ITT we help godric plan camping/hiking trips (Sponsered by REI)

Postby **Algernon** » Sun May 29, 2016 6:12 pm

inb4 there is already a camping/hiking thread.

So I went to REI today because I got some coupons in the mail and I just kept thinking about how bad I've wanted to just drive up to Yellow Stone or the Grand Canyon or Yosemite... etc...

I've been saying for years that I've wanted to just take some 3-5 day drive/hike/camping trips to some places here in the US. I grew up being able to fly for free and it wasn't till recently that I found the joy of just road trippin

I don't have much experience doing this stuff so I just made this thread to put my thoughts down and hopefully someone can throw some ideas or advice my way

I don't have much gear. I have to buy a tent, a pack, "tools"...I'll be keeping an eye out on ebay and other venues for deals. Pretty much the only thing I do have is I bought some Solomon hiking shoes a year ago, they're awesome.

In the next year I'd like to hit Yellow Stone, Grand Canyon, Acadia, Glacier... and probably first up is Guadalupe River State Park... Tons of others

Anyone do this? What did you need? what did you wish you had? Where did you go? Oh and maybe most importantly what time of year??

Postby **dodint** » Sun May 29, 2016 6:58 pm

I just started this planning too. Heading up to Pattison State Park over the 4th, up near Superior, WI.

My biggest blindspot is camp food. No idea what to buy, prepare, etc. Most of my 'camping' was with the Marines and we had MRE's.

All of this is leading up to us hiking from Boston to Pittsburgh when she finishes school.

We're thinking about getting into hammock camping down the line.

Cool thread.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Sun May 29, 2016 7:12 pm

Canned food has come a long way in the last 15-20 years. Just bring a pot for the fire to heat it up over.

Postby **dodint** » Sun May 29, 2016 7:41 pm

I know I'll come off sounding like some annoying veteran that can't let go or something, but one of the few items that CIF gave us that I actually used and really liked was the 4-part modular sleep system. I've used them everywhere from 10F degree outdoors to Afghanistan and they work great. It's a two-bag system (one cold weather, one normal), a waterproof outer layer, and a compression bag.

http://www.tennierindustries.com/produc ... em-4-part/

The military just switched to a newer three season sleep system and now the 4-part MSS is available through surplus, eBay, etc.

I just picked one up for $109 on eBay that's supposed to be new, should get here this weekend. Really happy to have one. In the summer my wife can use the cold weather bag and I'll use the green patrol bag. It compresses down very small which is great since we camp from a motorcycle.

Postby **eddy** » Sun May 29, 2016 8:18 pm

I did 10 days in and around Yellowstone with cutoff jeans shorts, fly rod, Frisbee, camelback full of box wine,sleeping bag, dinty Moore, and a .45. Broke my foot being dumb and doing a back flip off 60ft waterfall before testing water,had to use fly rod case for a crutch on 20 mile hike. If I survived that with eating what we caught, you'll be fine with anything above and beyond that. Clotheswise, you'll always pack more than you need. Also did a 10 day trip across the Yucatan, Belize and Guatemala and the best thing I did was buy a 10 pack of white t shirts and just burned one at the end of its use (again cutoff jeans shorts survived the trip), went to a fabric store and bought a piece of cloth for bedding. Simple is best.

Postby **Silentom** » Sun May 29, 2016 8:26 pm

Eddy is a mans man.

Postby **dodint** » Sun May 29, 2016 8:30 pm

Eddy doesn't have to make sure my wife enjoys camping, either.

Postby **eddy** » Sun May 29, 2016 8:38 pm

Ha, it's funny what marriage and kids can do, above was once upon a time ago, now I'm in the backyard with family tent and a queen size air mattress.

Postby **Algernon** » Sun May 29, 2016 9:45 pm

I did 10 days in and around Yellowstone with cutoff jeans shorts, fly rod, Frisbee, camelback full of box wine,sleeping bag, dinty Moore, and a .45. Broke my foot being dumb and doing a back flip off 60ft waterfall before testing water,had to use fly rod case for a crutch on 20 mile hike. If I survived that with eating what we caught, you'll be fine with anything above and beyond that. Clotheswise, you'll always pack more than you need. Also did a 10 day trip across the Yucatan, Belize and Guatemala and the best thing I did was buy a 10 pack of white t shirts and just burned one at the end of its use (again cutoff jeans shorts survived the trip), went to a fabric store and bought a piece of cloth for bedding. Simple is best.

yeah, this makes me feel a lot better actually.

Because when I first thought about it, I was like all I need is a fly rod a backpack with some clothes and toilet paper, a camel back and steal some MREs from my brother's basement lol....

Then I went to REI and I was like cot damn, they got fancy water filtration **** and this and that

Postby **dodint** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 12:37 pm

Did my motorcycle camping trip, had a blast. This was shot on the Mississippi on the Illinois side of the river, Canton, MO was about a mile upstream.

I then traded the black bike the next weekend for a much larger bike. Now I have about 127L+ (4.8 cuft+) of total space to work with. I say 'plus' because it also has a luggage rack so the tent and blanket or whatever won't take up any actual space in the cases. Pretty awesome. I bought it specifically for touring and camping so I'm really happy with that.

We're heading up to Pattison State Park near Superior/Duluth for the 4th of July weekend. It's supposed to be a high of 73F and sunny every day. The hiking should be great, might be a little too cool to swim though. We'll see.