First let me introduce myself, I’m Andrew and I am completely new to the backpacking experience. In short, I’ve wanted to do an extended backpacking trip my entire life but never had the opportunity until now. I’ve gone through some of the forum topics to get a feel for what I need to do and what to expect as I learn the basics this fall.

I finish graduate school next summer and my ultimate plan is to acquire a 30-day pass from Amtrak to travel the country. So far, I’m planning on stopping at three national forests: Glacier National Park, Crater Lake National Forest, and Rocky Mountain National Park. I’ll also be stopping at various cities in-between. My goal is to stay for 4-5 days at each national park and camp at a different cite for each night. I’ll also be traveling with two other friends who also have little experience. I do plan on taking several backpacking trips this fall: North Carolina, New Hampshire, and West Virginia as a means of gaining some experience. Do you recommend these places to backpack (they are very accessible through Amtrak) or should I narrow it down to one or two locations and stay at these locations for a longer period of time?

My primary question for the forum is in the mean time, what are some critical reading materials I need to attend to? I’ve noticed a plethora of reading material on backpacking but I’m not sure who are the leading authors in the field, the most popular and helpful books, ect. I was hoping some of you all would point me in the right direction. As of right now, I’m slowly shopping around online for proper equipment (I plan on staying away from major stores as I find they generally are more concerned with just selling you a product) and by October I plan on having some of the major components!

Cheers