Everyone,
Island Mama and I have updated our calendar with new class trips for our Appalachian Backpacking Courses, where we personally and digitally share info on low-impact lightweight hiking in small groups and a structured format. Our first trip is Easter weekend, April 9-11.
<a href="http://www.thawookie.com/abcsite">Course Information</a>
Tha Wookie & Island Mama
thank you for the info tha wookie! i checked out your site… it’s awesome. i do have some questions though- you make distinctions for classes: beginner, advanced, and thruhiker. what’s the difference between your advanced and thruhiker? and are you going to have those kinds of trips? or just beginner trips? I have some good wilderness experience (wilderness counselor for 2 yrs) but my longest trip was only 23 days. so i don’t need a beginner trip (although any trip out in the woods is great) … i noticed all your trips on the calendar said “beginner”.
greenie
The dinstinctions made in the course set-up are somewhat arbitrary, as different backpackers are usually interested in different information and skills regardless of experience. There is an exception, however -with people how have no field experience at all, and that is why our listings are marked as “beginners.”
To the beginner, we offer more than an introduction to bakpackpacking, as we don’t hold back too much advanced material for them. The real difference between the levels is that beginners get a preset arrangment of material, where experienced backpackers like yourself can “customize” their content freely. “Thru-hike” specific material covers content that applies directly to the long trail of interest (see descriptions on website above), and techniques in preparation and execution (specific stuff like maildrops, keeping an online journal, resources to gear and lessons we’ve seen across the country: see site).
Of course, the advanced and thru-hike trips are far more vigorous, but a good amount of the time is also spent learning advanced skills. We focus much more on psychological and natural interpretation approach with the latter two sections -there’s a lot of useful information beyond gear and what hostels to visit, and we find it best communicated in person.
Drop me an email if you’d like to hear more detail. We can arrange an actual phone conversation if you’d like. If we can get several more advanced students, there are a couple trips we could restructure in the course calendar.
Of course there are some other great courses offered in the Pine Barrens ;), but they don’t focus on hiking.
We look forward to hearing from you and any other interested folks. :happy
Tha Wookie
I know this is off topic, but have either of you two fellow Jersey people hiked the Batona Trail in the pine belt? S. Jersey is so beautiful & smells so good!!
Manasquan
To anyone who might have already seen the new ATN and our write up in it, I want publicly thank them for the generous publicity, and make a minor correction: Island Mama and I have not hiked the entire CDT as they reported. That’s next year 
Tha Wookie