This past summer I was fortunate enough to make several backpacking trips to the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. The Appalachian Trail spans from Georgia through to Maine, weaving through the Appalachian Mountain range. The total length of the trail is approximately 2,200 miles. Some dedicated people, known as thru-hikers, complete the trail in its entirety which usually takes at least 6 months to complete. These people are easily some of the friendliest and most interesting people I have ever met.

The trail is very well marked and maintained, with more reliable water sources. These aspects make the Appalachian Trail (AT) ideal for backpacking for any length of time. I have hiked a section in central PA with the pinnacle overlook a few times.

A topographical map of the area

Hikers use maps and a compass to navigate these trails. A topographical map is helpful because it also includes information about elevation by drawing bands that represent each elevation level. In this case the elevation change between any two adjacent bands is 20 ft. Hikers use the line density to determine the slope of the trails at certain points, and choose the best path to their destination. On my trips I was able to visit both the pinnacle and Pulpit rock. These are both great overlook points, and characterize well the common points of interest that would be passed every day or so while hiking the trail.

View from the Pinnacle	Me looking over the edge of pulpit rock

The pinnacle, however, is more than just an overlook, the cliff face is scattered with caves to explore. Being able to go caving is a rare experience, they are not too common of a geological feature, and most large caves are now closed off and are dedicated to tourism. The pinnacle’s caves were very narrow (and dark), so I don’t have any pictures. Anyway, we entered the largest cave through a chimney; this is an opening about 4-5 ft. across where climbers wedge themselves between the walls to make the climb. I was the first to go down and a few feet into my descent I dropped my flashlight, and watched it fall about two or so stories down into the darkness. After I heard it smash into the rocks below, I realized how I too would smash if I fell. I have a Maglite (big metal flashlight) so it survived the fall somehow. Further into the cave, it became progressively narrower. Towards the end, or what we thought was the end, we saw something weird on the top of the wall. Unknowingly shining our lights on it, we quickly realized that it was a sleeping bat. WAS a sleeping bat. So now we have 6 kids and a bat all freaking out in a 3ft high cave, all realizing that there is nowhere to go. After a mad scramble, we all dove to the ground, covering our faces, and the bat was able to escape. Looking back I feel like batman just a little.

Backpacking with friends is a great experience; you make memories that last a lifetime. I’ll leave you with two pictures of my friend Chris at the pinnacle.

Two pictures of Chris on pride rock

What is backpacking? Backpacking is an activity that combines camping and hiking, backpackers carry all of their supplies from campsite to campsite along a trail. In this post I will talk about the essentials to putting together a weekend backpacking trip for a small group of people.

The first step to planning a successful Backpacking trip is to choose a location that has terrain suited to your group’s ability level, and has places along the way to legally camp. A great example of this in PA would be the Appalachian Trail. Once you have chosen a trail to hike, it is important to gather all of the correct gear to be the best prepared for any situation that can arise. The basic categories of supplies cater to the basic needs for survival: Food, Water, Shelter, and Safety.

Food:

-Low weight, high calorie Meals. (MREs or dehydrated meals)

-Trail mix and granola bars for the trail

-mess kit (plates, bowls, fork, etc.)

-Small Backpacking stove, to boil water and cook meals

-trowel to dig cat holes (not for actual cats)

Water:

-multiple small water containers (4x 1L)

-Chemical disinfectant tablets (Iodine, Chlorine, etc.)

-Pump water filter for particulates

-powdered drink mix (electrolytes and taste) (chemical disinfectants taste bad)

Shelter:

-Tent (one man or split parts between group)

-Extra tent stakes

-Maps and compass to find shelters and trails

Safety:

-Bear bag, to hang items with the scent of food high in a tree 100yds away

-First Aid kit,

-Flashlight (and batteries)

-Knife and fire starters

These are all bare minimum items. Many other things can be brought along to make the trip easier and more comfortable, like a backpacking hammock, or a hatchet.

Just as important as all of these supplies is planning and extra caution.  It can mean the difference between a trip to a scenic vista or a trip to the ER. Having proper wilderness first aid knowledge and knowing when to turn back are critical. It is best to start with easier trips and to travel with people who have experience. This will help acclimate you to the ins and outs of Backpacking. The best way to get into it is to join a local group, they usually organize regular trips. You could tag along and gain some experience before you plan your own trip. If you are interested, check out Penn State Outing Club, who hosts these types of trips almost weekly.

Backpacking is a great adventure and is a great way to challenge yourself. Being self-sufficient for days or weeks, carrying everything you need to survive in a single bag, is an incredible challenge. Every trail offers something new, a new challenge and a new reward.

Some of my greatest memories were born of crazy adversities from the trail; flooded tents, lightning strikes yards away, and almost sliding off cliffs to our deaths. (only to be saved by a smaller ledge 10ft lower) It’s what you make it, as laid back or as intense as you want.

But in the end, be prepared for anything because anything can happen.

In lieu of the government closing all of the National Parks I thought I would do my first review on Yellowstone National Park, one of my favorite National Parks. Located in the northwestern corner of Wyoming and spilling over into Montana and Idaho, Yellowstone National Park is located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Often touted as one of the premier National Parks, it has very unique geological features. Geysers and hot springs dot the landscape, as most of the park actually sits on top of an extremely large underground super-volcano. The volcano has erupted three times in the past 2 million years, the largest eruption expelling 600 cubic miles of lava, rock, and ash. (So it’s a pretty big volcano) (The one featured in the end of the world movie 2012). The residual geothermal activity is what “powers” the hot springs and Geysers such as Old faithful.

Enough history, let’s get down to what there is to do and see in the park. I’ll start with the touristy things like Old faithful ,the hot springs, the rainbow pools, the mud pots, and the grand canyon of Yellowstone, amazing sights to see, but usually crowded with people and small children only stopping in for the day. Old faithful is a Geyser, a jet of steam and water that erupts spectacularly approximately every 90 min. The Geysers here are usually a must see because these features are somewhat rare elsewhere, half of the world’s Geysers are located in Yellowstone National Park. The hot springs, rainbow pools and mud pots are all very similar, they are smaller heated holes with water or mud that steam and bubble and are pretty to look at. Finally, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is at the edge of the touristy aspect of the park. Many people walk to the edge, take pictures, and leave, choosing to ignore the hundreds of steps that lead to the bottom.

	Old Faithful hot spring Waterfall in the grand canyon of Yellowstone edge of the canyon one section of the stairs leading down into the canyon

Now for the things to actually do in and around Yellowstone National park. Backcountry backpacking, hiking, and Rock-climbing are the premier physical activities in the area. The backcountry in Yellowstone is unique, and presents many new dangers unlike our surrounding area. Bears and sinkholes are the biggest threat. Bears can and have killed hikers who improperly store and prepare their food.  Hanging all of your food and scraps at least 15 ft. up is a good way to prevent attacks. We had bears walk through our sites twice in the week we were there. (That we knew of…) Also in Yellowstone, the ground is filled with pockets of boiling steam and eroded rock. So it is required to stay on the trails to avoid breaking through the ground, falling into scalding hot steam and chemicals, and dying.

Hiking is also great in Yellowstone. Mt. Washburn is the location of an old fire tower that would overlook part of the valley and watch for fires. The hike to the top of Mt. Washburn takes all day to go round trip. The peak is at 10,243 ft. or 3.122 Miles. On our trek, it was June and we were in shorts and t-shirts and we passed +15 ft. snowdrifts. The air was notably thinner as the summit, but the result of our effort was an amazing view for miles in every direction.

Finally, rock climbing in the west is an incredible experience. This was outside of the park, but only by a few miles. We were driving in our vans along a road surrounded by the classic red-orange cliffs. We pulled over to the side of the road, unloaded our climbing gear, hung our ropes, and started our climb. The laws in Wyoming are very lax on the placement of expanding bolts for climbing, so essentially you can safely climb any cliff, and most already have bolts in them so you can just clip in as you climb. We spent most of our morning pushing our limits and learning quickly which rocks crumble when stepped on. Never climb without expert advisers who know the gear and the location. We were fortunate to have a friend’s local family friend to set us up and watch over us.

Out the window of the van	My friend up on the cliff

Overall, it is a great change of scenery for the average hiker or backpacker. It is a once in a lifetime experience, that I strongly recommend if you ever have the opportunity. I have only talked about the main things that I did. The nearby Grand Teton National park is another great similar venue for hikes and backpacking. I didn’t get a chance to cover the basics of planning a trip because this post was so long. I’ll talk about that in a future post. Ill end with some questions for whoever ends up reading this: Which of the activities seems the most interesting to you? What do you want to hear more about? What do you want to hear less about? Where in the world would you want to travel and why?

For the next few weeks, I’ll be posting about my wilderness experiences and my future plans. Ill provide insight to trip planning, so hopefully you can successfully plan your own trips if you feel thus inclined. If you just want to tag along and learn, I recommend PSOC, the Penn State Outing Club, they plan trips of all difficulties for people of all experience levels. Anyway, I’ll be discussing gear, supplies, climate considerations, medical emergencies,  hazards like bears, and just about anything else I can think of. The outdoors is a great place to challenge yourself mentally and physically. Hopefully some of you will find inspiration in this blog to attempt some of these trips yourselves and enjoy nature like I do. 

Here are two pictures I took while backpacking in Yellowstone National Park and in the Grand Tetons in Wyoming.

(the dead trees are from the massive forest fires in 1988)

Feel free to leave a comment to request a review of a location. Be reasonable though.