Overview:

Want to see some beautiful fall foliage and excited to try backpacking? Join us on an intro to backing trip this long weekend! We’ll start Sunday late morning / early afternoon, aim to overnight at Flat Mountain Pond Tentsite (or a similar backup tentsite TBD), and return late morning /early afternoon on Monday. Overall mileage will be ~10mi with 1500 ft elevation gain split over two days (or similar if we go to a backup location). The trail is not heavily traveled and may be hard to follow at points. There are a few stream crossings. We'll be staying near a pond with pretty views, good access to water, and swimming potential if you're very brave.

This trip is going to be heavily skill focused! Expect to spend as much time in camp practicing skills as time spent hiking. We will practice safe food storage from bears, cooking on camp stoves, filtering/treating water. and discuss waste management in the back country.

There will be a mandatory virtual pre-trip meeting Wednesday night 8:30-9:45pm. The trip meeting will be long as we will spend a significant amount of time going over an intro to backpacking presentation. We will also sort out important group gear logistics.

If you need gear you can rent at office hours Tuesday/Thursday 6-7pm or Friday Noon-1pm.

Disclaimers & Contingencies:

• This trip may get canceled for rain. Forecast currently shows heavy Saturday rain, if this extends into Sunday, the trip will be canceled
• The tentsite may be full, in this case we could 1) dispersed/stealth camp somewhere away from the tentsite, 2) return home early
• We currently have no cars for this trip, it’s likely a rental car will be needed
• There is one stream crossing with a collapsed bridge, we should be able to cross on stepping stones but if the water is too high to safely cross we may turn around

Fitness/Experience Requirements:

You should have significant hiking experience, maybe some camping experience, and little to no backpacking experience.

• You should be comfortable hiking a 8+ mile 2000ft+ trail on uneven, rocky, terrain with a day pack. (We’ll be adding on 10-20 lbs of packweight and doing two days back to back. A good rule of thumb for backpacking is that you should be comfortable with doing 2x your planned distance/elevation as a day hike)
• You should have been hiking at least one time in the White Mountains (the terrain and trails in the whites are very different than many other parts of the world)
• You should have been camping in a tent at least once in the past three years (campground/car camping is fine!), and understand what you personally need to sleep comfortably outdoors
• Ideally you have spent many hours outdoors in similar temperatures (low 40s/high 30s)
• No backpacking experience required or assumed (if you've done a lot of backpacking this probably isn't the right trip for you)

If you don’t meet all the prereqs, you’re still welcome to sign up. Please shoot the leaders a quick email and please be detailed when filling out the sign-up form, so we can make sure that this is the right trip for you.

Things you’ll learn:

• What and how to pack 🎒
• How heavy your bag is with all your backpacking gear 🏋️
• How to treat water to make it safe to drink 🚰
• How to cook on backpacking stoves 🍳
• How to manage food to avoid bears & critters 🧸
• What to do with your poop 💩
• Practicing route finding skills 🗺️

Gear! A full gear list with more details will be sent in an email if you decide to join the trip.

Gear just for you:

• A 40+ Liter backpack with a supportive hip belt. Bags without some type of frame/support and a padded hip belt are not allowed
• A sleeping pad (or stack two for a better R value)
• A winter rated sleeping bag 10F or better (expecting COLD weather, high 30s overnight)
• Refillable water bottles/bladders to hold up to 2 L
• Headlamp
• Whistle
• Your snacks/food for two days
• Toilet paper and any personal hygiene items
• Hiking shoes
• Clothing & layers

Gear we will share:

• Tents
• Stoves
• Water purification systems (filters and tablets)
• Poop shovels (We’ll use the AMC composting privy but this will be for - practice/backup)
• Bear can/hang bags

Costs:

$15 in cash to pay for the AMC tentsite fee + $30-40 gas money for your driver (potentially more if we end up renting) Cash for parking fee

Questions:

Email the leaders!