Hiking Virgin reporting

Why do I feel like you're going to die

>never been hiking
>planning a 2 week trip
so when you bail after getting spooked your first night out are you going to go straight home, or are you going to hang out in a hotel for 2 weeks then go home and tell everyone what an amazing trip it was, and it's such a bummer your camera stopped working the very first day?

>>1024939

So no advice than? We're sticking to the trail and just planning to camp along the way.>>1024939
>>1024939

>>1024953
the amount of advice you need MASSIVELY exceeds the amount of advice i'm willing to give.

but i'll give you this: what are your plans for
>food (including cooking it)
>water
>shelter
>clothing
>carrying everything

>>1024971
oh, and i forgot
>sleeping bag and pad

Get your packing list approved.

How many miles are you planning on doing and how heavy are your packs? Do you have boots that are broken in? Do you have a waterproof tent?

>>1024898
So you've never hiked before and you want to do a two week trek? Yeah I don't see you actually completing this unless you spend most of the next month training and do several multi day trips between now and then. Black bears are the least of the problems you'll run into.

The Superior Trail is a bit over 300 miles long. For a two week trip you'll need to average over twenty miles a day. Have you ever hiked twenty miles a day? Were you carrying several days worth of food? Were you able to repeat that feat the following day?

My advice is to scrap plans to do the Superior
Trail and try and find a shorter trip. If you start training now you might be able to manage 30-40 mile loop over 3 or 4 days. I would advise against anything longer until you have significantly more experience and would recommend that you aim for half that mileage.

>>1024898
There are 3 skills you need. Hiking, shelter, and sustenance.

>hiking

Do a practice hike first.

Put all your gear in your pack, add 5 lbs, and see how far you can go.

>shelter

Spend the night outdoors in adverse weather. Do you get wet or cold?

>sustenance

>Cook a breakfast and dinner outdoors. Pack all the water you need for a day over the course of a hike. Create and drink purified water.


Do all your practice close to the trailhead, just in case.

Those three things are minimum, if at least two people in your group don't know first aid, you'll have to learn. If you're worried about wildlife, you'll want to learn defense (or nah because black bears are scared easily). If no one knows fishing/foraging/trapping/hunting it might be worth practicing in case you have to camp longer than expected .

>>1025024
>My advice is to scrap plans to do the Superior Trail and try and find a shorter trip. If you start training now you might be able to manage 30-40 mile loop over 3 or 4 days. I would advise against anything longer until you have significantly more experience and would recommend that you aim for half that mileage.

Good advice. The first time I backpacked I did about 4 days and I was beat by the end (swollen ankle, general soreness everywhere). It really takes a toll when you're a novice. We did about 12 miles a day and that is a LOT when you're new. 20 miles for 14 days would be inconceivable

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>>1024898
Hey dude, first of all congrats on graduating!

There's a bunch of nay-sayers in this thread, and the board in general is full of curmudgeons who argue about anything. They do have a point- 20 miles a day is a bit far for hiking virgins.

I still think you guys should go hiking. If possible, just stay out longer. Tell people you're shooting for 2.5 weeks and maybe a little longer.

Also, resupply is a big deal. Don't expect to carry 2+ weeks of food and make even 10miles a day, that shit gets heaaavy.

If I were you guys, I'd try to do something with plenty of bail out points. The Shenandoahs come to mind because you're never too far from the main road that runs the ridge of the mountain. Just a thought.

>>1024898
>First time poster
>starts thread
Lurk more, asshole

Just to throw this into the mix. I used hike a lot when I was younger, my school took us on loads of trips. Fast forward 8 years, I'm in good shape, physical jobs and recreational exercise kept me fit. I remember the joy of hiking and plan a trip. When I was at school we smashed 20 miles a day and more over multiple days so I figured I'd have no problem repeating it. I set off, my pack was ~18kg fully loaded, get 20 miles done, but man it was hard near the end of the day. Wake up the next day, feeling the previous days walking a lot but ease into and am able to get another 20 done. But, my knees are wrecked, can hardly bend them. I wake up the next day and I can barley walk. I ended up having I hitch to the nearest town and get a train home. It took about two weeks for my knees to heal. Moral was that just because I could force myself to walk a distance doesn't mean I should. I've since gone back to square one, and worked back up to being able to walk 20+ miles a day over tough terrain.

Don't push yourself too hard OP it ends up in time being wasted and injury. Do some practice walks, ease up to it! You don't want your graduation celebration to end up needing speant sitting at home.

Get them feet ready boiiiii

>>1025659
Kill yourself