Backpacking Thread

[BallentineChen]

Does anyone on this forum go backpacking? I've done it only twice but plan to make another trip before fall semester begins.

Here's a link to my first solo trip. That was while I was in N. Carolina in the Smokies.

 

[Grayscale]

nice pictures... have you considered joining any groups for expeditions?

 

[Fluffywolf]

I -almost- went backpacking for 6 months in Australia, after I finished high school with a friend of mine. But he justly bailed out due to good university offer.

I regret not going by myself. I started working and fell down the job spiral. Now I'm too tied up!

I'm definatly not gonna stay doing what I do forever though. So who knows. in a few years...

 

[BerberElla]

I -almost- went backpacking for 6 months in Australia, after I finished high school with a friend of mine. But he justly bailed out due to good university offer.

I regret not going by myself. I started working and fell down the job spiral. Now I'm too tied up!

I'm definatly not gonna stay doing what I do forever though. So who knows. in a few years...

It's one of those things I regret not getting round to, instead of the job route I went down the family route, so my future plans involve making up for lost time by backpacking across the globe.

 

[Fluffywolf]

Where and when do you plan on starting the backpacking? *angelic smile*

 

[BerberElla]

Where and when do you plan on starting the backpacking? *angelic smile*

Lord, I have ages to go yet, and first is backpacking from india to china.

By that time I will so financially self sufficient that I need never come home until I have trekked all over the globe.

 

[Fluffywolf]

You, me and a pair of rollators.

 

[BerberElla]

You, me and a pair of rollators.

most romantic thing I've heard all day.

 

[Phantonym]

Hmm. I've toyed with the idea of going packpacking in New Zealand for the past couple of years now. And maybe never return...

 

[wolfy]

I've backpacked and hitch hiked my way around NZ a few times. Six months was the longest trip.

 

[Nizy]

I've been backpacking for the last 7 years. My longest trek was ~80 miles in the mountains of northern New Mexico, and my highest peak was there as well at ~12,500 ft.

Recently I've been looking into converting my gear to ultralight/semi-ultralight. Down from ~35lbs loaded to ~10-15. I'd like to hike more in the Sierras, and I've been entertaining the idea of through hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Perhaps in the meantime I'll try either the High Sierra or John Muir trails and maybe Mt. Whitney.

 

[Nizy]

These threads always seem to become a confusing combination of Backpacking and "backpacking".

 

[Fluffywolf]

When I think about backpacking I think about the minimal required, working during traveling to pay for foods, No ties to your real world. Just you, your bag, and your mindset!

 

[Nizy]

When I think of backpacking I picture hiking into remote places with all you need to survive, for a period of at least 2 days and up to as much as several months. Only descending into more populated climes to resupply food reserves.


Actually, in my experience the purpose of the hike is an interesting dichotomy. On the one hand the hike is meant to be relaxing, to travel into the wild and unblemished and purify the mind through relaxation and meditation. However more often than not my hikes turn into tests of will and endurance. Weathering the elements, the long distances, and the altitude. Both have their merits, and interestingly enough both seem to work towards the same end.

 

[Kingfisher]

Actually, in my experience the purpose of the hike is an interesting dichotomy. On the one hand the hike is meant to be relaxing, to travel into the wild and unblemished and purify the mind through relaxation and meditation. However more often than not my hikes turn into tests of will and endurance. Weathering the elements, the long distances, and the altitude. Both have their merits, and interestingly enough both seem to work towards the same end.

nicely said! i like it, and i agree.
and also, being able to weather the elements in a peaceful and meditative state is the ultimate merging of the two. that is the best!

When I think about backpacking I think about the minimal required, working during traveling to pay for foods, No ties to your real world. Just you, your bag, and your mindset!

i totally agree! i wouldn't have it anyother way.

well i really like to backpack. some big trips i took were backpacking across Austria, India, Scotland, and in the United States from Mexico to Canada. i really prefer to backpack in a place i have never been before, somewhere very new and exciting! i would love to go to New Zealand.

 

[Lexicon]

My friend and I were planning on bicycling [not exactly backpacking..but hey, we'd be wearing backpacks??] up from Louisiana to Canada, and down to Boston [on some Underground RR trail mainly]. However plans changed & he's going with another friend bikeriding across Europe [I have other priorities and don't have the cash for that kind of journey, but I hope to do it someday]. We talked about biking through California and down to South America someday as well. We'll see, I guess.. As amazing an experience as that would be, the great outdoors needs to wait.. I've got some other goals I've already taken a long enough break fom working toward.

 

[swordpath]

I've only done it in military training... we call it "going on a hump". I never much enjoyed hiking with all my gear on, however, with a solid group of people and some beautiful scenery, I'm sure it could be a blast. I'm thinking the Pacific Northwest or somewhere in Canada would have great hiking/camping locations.

 

[Salomé]

Actually, in my experience the purpose of the hike is an interesting dichotomy. On the one hand the hike is meant to be relaxing, to travel into the wild and unblemished and purify the mind through relaxation and meditation. However more often than not my hikes turn into tests of will and endurance. Weathering the elements, the long distances, and the altitude. Both have their merits, and interestingly enough both seem to work towards the same end.

+1

I've sometimes wondered why it can be so satisfying to spend so much time and money giving myself some truly unpleasant, not to mention, life-threatening experiences. Especially when there is a world of discomfort on my doorstep.
I suppose you get to explore a side of yourself which rarely gets exercised if you spend all day in an air-conditioned office. Calling on unexplored reserves of stamina, endurance, ingenuity.

Each successive trip I take, I move closer and closer towards the pared down, raw experience that is backpacking. I've had luxury holidays on sun-drenched beaches, staying in pristine hotels and being chauffeured around. And I've done the backpacking thing to one extent or another in Canada, East Africa, Patagonia, and New Zealand.
The latter has been far more memorable.

I'm planning a tour of Southeast Asia next. Half of the pleasure is in the planning and imagining... There are so many places I haven't seen yet. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

 

[wolfy]

Where did you go in NZ?

 

[Salomé]

Where did you go in NZ?

All over! I actually think I covered more ground there in 2 months then I ever have at home. (missed the central bit of the North Island though - the volcanic parks etc - I spent way longer than I had planned in Northland and I had an interview in Wellington I had to get to).

I love your country! I gush about it all the time. I nearly moved there permanently. I may yet...