Well, not necessarily entirely new to this stuff...I spent nine years in the military and spent quite a bit of time in the field and I am also a very avid outdoorsman. All that being said, my oldest daughter is now old enough that I can get out and enjoy this with her. I have to brush up on some things and catch up on latest and greatest also. We have been to two local state parks and primitive camped once using a tent and just this past weekend hammock camping with food we dehydrated ourselves. She is really enjoying it...so kinda a crawl, walk, run deal here and it's time to move on to the walk phase and find a 2-3 day through hike nearby. Well enough for now just wanted to introduce myself and look forward to drawing from the wealth of information here. I have also set a goal to hike a portion of the AT next year...I wish I could do it this year but we have already planned to do a family vacation. Oh and we live near Dallas, TX but I have lived all my life in northeast Louisiana, hence my handle 'Redneck1'

Welcome!

My family is taking our first trek this year too. We are hiking in Grand Canyon NP. Taking a well traveled route. As my DH calls it the "highway of backpacking treks".

How old is your daughter? How does she do on long hikes? My kids used to whine "how much farther?" But, now that they are a little older (10 and 13), they love it! But, we are city dwellers, so getting out of the sounds of the city and into the quiet of nature still feels novel to them.

Enjoy your hiking season with your daughter!