{"id":3305,"date":"2018-09-06T01:13:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T01:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/v2.mappyhour.org\/blog\/?p=3305"},"modified":"2018-11-03T14:12:52","modified_gmt":"2018-11-03T14:12:52","slug":"backpacking-101-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/backpacking-101-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Backpacking 101 Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02722-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02722-1.jpg 1616w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02722-1-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02722-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02722-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02722-1-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02722-1-800x535.jpg 800w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02722-1-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02722-1-1400x936.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week Mappy Hour returned to RVA! With fall fast approaching, our event was all about hiking and backpacking 101. Thru-hiker Travis Gray was our guest and he shared with us his tips and tricks for backpacking as well as his takeaways for thru-hiking the AT. I was going to attempt to sum up his experience, but I believe it is best told in his own words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Travis: Things I wanted people to take away from my talk:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Commit to your adventure &#8211; \u201cThe trail will provide\u201d<ul><li>Once you make the decision that you\u2019re going to hike and really commit to it, it\u2019s amazing how things fall into place<ul><li>I talked about how, while I was ready to quit if I absolutely needed to in order to make my hike happen, when I asked my employer was willing to work with me to take two consecutive Leaves of Absence in order to make my hike happen<\/li><li>On top of that, my flight to a conference got delayed and I was <g class=\"gr_ gr_29 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace\" id=\"29\" data-gr-id=\"29\">comp\u2019d<\/g> a free one-way ticket. I used it to get me to GA to start the trail!<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Smiles > Miles\u00a0<ul><li>A lot of the greatest memories I have of the trail revolve around the people I met, especially in the second half when I slowed my hiking pace<ul><li>Last 2 nights on the trail with fellow thru-hikers Stats, Yellowtail, and Sunroof. One at a shelter with a fire sharing memories, and another next to a lake playing a dice game that Sunroof taught us<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>People, even strangers, can be amazingly generous<ul><li>No explanation necessary<ul><li><g class=\"gr_ gr_43 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep\" id=\"43\" data-gr-id=\"43\">Woman<\/g> in a coffee shop in CT gave me $10 to \u201cbuy a cup of coffee\u201d<\/li><li>On the way up <g class=\"gr_ gr_44 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep\" id=\"44\" data-gr-id=\"44\">Katahdin<\/g> I met a family that was on their way down whose daughter went to Va Tech. They had a VT flag that they took with them everywhere to take pictures with. Being a VT grad myself, I asked them if I could borrow the flag for my summit and catch up with them to return it. They gave it to me, thinking I\u2019d never catch up and they\u2019d never see it again. I got a picture on the summit with the flag, and I was able to catch up with them and return it.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Your everyday frustrations really aren\u2019t that big of a deal<ul><li>Once you hike a long distance with only what\u2019s on your back and your main concerns are food, water, and shelter, it puts things in perspective and the everyday problems in life don\u2019t seem so bad<ul><li>After finishing my hike I lost my \u201chiker wallet\u201d (driver\u2019s license, health insurance card, credit card) when it fell <g class=\"gr_ gr_31 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace\" id=\"31\" data-gr-id=\"31\">in<\/g> a lake. My wife was worried about whether I would be able to board the flight home, but I wasn\u2019t worried. I knew things would work out. A day later, I had a printed copy of a temporary license and a utility bill which, as it turns out, was enough to get me on my flight home.<\/li><li>To this day, while I don\u2019t do as good a job as I would like to, I try to remind myself \u201cIf I were hiking, this wouldn\u2019t matter\u201d to help me put things in perspective.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/486310_10101412042537293_569580558_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/486310_10101412042537293_569580558_n.jpg 720w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/486310_10101412042537293_569580558_n-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/486310_10101412042537293_569580558_n-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Tips for people getting started with backpacking:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do your research &#8211; \u201cKnow before you go\u201d<ul><li>Important for both long hikes as well as weekend hikes<ul><li>I did a lot of research into what gear to take, what my pack weight should be, etc.\u00a0<\/li><li>I planned out mail drops (mailing food and supplies ahead)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Lightweight gear<ul><li>This doesn\u2019t matter as much for weekend hikes, but on long <g class=\"gr_ gr_35 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep\" id=\"35\" data-gr-id=\"35\">hikes<\/g> the weight of your gear can make a big difference. And even if you\u2019re starting out with weekend hikes, if you think a long-distance hike is in your future, it might be worth it to get lighter gear so you don\u2019t have to swap it out later.<ul><li>Research has shown that lighter weight leads to <g class=\"gr_ gr_28 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep\" id=\"28\" data-gr-id=\"28\">higher<\/g> probability of success<\/li><li>Focus on the big 3 &#8211; Pack, shelter (i.e. tent), sleep system (i.e. sleeping bag)<\/li><li>Lighter gear doesn\u2019t need to be more expensive. Top-of-the-line <g class=\"gr_ gr_23 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling\" id=\"23\" data-gr-id=\"23\">cuben<\/g> fiber gear is pricey, but there are options that are both cheap and light.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Know why you\u2019re hiking<ul><li>Especially important for longer hikes, this will keep you on the trail. After the first few hundred miles, it becomes much more of a mental challenge than physical.<ul><li>I had wanted to do the trail for >10 years and knew that this was my chance, so I didn\u2019t want to waste it. I had also told everyone that I was going to do it, so returning home and having to explain to them why I stopped wasn\u2019t something I was going to do. Nothing short of a hike-ending injury was going to stop me.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02717-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02717-1.jpg 1616w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02717-1-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02717-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02717-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02717-1-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02717-1-800x535.jpg 800w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02717-1-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02717-1-1400x936.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay tuned for information about our next event.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cheers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week Mappy Hour returned to RVA! With fall fast approaching, our event was all about hiking and backpacking 101. Thru-hiker Travis Gray was our guest and he shared with us his tips and tricks for backpacking as well as his takeaways for thru-hiking the AT. I was going to attempt to sum up his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":3310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[199],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-recap","8":"tag-richmond"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v14.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/backpacking-101-recap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Backpacking 101 Recap - Mappy Hour Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week Mappy Hour returned to RVA! With fall fast approaching, our event was all about hiking and backpacking 101. Thru-hiker Travis Gray was our guest and he shared with us his tips and tricks for backpacking as well as his takeaways for thru-hiking the AT. I was going to attempt to sum up his [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/backpacking-101-recap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mappy Hour Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-06T01:13:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-03T14:12:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02730-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1283\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Mappy Hour Archive\",\"description\":\"Live in the city, love the outdoors\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/backpacking-101-recap\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC02730-1.jpg\",\"width\":1283,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/backpacking-101-recap\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/backpacking-101-recap\/\",\"name\":\"Backpacking 101 Recap - Mappy Hour Archive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/backpacking-101-recap\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-06T01:13:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-03T14:12:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7669e7c0e83fe7c3b397bdebe9921993\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/backpacking-101-recap\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":[\"Person\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7669e7c0e83fe7c3b397bdebe9921993\",\"name\":\"Michael Jefferson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Michael-Jefferson-Bio-Pic-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Michael Jefferson\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3305"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3314,"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3305\/revisions\/3314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3305"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=3305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}