There’s a crazy range of what people believe is necessary on a backpacking trip. First, you have Jerry. You’ll see Jerry hiking with a 75L pack, sleeping bag dangling behind him and maybe a full-sized skillet. The second individual you may see is Carl. I once ran into a dude, now called Carl, on the Appalachian Trail doing a thru-hike. He had one of those drawstring bags you used to tote your middle school gym clothes around in. That was his entire pack. He was living out of that for 6 months straight. Carl was an animal, and also was not amused at how many questions I was asking him about his gear. I’d love to be that lightweight, but I currently have a base weight of 16 pounds which is a happy medium. Here’s a breakdown of what will get you through a backpacking trip:*
big agnes
The U.S. in One Big Road Trip
We have our backpacking, climbing, cycling and skiing gear ready to go for our U.S. road trip (and a bit of Canada, eh?). My brother, Evan, and I are embarking on our cross-country adventure to check out our top picks of National Parks. We have no time limit, no pressing deadlines and definitely no hotel reservations (hello, funemployed and newly graduated). Check out the map and follow my posts to stay up to date on our weekly progress—the car leaves this weekend!
The Route:
See Bags Go 