Longest Backpacking trip

Whats the longest backpacking trip you guys have been on?

Mine was 2nights 3days on a loop..

I love long trips. Nothing like forgetting the rest of the world exists. I also like trips that go over 100 miles. You're bound to see something interesting in that kind of millage. After 3-4 days it's no problem to hike 10-15 miles or more a day with 40lbs on your back.

_________________
How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

Bah.. you're lucky. So did you guys pack all your food with you, and what type of food did you eat? Showers, crapper, etc.. I would like to know the details, since I'm still new to this whole backpacking thing.

11 days, 85 miles through Philmont Scout Camp in New Mexico, with food pickups every 3 or 4 days, water available in some form every day. We had a decently sized group. The average pack was about 45 pounds (Don't remember if this was with food...I think it included the 10 pounds of water we carried every day (5 liters...and boy did we drink it all) Sweltering heat every day. I got some horrible blisters. I would not recommend asolo hiking boots (They were broken in too...)...they aren't bad, but not good for this long a hike...Two other kids on the trip had them and would agree. I had a nasty blister develop on my heel...nothing would adhere to it...duct tape, electrical tape (better than duct tape for wrapping around toes) and moleskin all stood no chance. It ruptured and I had two more blisters develop and rupture in the same spot over the course of the trip. We ate these for dinners (still cant link....) www dot myownmeals dot com. Ditch the cardboard before you leave of course..they are foil pouches heated in a pot of water, eaten out of the bag with a reused plastic spoon. They are space effecient, quick to prepare, require no cleanup, and are very easy to pack out the waste from. These were supplemented a few of the following: lara bars (got so very sick of them after a few days..they are a compressed solid dried fruit and nut bar), some clif bars, chex mix, gorp, tropical gorp, dried fruit, jerky, and crackers, and some other stuff I don't remember. For lunches we had alternating days. One was a pack of tuna (supplemented with our own tobasco and lemon juice packets) with crackers and a few items from the above list. The other was crackers with squeeze tubes of PB, jelly, and if we managed to get any, squeeze cheese...and best of all, jalapeno squeeze cheese. We mixed powdered gatorade up at lunch...they say to cut it to half strength to avoid dehydration, but I prefer to make a liter bottle of full strength and then make sure to drink a liter of plain water. All the water bottles used for gatorade were left in a pile away from tents at night to avoid bear issues. Breakfasts were some form of cereal often with gorp and a lara bar/ dried fruit. Forget showers, forget deodorant. Bears aren't attracted to human BO, but other than an unscented soap (campsuds) they are interested in any personal hygiene products. We brushed teeth once a day using the water from heating dinner. On the fifth day there was a spigot and we used a bandana with a little camp suds to clean off armpits, face, and hair..it really makes a difference in how you feel. There was a camp with crude showers on day 10 and we all showered even if we had no soap left.
The crapper depended on where we stayed for the night. Some "camps" were just a water spigot and a few previously used sites. Some had a lot more around. Generally, you could find a "red roof inn" within 5 minutes of a camp. A red roof inn is a latrine with a little wood and a corrugated metal roof for a little privacy and painted red for visibility. Basically a box with two holes and two toilet seat lids to cover the holes all over a pit. Either pilot to copilot or pilot to bombadier style..that is, two seats next to each other or two seats back to back..no dividers in either case. Make sure to use a "spider stick" in the latrine opening before sitting down and grab by the middle of the stick...both ends are the s*** end of the stick. On the trail there were a lot of latrines with no red roof inn around them...convieniently placed fairly close to the edge of the trail or in the middle of a scenic field or generally out in the open so everyone can see you doing your business. Other than that, we dug some catholes...make them a bit deeper than you think you will need...you're eating more than usual out there...

Sleeping: Never go into a three man backpacking tent with two other people...unless all of you are anorexially thin. We were crushed shoulder to shoulder and it isn't like we were all obese (i was quite a bit heavier than the other two, but Im not a blob). keep a pair of clothing to wear only to bed..dont bring any other clothing into the tent ot anything that may have a scent to avoid attracting animals, especially bears. The tents were set up away from our packs and all smellables (first aid gear, food, etc.) went up in a bear bag far from both the site and bags. Some guys had the mouthpiece to their water bladders and their camp towels chewed up (probably by mice) because they still had traces of food on them.

Cool stuff we saw: We climbed a mountain that was way off in the distance when we started. Said mountain had incredibly strong winds and low temps at the top. I had EVERYTHING on at the summit but was wearing shorts at the base. You could lean subtstantially into the wind witout falling over. Mountain lion tracks..fresh Shocked

A bear...probably a cub about 200 feet from us at the edge of a group of trees...it left after a few minutes. Some incredible thunderclouds. Very nearby lightning...twice (emergency positions are fun...not!). Extremely varied landscape and climates. Burnt and recovering wilderness. A lot of plants and flowers I've never seen before. Some amazingly beautiful landscapes...I could go on and on...and apparently have.

Dont mind me while I have this post published as a novel...
Cheers!
-Eric

An old boyfriend and I went to Bar Harbor, Maine to go hiking/camping for a week and a bit. Was very fun, although he was kind of a wimp about a lot of things and I ended up doing most of the legwork with everything. Rolling Eyes

I can honestly say I have never done this before. Due to my schedule and geographical location I have yet to try this. Confused

_________________
"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

Wow, thanks for that detailed post Winter. Looks like you guys must've trekked quite a ways, while running into a lot of cool stuff. That lightning part seems like I would've sh*t my pants, haha. Man, I'm going to have to take time off for a long haul like that for my next vacation.. granted my gf doesn't want to go somewhere tropical again.