Where it all started

I have had a passion for backpacking for about 10 years now. It all started when I was car camping with some friends at Lake Alpine. As we were making dinner and drinking beer around the campfire, I watched two strangers walk out of the woods next to our campsite with nothing but the packs on their backs and an aura around them that just filled me with a sense of joy. I was intrigued by their every move as I watched them set up two tiny tents and make camp for the night.

We invited them to have dinner with us because frankly, they looked hungry. One of the guys took us up on our offer and almost ran to our campsite. As we sat at the table, us eating and him inhaling his food, my mind raced with questions. I wanted to know where they came from, where they were going to and how in the hell did they fit everything in that little bag on their back? It took everything I had to hold my tongue until he had taken the last bite of his food. I'm not even quite sure he had swallowed his last bite before my interrogation began. That poor guy had no idea what he had gotten himself into when he accepted our dinner invitation!

For the first time in my life, I couldn't wait to come from our camping trip. I raced home the next day and jumped on the computer. I studied everything I could get my hands on. I bought a backpacking for beginners book and read it cover to cover. I read gear reviews, took notes on the lightest, most durable gear and what was gonna be the best bang for my buck... I was hooked!

Fast forward a year later... all this gear and nobody to adventure with. Sitting on a bar stool one night with a friend of mine, I mentioned not getting to use all of the backpacking gear that I had worked so hard to buy. I told him I had no intention on making my first backpacking trip a solo one due to the fact that I honestly felt I might dumb ass myself to death due to my lack of experience. His immediate response was "pick a weekend," and the rest was history. I had no idea that my life would be forever changed the way it has been. Sometimes all we need is a little help to get outside!