How often to you go backpacking? Every weekend? Once a month? Every chance you get?

I'm just curious...figured it would make for an interesting discussion...

This year will be my first year coming back to doing some backpacking after..8 years. Currently I have 2 trips a month planned. Most of these are 3 day, some are 4 and I have a few 5+ scheduled.

On top of that I also have trips to go "car camping" with my wife and 1 year old son, as well as some fishing trips.

It should be a very good summer

Really depends on work and family commitments. Sometimes I can get out every weekend. Then I won't be able to go for a month or two. I seldom have an opportunity to get out for a long trip (week long, etc).

As a scoutmaster, I go "camping" once a month, or try really hard to. This year, I will try to do 3 or 4 of those backpacking. I also plan to do one or two separate trips with just my son. In the winter, we pull sleds at least twice. I don't consider that backpacking because I don't carry anything (my dog pulls everything, talk about SUL), but we aren't car camping either.

It really depends on work and family commitments. For the last two years I was lucky enough to thru-hike the CT and was out for five straight weeks. On a more "normal" schedule I would say that I average 1-2 backpacking trips per month-- mainly weekenders/long weekend trips. I also fit in countless fly-fishing trips/days on the river and car-camping outtings with the family. I also manage to put endless milages on the trails. So I would say that I am in the outdoors, doing something or other an average of 4 days per week/16 days a month.

At the moment, I usually backpack about 4 or 5 times a year. But those 4 or 5 trips usually encompass about 20-25 nights a year.

I get about 30-40 nights a year. Most are 1-2 nighters and one or two longer trips in the summer. These also include my paddling trips.

Just like my sex life, the answer is "not enough".

Generally 20 to 30 nights per year, including two 4 to 6 night hikes, and at least a day hike per week.

For many years, at least two nights a month, with one (or, if I was lucky) two long trips (3 - 5 nights) a year - roughly 30 nights total.

The last few years, since the arrival of granddaughters and taking on some new work responsibilities, that's dropped to maybe 3 weekend trips and 2 long-weekend trips (3-4 nights) a year - say 12 or 15 nights, total.

I'm hoping to bump back up closer to 20 over the next couple of years.

We'll do about six trips a year. Three of those will be short, overnight or two nighters. The other three may be as longs 5-7 days. And probably over 120 miles this year, plus another 100 of day hikes.

Hey--it's fun,we like it. It doesn't cost much money--and it keeps us in good shape!

I haven't went near as much the past two years as I have in previous years.

I still spent a lot of time in the forests and hiking around, but closer to home and not as many nights out.

This has had a lot to do with our weather the past two years. We've had more rain, cold, and severe weather than normal. Ice storms, hail storms, tornados, lighting storms, floods, it's been almost non-stop here.

So far, this month has been about perfect, and normal. It's been a wonderful respite from what we've been going through and everyone here is still catching up on getting things done that were put off.

I'm still not close to being caught up. But I've been gaining some ground and this Autumn I hope to get further out than I can walk back in at least a day or two, at least a few times.


Bill

Once a month. I would go every weekend, correction, in the middle of the week if I could, but alas work calls..

That's why "work" is a four-letter word.

My wife & I hike once a month. We'd rather go more often, but jobs, family house, yadda yadda. We try to plan a big, multinight trip once or twice a year.

Never enough..

This year I spent 8 days on trail in January in Australia, my planned winter trip got scrubbed due to work committments. I will be on trail from June 8 to the 19, so again about an 11 day trip, then four days in july, four days in august, probably another thing squeezed in there. and then a bunch of stuff in the fall that may be hunting related.

I may or may not make it to Colorado as well for a short period.

I unfortunately have work. I get out every chance I can get.

All of my backpacking is above 9000 feet and I don't do winter very well, so needless to say, I only do BP trips from July - September. And during those months I take off from work a lot and am usually able to get in 9-10 trips per summer. Most of my trips last 2-4 nights.

I pretty much devote my entire summer to backpacking. All of my friends know never to consider me in most summer events, although not even the mountains can keep me away from TOOL and RUSH concerts. And I save up and use all of my vacation hours for backpacking. Next summer, i am going to take a leave of absence during all of July and August to backpack and fish the Winds and the Beartooths.

I think it's very important for people to understand you don't "find" time to get into the mountains, you must "make" time.