Contemplating of hiking through the Pacific Crest? How about the Appalachian trail? Well you might want to get ready. Backpacking requires a huge amount of endurance and strength. It might seem simple to carry your pack for a few steps, but when you start racking up the miles, it gets pretty hard. Believe me, I have hiked beyond 50 miles per day before, did a 44 mile race on 3 technical peaks over 12,000 feet, and did 100 miles in 4 days. I have backpacked [http://www.moosejaw.com/Backpacking-Accessories.html] all over the country in many conditions from 14,000 foot mountains to the horse trails in my backyard. Be assured that these tips is all you'll need to be the best backpacker possible. If you follow my easy steps, you'll be able to achieve your goal no matter how big it is. So here is what you should do:

Get your gear ready. You need to have all your equipment together, whether it is a 12 pound pack and a water bottle or a 75 pound pack for a gigantic thru-hike. I think you should always practice like you play. Take your backpack with you on some training hikes and fill it just like you would on the big day.

Be trained. Taking some mock up hikes will help you know whether or not you will need things like tissues, or sun screen. A mock up will also tell you if you can leave them at home to save some weight. It will help you notice just how much an extra pound or two can feel, but the risks aren't as elevated when you are just training.

Bring something extra. To scale up your training, fill a few extra Nalgenes and put them in your backpack. Each filled bottle is about two pounds, so you are adding more weight. However, if halfway through your hike, you decide the weight is too much, you can always dump it out. When I was preparing for my 44 mile race, I used to hike with a 35 pound pack for 6-8 hours at a time, even though I knew on race day I'd only be carrying about 9 pounds. Doing this gave me the assurance and strength to go longer and feel better throughout the whole race.

Ensure you have the right backpack. The difference between a properly fit pack and one that is not totally fitting becomes insurmountably paramount when you get out on a trail and start accumulating the miles. While you are training, you can learn just how good your backpack feels on your back. This will help you know if you have the right type and fit of pack. Even more, you need to make sure your backpack is the perfect size, you don't want to use a 90 liter pack for 2 days, but you don't want to carry a 20 liter bag for 10 days either. Packing up your items, and actually using them will help you realize what size of backpack you need, or what you should leave behind.

Learn to be productive while you hike. Practicing can be time consuming. While I would never suggest gabbing on the phone or bringing friends with you to chat while you are actually in the back country, it might be a good idea to make training hikes a little more productive. Making your training social can make it enjoyable and makes your friends want to go with you on an actual expedition some time in the future also.

Record your workouts. Believe it or not, writing down your workouts is an ancient practice. Even ancient Greek Olympians wrote down their training. Being able to see your progress and keeping track of your accomplishments will keep you fixed on your goal. Besides, it is always exciting to be able to see that you have averaged 70 miles per week for the last 2 years and boast to your friends.

Start with something small. I wouldn't recommend taking on some super epic adventure race as your first time backpacking. That just does not make much sense and it is guaranteed to not be enjoyable. You want your trip to feel like you can go the distance, and like you're having fun doing it. You do not want to feel like you're just barely surviving. It is okay to just go out for a few miles in order to make sure you are beginning at your level. After that, you can increase your miles.

Find your style. I love backpacking alone, but my friends can't handle it. You should know what you like, so it continues to be interesting. If you don't enjoy what you're doing, you will not keep doing it.