for the tip on basal and carbsāI will try that. Will be kind of a pain to stop and check bg frequently with my monitor, but I do understand why this is important. Iāll put the monitor on an outside pocket of my pack to make it easy. I am thinking about asking my endo for a CGM at the next appointmentāseems like that might be easier to deal with during hikes, or other times when Iām doing other outside activities for an extended period of time? Do you have experience with this?
The hike we are planning this weekend is about 9 miles Saturday, hammock camping Saturday night, and then about 8 miles on Sunday. There are alternate routes if it turns out to be too much since itās only been 2 months since I was in DKA and in the hospital, Iām not 100% sure what to expect 
You will want to ask your endo about lowering your insulin for this.
I used to go on multi-day backpacking trips in wilderness areas back in the days before MDI or even blood testing kits and amazingly never had any problems. I used to make sure I had tons of carbs w me. I had every meal planned out and an extremely detailed list of what I was taking w me. If I were doing it again, Iād make sure to bring glucagon.
sounds like lots of fun!! Take some pictures and share with us how it goes!!
Will doāthank you!!!
My husband and I are going to start packing tonightāand I should have my new ENO hammock on my porch when I get homeāsoooo excited!!! Wish my daughter would come with, but itās just not her thing.
I will probably grab several granola barsāthose are a quick and easy carb source that I can eat while Iām walking 
I remember bringing instant oatmeal & raisins for breakfasts, hard cheeses/salami w crackers for lunch and some freeze dried dinners. sometimes weād also freeze a stew for the 1st night, which would be thawed by the time dinner rolled around (plus the pack would be SO much lighter the second day).
A few things to think about for backcountry hiking & T1 from my experience.
-MDI for hiking has the advantage of less stuff to bring, but the downside is that you have less flexibility for basal dosing.
-The simple solution to that, and to the general increased carb demands that go with backpacking is to have lots of spare carbs handy. Bars are good, and a few glucose gel packs if you start to go really low.
-Remember that exercise creates a whole new carb demand regime in your body, so watch for lows after a long ascent. I also experience a delayed carb demand about 8 hours after strenuous activity, apparently thatās quite common.
-You may not have time before this hike, but agree strongly with @MarieB that you should have a glucagon kit for emergencies and your husband familiar with how to use it (itās not difficult, thankfully Iāve never put it through a real field test).
-Also for the future, a CGM is invaluable for exercise and hiking. Iāve managed just fine on some long trips with finger-sticks only, but be prepared to do more frequently than usual. Youāre right itās a bit of a pain but youāll want more data than when youāre in your normal daily routine.
-And of course also really important: have fun!
I hike a lot, but only day hikes. Still some very rigorous hikes in the mountains of Arizona, very often in areas with no cell phone coverage. One thing I added to my equipment this year was a Spot Satellite tracker.
I feel as though I have been giving out links all day to my blog and usually try not to do that too much at TuDiabetes. However, below is a link to my January post about the Spot device. At the bottom of the post are links to 4 other posts that I wrote about hiking with Type 1 diabetes. Hopefully you will find some helpful info.
Have a great time, but be super careful since you are new to diabetes. No matter how much stuff you think that you need for lows, take more. Although juice boxes or pouches get heavy, I find that they work faster for me than glucose tabs. I still also take a ton of glucose tabs.
two bear bags,
put insulin in the bear bags
do not put food with insulin
bears smell insulin and it attracts them
carry a spoon and pie pan in case he bear shows up
run really fast, directions can be your choice, I ran away
have fun
LOL @Rphil2 
Glad you ran away so you would be here to give me this great advice!!!
We donāt plan on going in bear country this time, but have before. My husband bought ābear sprayā for that trip on the AT, which I thought was kinda funny, but luckily we didnāt have any issues. I bought the bear proof food container and made him hang it away from camp 
I will most definitely remember these tips about insulin storage for the next trip to bear territory though! 
Heyādonāt feel bad at all about sharing the link!
Any tips I can get are very much appreciated
Thank you @truenorth ā this is all GREAT advice!
Questionāwhere can I get a glucagon kit?
You get a Glucagon kit at the pharmacy. Your doctor must prescribe it. They are very expensive but should be covered by your insurance.
This mommy bear came into my camp and her cub ran up a tree. So she was angry, and like , ahh well bears, she took it out on all of us standing around. Many got pans or mess kits and banged then to run them off. I took the higher road. I went to alert everyone else for the next 300 miles in a direction directly away form mommy bear.
I think we both felt better about my departure.
Really as you well know placement of a bear bag is very important. One night a bear got our bear bag and took several items of food. My insulin was in the adjoining bag and had she ripped it up she would have taken that as well. I was fortunate.
Now it is said that when we have high blood sugar our breath produces an appealing odor. I imagine that is true, but I have no idea if it is ok.
best and enjoy the hike.
Thanks for all the great advice! Everything went alright with my bgāI didnāt bottom out at all so thatās a plus. We did about 20 miles over the weekend on Cumberland Island, GA. We set up camp after about 9 miles, then walked to the beach, which was totally empty except for my us! Wish I had some pics of that, but hey, just gotta leave the electronics behind sometimes Ferry ride to and from the island, hiking, camping, beach, sunshine and wild horsesāit was pretty awesome!
ā¦wanted to share some pics, but, picture upload is not working for some reason 
I tried to just post it to see if they would upload, but that didnāt work (hence my deleted post)
At any rate, if you live in or near Georgia, you should check out Cumberland.
Just bring a bathing suit, and heavy heavy duty bug spray!!!
So glad you had a great hike and had a successful time dealing with your diabetes:-)