View Full Version : What's your dream backpacking trip?
nsherry61
11-06-2016, 16:26
I've been inspired by Cheyou over in the ultralight gear forum . . .
What is the one backpacking trip highest on your bucket list?
Have you taken concrete action toward achieving it?
soumodeler
11-06-2016, 16:38
Right now it is a JMT thru hike. All I have time for with my current job.
nsherry61
11-06-2016, 16:46
Right now, I think mine is 10 days, or so, in Yellowstone in the heart of winter (hopefully this winter) on skis.
I haven't figured out the routes I would take yet, it may depend on snow accumulation in different areas if it is a lowish snow year.
10 days in or near Yellowstone NP is high on my list too. Without snow is more realistic for me.
10 days on the Berg Lake-North Boundary Trail is probably higher on my list.
Even I know that 1 is on the way to-from the other. [emoji106][emoji41]
Wayne
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DuneElliot
11-06-2016, 19:02
The Colorado Trail has been on my list ever since I lived near the southern terminus (Telluride and then Durango). First I had planned on doing it on horseback, with due to logistics and then selling my horses it has been moved to a backpacking trip.
I will be hiking it next summer
The Te Araroa is also high on my list, as it New Zealand in general, but while I still have dogs it's an unlikely trip for a few years.
AfterParty
11-06-2016, 19:09
Colorado trail and hayduke for me other then the AT
Christoph
11-06-2016, 19:11
Mine is actually an AT thru. I attempted last year but only made it around 750 miles. Been planning a thru for about 20+ years and that was my retirement present to myself. But being I didn't complete it, I'll try again next year and am as excited and ready (better actually) then the last time.
Mine is actually an AT thru. I attempted last year but only made it around 750 miles..
I am always amazed by the constant use of the word "only" by people who have attempted thru hikes. I heard a guy once who said he "only made it to Pennsylvania" from Springer. 750 miles is a long way to walk my friend. I don't live in a very heavily populated area compared to others here but I would be willing to bet that if I drew a 50 mile radius around my house and then proceeded to talk to everyone within that circle, I would be lucky to find 5 other human beings who have ever walked even 150 miles in one outing. A lot, if not most, of them probably haven't walked 150 miles in their entire life times.
bigcranky
11-06-2016, 20:03
We're planning an AT thru when we retire, but before that I'd love to complete the "mini triple crown" of the Long Trail, JMT, and Colorado Trail. I also want to do the Camino, then spend several months walking around Eastern Europe and Asia.
i am new to all this hiking but my main goal is the AT in a few years , I have been trying to research all I can and plan on doing shorter hikes in the Catskills and Adirondacks to help test out different things to prepare for the AT . I have gotten a few books to read up on as well . I am looking to join some hiking groups in my area as well to prepare and ask a LOT of questions. I don't plan on " trying " or " attempting " the AT I planning on leaving in Georgia and not stopping , I know there will be gruelling and hard times but can't stop til i reach the end!
I don't plan on " trying " or " attempting " the AT I planning on leaving in Georgia and not stopping , I know there will be gruelling and hard times but can't stop til i reach the end!
this mindset is perfect. I went and talked to several former thru hikers before my thru hike. They all said the same thing....tell other people that you are going to walk the entire AT. It sets a contract. Establishes a mindset. Don't leave loopholes for yourself . Good luck penny b.
thank you 4shot ! besides I a little to stubborn to quit lol.
Train to Colorado hike N till Whitefish.
Cheyou
evyck da fleet
11-06-2016, 21:35
I don't have a bucket list it's a done it list. It either gets done or it gets forgotten about. My first overnight hike was an AT thru in 2012 and I've been hooked albeit on much shorter hikes.
Since then the list has added the JMT, Grand Canyon R2R2R, Kalalau Trail and a bunch others on Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii, Tour de Mont Blanc, Five Lakes Trail in Zermatt (Matterhorn), top half of GR20 in Corsica, Hot Springs Route in Iceland, Norway (Reinbringen, Bunes & Horseid Beaches, Trolltunga, Pulpit Rock & Besseggen Ridge) and 7 Great Walks in New Zealand.
My next trip is back to NZ to explore the south Island and to do the Overland Track in Australia. After that, I've begun plans to do the Inca Trail next year.
I may never be able to retire and wind up being a WalMart greeter but just in case I don't make it that long I intend to build an impressive list.
i am new to all this hiking but my main goal is the AT in a few years , I have been trying to research all I can and plan on doing shorter hikes in the Catskills and Adirondacks to help test out different things to prepare for the AT . I have gotten a few books to read up on as well . I am looking to join some hiking groups in my area as well to prepare and ask a LOT of questions. I don't plan on " trying " or " attempting " the AT I planning on leaving in Georgia and not stopping , I know there will be gruelling and hard times but can't stop til i reach the end!
Your library should include The Complete Walker or The New Complete Walker by Colin Fletcher. There are newer editions but I'm not familiar with them.
Wayne
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Feral Bill
11-07-2016, 01:09
A leisurely AT section starting late summer. Northbound from Harriman State Park NY to somewhere in New Hampshire. If I want, take a day off to watch turtles or whatever. No ambitions. Yes, I'll do that next year, I think.
Feral Bill
11-07-2016, 01:16
i am new to all this hiking but my main goal is the AT in a few years , I have been trying to research all I can and plan on doing shorter hikes in the Catskills and Adirondacks to help test out different things to prepare for the AT . I have gotten a few books to read up on as well . I am looking to join some hiking groups in my area as well to prepare and ask a LOT of questions. I don't plan on " trying " or " attempting " the AT I planning on leaving in Georgia and not stopping , I know there will be gruelling and hard times but can't stop til i reach the end!
Sure you can. Most people do. If you are not enjoying yourself, at least on balance, why do it?
JMT thru hike, a month in Yellowstone and several long weekends in the Adirondack's.
One Half
11-07-2016, 02:15
An AT thru with my husband with enough time to explore some of the side trails/views/etc but not excessively with the ability to stay in some of the nicer hostels/hotels along the way as we want/need but with 95% of our nights spent on trail. Followed by a month or 2 or maybe more in new england visiting family and friends, possibly staying for "the holidays" (depending on our son and where he is living by then) and hiking more in the Whites than "just the AT." Of course this all depends a LOT on weather and timing and how long we can take be back with family and friends while "on vacation." 'Cause being "on vacation" can actually be very taxing when you drive about seeing a lot of family and friends.
I did 10 days in the Wind River Range recently and that might have been it. Glacier and the Tetons close second. The Grand Canyon I do every year and it's never any less than a dream trip.
Except for a few really bad weather experiences, it's all been one long happy dream trip for half a century.
flatgrounder
11-07-2016, 10:33
Mine would be the Tahoe Rim Trail. Also to finish the AT.
couscous
11-07-2016, 21:14
Dream backpacking trip - Israel National Trail - http://www.israeltrail.net/
10 days in or near Yellowstone NP is high on my list too. Without snow is more realistic for me.
10 days on the Berg Lake-North Boundary Trail is probably higher on my list.
Even I know that 1 is on the way to-from the other. [emoji106][emoji41]
Wayne
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Flip a coin. Pick one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6wcobVmEFc
http://backcountrypost.com/threads/teton-wilderness-ariz-creek-to-brooks-lake-july-2016.6192/#post-73918
Too many places. Too little time.
Wayne
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dudeijuststarted
11-07-2016, 22:28
I've already found my Valhalla.
Katahdin to Harper's Ferry.
Again.
And Again.
And Again.
The one, no specific one, I'm currently working on making it into a reality.
jj dont play
11-08-2016, 00:30
PCT thru, it may happen soon, it may not
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nsherry61
11-08-2016, 07:23
The one, no specific one, I'm currently working on making it into a reality.
And, which one is that?
nsherry61
11-08-2016, 07:29
Wow, there are some seriously spectacular hikes on this list. I'm going to have to broaden my view and really get working.
The AT in sections has always been no.1, and I will start that in 2017.
However the FLT is very interesting. I am doing my research on that one. The one nice thing is where it crosses the Cannonsville reservoir is only 20+ miles from my remote little cabin on the boarder of PA / NY
RUNT ''13''
The Smokies in fair weather? Does that happen?
CDT and no haven't started it yet.
StubbleJumper
11-08-2016, 19:09
I keep thinking of the Grand Enchantment Trail from Phoenix to Albuquerque. It would be a splendid hike during one of these Aprils....
An AT Thru, but since you said "Dream" trail... alas, it only a dream. I will have to do it in tiny little pieces over decades of years an I haven't even started yet. :)
Night Train
11-08-2016, 19:27
Salkantay...unguided.
Longboysfan
11-10-2016, 15:57
Section hike the AT from Approch trail.
On week done-starting at Neel gap in 2017.
Leanthree
11-10-2016, 22:27
Just did the PCT so that was the real answer to this question. Now for new dreams: Camino Francis and Colorado trail seem achievable. The remaining 1600 miles of the AT are achievable but a bit more of a stretch. The rest of the CDT might be a bridge too far but we will see how the body holds up over the next 2 decades.
LIhikers
11-10-2016, 23:02
I'd like to hike from New York City (I don't live too far from there) to my son's house in Ohio.
I've got a route planned, all the maps, and now I just need to figure out when to do it.
Hopefully we'll start next spring into this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtJyTnvJ7Q8
1) JMT Thru
2) Hike the spine of the Lady McDonald Ridge in Canada
3) San Juan Mountains in CO
4) Lots of places in Grand Canyon
5) Denali Summit
It's hard to pick really. I just like getting outside and experiencing NEW and EXCITING places.
Odd Man Out
11-14-2016, 01:09
Make me pick one? No fair. Rush gave five. I will also, in no particular order.
Grand Canyon rim to rim with some off-corridor trails too.
The northern section of the Kungsleden going south from Abisko a few hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden.
A long distance AT hike. A thru hike is not necessary for me. But something long enough to get me in shape would be nice. Section hiking sucks.
Summit Kilimanjaro using the Lemosho trail head around the north side. You
Here: https://goo.gl/maps/LWjFLxHT6872 You will have to zoom out to see where. Here's a hint - it's called "The Roof of the World".