first trip ever!

“Yippy! Guess what? I just took my first bping trip ever and I'm totally hyped for the next....why did i decide to take up bping? DUH! Who can't resist the lure of a lake by the name of Bloodsucker?
Now I think I'm hooked. Is there any help for backpacking addiction?”

“No. Once you catch bp fever, it stays in your blood forever.”

“BTW, welcome to Trail Talk. Where are all the newbies coming from anyway? We have had four or five this week. Isn't that a record?”

“Forever? EGADS! Looks like I'm going to have to sell all my stuff and buy gear with the moola....If i cant treat the addiction I might as well pander to it.”

“yeah, the past couple weeks have been newbie-licious.

but the heck with that, let's get to the dirty secrets!
;-)”

“Congrats wacke chick!!! Sounds like you're hooked which is great, and sorry this is no cure. If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask away on this message board. You'll probably experience quite a bit of "hazing" since you're a newbie to the board, but you'll also find this is a very helpful group of people. You can also do a search (bottom of the screen) to see if a topic was previously covered in another thread.

Welcome! :-)”

“No worries I'm quite used to hazing.

I've been around for a couple of days looking through the Backpacker site. AWESOME site I'm glad I stumbled into it.”

“ A bad case of addiction

I'm approaching the end of "50 consecutive weekends in the wilderness", because of a wedding. I considered taking Monday off, but I'm already taking the following Friday off.
8-(

I made it to 50 weekends in 2001 (had to go to Chicago for SnowDude's sisters wedding), and in 2000 I was out 47 consecutive weekends (SnowDude's parents came to visit, so I took care of traffic school and had some minor surgery that I had put off for awhile).

Congrats on Bloodsucker!”

“Welcome, wc!”

“You guys are distracting! I should be studying. Can I blame my lack of homework on you guys when my instrutors ask?”

“

Which site?

thebackpacker.com rules, backpacker.com is ok for backup and when everybody here is asleep.”

“depends upon what you're supposed to be studying, WC. this place would be good sociological or perhaps zoological study.”

“Welcome. Where is Bloodsucker? There are a few loonies that hang around here. LOL”

“Bloodsucker Lake is in the west side of the Desolation Wilderness.

You say theres loons about? Lets go Loon hunting!”

“ This must be the place.”

“Welcome wacke chick. I'm a newbie to the site but not backpacking. Just signed in yesterday. Welcome.”

“You have lots of company on this site from people in your area. Welcome!”

“You mean I'm not the only Californian?”

“Youlive in Cali chick? I want to do mt. Whitney.”

“Did you see any of the critters for which the lake is named? My wife and I dayhiked to Bloodsucker a couple weekends ago, but failed to see any leeches. Terribly disappointing! ;)”

“I can think of windwalker, snownymph,snowdude, martyb right off the bat. tekapo, wld or whatever he calls himself. Wingding. there are several.”

“So do I! Neato. Actually I want to someday do the John Muir Trail and maybe even one of those really long trials the pt er maybe thats Act? Whatever...I think it would be cool to go long distance carrying everything on my back and needing nothing else.”

“Nope. I even wadded out into the mud to see if I could pick up any. Unfourtanatly all I got was muddy.”

“you can send your registration fee directly to my mailbox. i'll make sure it gets where it needs to go.”

“I'm ready to go. I have an airline ticket for any date. I just need to find a couple people to go along. If your interested let me know.”

“Theres a FEE?????
er
um
uh
bbinky said he'd pay for me!”

“No prob chick. Ductape just send me her tab.”

“you guys didn't tell em about the fee? geez, what good are you?
yes, there's a fee. you only get the first 30 days free then you get cut off. trust me, you'll be hooked by that time, just send me the money to avoid any hassle later on.”

“John Muir Trial, ya say?

Look for "sierramel" on the web.”

“LOL, I think this newbie already has this place figured out.”

“I would LOVE to go...the only thing is, I can't on account of school and work and I would have to go rent gear and that takes money which i dont have much of and which i need for my yummylishish diet of ramen noodles and canned greenbeans. Maybe when summer rolls around again I'd have the time and money.”

“no problem chick. I would either go now or over christmas break or next summer. Build up your gear a little at a time. sierra trading has great deals on closeout gear. there are a few other sites as well that you can gear dirt cheap.”

“search from the free gear thread and post a wish list. ;)”

“search for, not from.”

“where is the free gear thread?”

“found it!”

“For bargains try:

Northern Mountain Supply

Bob Wards-
They had a Kelty Arete Zero & 15 Degree Down Mummy.
Both ratings and sizes for $120.....a close-out”

“I have a cheep old 35 degree
slumberjack that sometimes keeps me warm when im camping...do you think i need one for cooler temps?”

“Welcome to TT! I'll tell you now, that these people are the genuine article. No one here will run you wrong. Honest. As you get your gear together, you'll find that you'll want to travel to other places for more experiences. It's amazing at how many trips are always taking place. Everyone here is extremely supportive too. I just took my first solo trip up at Manistee, MI, and everyone gave me not just words of advice, but also TONS of encouragement. Afterwards, it's kind of a "thing to do" to post a trip report. If you take pictures, try to post them too. Everyone loves to trade stories, you'll find. Meeting everyone in person is a hoot! I've met a couple of people from here already, but this coming October, there's a Jordan River Trip that walkindude is coming up here for, where I'll have the honor of meeting A LOT more people! Whenever you have an opportunity like this, you should try to snatch it up. Truly worth the experience.

Welcome again to the busiest, funniest, and most informative message board: TRAIL TALK!

(How did I do guys?? LOL!)”

“i don't have much to add... i would if i wasn't so tired. but i hope you have a good time, and i'm sorry but there's no cure for the backpacking bug - maybe someday they'll come up with some sort of drug to cure it. But i know i'm not taking any. i'd rather stick to bping - it's a drug in itself.”

“excellent coyote13.”

“to yet ANOTHER new "trail ho".”

“So when do we get to ask her to share a tent?





j/k......lol.....”