When I went to work full-time in 2022, I wondered how much I would miss guiding on a regular basis. How much would I miss the three to five guided hikes a week? How much I would miss teaching skills classes? And what size void would leading far fewer trips leave?
Category Archives: Backpacking
The slower the better: a weekend on the AT
This past weekend GetBackpacking! set an SKT — Slowest Known Time. In this case, the Slowest Known Time for a lunch break on a backpacking trip.
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Before we set out Saturday morning from our campsite at Yellow Mountain Gap on the Appalachian Trail, I outlined the morning plan. “We’ve got a long climb — 900 vertical feet in 1.7 miles — up to Little Hump Mountain. We’ll take a break there. Then head on to Hump Mountain for lunch.”
Don’t get bullied by the Weekend Heat Dome
Granted, we ran a version of this blog in April, but with the appearance of The Heat Dome and the possibility of temperatures topping 100 in the region this weekend, it seemed appropriate to repeat the high points. Starting with …
Don’t hesitate to adjust your plans based on the forecast. For instance, GetBackpacking! was scheduled to do the 35-mile Virginia Triple Crown loop this weekend. The four-day trip takes a high route, largely sticking to ridges.
What’s our obligation to our fellow hikers?
We first noticed the couple because of their pack. “Love the external frame,” Allison said.
“We’re old school,” said the man. He was dressed in all camo, standing next to his wife, who was bent over a small trickle of water filtering water into a half-dozen empty soda bottles.
Join us for 3 classic backpack trips in 2024
I used to tell my Intro to Backpacking students that to get the most out of backpacking, to become proficient and competent, you need to take three trips a year. Not necessarily big trips, though one should be at least four days. And a quick overnight just to get away is fine, too. Go any fewer than three times and backpacking could become more of an ordeal: even with a packing list, packing can take twice as long as you fret over each item wondering when you last used it and whether it’s still in good shape. There’s more pressure on trip planning: you only backpack once a year, it better be a good one. And what if the weather goes south? Is that it for the year.