New to backpacking

[markkee]

Re: New to backpacking

For me, being prepared means leaving the car at the trailhead IN THE RAIN and doing it with confidence

Well said! I have never turned back because it was raining. In California, there is a chance of thunderstorms everyday in the mountains. However, it never rains all day during the summer. The storms hit fast and furious and then are gone.

[Mike]

Re: New to backpacking

Well said! I have never turned back because it was raining. In California, there is a chance of thunderstorms everyday in the mountains. However, it never rains all day during the summer. The storms hit fast and furious and then are gone.

OMG, how many people do you know that cancel plans because it might rain, or might snow, or might be too hot, or might be too cold or any of a thousand different reasons to just stay home. I am so tired of people swearing they will be joining on activities and then using weather forecasts as an excuse to cancel out. "Sorry, I was assuming that the trip was cancelled due to the weather forecast. How was it? It actually turned out to be a nice weekend after all, didn't it. Ya, I wish I went with you guys, but...."

After you get back from the trip and ask them what they did instead, you find that the answer usually is a big fat nothing OR they "watched the game" as if watching sports counts as actually doing something.

What I noticed is that most people really do very little with their lives. They live for the weekends, then waste those precious weekends doing mundane things that account for very little. Shame on any man who wastes a precious weekend sitting on his asss watching sports or anything else on the tube. Get up and play a game of flag football if you like, but get off of that chair!

Save the chair sitting for your old age. Today, feel the sun and rain and wind on your face. Make weather part of the living experience rather than making weather an excuse to avoid experiences

[MacGyver]

Re: New to backpacking

I've been camping with the same group of guys for about 25 years. I remember everyone of us agreeing that we'd still be hitting the woods when we're in our 60's. Well... at least for a few of us, 60 is right around the corner and, wouldn't you know it, some of the guys are dropping out - and always because of the weather. Winter trips were always our favorite, and now that we've got a trip coming up this week, the two guys who are best equipped to deal with the cold are begging off. They're in campers - with heat! I just don't get it. We're all on Facebook, talking every day about our dreary work week and, come the chance to get away to break the monotony, they're staying home. The forecast isn't even that bad - a chance of snow showers one day, but the predicted low is right around freezing for the whole 4 day weekend. That's nothing compared to the 30 below we've dealt with in the past. Me? I'm pissed off because there isn't going to be any real snow on the ground. But I've still been counting the days for at least a month. Back in a cabin tent after 30 years... a nice cot to flop down on... Southern Comfort and Red Bull ALL weekend long! Gonna be a good weekend!

[James.]

Re: New to backpacking

OMG, how many people do you know that cancel plans because it might rain, or might snow, or might be too hot, or might be too cold or any of a thousand different reasons to just stay home. I am so tired of people swearing they will be joining on activities and then using weather forecasts as an excuse to cancel out. "Sorry, I was assuming that the trip was cancelled due to the weather forecast. How was it? It actually turned out to be a nice weekend after all, didn't it. Ya, I wish I went with you guys, but...."

After you get back from the trip and ask them what they did instead, you find that the answer usually is a big fat nothing OR they "watched the game" as if watching sports counts as actually doing something.

What I noticed is that most people really do very little with their lives. They live for the weekends, then waste those precious weekends doing mundane things that account for very little. Shame on any man who wastes a precious weekend sitting on his asss watching sports or anything else on the tube. Get up and play a game of flag football if you like, but get off of that chair!

Save the chair sitting for your old age. Today, feel the sun and rain and wind on your face. Make weather part of the living experience rather than making weather an excuse to avoid experiences

Whoa there Mike. Watching football on Sundays is a great way to spent the day....Of course, I have season tickets to the Arizona Cardinals and tailgate every one of them. So I guess half the time I am spending the day outside.

PS. My wife set our wedding day on Aug. 3rd. She said she didn't ever want football to coincide with our anniversary. Smart woman.

[markkee]

Re: New to backpacking

I used to winter camp and think nothing of it. Back in 1979, I got really crazy and hitch hiked all to the way to Mexico from Minnetonka, Minnesota. We pitched out tent on the side of the freeway on the snow.

I got hooked on winter camping and hitch hiking. One winter, we hitched to Duluth Minnesota. It probably got as warm as minus 20 degrees. I have to admit that the hotel felt really nice. We had 6 guys and we all cramped into a 1 bed hotel.

Most of the time, we pitched our tents in the snow and stayed warm. No cots. I always carried 2 sleeping bags and used both!

[hwc1954]

Re: New to backpacking

On the other hand, I have the luxury of rearranging my schedule and picking days for camping/hiking based on favorable weather forecasts. If Saturday is supposed to rain all day and Tuesday is supposed to be glorious and sunny, it would kind of stupid to pick the rainy day, given the option. And, I avoid the crowds at the campgrounds and hiking trails.

Right now, I've got house fever. We've had thaw/freeze/snow/rain/thaw/freeze cycles that have kept the trail conditions in New Hampshire utterly miserable. I've been out for two snow shoe hikes the morning after big snows, but life is too short to hike on glare ice. We need snow.

[bgcamper]

Re: New to backpacking

Weather that bad in New Hampshire huh? I wouldn't have imagined it to be so bad as I live in MA and the weather here is ... well not great but definitely okay.