How did you get into Backpacking?

“I know most of us TT veterans have covered this subject before but I thought it'd give the newer folks a chance to share & they could learn more about us.


Me, I've been into the outdoors as far back as I can remember but when I was in my 20's I bought a Kelty External Frame pack at an outfitter on Clearance for $50. I strapped in on and actually used it a couple of years later.
My first backpacking trip ever. I was 24 years old.”

“Hopefully this thread will go over better than my "Foul mouth TTers" thread. LOL!”

“I used to car camp with my family and friends alot but I found that it just didn't satisfy my wilderness jones,so I got me an Osprey Finess, some light weight gear and set out solo.”

“I was introduced via the scouts. Cubs scouts and then the BSA. We had a very active troop.”

“Boys Scouts and car camping with the family was how I got started.”

“A few years ago, my buddy and I were talking how we'd like to but our wives and kids didn't want to. So we chatted and found that each would go if the other did. So we did Old speck in Maine on the AT.

It was a pathetic site. Heavy sleeping bags, canned goods,leaky tents, old backpacks with out belts. We quickly learned what we needed in the way of gear. We had done many a day trip before, now the overnighters and weekenders and longer are da bomb.

So we became gear collectors and were finally geared up. We soon developed the confidence to hike anywhere, anytime, together or alone. Our girlfriends go with us often, Every time with me actually.

BTW both our wives left us for reasons totally unrelated to backpacking. We're much happier with out them, now, and have like minded companions.

My buddy is a backpacking purist, while I have many interests. Actually, he snowmobiles also.

What keeps us interested is that we meet so many great people on the trail.”

“Yeah Uphill, I leared the hard way too. Work boots, cotton socks, Sucky tent, heavy car campin bag, ect. We took a beating in those days but they give priceless lessons.”

“i used to just not go home.

i'd go off in the woods with a couple of candy bars, some yoo-hoos or cokes (later, i upgraded to brewskis). we'd sit around a fire and shoot the breeze until we all just snoozed.

then, when i moved to georgia, my wife introduced me to backpacking.”

“Much like radagast, it was just heading into the woods and staying overnight. Probably around age 14 or so it turned into a pack and planning.”

“Like a lot of others, I was introduced to backpacking through the Scouts.”

“BSA”

“I went a few times as an Explorer Scout then I went dormant for nearly ten years. I met a girl who was into backpacking and took it up again. That was 1984... fiber-fill sleeping bags, pool floats to sleep on and a stove that used those damn propane cylinders, LOL!”

“I guess I am well to say the strangest person to start backpacking.
Actually several years ago I saw a sign ontop of Pinnacle Mountain that said "Hensley Settlement 13 miles". Well I ask my husband if he thought we could walk there sometime? He was amazed!!! Me walk that far LOL
We we did do a 12 mile hike which I loved. But the funny part of this I saw some people backpacking. They were taking a break. As we walked away I told my husband "You will never catch me strapping that on my back and walking up this goat trail" Well the rest is history here I am and owner of a gear store. Now how weird is that.
Barbara”

“My Dad got me into it. The first trip I can actually remember was when I was somewhere between 10-12 years old and I broke my hand falling off a rock in Yosemite just as a girl scout troop was coming up the trail. Yes, I still know how to impress...*g*”

“After a year and a half of reading Explore and Backpacker magazines (Don't know why people knock Backpacker), I just went and did it. Bought all my gear in a span of 2 weeks, and solo backpacked (my first 6 times out, I soloed...my friends and family thought I was crazy). Prior to that I had only day hiked...never car camped or even slept in my backyard!!!”

“Boy Scouts in the '50's. Surplus GI gear - cotton-flannel bags, canvas pup tents, WWII rucksacks. Heavy stuff.

The '60's and '70's: The high-tech gear of that time. Still use my old Svea and my Montico bag from those days.

The '80's: Wife, kids, mortgage. BPing kinda got lost in the shuffle.

The '90's and beyond: Climbed Rainier to scatter my son's ashes, wearing the Frostfire that went over Nisqually Glacier with him, and carrying an eclectic mix of old and new gear. Been at it ever since; hiking, ridgerunning, canoeing, and gearmongering. I guess it took Mark's death to get me to realize what's really important in life.”

“Famous last words... *G*

You left out the part about starting the hiking club in the meantime...”

“Stiny
Sorry to hear about your son. Was he into the outdoors?”

“Steiny, I'm very sorry about your son. We parents are not supposed to live to see our own children die. But sometimes it happens.”

“I was driving through northern New Mexico in the mountains and saw one of those signs next to the road that has the stick figure of a hiker carrying a staff on it. You know the ones...??? I'd seen these signs before, but it was during childhood vacations where my parents liked to sightsee from the car. Well, curiosity got the best of me and I pulled over, parked, found the beginning of the path and have been hooked ever since.”

“.... Barb.”

“Hiked and backpacked for years in the Scouts.. had a few friend that we were crazy enough to stay in way past 16.. but college.. and after.. just didn't go.. so basically was completely out of it for several years.. then about 2 yrs ago.. I realized something was missing in my life.. and took up the sport again.. So glad I did.

:)”

“This site. I started at this site to get info on gear for hiking and car camping (as a girl scout leader). But the trip reports got me interested.”

“BSA, Explorers in High School (co-ed scouts, monthly trips), some youth-group trips...

Then too many years of taking care of "everybody else," and not doing what *I* enjoy.

Haven't gotten back to "backpacking" yet but working towards it...dayhiking, a little camping, a lot of dreaming and some planning.”

“dude and Lyndy - Mark had been into the outdoors since he was a kid. Built treehouses in the woods that scared the crap out of me - 60 feet and more up. Almost died canoeing the Deerfield River during a hurricane. Bicycled from MA to Seattle during college. Had been on top of Denali 3 times, all over the Cascades, a lot in South America. He lived for climbing, and told us many times that if he died that way it would be okay. The sad part is that, ten years after Mark died, his sister (who is heavily into the outdoors and my sometime trail buddy when she comes back from CO) lost her fiancee to a freak ice-climbing fall. Deja vu, all over again.”

“I went about 1 1/2 years and didn't go BPing. Burnout, emotional sh!t, out of shape, & several other reasons. I had the urge but not the motovation. That's why I started hanging out at this site. That's been right at 2 years ago. Thanks for getting me back in the groove TT!”

“How did he die Steiny?”

“Started Camping as a Cub Scout. Was introduced to bping in Boy Scouts. Went to Philmont when I was 14. That is what really hooked me. Ever since then I've been getting as much as I can.”

“Car camping when I was younger. Actually sometimes it was probably a keg party that got out of hand and we had to wait til morning to drive home. Then I moved on to motorcycle camping until a week long pouring rain everyday trip that included spending part of a hurricane in a tent on the outer banks.On the last ferry to the mainland my wife said that she was done camping. A few years ago I started doing day hikes in the White Mountainns. Nothing too long, everytime I tried to set up something over 3500-4000 feet even if I got someone interested they would back out at the last minute, not show up, or want to change the plan to something "more reasonable" Early this summer we actually got started up Lafayette, a ways into the hike my two partners decided that they were going a little farther then we should turn back. THEY turned back, I didn't. Looking out from Franconia Ridge I was hooked. The next Day I did Monroe/Washinton. I didn't even bother to wake them up, just left a note. For the rest of the summer I went solo. Backpacking? I haven't actually started yet, I'm trying to decide on a tent and bigger pack.”

“I think I was 7 years old when I went on my first backpacking trip with my dad and my two older brothers. We went up into the Jemez (pronounced HAY-mess) mountains just above our house. I remember it to this day (36 years later). We hiked up to Guaje (Wah-hey) reservoir and camped in a clearing just above the water. I felt completely fine out there, surrounded by my big brothers and my dad. Actually, though, I remember stressing BIG TIME about pooping without a toilet! I was deathly afraid of being ridiculed by my brothers! My dad was way cool about it, though, but I -do- remember the first time!!

Our gear was all WWII surplus stuff, and I thought it was SO cool. Been a gear nut ever since...”

“Started hiking about six years ago when I screwed up my knees to much for bicycle touring. Started going up the local hills with a 20 oz water bottle, a power bar, and a first aid kit. Took up backpacking about 2 years ago. And the rest, as they say, is history.”

“steiny, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I lost a family member. After that, your life will never be quite the same.

I begain hiking 5 yrs ago in NY. I read an article in the New Yorker Magazine about getting out of the city & hiking. Due to the publicity of the magazine, the hike they mentioned to do was packed with people.
I knew I liked it, but wanted to find a more quiet trail/mountain, which I did. There it began.

I remember my first hikes with a book backpack, not having the straps set right, and carrying 2 huge heros & soda or a big thermous of lentils and a large loaf of bread, lol. It felt like a hundred pounds on my back. We had lots of fun.”

“dude - He put one of his axes into some rotten ice 125 feet up a frozen waterfall in RMNP. Wasn't hanging on by three other points and the ice gave way. Lived for about 8 hours - died on the way out with a storm coming, so they didn't get him out 'til the next day. This all 2 days before my daughter's orals - which she went through with and did fine.”

“I didn't realize this thread would get so sad when I started reading it, sorry for your loss Steiny.

I started in BSA but got nuts with work friends that do GSMNP AT hiking in January every year. A few days of sub zero and high winds and I was hooked, been a regular there and other places now for 12 years. Taking my little girls on a short trip this weekend.”

“A trip into the Grand Canyon at age 15. Five years later, my best friend got me doing it regularly. We've been hiking together for 7 years now.”

“Had woods near the house and built cabins where we'd have sleepouts...but never backpacked.

Was in the scouts, had a backpack, but we only used it to cary gear to the yearly Boy Scout Camp.

Would car camp in high skool and later, but carried gigundahughfrickinmungus loads of gear (I mean beer) to the campsites.

In college we were required to take a 1.5 month Field Camp class. Wee moved around alot (SD, WY, ID) and slept in tents because of it. Did tons of hiking while mapping large 5-6 sq mile areas in some of the most awesome terrain I'd ever seen.

When back home, I got a backpack and have loved hiking/backpacking ever since.”

“Started with a canoe trip when I was 15.It was a nine day trip in Northern Ontario.Remember hearing the wolves howling,and hearing the loons.My most vivid memory is sitting around the campfire at sunset,and seeing the fire towers towering over the treeline.It was at that point I fell in love with being out there. I migrated from canoeing to backpacking after becoming a scout leader.”

“Started w/ car camping and day hiking as a kid. Seemed like backpacking was the natural progression.

It's funny - my parents turned me on to camping... 20 years later, I've turned them on to backpacking. My dad has gone a few times with us and plans to go again this year. Mom has gone once and will probably go again, too.”

“Boy Scouts.

We backpacked everwhere with the best gear we could scrounge. If there wasn't a trail to the campsite or park we would just hike down the road. In '86 I worked my butt off to pay my way to Philmont. I failed Algebra that year and while I was in summer school my buddy Matt took my slot at Philmont. Fifteen years later I'm still trying to get there.

Left Scouting in '90 and didn't camp much at all. I got back involed in '94. Our older boys were getting bored of short trips so we did a week long hike in the Smokies with just the older guys. It fired me back up and I've been taking every chance I can to get on the trail now.

My deepest sympathies to you and your family Steiny.”

“Car camping, canoeing, and day hiking growing up. Then week long canoe trips with church camps in the summer. My college roommate and I would day hike Tuckerman's ravine in NH and ski it. We thought it would be really cool to campout up there so we could ski 2 days in a row. On my first backpacking trip I came down with a 103 degree temperature and had to bail after 1st day. Been hooked for the past 6 years now.”

“Scouts in the 60s. Philmont in '67 was my first more than a weekend trip. College, then work interrupted, though I picked up XC skiing in the mid-70s and winter was my "hiking" time after that. Returned to BPing in early 80s when my brother came back to Michigan, but a soccer injury on his part split up that partnership. Post divorce late 80s, turned to mtn biking and canoeing with some guys I met through a friend, kept that up with my current wife. Intermittant day hikes and car camping though all these years. Then about a year ago, I was looking at my forlorn bp hanging in the basement and realized I really wanted to be out on the trail again. Soon after found TT on the web, lurked for awhile, and the motivation grew to jump back into it. Found out doing it at nearly 50 is more complicated physically than it was at 25 or even 35. But there is something special about being on foot in the backcountry.”

“like Raddy and Baume, I just wandered a lot and sometimes didn't come home. :)

I used to work all summer at a camp, from the age of 14, so that's when the gear buying began. I did the "usual" of carrying giant coleman sleeping bag, heavy k-mart pup-tent, etc.

The woods were always calling...there is always a new adventure.
:)”

“I went on my first trip when I was 7 with my father & older brother. I remember how loud the falling acorns sounded in the middle of the night. Saw my first bear. The Canada Geese were coming off the lake in wave after wave making a beautiful racket. We used our leftover Tang to put out the fire and I can still smell it.


steiny - At the risk of sounding insensitive, it sounds like Mark lived life to the fullest. Sorry.”

“here are some threads from the past that I enjoyed...

First Hike

First solo hike”

“We did trailer camping when I was real small. And then my dad picked up to pup tents and we started going to rustic campgrounds. The rest of my family hated it, but me and my dad could not get enough of it. We wanted more rustic. Our first backpacking trip we didnt have backpacks we carried are things in duffel bags. It rained and was miserble and we were hooked. We bought backpacks and had a blast hiking together from when I was about 11 until I was 18. I then became a camp counselor and sudenly I was laeding groups of kids on trips. And now Im pretty much addicted to backpacking again. My ultimate goal is to go with my dad again. He is the best hiking partner in the world.”

“Car camping as a kid with the family and later with the BS. Took a hiatus for a number of years and then in college, got back into it. That was 12 years ago.

Very sorry about your son, steiny.”

“Did lots of car camping at the family compound (40 swampy acres) as a kid, and always had a blast. Swore I'd never sleep on the ground again after I got out of the Army. But the woods proved too enchanting to resist, so it was back to car/beer camping. Then, I met this incredible woman who loves all things outddors and we started backpacking together. I'm one lucky fella.”

“adventuregirl -- That is very, very cool that you have such a good relationship with your dad. I hope it works out soon for you to hike with him again.”

“Day hiking and car camping as a kid. I started backpacking a bit in college. Then, my son got old enough for Boy Scouts...”

“My family did a little car camping when I was a kid, and one of my earliest memories is seeing an incredible sunset when we were camping somewhere in the sierras.

It was my brother who convinced me to try actual backpacking when we were in college, with some fairly disasterous results envovling the use of plastic garbage bags for shelter and outer wear. Still, once I had thawed out, I thought it was pretty fun.

But what really hooked me was the time my cousin and I went packbacking in northern New Mexico. My uncle and his family lived in Los Alamos, and on a whim my cousin and I decided to hike up to one of the high balds you could see from town. The trail led around the edge of the Valle Grande (huge ancient volcanic crater valley in the mountains) along some high cliffs, and led up to the mountaintop bald. The early fall weather was great, the views were unbelievable, and I was hooked.”