Backpacking Trips: A Compendium

Over the years, I have had the great fortune to spend some of my life witnessing large amounts of nature's beauty. I say fortunate because there are precious few people on this planet who are allowed the privilege of entreating their personal recreational ambitions. For me, one of these is the trekking into nature with your life on your back, reaching seldom visited domains and viewing jaw-dropping skylines, mountain vistas, and the flatlands thousands of feet below. Its pure joy. So I thought it might be interesting to catalogue all my travels, to see what I have seen. Below is exactly that, with the trail taken, where its located, elevation gained, highest elevation reached, who I went with, and any notes which made the trip interesting. Enjoy!

1.Skyline Trail/AT, Virginia. 16 miles in 3 days.  +2500/4000 ft. Floreck, Todd, and Colleen. My first real backpack trip. The seed was planted during a summer in Colorado. It came to fruition on this trip.

2. Skyline to Sea Trail, California. 30 miles in 3 days. -2500ft/2500 ft. Myself. My first solo trip. A beautiful all-decent trip from rocky outcroppings to lush valleys filled with Redwoods. Racoons scared the hell out of me one night. Wish I had taken some pictures.

3. Sykes Hot Springs, Big Sur, California. 18 miles in 2 days. +1100/1500 ft. Rob Hoffman. The infamous mountain pig incident. Soaking in hot springs at the end of a long day of hiking cannot be beat. 

4. Mt. Whitney, California. 22 miles in 3 days. +6100/14,500 ft. San  Francisco Outdoor Club. Highest mountain in the lower 48. Hiked with John Dickey, of Over the Edge fame. Spent each night outside of tents, sleeping under the most amazing night sky, one night with John.

5. Desolation Wilderness, California. 20 miles in 2 days. +900 ft./7600 ft. Co-wroker from Virologic and her friends. My first ever snowshoeing trip. Hiking was light. Spent a good amount of time performing backcountry trekking. Spent night in Ludlow Hut, next to Richardson Lake. 

6. Adirondacks, Upstate New York. 9 miles in 2 days, +1200 ft./2800 ft. Larisa and Roxy, first time in Adirondacks, first time backpacking with Larisa. Got a beautiful panorama shot of the High Peaks with fall foliage in the foreground.

7. 18 miles of AT in Pennsylvania. Unknown elevation gain. Backpacking with the Fellowship of the Stone: Rob, Mike, Ace and myself. A fun trip with old college friends.

8. Paintbrush Trail, Grand Tetons, WY. 19.2 miles in 3 days, +4840  ft./10700 ft at Paintbrush Divide. Major hardcore backpacking event with Rob and Mae. Strange windy and cold, yet sunny, weather gave me severe wind burn on my lips. Some of the most beautiful vistas I have ever witnessed.

9. Smokies, TN. 40 miles 3 days, +4300 ft./6300 ft. Trumpman and Mallard. Epic long trip, my dogs were barking. I never went without silk liners again. 

10. Dolly Sods, WV. 15 miles 3 days. +1700 ft./2600 ft. The Winter Expedition Crew. My first hardcore snowshoeing trip. Bitterly cold and windy on day 3. Backcountry shoeing off-trail most of Day 2 and couldn't find the trail due to heavy snow. Had to make camp in a sheltered area with trees and pick up the trail in the morning. I was exhausted and went right to bed.

11. Pole Steeple, AT, PA. 2 miles in 2 days. +1000 ft/1250 ft. Ellie's first backpacking trip.

12. Black Forest Trail, PA 12 miles in 3 days. +1300 ft/2200 ft. The Winter Expedition Crew. One of the most scary descents I have ever experienced in one portion. Steep, very little support on the sides, and light snow cover, making it slippery. Heavy snow would have been preferred. Also, coldest ever experienced yet....minus 2 deg F. Sub-zero temperatures!

13. Mount Rogers, VA +2700 ft/5700 ft. Trumpman and Brian Carrick. A beautiful trip with long-distance views of neighboring mountains and valleys. Wild horses were everywhere. One woke me up in the middle of the night, licking water off the tent right by my head. Scared the hell out of me. Trumpman scared it off and started a stampede past Brian's tent.

14. Roaring Plains, WV. 12 miles in 3 days. +2200 ft/4200 ft. The Winter Expedition Crew. After a year of no camping and time expense with child rearing, this was the most out of shape I have ever been. I flirted with getting hypothermia on the last day as a small ascent to the fire road kicked my ass while wearing a bandana. The sweat soaked bandana stayed on for the fire road decent, and by the end, I felt ill and my hands felt as though they were vibrating. Hopped into a heated car seat and some hot chocolate later, I was back to normal.

15. Giants Ledge, Catskills, NY. 7 miles in 2 days. +1000 ft./3200 ft. Me and Mike Floreck. An awesome trip with an old friend. Spent first night in a town campsite with some coked-up locals who seemed super excited to have visitors in the dead of Winter. Picked up snow shoes in New Paltz, where the hippy seed left by Woodstock continues to grow. Spent an awesome night on Giant's Ledge, commanding a spectacular view. Coldest night ever...at least -10 deg F. Brrr!