Wilderness Backpacking Trails

“Back in the day” it was macho to carry a heavy pack.  Now it’s macho to carry an ultra-light pack.  Both are extremes for what would suit most backpackers, yet in truth there really is no “one size fits all” for wilderness backpacking.  The backpacking equipment you should take for your backpacking adventure depends on a variety of factors, mostly personal.  Those who insist that everyone should go lightweight today are as dogmatic as those who insisted on packing heavy thirty years ago.

For my part I have backpacked all manner of styles with all manner of pack weights.  In 1977, after being informed I would never complete a couple hundred mile stretch through the Sierra Nevada without taking sidetrips down to town, I started the section carrying a 102 pound pack (as weighed at an airport hangar).  I also carried a light daypack for eleven days through the Bitterroots, without sleeping bag or other “essentials,” because I wanted to emulate John Muir.  I’ve carried all sizes and weights of packs in between as well, and enjoyed it all.  There are just different expectations you should have depending on how you pack.

Carrying a light pack provides greater mobility, which helps in some types of survival situations.  Carrying a heavy pack allows for more gear and food, which helps in other types of survival situations.  Carrying a light pack means more energy conserved.  Carrying a heavy pack means more luxuries.  Carrying a light pack minimizes the impact of weight on aggravating injuries.  Carrying a heavy pack maximizes the  impact of weight training that all serious athletes use to enhance performance and durability.  I owe my longevity and intensity in the “sport” to mainly carrying heavy packs when I started backpacking and lighter packs as I grew older.

I have a confession to make — I’m not really a “gearhead.”  However, I realize I can provide a service on this blog by perusing the reports of others on backpacking equipment with the varied perspective of how it might benefit the “lightweight” backpacker or the “heavy weight” backpacker.

Technorati Tags: Then and Now

Handles that differ from our given names are typical here on the Internet.  Sometimes the handles are somewhat random or unplanned, sometimes they reflect some thought about our identities or what we wish them to be.  I typically use my given name, Kirk Sinclair, on the Internet.  Otherwise, I use a trail name bestowed on me during a backpacking adventure.  The next few entries will be about how I got my trail name, told as if we were hiking together on wilderness backpacking trails.

The idea for backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail came to us as we were driving a transport car back East from Seattle, Washington.  Dave Hall, Dave Beffa-Negrini (Savitt) and I had hiked the Appalachian Trail together the previous summer of ’75 and we were returning from a follow-up misadventure.  That is a story in itself, but I’ll save it for another rainy day.  We were driving on I80, passing spectacular falls in Oregon, when Dave Hall suggested we should hike the Pacific Crest Trail.  Savitt immediately jumped on the idea, while I recall my somewhat misguided claim:  “Ah, hiking one long-distance trail is enough for anybody.”

Not one to be deterred, Dave Hall started sending me National Geographic articles and other enticements to get me salivating over the prospects of backpacking amidst such wild beauty.  He knew what he was doing.  If this was going to be a group endeavor, an Expedition, he needed a base of operations that would attract a group.  Dave was an entrepreneur in New Hampshire (he later founded PC Connection); I was a college student at the University of Connecticut.  Dave wanted my “buy-in” to get an Expedition formed.

Well, I “bought in,” but soon afterwards Dave Hall “bought out.”  I became the de facto leader of an Expedition of five, four of whom completed the entire trail.  Besides Savitt there was Ken Bell, another member of our ’75 Expedition on the AT.  The two newbies were Dan Herlihy and my dorm mate, Howie Sandler.  Howie was coming along for just the summer.  There was also Sue Mitchell, who drove a support vehicle that we resupplied from every seven days or so.

Our Expedition would do a “flip-flop” from Donner Pass,  We would hike north starting on May 29th, 1977.  When we reached the Canadian border at the end of the summer we would drive back down to Donner Pass and hike south.  This well planned scenario was to minimize our backpacking in snow.  Of course, things don’t always go as planned, but I’ll save that for the next entry.

Technorati Tags: Pacific Crest Trail, Trail Tales

I’m as guilty of engulfing myself in electronic entertainment as the next person; yet from my backpacking adventures I know of a superb entertainment form lost to most of modern culture:  storytelling.  When you backpack mile after mile, day after day, you find yourself in need of passing the time.  Since the climb to the next pass takes awhile, we learned to make stories last.  Take, for example, the story of how I got my one and only trail name, Diggerfoot.  I could explain this to you in one or two paragraphs, which is what you want if you are in a rush to watch your favorite TV show.  Instead, I’m going to recount this and other “Trail Tales” as if we are hiking on the Appalachian Trail together.

In addition to Trail Tales, this site will feature wilderness photography from a variety of backpacking trails, usually posted on weekends, along with occasional features on backpacking equipment.  I hope you find yourself well-entertained.

Technorati Tags: Trail Tales

My family thru-hiked the Wonderland Trail, circumventing Mt. Rainier. Here are shots of our most spectacular moment, reaching Panhandle Gap at 6750′. For more photos go to The Middle Class Forum.

Technorati Tags: Nature Photography, Wonderland Trail

Civilization is the cause and nature the answer to some of the problems we face.  Understanding natural rights, natural belonging and natural learning will restore a natural balance to our lives.  I have 15,000+ miles worth of tales and photography from wilderness backpacking trails for conveying a message of natural balance.

Technorati Tags: Natural Balance, Nature Photography, Trail Tales