[gkfasdfasdf]

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. I am comfortable hiking long distances, it is just the multi-day aspect that I find daunting.

[kyteland]

I guess at that point you just need to start doing it. I have a lot of outdoorsy types in my family and we've been doing long, multi-day backpacking trips most summers since 1998. On my first trip I bought a cheap sleeping bag, pad, and backpack and relied on the more experienced people in the group for everything else. The shoes I wore were terrible and by the time we got back to the car on the end of the 4th day I could barely walk my feet were so blistered. For the next summer I saved up and bought a really nice pair of boots which I still have. They're the most expensive footwear I've purchased in my life and worth every penny.

I can't recommend enough finding a group of experienced people to start with. You'll make plenty of mistakes and they'll help keep it from turning into a catastrophe. You'll pick up a lot from them while also figuring out what does/doesn't work for you. Probably five years after starting backpacking with my family I was the 'experienced one' leading a group of friends on a hike through the Smokey Mountains on the Appalachian Trail.

[carabiner]

Start out car camping. My progression was:

1. Avid day hiker (10-16 mile hikes every weekend, 5-8k ft gain)

2. Car camping in Ojai (near Los Angeles). Drive in, setup your tent, chill, sleep, leave next morning.

3. Backpacking around LA on the trails from step 1

4. Thru-hiked PCT

5. Mountaineering / alpine climbing

Lots of people do the PCT with little hiking experience and are fine though. It's just walking, and there are tons of people to help you.

[elhuddy]

I made it through step 4; could you speak more to the fifth step in your progression and how you really been picking up those advanced skills?

[carabiner]

Start rock climbing, take an intro to mountaineering course with a guiding service (lots of them in WA, OR, CA), or find someone to introduce you to it.

[leonmoonen]

^^ this!

Don’t overthink, go and enjoy.

(trips in bear country take a bit of additional preparation, but also that can be done w/o too much hassle, lots of info online)

[ghaff]

When we do an Intro to Backpacking weekend as part of our Spring hiking program, we tend to go in a relatively short distance to a lake/pond or something along those lines. And then will do one or two day hikes from there. This gives plenty of time to experiment with gear, setting up/breaking down camp, and so forth without the time pressure of having to get to some destination. (But you still get a sense of pack weight and so forth.)