Twigman503
03-16-2009, 23:20
Hello! My name is Andrew and I've been searching this site for a while, and just decided to get registered. I'm a young'n at the age of 16 but I absolutely love hiking and really anything that has to do with the outdoors. Throughout my whole childhood I've been blessed enough to be able to travel the country and hike places like Acadia, the Grand Canyon and just about everywhere in between. However, not once have I been able to plan or take part in an overnight trip. My friend and I have been dreaming of thru-hiking the AT one day. However, with highschool, college, and us just being plain noobies, our dream won't happen soon. We are hoping that after we get out of college we can plan to do this as it means a lot to both of us.
I live about 20 minutes south of Kent so the A.T. isn't too far away from home for me. Sometime, when spring comes around full strength, I'm planning on doing a small overnight section of the A.T. near St. John's Ledges. Then over the summer I would like to do a couple more one nighters, hopefully followed by weekends, then maybe even a 4 day hike, depending on how we feel.
I have aquired a lot of 'stuff' over the years. I have some beautiful topo maps, a mountain hardware 'guide' day pack, a double person tent (yeah right, double midgets), thousands of water bottles, a inflatable sleeping pad (it needs human lung strength to inflate it, ugh, but it is small and light and super comfy), some nice compass' (along with some nice map skills), a wonderful pair of boots, and lots of Tech-Wic shirts (I love em). All that stuff has allowed me to survive behind our trailer at campgrounds but I have the strangest feeling its not enough for the A.T. :rolleyes:
Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I have some questions.
What is a reasonable size backpack for overnight trips? For Weekends?
Does anyone have a favorite section of the Connecticut trail? I have lots of overnight sections in my head, I just can't decide which one to chose.
Are there any good website you use get good deals on? Any hiking specific websites like Steep and Cheap?
I'm sure there is more but that'll do for now! Thanks a lot!
Andrew
I live about 20 minutes south of Kent so the A.T. isn't too far away from home for me. Sometime, when spring comes around full strength, I'm planning on doing a small overnight section of the A.T. near St. John's Ledges. Then over the summer I would like to do a couple more one nighters, hopefully followed by weekends, then maybe even a 4 day hike, depending on how we feel.
I have aquired a lot of 'stuff' over the years. I have some beautiful topo maps, a mountain hardware 'guide' day pack, a double person tent (yeah right, double midgets), thousands of water bottles, a inflatable sleeping pad (it needs human lung strength to inflate it, ugh, but it is small and light and super comfy), some nice compass' (along with some nice map skills), a wonderful pair of boots, and lots of Tech-Wic shirts (I love em). All that stuff has allowed me to survive behind our trailer at campgrounds but I have the strangest feeling its not enough for the A.T. :rolleyes:
Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I have some questions.
What is a reasonable size backpack for overnight trips? For Weekends?
Does anyone have a favorite section of the Connecticut trail? I have lots of overnight sections in my head, I just can't decide which one to chose.
Are there any good website you use get good deals on? Any hiking specific websites like Steep and Cheap?
I'm sure there is more but that'll do for now! Thanks a lot!
Andrew