N2Backpacking | Backpacking Tips, Gear, Podcasts & Trail Guides
Practical backpacking tips, gear advice and trail guides from BirdShooter, an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker. Plus the N2Backpacking podcast.
These "What I Really Do" templates are everywhere these days and now I understand why. There's actually a template for them on the web. A hiking friend recently sent me this one, and I have to say that they nailed it for Thru-Hiking. If you've ever hiked long distances on the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, or any major Trail, I think you'll agree. … [Read more...]
George Mallory is quoted as having replied to the question "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" with the retort "Because it's there". A friend recently sent this quote to me with the attached photo which says it more eloquently: You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one … [Read more...]
In Episode 8, I speak with my father about how he introduced me to the outdoors and how he served up a steady dose of hiking, camping, and fishing before I reached elementary school. We talk about the early years, of catching my first fish, of car camping in Ohio, and about the Appalachian Trail - where he joined me for a few days in June during my 1994 thru-hike. Weeks later, my father returned to the A.T. but this time with a family friend while I continued making my … [Read more...]
This is a 38 minute slideshow documenting my thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail in 1994. I mixed the video two years after my hike in Charlotte, NC using an old VHS camera and a mic/mixing system from the Video Editor. The technology is archaic by today’s standards but it captured the moment at the time. (See this link for a shorter, more recent, and higher quality video production.) The slideshow clocks in at nearly 40 minutes (which is likely too long for most), and my kids … [Read more...]
ATPA 1:  Appalachian Trail Marker At The Church Of The Mountain ATPA 2:  At The Mason Dixon Line Just South Of The Pennsylvania Border ATPA 3:  Almost Stepped On This One: A Pennsylvania Rattler ATPA 4:  The Halfway Point On The Appalachian Trail ATPA 5:  The Lake A Pine Grove Furnace State Park ATPA 6:  Hiking Through A Farmer's Field Enroute To Boiling Springs, PA ATPA 7:  The View From The AT In Boiling Springs ATPA 8:  Laid Back Sue, Squeeze Box, & Mad Markum Take … [Read more...]
Spring is a special time on the Appalachian Trail. Every year, 2000+ people show up at Springer Mountain (the official start of the A.T. in Georgia) to head north. In 1994, I was one of those people - and ever since I pause for a moment to think about the next group to head North. This year, I had a friend making the annual pilgrimage and drove across town to meet Scott "Zip" Willits on 3/16/12. We met up at his sister's house in metro-Atlanta, and it was a beautiful spring day - the kind … [Read more...]
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