>>2253393>>2253398sorry OP, you should ignore the west virginia spammer he's one of the board trolls, see pic related
I normally dislike helping newfags and urbanites, but you've been polite so far and I hate seeing people trolled by DC faggot so here's some helpful advice:
>>2253391>Also thinking of going to Colorado soon to do some backpacking because I fucking hate the flat, hotness of Texas and I want to get into the super green, mountainous areas. Probably a bad idea to do winter backpacking first-off though?yes, that's a terrible idea if you don't have any winter experience, let alone regular camping experience.
>How should I start out? What gear should I get? It's not that hard, start by going regular dayhikes in your area. Practice skills you would use when backpacking, like using a compass instead of phone GPS, bringing a cookset and cooking your food, or using a headlamp to navigate at night. Since texas is flat, practice pushing mileage instead of elevation.
After a few dayhike trips it will be easy to simply start carrying a tent and overnight gear and going on your first backpacking trip.I'm assuming youre from the DFW area, so the closest areas for you to get started with backpacking are:
>Lyndon B Johnson National Grasslsand (1 hr away)>Davy Crockett National Forest (2.5 hrs away)>The other national forests near Houston (3-4 hrs away)If you want mountains, the closest public spots are the Kiamichi/Ouachitas mountains in Oklahoma, about 4 hours away from DFW.
My suggestion is start wth some simple day hikes in your area, move up to doing a first backpacking trip in one of the national forests by Houston, and then head up to the Ouachitas for a weekend trip or two. You'll be used to the winter climate there, so it will only be a challenge learning to set up a tent and do basic backpacking skills, rather than doing all of that while learning to manage with unfamiliar snow and ice conditions
