Backpacking was the highlight of my summer last year and I’ve finally gotten around to sharing my beginner backpacker’s packing list. I love making lists because it keeps me from having that, “What did I forget?!” feeling. This list can be customized based on the type of trip you’re making but this is what has worked for us on all of our trips so far.
We haven’t been backpacking since July and the weather this past weekend was calling us. We did an out and back section hike of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland. For this trip, we did an out-and-back from the Route 40 parking lot down to Rocky Run Shelter – overlapping a previous backpacking trip by about 1 mile. This means we have done 27 of the 41 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland.
I wasn’t kidding when I said we are hooked on backpacking! This weekend, we did 17.5 miles on the Appalachian Trail (AT) backpacking to Harpers Ferry from Reno Monument Road. We’d hoped to start from the I-70 AT trailhead but we didn’t have enough daylight to do the extra 6 miles.
My sister, Hanna, joined us for her first backpacking adventure. We left late because we decided to wait for an Amazon delivery containing a hammock, tarp, and two more squeeze bags for our water filter. (Check out this backpacking packing list).
We finally did it! We went backpacking to Annapolis Rock for our first backpacking trip and now we’re hooked. We hiked 8+ miles out and back on the Appalachian Trail and saw vista views from Annapolis Rock and Black Rock. We enjoyed this trip so much that we’re already planning to go out again this weekend.
Our first outing was a test to see how our gear worked for us. We began collecting gear in April but we haven’t had a good weekend to go until now. I spent the Friday gathering our stuff and we left as soon as Brady arrived home from work.
