Tips for Wilderness Camping Trip

Pack Light!

You'll have to carry all this stuff. If there is a question, leave it at home. You can ask around and borrow a lot of these items, or rent necessary camping equipment from GORP at UGA Ramsey Center.

Bring:

1. Backpack
2. Sleeping bag
3. Sleeping pad (like Thermarest or foam pad)
4. Tent (you could share a 2 person tent with someone else and take turns carrying it, or carry some of their load)
5. Ground cloth for tent
6. Rain gear - a plastic poncho works great, you can get one for a few bucks at any camping store.
7. Flashlight - the smaller the better - a little mag light or headlamp
8. Water bottle
9. Whistle - in case you get lost from the group, but probably you won't need it.
10. SMALL towel - like a hand towel or even washcloth size. The SMALLER the better. DO NOT bring a bath towel. You can roll up a towel or some extra clothes to put under your head as a pillow. You don't want to bring a pillow, I promise you.

Clothes:

Plan to wear layers of clothing. Do not bring more than you need. It's only a weekend - I'd bring a change of underwear, and I'd wear a tank top and shorts, and bring an extra long sleeved shirt and a fleece for at night. I wouldn't even bring long pants but you might want those instead of shorts.
Check the weather report and pack accordingly.
I wouldn't even pack a change of clothes, MAYBE an extra shirt and extra shorts but only if there is room. Bring a lightweight but warm hat - a fleece cap or ski cap is fine. It gets a bit chilly on the top of that mountain, more so than lower elevations, and you lose a lot of heat from your head. It is said that a hat is the most efficient piece of clothing for warming up. Not very much to carry and definitely worth it.
Don't worry about hiking boots, it's not a technical hike - running shoes would be fine. People get obsessed with boots but they aren't really necessary in our terrain. Make sure thought the shoes you wear are not brand new, and that you can walk many miles in them without blisters.
You may get blisters anyway so bring:
Moleskine - when you start to get a "hot spot" under your boots, you put the moleskine on, sticky side down, fuzzy side up - BEFORE you get a blister. Bring a few Bandaids - for AFTER you get a blister.

Some nitty gritty:

I like to bring a SMALL amount of toilet paper - or maybe a couple of those small packs of Kleenex. Not much. Keep in a ziplock bag. Some people pack a sheet or two of paper towel instead. If you run out of toilet paper, dead leaves work just fine - but don't use poison ivy! You know what poison ivy looks like I'm sure.
Some people like to bring hand sanitizer. Germs are everywhere. But if you do, put it in a SMALLL SSSMMMAALLL container. Or wet ones, but ONLY A FEW. FEW.
Extra ziplock bags are good for waste items that are not biodegradable.
When nature calls, first dig a six inch hole with a stick, then bury your poop and paper. Here's an article on how to "go" in the woods.

Some handy links:
The Trail
Recommendations by hikers
Other recommendations for hiking

Have a great time!

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