Kickstart Their Love for the Wild: A Guide to Introducing Friends to Backpacking
TLDR - Here’s a quick list of recommendations and ways to make your friend’s first backpacking trip a happy memory!
1-2 night trips are the sweet spot; especially with scenic views or wildlife.
Keep the trip between 10 and 20 miles total with <=2000 feet of gain. Hard enough that there’s a sense of accomplishment, easy enough that it’s achievable.
Borrow or rent gear to keep costs down.
Teach your friends how to pack a backpack and wear one properly - trust me, this is a CRITICAL skill to get right early on.
Stay together, chat, and keep safety top of mind.
Check in with blister prevention and treatment (pro tip: stop a mile or so in to the trip and make a show of checking your own feet - monkey see, monkey do).
With safety, familiarize your friend with the plan and how to get help
Reminders to bring TP, Trowel, Fuel for stove, food storage system, tent stakes, headlamp… things that are sometimes forgotten and can make your trip awful if forgotten
HAVE FUN!!!
I went on my first backpacking trip in 2017 in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. It was a three day trip where my party summited three of the state’s 46 peaks above 4000 feet. It was an incredible trip and it got me absolutely addicted to backpacking, but did it fit my criteria for what makes a great intro backpacking trail? Long story short: Absolutely.
Right: Jay and I on the summit of Mt. Marcy; the highest peak in New York. This is the last time I wore cotton on a backpacking trip, cotton kills.
A lot goes into making a great first backpacking trip. The planner must keep in mind the fitness level of their party as well as how experienced folks are in the outdoors in general. They have a responsibility to their new adventure buddies to make sure they are as safe and comfortable as possible. Because of this, and because HAVING FUN IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, I recommend capping an introductory trip at one to two nights and 10-20 miles with around 2000 feet of elevation gain. Consider letting your friends borrow extra gear and encourage them to rent for their first few trips until they decide this is their thing. Teach them how to pack a backpack and wear it comfortably. Remind them to bring gear that is often forgotten like a Trowel, TP, Hand Sanitizer, and headlamp. And just to reiterate, remember that the point of backpacking is to have fun in the outdoors. You are opening a door to a world your friends have not seen before. It’s a hard world to live in, but my goodness if the journeys and stories are not worth it. If your friends recognize this after their introduction, you have done your job.
One of the biggest things to emphasize when introducing someone to the outdoors is the importance of Leave No Trace (LNT). If you are bringing a friend backpacking for the first time, it is unlikely they are familiar with the LNT concepts. To keep the wilderness pristine for everyone, please do your best to educate your adventure buddies about proper etiquette from the get-go; tell stories of good or bad behavior (like if you’ve ever seen someone take a #2 within 5’ of a lake) and make sure your friends are aware of the seven LNT principles:
Plan Ahead and Prepare (Where are you going? Where’s the nearest hospital? Are there tasty burgers nearby for afterwards?)
Travel and Camp On Durable Surfaces (Is that a deer nest or did someone forget to fluff up their campsite?)
Dispose of Waste Properly (Remember that #2 by the lake story?)
Leave What You Find (Except photos, take lots of those!)
Minimize Campfire Impacts (S’mores are messy, fires are smokey, use your pricey stove)
Respect Wildlife (They’re more likely to survive the Winter without your trail mix)
Be Considerate of Others (Drones are noisy and heavy anyway)
You can learn more about Leave No Trace and what these principles entail here.
Over the years I have successfully introduced a number of friends to backpacking. My friend Asher, who completed his first backpacking trip in 2023, is now soloing in the high alpine of Colorado! And my fiancé, Staci, is showing her brother the ropes this weekend near Vail (talk about a proud moment; when someone who learned from you passes on their knowledge to someone else). If you keep the above list in mind and do your best to make backpacking a fun experience, I have no doubt that you too will have many happy hikes with your friends in the future.
As usual, thank you for reading my ramblings and please feel free to leave a comment or question below. Also, check out my Shop where there’s a recent photo of a bull elk in RMNP now available for purchase ;)
Bonus image time! Here’s a set of recent autumn photos that have absolutely nothing to do with backpacking
