Introduction

This blog has been germinating for several years. One part of the puzzle came from a friend that suggested "you should start a backpacking blog!" Sounds easy enough, but I'm not the write-from-the-cuff type. The other piece came in the form of friends - or more specifcially, parents of my kids or the scout troop I work with - asking for my recommendation on what to read or where to go to learn how to backpack. There are a number of good books out there that give some good advice, but I felt they were all lacking in organization. For the most part, they were organized by topic with basic and advanced skills receiving equal attention. I did not feel the skills were presented in a manner that built one upon the other so that someone would know where to begin, with practical exercises to reinforce the readings. Such a book may be out there, but I could not find it. So here is my advice on how to learn backpacking.