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phishpapond
01-14-2009, 01:23
I am not thru hiking. I am planning on taking some noobs on there first backpack trip in april. I am going to make sure there packs are light by making mine heavy. In return I am going to make them do a 16 mile day.
I didn't want them to suffer in fromt of a buch of thru hikings. how long dose it take a thru hiker to get to shenandoah.

mountain squid
01-14-2009, 10:15
It took me about 2 months to get to SNP. There won't be too many there in Apr.

I don't know if I would do a 16 mile day with 'noobs' though. That is alot of miles for day 1, 2 or whatever. They might not enjoy backpacking after that...(will there be snow in SNP in Apr?)

At any rate Have Fun and don't worry about the 'thru-hikers'.

See you on the trail,
mt squid

Tin Man
01-14-2009, 10:26
It took me about 2 months to get to SNP. There won't be too many there in Apr.

I don't know if I would do a 16 mile day with 'noobs' though. That is alot of miles for day 1, 2 or whatever. They might not enjoy backpacking after that...(will there be snow in SNP in Apr?)

At any rate Have Fun and don't worry about the 'thru-hikers'.

See you on the trail,
mt squid


agreed. noobs will hate you after mile 8, give or take depending on their condition and trail elevation changes

Lyle
01-14-2009, 10:58
You are doing two dis-services for the noobs.

- Get their packs light by recommending proper gear. They don't have to be ultralite to enjoy backpacking. Taking their weight yourself will give them a false impression of what is involved and will not instill the necessity of paying close attention to gear weight.

- Most of the conditioning a noob needs is mental conditioning. Turning their first backpack into a forced march of 16 miles will not be an enjoyable experience. I still try to keep my mileage well below that the first few days of a trip, and I have learned to get back into "hiker mode" quite quickly over the decades. Give them a miserable first trip and they will probably never backpack again.

Live the Journey
01-14-2009, 11:04
I agree with lyle...you're doing them a disservice by taking some of their weight...if they struggle at all with partial weight knowing you've got the rest of their weight, they'll be hesitant to think they could ever carry their full weight.

depending on the trail and their personal condition, you might be able to do a longer day, but I'd re evaluate at lunch and have a backup spot in mind if you're moving slower then planned by lunchtime. One 16 mile day may or may not be pushing it, but two 8 mile days could be very enjoyable for them.

gravy4601
03-22-2009, 12:45
I also agree with Lyle .... Let them hike there owne hike and have fun doing it. It's not about the miles you get in it's what you get from the hike that is the real reward

Red Hat
03-23-2009, 13:34
I was lucky back in 2005 to do some long days thanks to Gordon and Sue who loved to take packs for hikers. Sue (now deceased) hiked back in the 80s and later lost her legs to diabetes. Her brother Gordon fixed up a van for the two of them and they'd drive up and down the Shenandoahs looking for hikers. They would have folding chairs and gatorade at each road crossing. They had day packs available. They moved into a care facility the next year. The trail will miss them.

Manwich
03-23-2009, 13:45
from other pishapapond threads:


:bananaI have a trick back. I do exirces to keep it from going out on me. If it went in the woods. It would take days to walk five or six miles and be the most painful thing I have ever done.
Yes my doctor has givin me painkillers before to take with me.
He also trust that I will use only if I need too, because of what I do for a living



Rats and in mice in a hut. Really I never would have thought that.


I carry a self inflatting 1 inch pad with a iflatable pillow. Comes in around 5lbs.

You only need what YOU need on the trail. I need comfort so I a very comfortable but heavy pad. If I don't I won't sleep much. You don't sleep you don't hike



Okay, here goes the packing list. Remember, I set this pack up on the cheap, so some of my gear is Ozark Trail and Swiss Gear.
My pack is a Eureka Vectra, but I'm not sure of the cubic inches.

.............

Okay, there it is. I tried to stay light and only pack what I think I'll need, but I still came in around 50 pounds. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!



Whose the noob here? Sounds like a dangerous situation is in the mix.

Manwich
03-23-2009, 13:46
dogdamnit i hate it when i realize post-posting that this thread was months old

phishpapond
03-26-2009, 21:31
Hey is less then a year I hiked over 400 miles. Mite not be top of the list but I can say I have done some hiking

phishpapond
04-05-2009, 00:08
Oh yeah by the way.. You went out of your way to make me look like an ass. So suck it man really
Few word missing from some those quotes. Nice trick