I'm looking to get into hiking.

Lester Earl has a summer place in Alaska.

Denali and Wrangell-St Elias are bucket list type trips. Both are wild, like kill you if you don't know what you're doing type wild. Denali has a little more infrastructure, which means they'll be able to recover your body. You can disappear in Wrangell-St Elias and never be seen again.

J/K, sort of. You should be fine on a guided trip, but I would not do Alaska solo as an inexperienced hiker. Lots of good hikes in Arkansas to learn the ropes. It's important to get some boots that fit and break them in well. Take some weekend trips and figure out what works and what doesn't. There are tons of resources online, just google backpacking message boards and ask some questions.

Pack and Paddle in Laffy used to be a great store. I haven't been in several years, so don't know what it's like now. There's also an outfitter in NOLA that some people use, but I can't think of the name.

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You in Louisiana?

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Yes

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Denali and Wrangell-St Elias are bucket list type trips

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Wrangell-St Elias is the area that I was looking at guided trips. The site said that there was easy to Strenuous. I was looking for moderate.

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I would not do Alaska solo as an inexperienced hiker.

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Nope

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You're going to spend a bit of coin for your gear

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Can I get it all for under $700?


If anybody knows any specific day or weekend hikes that are within driving distance of baton rouge I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Thanks for the info. I will do a little research on these and plan a couple short trips in the next couple months.

There's a neat section of the Ouachita Trail that starts at Winding Stair Mtn in Oklahoma, and ends up at Queen Wilhelmina Lodge on top of Rich Mtn, Arkansas. About 25 miles, and can easily do it in two days. You start downhill, wind along the Kiamechi River for a bit, then finish with a very steep hike up Rich Mtn. Not terribly difficult if you're in shape, but enough to know you've done something. There was, and still may be, a store around there that would shuttle you to the trailhead, so you could leave your vehicle at the lodge and it would be there waiting when you finish. I've been a lot of places, and this is still one of my favorite short hikes.

ETA: Key piece of equipment: Hiking staff or trekking poles. I favor trekking poles, but opinions vary.

Sounds like back packing to me!


Black Creek Trail in MS is great practice

Kisatche is OK

If you want a strenuous day hike, go to Vicksburg military park and do their 12-miler. Also teaches you compass.

Join the Louisiana hiking club. They have meetings at the Bluebonnet library once a month and group hikes all over the state. https://www.hikelouisiana.org/

If you're looking for a series of day hikes that is ten days long, where you spend each night in a hostel or some such, your gear bill will be small. Get a decent set of hiking boots, poles, and clothing appropriate to the season. Ten trail snacks for lunches, something you don't have to heat. Don't forget sunscreen!

If you want to do a ten day backpacking trip, I suggest you do that after a year or so doing shorter trips to figure out what does and does not work for you. This summer is too soon. Even a guided trip will expect you to have some experience. Several weekend trips plus one or two week-long trips should do the trick.

You will definitely want to be sure your boots and pack fit, you won't last more than a day if they don't. If you aren't used to cold weather spend some time studying how to dress warmly. I grew up in BR and had no idea myself until I moved to DC and got a couple of winters under my belt. Also consider getting a dedicated point and shoot camera with extra knockoff batteries. I bought a six pack of cheap Chinese knockoffs online for my Powershot. They cost less than a single official Canon battery and worked fine.

Be sure your jorts are adequately snug and cut to a length which does not excede 3 inches of inseam.