AboutMatt Wertman Expertise You`re thinking of hiking the infamous Appalachian Trail and now you`d like to get the important information on everything and anything from someone who`s actually done it. I completed my hike October 8th, 1999 taking a total of 5 months and 8 days. I can help you by giving constructive feedback on gear, trip cost, people, and general expectations.
Question Greetings. My name is Chris Beyer and I am 24 years old living in Southern New Jersey. I have recently had an itch to take a nice long backpacking/camping trip and stumbled upon your website. As a child i was taken camping quite often wheter it be for just a day or a week but we never really did anything other then walk around and then come back to the tents. I would like to take a backpacking/camping trip where we could hike and see all the glorious sights there are to see rather then a small lake next to the bathrooms of the campground. It always felt to me like we were "Kmart" camping and as you can see i was looking for something a little more substantial than this.
Having never planned or done anything like this before i would appreciate any advise you can give me (where to go in my area, what steps to take in planning the trip, any guides or books you find helpful, etc) I am basically asking for any expretise you would or could provide an aspiring outdoorsman living in NJ. Thank you.
Answer The question is a little broad, but I'll try to give you food for thought.
You're certainly not to far from the AT, start some day hikes there. Get the AT trail guide. And check into the main website for the appalachian trail, lot's of good links for stuff in general. Join a local hiking club or the likes.
Stay away from the big stores for equip. Go for REI, EMS or specialized places for the stuff. Do research if you want to get good gear. You don't need a lot, and it doesnt need to be expensive, you just the right stuff.
Certainly look into ultra light hiking, makes life a little easier.
But there's a lot of materials for planning a hike of the Appalachina Trail, and that's the type of material that can be applied to any hiking/camping you'd be interested in.
