Backpacking:
Stories
Here you will find people's favorite backpacking stories. Send us yours!
Backpacking: "Uncle Tom" Jamrog
I’m 64 years old and just received my Triple Crown of Hiking award...
Two old gals on the John Muir Trail
My friend and I had both attempted a thru-hike of the JMT before. ... Mid-August we headed out as partners determined to make it to the summit of Mt. Whitney...
Susan Alcorn
As a 68-year-old long-distance hiker and backpacker, I can personally vouch for the benefits of using hiking poles. I don't leave home without them...
Mama Boots: Trail Angel - Mentor - Hero
A trail angel is someone who helps a hiker through acts of kindness. A kindness could be a hitch into town or back to the trail. It could be drinks and snacks left along the trail...
Backpacking The Appalachian Trail:
Verna "Grandma Soule"
My friend, my mentor, my hero. I had the pleasure of meeting Verna when I started backpacking and asked the Appalachian Trail Conservancy if there was an older woman backpacker who I could talk to...
How NOT to Pack:
The Old Gray Goose
This is a painfully funny story of how NOT to pack for a week long hike. A few years back, I bought a new "day" pack and since the cu. in. size seemed to be ALMOST (but not quite) the size pack I was striving to carry, I thought I would see what I could do with it for a week hike...
Backpacking:
Hiking In Slovenia And The Appalachian Trail
Vincent R. ("Swamp Fox") Mariani
I am a 68 yr old retired engineer, well into my second childhood. When I retired in 2005, I started the Appalachian Trail...
Thru Hiking The Appalachian Trail:
Windtalker
Here are a few ideas that my wife and I found useful during our hike (by the way, I am 57 and she is 48)....
Monadnock to Sunapee Greenway Trail:
Singer
I just finished a four-day hike with some friends on the Monadnock to Sunapee Greenway Trail...
Backpacking The Appalachian Trail:
Kathleen Cutshall
At the age of 50 I didn't know a thing about the Appalachian Trail. I had never been backpacking although we did a lot of camping with our children and we were an "outdoorsy" kind of family.
Tom Logsdon
Each spring about 2000 people begin the walk north from Springer Mountain, Georgia, on a foot path called the Appalachian Trail. Their hope is to reach the State of Maine and summit Mount Katadin before winter.