Longer hikes and sitting?

I realize "longer" is relative to the hiker. For me 30 miles in 3 days is long.

When I base camp and then day hike I usually take along an REI Flex-lite camp chair. Its really nice to have a place to sit to eat dinner and relax before bed time. In 2 weeks I plan to do Amicalola thru Gooch Gap with a few planned detours. It will be just under 10 miles a day. should I take the chair? If not something else?

Weight is under 2 pounds.
https://www.rei.com/product/877258/rei-f...68290&lsft=

Note that you've got quite a climb up (including steps) from Amicalola --- that part alone, coming at the very start of the trip demoralizes some would-be thru-hikers!

Thus my personal preference would be to keep it light. While I don't remember details of every shelter along the AT, a whole lot of them feature a picnic table. If you don't need back support when sitting, and if the trail isn't super crowded when you go (so that you can, in fact, sit at the picnic table), you've got that. A picnic table can seem like a surprisingly nice luxury when you're on trail a lot, I and others have been known to hike a little out of our way to have a snack or a meal at one.

If you do want back support when sitting, my favorite way to eat on the AT is with my back up against a wall in a shelter. If the weather is bad, it can be worth going a few tenths of a mile off trail to a shelter to eat a dry lunch along the way.
For this to be comfortable, you need nothing more than whatever padding you plan to sleep on at night, though if that's an inflatable-only solution, you might find it a bit of a PITA for eating lunch. I typically have an inflatable plus a fairly small closed-cell foam seat pad strapped on top of my pack for just that sort of thing.

Have a great time hiking in Georgia!

I guess I should add that if a shelter isn't available or if it's crowded, a more readily available back support is a tree. Or sometimes a signpost.

Each to their own; for my personal backpacking preferences and associated 'style', I would never consider bringing a camp chair. Even when I bring a bear can, I don't find it to be terribly comfortable to sit on, though some apparently do. The ground is an excellent sitting surface!

A very relative thing. Some consider items like chairs (and some beers to enjoy while in them) a necessity. For me, very much baggage I'd rather leave behind. In winter I'll carry some closed cell foam sit pads. A few ounces, find a log or rock to sit them on. We enjoyed sitting on a peak the other day having lunch while having some padding to rest on. If you think the hike is going to be hard and weight becomes more a premium, a cut up pad is cheap, straps to the outside of the pack, and has a much smaller weight penalty. You've probably seen the folding chair kits for inflatable pads- no way mine is getting risked like that. Have a fun trip.

You already have your chair back, in the form of your pack. It fits your back perfectly! All you need is a comfortable and waterproof sit pad. I use a square of closed cell foam (you can get a large sheet at Walmart for about $8-$12 and cut several pads. The Walmart pad is quite thick.)Then you need something to lean your pack against - a rock, tree or I have even used my trekking poles. Granted, you have to get down and up off the ground.

I know that is harder for some significantly older backpackers. But living on the ground is a basic part of backpacking, including getting in and out of your tent. So as we age, we all should add agility training to our exercise routine. Unfortunately too many backpackers quit due to the difficulty of living off the ground. So sad. In cultures where all people live on the ground, even the very elderly squat, get up and down.

You've left out some important information: how much does your pack weigh without the chair for a 3-day trip? Are you comfortable carrying that weight for 30 miles over 3 days, or do you simply collapse at the end of the day?

If you're carrying 20 pounds for three days, and you hike easily with that weight, then heck yes, take it if you feel like it will make the trip more fun! If you're carrying 60 pounds and hiking easily (i.e., if your trail name is The Hulk), then you'll never notice 2 more pounds, so go ahead and take it.

However, if you're very sensitive to weight, like most of us on these forums, you'll probably want to leave it behind. Personally, I can tell the difference in how I feel when carrying 15 versus 20 versus 25 pounds, and I'll take lighter every time.

I have carried chair kits (though I don't very often, anymore.) The heaviest weighed 16 ounces; most weighed 6 or 8. They're the kind that use your sleeping pad to give it stiffness and comfort, not the use-as-chair-only kinds like, I assume, yours is. I particularly like the full-length versions, or the kind with an open front (see MSR Compack chair), so I can let the pad extend out under my legs, more like a lounge or recliner than a kitchen chair. (Note: I also carry a ground cloth, and the chair kit goes on the ground cloth, for that tiny bit of extra protection for the pad.)

I usually don't even carry a sit pad - it's usually pretty easy to find a soft spot (some grass, forest duff, etc.) to sit on, and a tree, log, or boulder to lean against. As mentioned earlier, I've also used my pack, propped up by my trekking poles, as a back support. The only time I consider a sit pad nowadays is winter, when the ground is c-c-c-old.

I lean my external frame pack against my trekking poles.

This is a good question. A little background info helps I think.

I've been backpack camping for 12 years with the same group of 3-4 friends. Twice a year, once in the EARLY spring and once in LATE fall, we take a 4 day / 3 night trip. We pick a spot - usually some trail off of a forest road that leads to a decent, yet no popular, water destination - maybe a nice cascading mini falls with a pool. We enjoy solitude so we try to pick places not frequented by day hikers. We setup a nice base camp and then day hike 5-10 miles during the day with a small 5# bag... usualy containing lunch and water. At night build a small fire and enjoy it until bed time. We used to take those little tripod camping stools - you know then ones that are NOT too comfy for a man if hes not careful how he sits. Then we discovered the Flex-lites. I've attached a picture of both.

For these adventures Id have a 50 pound pack including food for a 3 night trip, full boots and a hiking stick (natural not a trekking pole).

I'm 40 years old, 145 pounds, lanky, not a "strong" person but in good condition for a long hike as I run around 130 miles a month. My primary hiking buddy however is not in great shape... hes slow but steady so our pace will be pretty slow.

By the time I realized I wanted to hike the AT from start to finish, life was to complicated to consider thru hiking it, so I came up with a "rough" plan for section hiking it. 30 miles a trip on the first 2 trips... as a test the waters. Assuming those 2 trips go well move to 2 longer trips a year, probably a full week each. Hopefully will reach then end before we are to old - or dead - to hike.

For this trip my pack will go from ~50# do to around 30# with the chair. By the end of the day I will be a little achy but not ready to collapse.

We plan to camp each night a mile or so from the shelters to avoid people... so no picnic table.

We've camped at a few places where there weren't any good logs or rocks so while picking up a few items we noticed some hiking chairs and bought the low to the ground version to save weight. These are rather nice if you don't care about a little extra weight (I carried all three of ours for base camp).

http://www.helinox.com.au/ground-chair-ultralight-portable-chair.php

This was our site with chairs set up:

Looks a lot like Lost Maples. Is that somewhere in the hill country?

Very good! Lost Maples indeed, and at our favorite spot by the large pond. It's also one of our favorite parks in TX, though there are several we've yet to visit. The Hill Country is just so nice!

I've been looking for a back packing chair for a few years now. All the truly lite ones seem to require too much effort, to maintain balance. at least for me. If you're open to something other that ground lounging. The hammock crowd has a single person hanging chair you might find easyer to live with.

I'm now 80, so getting up and down is a bit more complicated than it used to be, but I still prefer the ground and/or a log or rock, with sit pad, to carrying a chair! Either my pack (during the day) or a tree or log work fine for a back rest. I have used my pack propped up with trekking poles, but I've found that if I move too much I get to start all over with that! I use that setup only when there's no other choice. Sitting on a log or boulder with no back rest works fine too--it is easier to get back on my feet that way.

The length, style, and difficulty of your trip will also make a big difference! One of the posts above mentions a short, base-camp style trip, which of course allows for more "stuff" for those who don't mind the extra weight.

Only you can decide which is better for you--a makeshift "chair" as we chairless folk use, or the extra pack weight of a real chair.

The one caveat about a log or a tree: examine for pitch deposits, first! Also, especially in cattle country, examine the ground before sitting down!

Like WD, I use a foam pad and the ground. I generally need some back support, so I use a log or a tree trunk, or a rock.

Thanks all for your tips and thoughts. I think I will leave the chair at home and just take a small pad. You guys are great!

So is that campsite C? We plan on being there this weekend with our High Adventure Group Scouts for another shake-down backpack.

It is campsite C.

On that last trip pictured we hiked the main trails and inspected the other sites as we always just go to the pond. Campsite A was the only other with a water source that was nice. Campsite D is a steep hill only suited for hammocks IMO.

We didn't check out site B as SWMBO wasn't interested.

We didn't end up checking out west loop trail that outing, but there's no known water source. The other sites would require a trip up/down steep hills for water.

E and F have some nice setups made by previous campers.

Hope you all have a nice trip!

Bob,

Thanks. Last time we did a counter clockwise loop starting on the East Trail and camped at E. It was a drought back then, so we had to carry our water no matter which site we used. I am thinking perhaps a clockwise loop starting on the West Trail and ending at A if available.