After a great weekend in the wet weather, my friends have had a chance to upload the pictures they took (at least a good handful of them) to their flickr accounts. Molly and I decided to leave our DSLR’s at the house being that there was another DSLR and a Point&Shoot already packed with the other guys’ stuff.

For the most part we followed the itinerary I outlined in the “Planning for a Backpacking Trip” post. Though, because we purposely didn’t take watches or cell phones we didn’t exactly stick to a schedule which meant we had to cut a couple of the bigger hikes out of the day(s). Part of it may have also been due to the literal downpour we received on Friday evening and Saturday morning. We’ll go back later one or two weekends to finish up the Cloudland Canyon trails.

With the successful trip, I’m going to be planning a “car camping” trip for sometime in Mid-December or Early/Mid-January so more of my friends can come along, and enjoy some better camp-cuisine. I’ll have a couple of posts related to that coming up soon enough.

View the full post for the pics from this weekend. (more…)

Here’s a quickly thrown together checklist of gear, with notes, that anyone should be mindful of when going backpacking. I tried to be as complete as possible, though I’m sure I’m missing something…

Packs & Sleeping

Tent, poles, stakes, groundcloth
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad
Backpack
Day pack (small school backpack)
Rain cover for backpack (trashbags work well)

Essentials

Water Bottle (32oz or more)
First Aid Kit
Sun Protection
Bear Bag
Rope
Knife
Flashlight
Rain gear (poncho or light wind-breaking rain jacket)

Clothing

Ziplock freezer bags (to pack clothes in to stay dry)
Boots or trail shoes (ankle support)
Camp shoes
Socks (pack an extra pair)
Underwear
Light Pants
Light Shorts
Light Shirt(s)
Light Jacket or Long Sleeve Shirt(for warmth)
Cap or hat

Cooking & Food

Pot (1 per group of 4-6)
Cooking Utencils
Camp Suds (environmentally safe soap)
Dish Cloth
Cup
Stove
Fuel
Lighter
Water Container (for cooking, etc)
Breakfasts (Oatmeal, fried potatoes, cereal, protein bars)
Lunches
Dinners
Snacks (peanuts, raisins, oysters, crackers, jerky)
Spices (Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Cayenne)
Drink Mix (Gatorade, CapriSun, Tang, Hot Chocolate)

Optional Items

Camping pillow (a ball of clean clothes works well too)
Insect Repellant
GPS
Camera
Extra Batteries
Binoculars
Camp Chair
Fishing gear
Cards + games
Hiking Stave or Poles

Appy Trails Mark V

When you go backpacking, the number one goal is to keep your equipment minimal and light in weight. Doing so will increase your maneuverability, speed, and stamina on the trail. You also need to consider the kind of weather you should be preparing for. Ideally, you’ll have that perfect fall (or spring) breeze but the likelihood of actually getting the ideal situation is minimal at best, see Murphy’s law. Shelters are usually rated for the number of seasons they are intended to be used to help you take the guesswork out of what it will be able to shelter you from. A note for readers: for the purposes of writing this article, I am assuming you are only planning on a shelter for 1-2 people.

1-2 Season Shelters:

These shelters are great for warm-month camping or any area that doesn’t get much colder than 50 degrees (Fahrenheit) or receive much precipitation. These shelters’ primary goal is only to keep the rain/dew off of you during the night. They might include some netting to keep the bugs off of you. They are really light, pack small, and typically provide shelter for 1-6 people. (more…)

620-O1 crew training in the Cohutta Wilderness

The easiest way I could centralize the planning and distribution of information for a light backpacking trip I’m planning for October 9-11, 2009 was to put it in my blog.  So I might as well expand on it and turn it into something that will generate traffic, right? Right. The trip I’m going to be expanding on was originally a thought back in January/February for me and my Fiancee, Molly Locklear. However, she got ill immediately before the trip resulting in her being hospitalized leading to her being one organ (her gallbladder) shy of a full body. I never got back around to planning it out again, but another friend Nathaniel Foster expressed some interest in going on a short trip. So, I’ll rehash my ideas and start the planning again.

Picking a Location. The first thing that crosses my mind when I’m planning a trip is how hard do I want the trail to be. I’m taking a couple new (to backpacking) people along, so I don’t want them to be so tired and frustrated that it’s not a good experience for them. I also wanted to pick a place that was fairly scenic because everyone going along has a variable amount of interest in photography. Not too far away from Chattanooga/Dalton area is a fairly easy set of trails within the Cloudland Canyon State Park. In looking at the map available here. It doesn’t look like there are any crazy elevation changes on any of the trails except for the Sitton Gulch Trail, but it doesn’t have any camping sites. (more…)