http://www.backpacker.com/backpacking101

I just stumbled upon a great little resource at Backpacker.com.

Lots of people I talked to are really intrigued about the concept of leaving all of humanity behind for a weekend and heading into the deep woods. I blame smartphones. What's so smart about having people be able to pester you, in both audio and text form, 24 hours a day?!

This little site has links to all manners of topics, but basically, it's how you get started into backpacking. Pretty cool!

-Navi

Hey Navi and R-Dogg;

Here is our winter 2 day hike:
Look about half way down and find:
http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/new_river.html

ANDERSON AND CROSS MOUNTAINS
17.2 Miles

Overview

From its northern terminus at Cove Lake State Park, the trail climbs almost 2,000 feet in 5 miles to the top of Cross Mountain, the highest point on the Cumberland Trail. This is followed by a 1,500-foot descent to campsites on Montgomery Fork and Green’s Branch. The trail then ascends through the hardwood forest on McCory Ridge to two beautiful meadows on Anderson Mountain. The descent into the valley of the New River is more gradual than the initial ascent, and offers the prospect of a cool swim afterwards. Highlights of this section include a spectacular display of wildflowers in April; the possibility of observing wild elk; wonderful views in all directions; increasingly rare dark night sky; and a real sense of isolation.

Looks like fun, close to home, and since it's only a two day hike we can bring extra beer and make gourmet meal at camp that night! Let me know your thoughts.

Going West?!

The Migrant Highlanders are ready to up the ante on their backcountry adventures, and we're trying to determine where we should go first. We're wanting to go somewhere where we won't be trudging through 3 feet of snow since the target date is sometime in the early spring.

Rated #2 on BackPacker Magazines "40 Top Trails We've Covered in the US", the Grand Canyon National Park trail curiously named "Escalante Route" has jumped out at us in the initial trip research.

It's hard to know, however, how much different "desert" hiking will be from our Appalachian experiences. Any feedback from readers is welcome...and the Migrant Highlander blog will continue to be our forum for discussing this decision.

-Navi