Figured I would check in and introduce myself. I'm a 25 year old drum teacher. I was recently turned onto backpacking as a way to get away from the high energy, competitive hustle and bustle of work, and to satisfy my fondness for self-reliance. I live a stone's throw from Sam Houston Jones State Park in Louisiana, which is a tiny little place with about 12 miles of trails. I'm also roughly equidistant from Sam Houston National Forest near Huntsville, Texas, and Kisatchie NF in Louisiana.

I'm planning to do some day hiking at the state park to nail down some logistical and technical stuff, then spend a few days hiking the Wild Azalea trail at Kisatchie (28 miles) and build up to thru hole the Lone Star trail at Sam Houston (96 miles).

I'm in no rush to hit any of my goals, and I'm still in gear research mode. I've been reading the forums and articles here a lot the past several days, and learning a great deal.

Hello everyone, I have just signed up.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome! Feel free to ask questions! The only "stupid question" is the one you don't ask!

You can always pretend to be backpacking by camping in the car-camping area in the local state park and dayhike with full pack. This will give you a chance to get acquainted with your gear and is a great place for a "shakedown cruise." Do at least one, preferably more, of these trial runs in bad weather.

Watch out for alligators and copperheads. Anytime you get water from a stream, poke in the grass and water near the edge. They often hide in the water or just out of the water.

Pay attention to your nose when walking in grass. You can smell copperheads. They smell a bit like a garbage disposal that needs cleaned.

Oh yeah. I've been hunting in the region fit several years, so I'm familiar with those buggers.

The WaT is fantastic. Well marked, easy terrain, varied flora, and plenty of established camping. I plan on yo-yoing the trail this spring.

If I'm right and yo-yoing means going the length of the trail and back, then that's exactly what I plan to do, probably around April.

It's officially 26.2 miles, but that includes a 1.7 mile road hike through Woodworth. There's a parking area on FS 287 now, which is where the trail meets the road, so the road hike can be skipped.

Have you done a roundtrip hike on it before? How long did it take you?

I've never done the entire thing in one trip, however I have hiked every section. I usually hike about 2mph, including breaks and what not. It's really easy to figure out speed on this particular trail, since the distance is posted every half mile. For a round trip I'm figuring 4 days of hiking; 8 miles, then 12, 16, and 12. The second and third days are always easier, plus it would allow me to camp in different areas.

That's about how long I estimated it would take