I've had a love for the outdoors for quite some time now, and so I figured that I'd take my relationship with nature to the next level and go backpacking for several days through Georgia where part of the Appalachian trail sits. I've been camping numerous times in the outdoors but usually for just a night, and the furthest I've gone is just a few hours from home. The area my friend and I decided to backpack through was over 8 hours away which isn't much for some, but it was the longest drive I've ever made. Many people told me that our journey would be a character-building struggle, and I had never been backpacking before, so the list of character traits and qualities I learned from backpacking started well before our journey.
The very first trait I dealt with was learning to become a skilled planner. So before we embarked on our trip, we had to find a place we wanted to visit. After hours of researching places that had much to offer regarding a nature filled experience, we stumbled across Northern Georgia found that mountains, canyons, and beautiful waterfalls existed in the region. We began to research the kinds of wildlife in the area which brought up the discovery of black bears being inhabitants of the area, but we labeled that as "cool" instead of dangerous and continued to research into the area. We looked into the types of terrain we would encounter and the trail conditions we would experience and wrote down a list of all the supplies we would need. We were so ready to set out for our trip until we looked into how much all of our supplies would cost. Our smiles instantly vanished as we were staring at hundreds of dollars in backpacking gear and we were not planning on spending this much nor could we afford to. That's when we stumbled upon our next character building trait.
After seeing the costs of the bags (the most expensive pieces of gear), the boots, tools, gas, and food, we knew we had to figure out a way to lessen the costs or the trip would not be happening. We had to learn basically to budget and be extremely attentive to how much money was being spent and why. So we immediately looked to Craigslist and downloaded every app that allowed for the selling of used items and searched over and over for backpacking bags with external frames. These bags are so expensive because they are made to withstand the weather as well as hold everything you would for a trip which equates to pounds of equipment. We finally stumbled across two gently used bags from former military personnel and paid about a third of what these bags ran for in-store. We were able to do the same for the boots and tools and all that was left was food and gas which we had a plethora of extra cash for after saving on the bags and boots.
After all the planning and packing of the essentials we set up the GPS in the car and headed for Georgia which is where patience came into play as the grueling 8-hour drive took its toll on my legs and back. We had to suck it up and realize that we would get there when it was time and that it was going to take eight hours no matter what, so we stopped complaining about aches and pains and cranked up the radio.
When we finally reached our destination, we unloaded our gear filled bags and set out through the mountains of Georgia. This is where constantly being aware of your surroundings came into the picture as we hiked through extremely rough terrain with our packs on. We had to watch our step and also look forward at the same time as rocks and roots jutted out all our the thin trail of the mountain. A wrong step here or there could result in injury, or the possibility of sliding down the mountain so being cautious and observant during our trip was imperative. We also had to be on the lookout for wildlife such as venomous snakes and bears which made us appreciate the land more as we were constantly looking all around us so we wouldn't miss anything.
And then as the hiking progressed so did the feelings of fatigue and the pain of the blisters ripping on our feet as well as the bugs that continued to fly directly into our faces. This is where we learned to persevere and push on. After several hours of hiking the mountain our legs wanted to bend and break as our muscles became so tense and sore but we knew that giving up was not an option if we wanted to see the beautiful views and scenery and we also had to make it to our campsite. There were so many moments where we wanted just to turn back around, but we realized that was not what we came for and pushed on through the pain and the bugs.
Then as we made it to camp and had to set up the tent and collect wood to build a fire we experienced teamwork on a whole new level as both of us were exhausted and wanted just to fall and sleep on the dirt we stood on. But once again we sucked it up and helped each other unpack and set everything up so we could move the process along and get some much-needed rest. But teamwork didn't only present itself when while setting up camp, it presented itself throughout the entire trip; whether we were taking turns paying for things, motivating each other on the trails, and even the planning before the trip, we continued to work together the entire time. This also brought us closer as friends especially since I hadn't seen him since last summer because we go to different schools.
After all the planning, hiking, camping, and everything in between, we both came out with such a great respect for the whole process and anyone who did the same and we realized how much work went into the entire trip and felt so good about it. It was as if we had been tested on all these different platforms with different situations and we had to work together to figure them out, and we did! I encourage everyone to give backpacking a try and to take on the challenge and see how they fare because I guarantee that it will be hard, but you'll also love it!
