as our last trip we made it real easy on ourselves. we set up our first nights camp prior to actually starting our hike since we were going to stay in campground. we stashed our packs there and walked without packs the first 8 miles of the trip. it was a really nice way to start our last trip. we got camp and had lots of fire woods to keep us warm and everything was all done for us when we got there. it was a nice treat for us. we got to stay up a little bit but it was the end of October so it was a little too cold to really enjoy the night.
because I knew it was going to be cold this trip, I asked my mom if she would buy me a new sleeping bag and pad for an early Christmas gift. the sleeping bag I got was a big agnes bag and I got a self-inflating sleeping pad to go underneath it. it was so much warmer than my old bag and pad which I borrowed from my mom originally. don't get me wrong it worked but it was nice being really warm at night.
this trip we were going to be along the Skyline Drive again. we tend to jump around a bit as far as where we want to hike. that's the nice thing about section hiking the trail, you can choose where you want to hike and which direction you want to go.
all in all this years trips were good and I plan on letting you all know how the next trips go too.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
stranded on a back road (trip #4)
so at the end of our trip we were having my aunt pick us up at a parking lot off what we thought was a main road. well to our dismay all of our phones were dying. one piece of advice I will stress here is if u can save your phone battery than do anything you can to save it.
the night before my uncle and I both realized our phones were near dead. my cousin had about 65% battery left so we told her conserve her battery since it would be the only phone we had the next day. so what does she do... decides to check her work schedule online on her phone that night. this completely drained her battery which than left us with no phone the next day. we could only hope that our ride wouldn't get lost picking us up.
so much for hoping. our ride couldn't find the parking lot we were at. so about 2 hours after the last time we were able to call our ride my uncle decided to walk up the road and see if he could figure out where we were. about an hour after he left my cousin and I didn't want to sit still anymore. so we gathered up all three backpacks and started carrying them up the road. I carried my uncle's and my backpack and my cousin carried her pack and all the walking sticks. we walked for about a mile before we finally ran into our uncle who had found our ride and was coming to pick us up. I have never been so happy to see that truck in my life.
so please if you're going out in the woods, try to conserve all of your phone's battery or as much as you can. you never know when there might be an emergency and you definitely don't want to be stranded somewhere you don't know.
the night before my uncle and I both realized our phones were near dead. my cousin had about 65% battery left so we told her conserve her battery since it would be the only phone we had the next day. so what does she do... decides to check her work schedule online on her phone that night. this completely drained her battery which than left us with no phone the next day. we could only hope that our ride wouldn't get lost picking us up.
so much for hoping. our ride couldn't find the parking lot we were at. so about 2 hours after the last time we were able to call our ride my uncle decided to walk up the road and see if he could figure out where we were. about an hour after he left my cousin and I didn't want to sit still anymore. so we gathered up all three backpacks and started carrying them up the road. I carried my uncle's and my backpack and my cousin carried her pack and all the walking sticks. we walked for about a mile before we finally ran into our uncle who had found our ride and was coming to pick us up. I have never been so happy to see that truck in my life.
so please if you're going out in the woods, try to conserve all of your phone's battery or as much as you can. you never know when there might be an emergency and you definitely don't want to be stranded somewhere you don't know.
trip #4: official trail names
so one of the people we were camping with finally gave us our trail names officially. i'll give you a little more background first though. my equipment is mostly all new. I have new pack and I try to have all the newer gadgets. my uncle on the other hand had mostly older used things. so naturally we squabbled over whose stuff was better. well the last morning we were out on trip #4 one of the people was sitting at the shelter with us when one of these debates was gong on.
she then dubbed us New School and Old School, I'm sure you can guess who was who. we liked these names and they definitely fit with the way we backpack. now we just have to go out enough to get our names recognized and make friends.
she then dubbed us New School and Old School, I'm sure you can guess who was who. we liked these names and they definitely fit with the way we backpack. now we just have to go out enough to get our names recognized and make friends.
trip #4: journal entry
well we didn't make it as far as we wanted to today. we only made it about 5 miles to the Manassass Gap shelter. the incline today was horrible and it really slowed us down. erin wasn't able to make it all the way to the shelter. she got picked up by aunt robin on route 66. aunt robin brought us some much needed soda and water so we didn't have to filter water. haley got a nasty blister from her boots that she borrowed from her mom. next hike she'll be buying new boots. we've also officially given haley her trail name, Princess Packer. you wouldn't know she's been camping her entire life. she hasn't been too bad though; she's been saying she wants to come back out. all in all we're just a little sore.
uncle tom and I have kind of decided on trail names. mine is mountain goat and uncle tom is going with UT. we haven't officially decided on anything yet though.
we've been reading the shelter log and there were a lot of reports of a snake up in the rafters. we haven't seen any here yet.
so I let haley make dinner tonight. it was chicken and mashed potatoes and she didn't do too bad. I was a little worried at first i'll admit. i'm proud of her though. she was gonna make the crème brulee too but we decided against it. she might have it for breakfast in the morning.
we were the first ones in the shelter today so we got to claim it first. 5 more people showed up, 2 couples and one single guy. they're all really nice and the one couple decided to bunk with us in the shelter. they walked about 25 miles today which kind of makes me feel pitiful. they've been section hiking for a while and have most of Georgia to the Pennsylvania line done.
uncle tom still fights with his sleeping bag. it has become an ongoing saga for these trips. we've named his bag Jerry; it's better than Saturday morning cartoons.
uncle tom is reading one of his trail books and flashed his light right in Haley's face. he just said "does this bother you?" like he totally meant to do it. it was quite a comical moment.
tomorrow we'll decide where we'll walk out and get picked up for the weekend. we have a couple of options depending on how far we feel like walking.
uncle tom and I have kind of decided on trail names. mine is mountain goat and uncle tom is going with UT. we haven't officially decided on anything yet though.
we've been reading the shelter log and there were a lot of reports of a snake up in the rafters. we haven't seen any here yet.
so I let haley make dinner tonight. it was chicken and mashed potatoes and she didn't do too bad. I was a little worried at first i'll admit. i'm proud of her though. she was gonna make the crème brulee too but we decided against it. she might have it for breakfast in the morning.
we were the first ones in the shelter today so we got to claim it first. 5 more people showed up, 2 couples and one single guy. they're all really nice and the one couple decided to bunk with us in the shelter. they walked about 25 miles today which kind of makes me feel pitiful. they've been section hiking for a while and have most of Georgia to the Pennsylvania line done.
uncle tom still fights with his sleeping bag. it has become an ongoing saga for these trips. we've named his bag Jerry; it's better than Saturday morning cartoons.
uncle tom is reading one of his trail books and flashed his light right in Haley's face. he just said "does this bother you?" like he totally meant to do it. it was quite a comical moment.
tomorrow we'll decide where we'll walk out and get picked up for the weekend. we have a couple of options depending on how far we feel like walking.
Monday, December 9, 2013
trip #4
so I apparently didn't have a journal entry for the first night of our trip so I hope I can remember it all. we started out the trip with 8 miles till camp that night. it was my uncle and mine's first trip out in 3 months and my cousins had never been out before. we all did good even though we got into camp a little late around 7pm. my little cousin, erin, whose only 10, was thinking she might want to get picked up by her mom the next day. my uncle and I had pick a section through Virginia that was close to where my uncle lived so that we could get picked up if need be. so that night we had gone to bed and we were planning to see how we all felt in the morning. we got to sleep in the shelter again but it was infested with stink bugs. if we hadn't gotten to camp so late we probably would have put up the tents instead. personally I like sleeping in the shelters because it makes it easier to breakdown camp in the morning and get walking sooner. my uncle and I felt really off this trip and it may have ben because we hadn't been out in a while or because we added 2 more people to our trip. we were moving slower and just weren't making the time we usually do.
we hit a few bumps in the road which I will give more detail on in the next post. it was a fun trip though and filled with learning. I don't think my other cousin, haley, whose 20, will be coming out again anytime soon.
we hit a few bumps in the road which I will give more detail on in the next post. it was a fun trip though and filled with learning. I don't think my other cousin, haley, whose 20, will be coming out again anytime soon.
ending of trip #3
so the last day of the trip was spent walking the remaining 9 miles to Pennsylvania line. the 500 ft incline at the start of the day was a little brutal since a lot of it was straight up. the views were gorgeous and this trip does have pictures to go along with it. towards the end of our trip there was a huge rock scramble going down hill that got so dense with rocks that the markers for the trail were often painted on bigger boulders. this where my uncle decided to call me mountain goat since I like to hop from rock to rock and go a little faster down hill. but I like to use my momentum to gain some time that we occasionally lose on the up hills and breaks.
one of the really cool parts of this trip was that as you walk along the ridge top you can look down into the valley. the cool part is that up on the ridge you're in Maryland but the valley is all Pennsylvania. at the Maryland-Pennsylvania border there was a little park that we had to walk through to get to the car. we remembered from the beginning of the trip that there was vending machines with soda in them. this became our motivating factor it getting us to keep going that day. it surprising how much a simple everyday soda can be so day changing.
this was our last trip of the spring and we wouldn't be going out again until September. we wanted to take off for the summer because it would be hot and we also had family obligations throughout the summer that would make it hard to take enough days off from work to get decent hiking in. I hope you liked the journal entries I put in. I think i'm going to use them mostly since it makes it easier to be sure i'm getting everything in the post. the next trip will actually be with my 2 cousins accompanying my uncle and I. that trip was really interesting.
one of the really cool parts of this trip was that as you walk along the ridge top you can look down into the valley. the cool part is that up on the ridge you're in Maryland but the valley is all Pennsylvania. at the Maryland-Pennsylvania border there was a little park that we had to walk through to get to the car. we remembered from the beginning of the trip that there was vending machines with soda in them. this became our motivating factor it getting us to keep going that day. it surprising how much a simple everyday soda can be so day changing.
this was our last trip of the spring and we wouldn't be going out again until September. we wanted to take off for the summer because it would be hot and we also had family obligations throughout the summer that would make it hard to take enough days off from work to get decent hiking in. I hope you liked the journal entries I put in. I think i'm going to use them mostly since it makes it easier to be sure i'm getting everything in the post. the next trip will actually be with my 2 cousins accompanying my uncle and I. that trip was really interesting.
trip #3: journal entry (day 2)
well we ended up staying at the first shelter we came to. we only did 8.6 miles but we didn't want to kill ourselves trying to get to the next shelter 5 miles away. we have about 9 miles to do tomorrow now. considering it took us 6 hours today it shouldn't be too bad tomorrow.
we're staying with a couple other backpackers. 3 guys are her for the weekend but are getting picked up tonight because of an injury. one guy hiked the whole trail in '08 but is doing sections again to get back in shape. the last guy is through hiking now. he started in February and has been out for 91 days. we've started running into a lot more through hikers recently. it's been really cool though to get everyone's different stories, experiences and advice. people out here are so nice!
the shelter is kind of small especially sharing with 4 other people but it's easier than the tent. it has 2 levels and we have 3 people to a level and one guy in a hammock tent outside. it's pretty.
today I think what killed us was the rocks we had to climb to get here. they were so brutal on our feet that once we stopped that was it. it leaves us with 9 miles tomorrow and a 500 ft vertical. that would have been nice to get it over with but new legs tomorrow might make it easier.
all in al it was a good day!
we're staying with a couple other backpackers. 3 guys are her for the weekend but are getting picked up tonight because of an injury. one guy hiked the whole trail in '08 but is doing sections again to get back in shape. the last guy is through hiking now. he started in February and has been out for 91 days. we've started running into a lot more through hikers recently. it's been really cool though to get everyone's different stories, experiences and advice. people out here are so nice!
the shelter is kind of small especially sharing with 4 other people but it's easier than the tent. it has 2 levels and we have 3 people to a level and one guy in a hammock tent outside. it's pretty.
today I think what killed us was the rocks we had to climb to get here. they were so brutal on our feet that once we stopped that was it. it leaves us with 9 miles tomorrow and a 500 ft vertical. that would have been nice to get it over with but new legs tomorrow might make it easier.
all in al it was a good day!
trip #3: journal entry
well we started our trip at the Washington monument in Maryland again but headed the opposite way from our first trip. we didn't intend to finish the entire state of Maryland but we couldn't find parking any closer than the Pennsylvania line. it only adds about 3 miles to our trip but mean we have to walk 13 miles tomorrow. today we made to the Pine Knob shelter. it was about 4 miles in 2 hours. a nice hike other than the heat.
we finally got the shelter to ourselves for the night. no one else came in till about an hour and a half after us. him and one other backpacker came along with a boy scout troop. we're only sharing with one other guy so it's not so bad. I can finally say I've slept in an AT shelter!
I need to figure out a new pillow situation too. clothes work but they just aren't comfortable. that's the next thing on my list. oh, and uncle tom finally called a truce with his sleeping bag! he was fighting with it every night the last couple trips. "be one with the bag!" we say it every night before bed.
it's supposed to rain tomorrow during our long 13 mile hike. should be an interesting second day.
we finally got the shelter to ourselves for the night. no one else came in till about an hour and a half after us. him and one other backpacker came along with a boy scout troop. we're only sharing with one other guy so it's not so bad. I can finally say I've slept in an AT shelter!
I need to figure out a new pillow situation too. clothes work but they just aren't comfortable. that's the next thing on my list. oh, and uncle tom finally called a truce with his sleeping bag! he was fighting with it every night the last couple trips. "be one with the bag!" we say it every night before bed.
it's supposed to rain tomorrow during our long 13 mile hike. should be an interesting second day.
trip #2: journal entry
so where to start! at the beginning we realized we forgot our hoagies in uncle lee's trailer though, thankfully, we hadn't made it out of big meadows yet. so we stopped at the amphitheater and uncle tom had to run back and get them. we also realized that is a full moon tonight. not only do we have bears but werewolves! wonderful! while walking we didn't come across any bears but a black dog gave me quite scare. we had been discussing bears (casually, of course) when uncle tom says " oh! look, there's one now!!" pointing ahead of us. it was just the right size and color so naturally my heart skipped till I realized it was just a dog (or possibly a werewolf, I still haven't decided which).
a little while later uncle tom's left arm started to go numb twice. we joked that if he has a stroke on the trail then i'm doubly obligated to finish. he didn't fall this time though so that's a plus! he tripped a few times (or running from bears, as he likes to say). thankfully, no bad problems for me yet. my leg got a little sore but I think I just pulled a muscle or something.
once we got to Bearfence Hut we bot took some Tylenol and just chilled for a bit before dinner. I tried the noodles and chicken dinner which was basically chicken noodle soup but it was good.
we did about 8 miles today in around 6 hours so we made decent time. this trip was by far easier but the weather was nicer and my pack was much lighter. who knew 14 pounds could make such a difference? tomorrow we head back to the car (with an uphill to start our day) and I head back to Jersey. should be a good day!!
a little while later uncle tom's left arm started to go numb twice. we joked that if he has a stroke on the trail then i'm doubly obligated to finish. he didn't fall this time though so that's a plus! he tripped a few times (or running from bears, as he likes to say). thankfully, no bad problems for me yet. my leg got a little sore but I think I just pulled a muscle or something.
once we got to Bearfence Hut we bot took some Tylenol and just chilled for a bit before dinner. I tried the noodles and chicken dinner which was basically chicken noodle soup but it was good.
we did about 8 miles today in around 6 hours so we made decent time. this trip was by far easier but the weather was nicer and my pack was much lighter. who knew 14 pounds could make such a difference? tomorrow we head back to the car (with an uphill to start our day) and I head back to Jersey. should be a good day!!
trip #2
this next trip was a little different. my other uncle was staying in an RV right on the AT. so we decided to start from his camp and only be out for one night. the trip was around 18 miles long and the first day we were out we had WAWA sandwiches for lunch. we were doing 8 miles the first day and 10 miles the last day. this was supposed to be a nice easy trip but as i'm coming to find, nothing is easy when it comes to backpacking. I realized that I forgot my camera on this trip so there won't be any pictures up of this trip and I apologize for that. this trip took us along the Skyline Drive in Virginia. the drive is a section that is a bit rougher than the trip in Maryland. the drive has more ups and downs in the trail. the next post I put up is going to be my journal entry from the first day of the trip. I thought it might help to put the trip into perspective if I wrote a few of my journal entries into my posts. so I hope you enjoy!!
trip #1 cont'd
the second day of our trip started with a 1000 ft incline pretty much right off the bat. we started walking at about 9am and maybe a mile into the trip uncle tom fell flat on his face. I tried not to laugh but it was kind of funny. he looked like a turtle that couldn't turn over, it was a backpack with arms and legs sticking out. this started the contest of seeing who would fall more during these hikes (currently we're even at 1-1). we walked about another mile and hit the bottom of the incline. we breaked here for a minute to get our bearings before jumping up this mountain. one thing I will say about Maryland's section of the trail is that it is unbelievably rocky. we spent the entire walk up tip-toeing over loose rocks and boulders. I was surprised we didn't fall more going up this hill.
the nice thing about the AT though is that most of the trail is along the ridges of the mountains up the east coast. this means that once you get back to the tops of the mountains you generally stay there and don't have to walk up and down a whole lot. we reached the top of the mountain and had about 8 more miles to walk to reach our final stopping point for the night.
this was our first full day of walking and it was definitely trying. with my pack being too heavy and uncle tom trying to get a better feel for the maps and landmarks, we were dragging ourselves a little bit through the day. as we walked we ran into a lot of dayhikers and stopped to talk to a few to see if we could get a better idea of where we were at that moment. this is when we learned to never trust dayhikers! they will undoubtedly tell you that you destination is " just over the hill." or " you're really close, maybe 20 minutes away." this was always wrong. the hill would last for an hour and then there would be another hill in front of you before you ultimately reached your goal. and that " 20 minutes" they promised you usually turns into about 45 minutes. so my advice to all you rookie backpackers is never take the word of a dayhiker seriously. a minute or two of chit-chat is about all you can get from them.
when we finally made it to the shelter we were staying at that night we were very relieved to have made it before dark. we were hoping to be able to sleep in the shelter that night but it was taken up by a boy scout troop. so we found a camp site close to the shelter and set up camp and changed for the night. we made our dinner which we found a trick to heating the water quicker. we had a wind screen that would help the heat stay contained and boil the water faster. more hikers had come into the shelter and had started a really nice warm fire. my uncle and I decided to head down for a bit of socializing and warmth before bed. the other people were also backpacking and all around 23-25 years old. we got some really good advice and tips from them. I first heard about the hammock tent from these guys around the fire. I had heard of them before but they were all using the hammock tents and had nothing but good things to say about it.
the final day was only about 5 miles. since we were already on the ridge, most of trek was down hill. it was a nice reprieve from the day before with all uphill walking. overall the trip was a good first trip. in total we walked about 17 miles in 3 days. it taught us a lot but not nearly enough to say we know it all.
the nice thing about the AT though is that most of the trail is along the ridges of the mountains up the east coast. this means that once you get back to the tops of the mountains you generally stay there and don't have to walk up and down a whole lot. we reached the top of the mountain and had about 8 more miles to walk to reach our final stopping point for the night.
this was our first full day of walking and it was definitely trying. with my pack being too heavy and uncle tom trying to get a better feel for the maps and landmarks, we were dragging ourselves a little bit through the day. as we walked we ran into a lot of dayhikers and stopped to talk to a few to see if we could get a better idea of where we were at that moment. this is when we learned to never trust dayhikers! they will undoubtedly tell you that you destination is " just over the hill." or " you're really close, maybe 20 minutes away." this was always wrong. the hill would last for an hour and then there would be another hill in front of you before you ultimately reached your goal. and that " 20 minutes" they promised you usually turns into about 45 minutes. so my advice to all you rookie backpackers is never take the word of a dayhiker seriously. a minute or two of chit-chat is about all you can get from them.
when we finally made it to the shelter we were staying at that night we were very relieved to have made it before dark. we were hoping to be able to sleep in the shelter that night but it was taken up by a boy scout troop. so we found a camp site close to the shelter and set up camp and changed for the night. we made our dinner which we found a trick to heating the water quicker. we had a wind screen that would help the heat stay contained and boil the water faster. more hikers had come into the shelter and had started a really nice warm fire. my uncle and I decided to head down for a bit of socializing and warmth before bed. the other people were also backpacking and all around 23-25 years old. we got some really good advice and tips from them. I first heard about the hammock tent from these guys around the fire. I had heard of them before but they were all using the hammock tents and had nothing but good things to say about it.
the final day was only about 5 miles. since we were already on the ridge, most of trek was down hill. it was a nice reprieve from the day before with all uphill walking. overall the trip was a good first trip. in total we walked about 17 miles in 3 days. it taught us a lot but not nearly enough to say we know it all.
trip #1
so the first trip began in Maryland around Washington monument on st. Patrick's day weekend. we were only out for 3 days and 2 nights but it was our first trip out so we had a lot of tweaking to do afterwards. Friday afternoon we started and went about 2 miles into Dalgren Backpacker's Campground. we started the trip easy to kind of give ourselves time to adjust to walking with packs and such. this was the trip where my mom packed my pack and I ended up with way too much stuff. so needless to say this was a trip of learning.
and the learning began almost immediately after starting. my uncle had decided to bring a fanny-pack that also held 2 water bottles. now most backpacks will have a waist strap that will just about where a fanny-pack's strap would hit. so from beginning to end my uncle was fighting with both his pack and his water bottle holder. now my uncle's pack was quite old so he had a lot of rearranging to do in order to get all of his stuff to fit comfortably. another issue he had early on in the trip was getting his sleeping bag secured to outside of his pack without it swinging back and forth. first he tried just tying it on using a bit of rope he had. this caused the sleeping to swing crazily every time he took a step. next he tried using Velcro but he took maybe 2 steps and it came undone and fell of his pack entirely. he ended up tying to his pack in 4 different places just to get it to stay steady.
we finally arrived at the campground and had to set up our camp. we were sleeping in a tent that night so we had a little 2 person tent just big enough for the 2 of us to fit in it together. that is one thing about backpacking tents, they're small but incredibly light. we had the tent set up and we changed into the clothes we were going to sleep in so now it was time for dinner. we only had a little Colman one-burner stove to share. the water was taking forever to boil so while we waited we decided to start a fire. it had rained a few days before so most of the available wood was either wet or too green to burn. it was probably the most pathetic fire I have ever seen. but since our water wasn't boiling on the stove we decided to try to get hot by putting it on the fire. we still couldn't the water to boil but it got hot enough to rehydrate our food. the food was lukewarm but edible.
it was about 9 o'clock when we were getting ready for bed. as we were standing by our pitiful fire talking before bed we heard people walking into the campground. it was dark so we were a bit confused as to why such a big group was coming in so late. now most backpacking campgrounds and shelters have these poles called "bear poles". they have hooks that hang your pack out of reach of bears if they're in the area. generally you would want to camp as far from the bear pole as you can get. well not these people. they got into camp and immediately started setting up their tents in a semi-circle around the bear pole. as they were setting things up we heard one them say to the other " Hey, I found the instructions for the tents!" at this point, my uncle and I decided we had to stay up to watch this. it took them a half hour just to set up one tent which is pretty silly considering a backpacking tent only consists of two poles that criss-cross to stand the tent up. they had 3 tents to set up that night. so we ended up getting a late night that night. watching this group set up camp.
and the learning began almost immediately after starting. my uncle had decided to bring a fanny-pack that also held 2 water bottles. now most backpacks will have a waist strap that will just about where a fanny-pack's strap would hit. so from beginning to end my uncle was fighting with both his pack and his water bottle holder. now my uncle's pack was quite old so he had a lot of rearranging to do in order to get all of his stuff to fit comfortably. another issue he had early on in the trip was getting his sleeping bag secured to outside of his pack without it swinging back and forth. first he tried just tying it on using a bit of rope he had. this caused the sleeping to swing crazily every time he took a step. next he tried using Velcro but he took maybe 2 steps and it came undone and fell of his pack entirely. he ended up tying to his pack in 4 different places just to get it to stay steady.
we finally arrived at the campground and had to set up our camp. we were sleeping in a tent that night so we had a little 2 person tent just big enough for the 2 of us to fit in it together. that is one thing about backpacking tents, they're small but incredibly light. we had the tent set up and we changed into the clothes we were going to sleep in so now it was time for dinner. we only had a little Colman one-burner stove to share. the water was taking forever to boil so while we waited we decided to start a fire. it had rained a few days before so most of the available wood was either wet or too green to burn. it was probably the most pathetic fire I have ever seen. but since our water wasn't boiling on the stove we decided to try to get hot by putting it on the fire. we still couldn't the water to boil but it got hot enough to rehydrate our food. the food was lukewarm but edible.
it was about 9 o'clock when we were getting ready for bed. as we were standing by our pitiful fire talking before bed we heard people walking into the campground. it was dark so we were a bit confused as to why such a big group was coming in so late. now most backpacking campgrounds and shelters have these poles called "bear poles". they have hooks that hang your pack out of reach of bears if they're in the area. generally you would want to camp as far from the bear pole as you can get. well not these people. they got into camp and immediately started setting up their tents in a semi-circle around the bear pole. as they were setting things up we heard one them say to the other " Hey, I found the instructions for the tents!" at this point, my uncle and I decided we had to stay up to watch this. it took them a half hour just to set up one tent which is pretty silly considering a backpacking tent only consists of two poles that criss-cross to stand the tent up. they had 3 tents to set up that night. so we ended up getting a late night that night. watching this group set up camp.
tips through experience
so as I explained before this is all an ongoing journey. i'm still learning more every trip and the next phase of my tip sharing is kind of going to be through telling some stories from my trips and the written journal I keep while on the trail. I've learned a lot just walking and maybe you'll be able to pick out things in my stories that I haven't and if so please feel free to comment and let me know. I like getting other's perspectives and views on situations.
I wanted to give a little more background on the trip that I've done so far and the pictures will be up on shutterfly and possibly flickr in a day or two and i'll post the link if you would like to see some. this year my uncle and I started in march and finished in October. we went one weekend a month and walked 188 miles in total. we walked the entire state of Maryland and parts of Virginia along the skyline drive. we took off from walking in the summer months (june-august).
so now as this blog goes on it will be more stories than tips and hopefully you can take some thing away from this for your adventures.
I wanted to give a little more background on the trip that I've done so far and the pictures will be up on shutterfly and possibly flickr in a day or two and i'll post the link if you would like to see some. this year my uncle and I started in march and finished in October. we went one weekend a month and walked 188 miles in total. we walked the entire state of Maryland and parts of Virginia along the skyline drive. we took off from walking in the summer months (june-august).
so now as this blog goes on it will be more stories than tips and hopefully you can take some thing away from this for your adventures.
tip #6: choose your equipment wisely
so this kind of ties into my post on boots and priorities. with this though i want to focus more on your actual backpack. your backpack i would say is probably the most important piece of equipment you will have. it's also probably the most expensive. you can borrow backpacks from friends or family but make sure that they are around the same height and build as you. backpacks were made to fit the person so if they are built vastly different from you then their pack won't fit right.
so to give you an idea of how a pack should fit i'll give you some tips. first, pack fits differ depending on gender. for females you more than likely want most of the weight to sit on your hips. so you want a waist belt that hits high right on the curve of your waist. make sure it has good padding too, otherwise you might end up with rubs or bruises on your hips. for males, your upper body is where you'll carry most of your weight. guys typically have stronger upper bodies, like shoulders and arms, so you want to look at the shoulder straps. make sure the padding is nice and the straps are wide to help distribute the weight evenly across your shoulders, chest and back.
second, you want to look at the pack and where it sits when it's on your back. you don't want your pack to sit too high above your head, i would say about 6 or so inches above your head is as high as it should go. if your buying a backpack, try a couple on and see whats going to work for your height. if your borrowing a backpack, don't ask the person who is a foot shorter/taller than you.
your pack will fit a little differently once you have weight in it as well. so once you find a pack that you like and get it home you can put a little weight in it. you can use things like rocks, water bottles or your equipment etc. this will give you a better idea of how the pack is going to feel and whether the weight is being distributed properly.
you're pack is essential to walking. if you borrowing a pack it could work out nicely and you can have a better idea of what you want. the balance and fit of the pack is very important. make sure you try out packs before you go and buy one off the rack. packs can be expensive and you wouldn't want to buy the wrong pack after spending all that money. once you find a brand and fit you like you can go looking on the internet or stores for sales. you can buy used packs just make sure they're still in good condition. the pack will set the tone for your experience. if you don't have good fitting pack then you have a good time on the trail, but having a good pack will make your trip that much more enjoyable.
so to give you an idea of how a pack should fit i'll give you some tips. first, pack fits differ depending on gender. for females you more than likely want most of the weight to sit on your hips. so you want a waist belt that hits high right on the curve of your waist. make sure it has good padding too, otherwise you might end up with rubs or bruises on your hips. for males, your upper body is where you'll carry most of your weight. guys typically have stronger upper bodies, like shoulders and arms, so you want to look at the shoulder straps. make sure the padding is nice and the straps are wide to help distribute the weight evenly across your shoulders, chest and back.
second, you want to look at the pack and where it sits when it's on your back. you don't want your pack to sit too high above your head, i would say about 6 or so inches above your head is as high as it should go. if your buying a backpack, try a couple on and see whats going to work for your height. if your borrowing a backpack, don't ask the person who is a foot shorter/taller than you.
your pack will fit a little differently once you have weight in it as well. so once you find a pack that you like and get it home you can put a little weight in it. you can use things like rocks, water bottles or your equipment etc. this will give you a better idea of how the pack is going to feel and whether the weight is being distributed properly.
you're pack is essential to walking. if you borrowing a pack it could work out nicely and you can have a better idea of what you want. the balance and fit of the pack is very important. make sure you try out packs before you go and buy one off the rack. packs can be expensive and you wouldn't want to buy the wrong pack after spending all that money. once you find a brand and fit you like you can go looking on the internet or stores for sales. you can buy used packs just make sure they're still in good condition. the pack will set the tone for your experience. if you don't have good fitting pack then you have a good time on the trail, but having a good pack will make your trip that much more enjoyable.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
tip #5: routines
it's always good to try and have a routine. getting yourself into a routine can make life a lot easier and quicker on the trail. my uncle and i started getting ours down by about the second trip. when we get into camp we usually set up our sleeping area which either involves setting up a tent or just putting our sleeping bags in the shelter. next i usually get changed into more comfy clothes while my uncle gets firewood. now we can't always have fires so sometimes this is when we would both get changed. then we usually just relax maybe have a cup of coffee or just lounge around until we make dinner. once we eat its just more relaxing and talking before we go to bed (you can see now why good company is key).
my uncle usually wakes up before me in the mornings so he makes the coffee in the morning then wakes me up. we have breakfast together and then just break down camp and get ready to walk again.
sometimes the routine switches up a bit but it generally always stays the same. it took us a trip or two to get it down to a science but we've done it so many times now its kind of hard to screw up. having someone who works well with you really helps too.
more than likely this is how most people set up and break down camp but it's more about the little things like who collects firewood and who starts it. all of those little steps in between stopping and sleeping are the things that take time to figure out how and when to do them to make your life easier. i would by your second or maybe even the end of your first trip you would have some idea as to how you want things to work.
life can be simple or complicated, it all depends on how you work your routine.
my uncle usually wakes up before me in the mornings so he makes the coffee in the morning then wakes me up. we have breakfast together and then just break down camp and get ready to walk again.
sometimes the routine switches up a bit but it generally always stays the same. it took us a trip or two to get it down to a science but we've done it so many times now its kind of hard to screw up. having someone who works well with you really helps too.
more than likely this is how most people set up and break down camp but it's more about the little things like who collects firewood and who starts it. all of those little steps in between stopping and sleeping are the things that take time to figure out how and when to do them to make your life easier. i would by your second or maybe even the end of your first trip you would have some idea as to how you want things to work.
life can be simple or complicated, it all depends on how you work your routine.
tip #4: you are the company you keep
being out there for days on end can be relaxing and fortifying for the soul. while out on the trial i've run across so many people who walk by themselves and you can always pick them out. they're the ones who come up to every person and start a conversation since they more than likely haven't spoken to anyone else for days. personally i don't know that i could be out there walking for 6 months all alone and this is why i suggest you bring at least one person out there with you.
now i wouldn't say to bring a whole big group because chances are you won't be enjoying the sites and scenery but one or two people just keep conversation with while you're walking or when you stop is kind of nice. be sure though that whoever you bring is just as into the backpacking as you are and is also on the somewhat the same level of experience. you wouldn't want to be out there with someone who complains a lot or you have to teach everything too.
since going with my uncle i have found that we get along very well and work together almost seamlessly. we both really wanted to go to do this and he is a bit more experienced than i am, i'm learning a lot from him. i've been camping all my life so i have most of the basics down.
being with someone that you really click with is very important and sometimes you might find that you're one of those people that just enjoys being by themselves which is fine too. just remember that it's about getting outside and having fun and enjoying yourself. i know some of my posts make backpacking seem like a lot of work but really its kind of like a working vacation. in the end i always enjoy myself as i hope you will too should you decide to go for an adventure in the woods.
now i wouldn't say to bring a whole big group because chances are you won't be enjoying the sites and scenery but one or two people just keep conversation with while you're walking or when you stop is kind of nice. be sure though that whoever you bring is just as into the backpacking as you are and is also on the somewhat the same level of experience. you wouldn't want to be out there with someone who complains a lot or you have to teach everything too.
since going with my uncle i have found that we get along very well and work together almost seamlessly. we both really wanted to go to do this and he is a bit more experienced than i am, i'm learning a lot from him. i've been camping all my life so i have most of the basics down.
being with someone that you really click with is very important and sometimes you might find that you're one of those people that just enjoys being by themselves which is fine too. just remember that it's about getting outside and having fun and enjoying yourself. i know some of my posts make backpacking seem like a lot of work but really its kind of like a working vacation. in the end i always enjoy myself as i hope you will too should you decide to go for an adventure in the woods.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
tip 3: these boots are made for walking
while out on the trail your hiking boots will be your best friend and your worst enemy. if there is one thing that i recommend you spend money on its your boots. you really want a pair that are going to fit and last while out there. also before you buy boots i would do a little research. go to some blogs and journals from other hikers and see what they're wearing. when i was buying my boots i looked at come of the blogs on trailjournals.com and picked about four pairs that i liked and wanted to research them further. i went to the makers websites and some read some reviews and then went and tried them on at stores.
i managed to find a great pair of boots that are light weight and durable. i would recommend going with a pair of Merrell boots, they're comfortable and fairly reasonable in price. boots are an important thing so really need to do your homework and find the right ones for you.
my cousin made this mistake and borrowed a pair of boots instead of buying her own. she was definitely regretting by the second day out. she had a massive blister on one foot and a smaller one on the other. she wont be making that mistake again.
boots are an essential when out backpacking or even just hiking. your feet are important and if something happens then you might get stuck in the woods for a bit longer than planned. so take the time research your boots and find ones that fit. wait for the sales so you don't have to spend your entire savings on them.
i managed to find a great pair of boots that are light weight and durable. i would recommend going with a pair of Merrell boots, they're comfortable and fairly reasonable in price. boots are an important thing so really need to do your homework and find the right ones for you.
my cousin made this mistake and borrowed a pair of boots instead of buying her own. she was definitely regretting by the second day out. she had a massive blister on one foot and a smaller one on the other. she wont be making that mistake again.
boots are an essential when out backpacking or even just hiking. your feet are important and if something happens then you might get stuck in the woods for a bit longer than planned. so take the time research your boots and find ones that fit. wait for the sales so you don't have to spend your entire savings on them.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
tip #2: list of priorities
going along with being able to pack your pack, you have to be able to know what you consider to be the most important things while out on the trail. everyone is different and it dictates what makes the final cut in your pack and what you'll be willing to spend the money on. for me there's 3 major must-haves while I'm out there: sleeping comfortably, food prep quick and having clean water for drinking and cooking.
sleeping comfortably is a big thing for me out there. think of it this way, you've been walking all day with weight on your back up and down mountains and when you finally make it to camp you have to sleep on rocks, hard packed dirt or a wood plank if you're lucky enough to get in a shelter. so personally I would rather carry a bit more weight and spend a bit more money to get a good warm sleeping bag and self-inflating pad to go underneath. personally I like the Big Agnes bags and the Thermarest pads. the sleeping bags are majorly warm and fairly reasonably priced. also they have female specific bags that generate more heat in certain areas that women need it most. a drawback to these bags though is that most of them have a slot on the bottom of the bag to put a sleeping pad into, which sounds great but they also don't have insulation on the bottom either. so with out getting a pad you're going to be pretty cold lying on the ground especially if it's like 20 degrees outside. the Thermarest pads have been around for a while and are great for backpacking. they are usually self-inflating pads and they come in all different sizes. they making sleeping on hard floors much more bearable.
being able to prepare my food quickly is also kind of an essential for me. its not necessarily what I'm eating but more how quickly I can get it ready to eat. while out there most backpackers use freeze-dried foods that needs to be rehydrated. there's nothing worse than being starving and having to wait for 8 minutes to get your water to boil, which could take longer depending on how cold it is outside or what kind of stove you have. I have seen a lot of different stoves in use out on the trail and the one that struck me as a good match for me was a Jetboil. it can boil 2 cups of water, which is the normal amount going into freeze-dried food packets, in just about 2 minutes. it's a little expensive, running at around $100 or more, but in my eyes it's totally worth it.
having clean water I think is a must for anyone going out on the trail so it's no surprise that it would be on my list too. there's lots of ways you can purify your water on the trail. I use a charcoal pump filter that basically pumps the water up one tube, through a filter and into my water bottles. I must say that the fresh filtered water actually tastes a lot better than the bottled water I get at home. some other ways to filter your water is to use a UV light that will kill any bacteria and germs floating around in it and there's some other types of filters that do the same thing as my filter but they use a different type of filter or they're an automatic pump. the UV lights seem to be the most popular I think mostly because they are so light and small to carry. I've seen a lot of people using them and I'm sure they work but I'm more of a visual person and being able to see the water traveling through the filter is kind of reassuring to me. my filter may be a bit heavier but I'm willing to carry the few extra ounces to keep my piece of mind.
so as you go out and explore the woods you kind of figure out what's really important for well being and piece of mind. everyone has different priorities and you can decide for yourself what your willing to spend some extra money on or what's important enough to carry a little extra weight. so once you decide that it makes purchasing and packing a bit more manageable.
sleeping comfortably is a big thing for me out there. think of it this way, you've been walking all day with weight on your back up and down mountains and when you finally make it to camp you have to sleep on rocks, hard packed dirt or a wood plank if you're lucky enough to get in a shelter. so personally I would rather carry a bit more weight and spend a bit more money to get a good warm sleeping bag and self-inflating pad to go underneath. personally I like the Big Agnes bags and the Thermarest pads. the sleeping bags are majorly warm and fairly reasonably priced. also they have female specific bags that generate more heat in certain areas that women need it most. a drawback to these bags though is that most of them have a slot on the bottom of the bag to put a sleeping pad into, which sounds great but they also don't have insulation on the bottom either. so with out getting a pad you're going to be pretty cold lying on the ground especially if it's like 20 degrees outside. the Thermarest pads have been around for a while and are great for backpacking. they are usually self-inflating pads and they come in all different sizes. they making sleeping on hard floors much more bearable.
being able to prepare my food quickly is also kind of an essential for me. its not necessarily what I'm eating but more how quickly I can get it ready to eat. while out there most backpackers use freeze-dried foods that needs to be rehydrated. there's nothing worse than being starving and having to wait for 8 minutes to get your water to boil, which could take longer depending on how cold it is outside or what kind of stove you have. I have seen a lot of different stoves in use out on the trail and the one that struck me as a good match for me was a Jetboil. it can boil 2 cups of water, which is the normal amount going into freeze-dried food packets, in just about 2 minutes. it's a little expensive, running at around $100 or more, but in my eyes it's totally worth it.
having clean water I think is a must for anyone going out on the trail so it's no surprise that it would be on my list too. there's lots of ways you can purify your water on the trail. I use a charcoal pump filter that basically pumps the water up one tube, through a filter and into my water bottles. I must say that the fresh filtered water actually tastes a lot better than the bottled water I get at home. some other ways to filter your water is to use a UV light that will kill any bacteria and germs floating around in it and there's some other types of filters that do the same thing as my filter but they use a different type of filter or they're an automatic pump. the UV lights seem to be the most popular I think mostly because they are so light and small to carry. I've seen a lot of people using them and I'm sure they work but I'm more of a visual person and being able to see the water traveling through the filter is kind of reassuring to me. my filter may be a bit heavier but I'm willing to carry the few extra ounces to keep my piece of mind.
so as you go out and explore the woods you kind of figure out what's really important for well being and piece of mind. everyone has different priorities and you can decide for yourself what your willing to spend some extra money on or what's important enough to carry a little extra weight. so once you decide that it makes purchasing and packing a bit more manageable.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
tip #1: packing your pack
so this was probably the first little lesson I learned while out on the trail. obviously I had never been backpacking before so I really didn't know what would be the best way to pack my pack. I had to consider things like how much food I would need, how many clothes will last me the whole trip, and all while keeping a running tally of how much weight I'll be carrying on my back. so to help me with all this I had my mother. don't get me wrong I love her to death but there are just somethings I should just do myself. I ended up with about 2 weeks worth of snacks, way too many clothes and, as my uncle would say, everything but the kitchen sink. you name it I had it. I only went out for 3 days and wound up carrying 45 pounds in my backpack. to put that in perspective, my uncle who is about 4 inches taller and 75 pounds heavier, was only carrying around 33 pounds. to say the least my shoulders and back were killing me by the end of the trip.
when I got home that weekend I did some serious downsizing. I took out the majority of the food I brought and really thought about what I actually ate while out there. the clothes I brought down a bit too, realizing I ended up wearing the same stuff and only changing the essentials, and all girls should know exactly what essentials I'm speaking of. I found I reused a lot of stuff and a lot of the stuff I didn't use got taken out. I kept things like rain gear and my first aid kit and got rid of the giant roll of duct tape my mother promised was light and a good thing to take. which duct tape is always good but definitely not light.
in the end, by my next trip I had downsized my pack to about 30 pounds. what I do now is when I'm finished packing and back home I take everything out and transfer it straight to a bin. this way I can keep track of it all and I know I'm not adding weight or forgetting anything I need. so my tip here is take a couple days to seriously think about all the things you need before going out. never let someone else pack your pack either. this may take a few trips out and finding out what a good weight is for you to carry. one of the best tips I got was if you take something out three times and never use it then you probably don't need it.
when I got home that weekend I did some serious downsizing. I took out the majority of the food I brought and really thought about what I actually ate while out there. the clothes I brought down a bit too, realizing I ended up wearing the same stuff and only changing the essentials, and all girls should know exactly what essentials I'm speaking of. I found I reused a lot of stuff and a lot of the stuff I didn't use got taken out. I kept things like rain gear and my first aid kit and got rid of the giant roll of duct tape my mother promised was light and a good thing to take. which duct tape is always good but definitely not light.
in the end, by my next trip I had downsized my pack to about 30 pounds. what I do now is when I'm finished packing and back home I take everything out and transfer it straight to a bin. this way I can keep track of it all and I know I'm not adding weight or forgetting anything I need. so my tip here is take a couple days to seriously think about all the things you need before going out. never let someone else pack your pack either. this may take a few trips out and finding out what a good weight is for you to carry. one of the best tips I got was if you take something out three times and never use it then you probably don't need it.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Idea behind the action
well, I'd like to start by saying that I am no expert at backpacking. I've been camping since I was a kid and I just started backpacking this past spring. although I haven't been doing it forever, I have learned a few things. I didn't want to start this under false pretenses and make it seem as though I am telling you how to do it. I just wanted to give those interested, some tips and tricks I've learned that might make life easier while living in the woods.
I started this adventure literally knowing nothing about backpacking. my uncle asked me to join him backpacking the AT and I agreed. I did some research online and read a few different blogs from people who have done it before. they had some great ideas and it did help me get more of an idea of what I was getting myself into. I would definitely recommend reading real peoples blogs and internet journals before going out. there's a great website www.trailjournals.com that has great stuff and is written mostly by people currently on the trail.
I've always loved the idea of being in the woods and to get an opportunity to really challenge myself out there was great. I realize more of my strength every time I go out and it has boosted my confidence enormously. it feels good knowing I could step out in the woods on any given day and be able to survive on the little I could carry. if your a woodsy kind of person this might just be the challenge that really brings the woods alive for you.
I started this adventure literally knowing nothing about backpacking. my uncle asked me to join him backpacking the AT and I agreed. I did some research online and read a few different blogs from people who have done it before. they had some great ideas and it did help me get more of an idea of what I was getting myself into. I would definitely recommend reading real peoples blogs and internet journals before going out. there's a great website www.trailjournals.com that has great stuff and is written mostly by people currently on the trail.
I've always loved the idea of being in the woods and to get an opportunity to really challenge myself out there was great. I realize more of my strength every time I go out and it has boosted my confidence enormously. it feels good knowing I could step out in the woods on any given day and be able to survive on the little I could carry. if your a woodsy kind of person this might just be the challenge that really brings the woods alive for you.
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