For someone who loves to spend time in the woods, who loves to hike, camp, sleep under the stars and drink wine by a campfire, it's surprising that I have never been backpacking. Backpacking as in carried everything I needed for two days and one night deep into the woods to sleep under the stars, far away from a road or my car. No car camping here, everything has to fit in an oversized pack on your back and there is no running back to the car for forgotten items. Truth be told, I was always a little intimidated by the idea, but as I saw friends out in Utah on these great backpacking trips, I became more comfortable with the idea that I too could carry all my crap into the woods and sleep under the stars away from crowded campgrounds.
I didn’t want to wing it so for my first backpacking adventure, I called my friend Ryan and we got some dates on “Katie Wanders Ryan Saunters” shared google calendar. Our original plan was to do an overnight on the CT section of the Appalachian Trail, some other backpacking trip further up north, and then tackle the famous Presidential Loop. Well, summer slipped on by as it tends to do and two weeks out I was looking at my google calendars reminder that it was PRESIDENTIALS WEEKEND (I had yet to step into the woods with my heavy pack and tent). I asked Ryan to find something a little more doable for my first backpacking trip and he sold me on the Moriah and Carter Mountain Traverse in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
