Anyone into Backpacking / Camping?

[2002wranglerX]

this guy can't wait to go sleep in the woods...

[2002wranglerX]

"sure sweetie, go ahead and go camping for the weekend. Just leave me here. i'll get up every 3 hours to feed the baby, clean up the puke, clean the house, make dinner, give the child a bath, take care of the laundry, etc"



said no new mom ever

[J.M.]

I take my family (wife and 2 kids) on camping+hiking trips a lot. The best trip was to the Adirondacks high peak area. We did 8-10 hour hikes each day with the little one (2) hiking for an hour, taking 2 hour nap in the backpack, then repeat. The 6 year old ran all the way. We setup camp in a campground but spend most of our time on the trails. Almost like backpacking, but with a base camp for the night. A good spot for that is also Bald Eagle State Forest, PA. Some legal 4x4 trails, wilderness area, tons of trails for hiking. You can also setup camp 'wherever you want' as long as you register and follow certain rules.
That may be a good way to get started, and it works even with babies.

J.M.

[OverkillZJ]

"sure sweetie, go ahead and go camping for the weekend. Just leave me here. i'll get up every 3 hours to feed the baby, clean up the puke, clean the house, make dinner, give the child a bath, take care of the laundry, etc"



said no new mom ever

Maybe I'm lucky, but I really can. The grandmas are making dinner, I hired the wife a cleaning lady - and since I work 7-7 daily, and she is breastfeeding, she hasn't seen the reason for me to get up and suffer every night. If camping makes me happy, the response will be "go for it" just give me a weekend some time too.

[2002wranglerX]

Maybe I'm lucky, but I really can. The grandmas are making dinner, I hired the wife a cleaning lady - and since I work 7-7 daily, and she is breastfeeding, she hasn't seen the reason for me to get up and suffer every night. If camping makes me happy, the response will be "go for it" just give me a weekend some time too.

dude. matt. you're killing me here.

i'd venture that most of our wives are pretty cool. given our hobby of choice. mine is.

but come on. you're missing a golden opportunity to give tom a hard time!

[BAD_GNR]

I'm not big on the dehydrated food; to me it's worth the extra weight to have a good meal after a long hike. I like pastas (carbs are good) and prepackaged stuff like stuffing, mac n cheese, etc. Beef jerky can be added for flavor.

For water, I've got a PUR filter that will kill just about anything, and it weighs around 10oz. I recommend (before investing in anything in case backpacking isn't your cup of tea) trying out iodine pills, just because you don't always know how easily you'll come across water and be able to boil water.

I take a tent usually, I've got a four season one that weighs just under 6lbs, and a three season for summer that's about 4.5.

The most important piece of equipment, in my opinion, is boots. Get something good and comfortable. Everything else is a luxury.

As long as you're comfortable with wildlife, I'd highly recommend the wilderness areas down in WV. There's Dolly Sods as well, but it seems to be much more popular than the other two I listed. Otter Creek is about 15 minutes from Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley, if you know where that is. Cranberry Glades is the biggest wilderness area east of the Mississippi, and is about 2 hours south of Morgantown.

[Deadman 94 xj]

LMAO!

Thanks for the suggestions. Great info!

[Meeke]

"sure sweetie, go ahead and go camping for the weekend. Just leave me here. i'll get up every 3 hours to feed the baby, clean up the puke, clean the house, make dinner, give the child a bath, take care of the laundry, etc"



said no new mom ever

This is exactly my life right now. 9 month old who is teething. He screams like a banshee every time you put him down. I went outside to work on my truck after i cooked dinner and cleaned it up. I thought my wife was going to break into my gun safe and come after me. She acted like i left her alone on a deserted island with the little monster. I haven't slept in almost a year.

[2002wranglerX]

This is exactly my life right now. 9 month old who is teething. He screams like a banshee every time you put him down. I went outside to work on my truck after i cooked dinner and cleaned it up. I thought my wife was going to break into my gun safe and come after me. She acted like i left her alone on a deserted island with the little monster. I haven't slept in almost a year.

LOL! coffee is your friend

i only laugh because lots of us have been there.

[The_War_Wagon]

This is exactly my life right now. 9 month old who is teething. He screams like a banshee every time you put him down. I went outside to work on my truck after i cooked dinner and cleaned it up. I thought my wife was going to break into my gun safe and come after me. She acted like i left her alone on a deserted island with the little monster. I haven't slept in almost a year.

Wait'll you have twins.

And four of them, under the age of 5.

[DMG]

I used to go backpacking but haven't in a while. The last place we went was up near Laurel Caverns. French something.

[Deadman 94 xj]

This is exactly my life right now. 9 month old who is teething. He screams like a banshee every time you put him down. I went outside to work on my truck after i cooked dinner and cleaned it up. I thought my wife was going to break into my gun safe and come after me. She acted like i left her alone on a deserted island with the little monster. I haven't slept in almost a year.

Soooo basically what you guys are saying is I won't be able to get away for the weekend?






LOL...**** me.

[Sycotik Skier]

My son is almost 8 weeks now. I'm fortunate that his grandparents fight over who gets to watch him but my wife can't be away for a whole day.

[Meeke]

No.

[Bax]

I am a member of the explorers club of Pittsburgh they are a fun group that does just about everything outdoors. they have a Backpacking school in the fall that is 3 weeks long for $40 http://www.pittecp.org/content/backpacking-school
It is a good intro into backpacking if you don't know anything.

[MechanicalMayham]

I go with a hammock. There are plenty of trails available. As stated, start small few hours out set up and come back next day. See what works. Learn your equipment and how to care for it. Going with someone who knows what they are doing is fun. You will learn tons. Got my neighbor into it. REI in Robinson has some knowledgeable people. Look for the tall chubby chick, can't remember her name off hand. She uses a lot of the gear and goes trekking part of the year. She loves Big Agnes stuff. She will hook you up with some smarts.
Check out North Country Trail and Moraine or even McConnells mills or Cooks forest. Plenty of good trails there. Allegheny National forest and up near Kinzua are some good remote hide aways. I have a place up in Tionesta me and my friends use as base camp and venture all over.

Bax, got a link to them?

Trestle up Kinzua


Last year up Tionesta

[Deadman 94 xj]

Nice setup. Is that a dog in the hammock on the right?

[Azzy]

I thought about a hammock for taking out on the motorcycle, but decided on a good light cot. I got an Alghash Plus, it fold up small, and fits in a tent with no problem. There are soem great motorcycle ones that are super small / strong, but cost a bit more.

https://www.byerofmaine.com/products...table-cot.html
or

http://www.luxurylite.com/cotindex.html


Now that the munchkin is here, my wife is interested in camping the way her parents used to... with a trailer. But i still got the tents for some getaways.

[Ragnorox]

Buy a freaking Kayak already Tom.......then lets go!

[joshs1ofakindxj]

never...having...kids...!

you guys make it sound horrible.

[The_War_Wagon]

never...having...kids...!

you guys make it sound horrible.

It's fun ONCE a year.







April 15.

[ridgerunner97]

^ Hardly since your costs are more with more to care for. I'm on board with Josh for the foreseeable future

[The_War_Wagon]

^ Hardly since your costs are more with more to care for. I'm on board with Josh for the foreseeable future

Yeah, but once you HAVE them, you can't give 'em BACK!!! So April 15th it is!