Posts filed under 'Hiking'
November 5th, 2006
spryken
Mark Zimmer’s article on The Backpacking Theory got me thinking. He explains how he came up with his “How to enjoy life: Appreciation through Deprivation” theory. And what exactly it is. In a nutshell, he espouses that the best way to learn to appreciate what you have is to subject yourself to total misery.
And he states:
the quickest, cheapest, and easiest path that I know of to leave your
comfort zone and give you a healthy dose of deprivation is: backpacking.
Read the article to see all of his reasoning. But one that really spoke to me was the issue of food.
Take something as basic as a real meal. Quickly jumping back to our
first issue, we remember that less is better, and this goes for food as
well both in weight and quantity (and usually quality). After a week of
rice, beans, dried fruit, and oatmeal; a cheeseburger is a real Godsend.
When we were finishing up our trek at Philmont, one of our favorite activities on the trail was to regal each other with “the meal” we were going to have first thing when we arrived back home. We occupied many miles with imagining “the meal”.
There is one other point Mark makes:
The best thing, however, that I feel backpacking offers is the chance
to think. Backpacking is physically tiring but mentally stimulating.
There is very little noise, and the mind gets a chance to just relax
and wander.
I will deal with this in more detail in another post, but it is true. I advocate leaving the “noise” at home. That is the CD-Players, MP3 Players, Radios, etc. Without those distractions and with the surrounding nature I find that I can let my mind go down its own trails. That is one of the reasons I enjoy backpacking so much!
Technorati Tags: Backpacking, Boy Scouts, Hiking
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November 3rd, 2006
spryken
Backpacking Light has a great introductory article on Lightweight Backpacking, Lightweight Backpacking 101: An Introductory Manual for Lightening Your Load Today.
The article covers the why and the how of moving to Lightweight or Ultra Lightweight backpacking. The article is split into 9 parts:
- Basic Concepts
- Equipment Primer
- Clothing
- Cooking Equipment
- Trail Food
- Water Treatment
- Miscellaneous Essentials
- Nonessentials
- Ultra-Light, Ultra-Cheap
Looking over the areas covered you can see that all aspects of backpacking are covered. Even the “Nonessentials”, you can have fun too.
I encourage everyone considering backpacking to read this article, especially our Boy Scout Leaders. I have seen some Boy Scout Leaders (not in my Troop) continue to backpack the way the Boy Scouts did it when they were Scouts. I have also seen new Leaders carrying enough weight to supply an entire patrol. We, as Leaders, need to learn new techniques and pass these on to our young charges.
Lightweight backpacking is less physically exhausting and can make the experience more enjoyable.
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November 2nd, 2006
spryken
Yes, I mean WikiWalki not WikiWiki. For those of you that are “technically challenged”, a wiki is a type of online collabaration software. For more information on wiki see the Wikipedia article.
WikiWalki is a wiki. It is tailored to trail maps though. Users can search for trails all over the world. Create events to invite other users to and add their own trails.
Sounds like a great idea. Currently it is in beta testing. I have created an account and did a little searching. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of trails defined for my area, North Carolina. I found this a little puzzling, since we have a portion of the AT and several National and State parks, National Forests, etc. I guess instead of paying an up front cost to buy and load maps with some of the better known trails, the guys at WikiWalki are hoping their users will add them.
Well, I tried to add a trail. The manual interface, while useable is not very exact. It is a GUI. You cannot enter lat/long for positions. There is an import feature where you can import a GPX file from a GPS, but “Due to high traffic volume import feature temporally disabled - please check back soon“
I will keep you posted. I hope they work out the kinks, because I think this can be a great tool.
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November 1st, 2006
spryken
I was reading Bruce Lewis’ blog on LightBackpacking.com and ran across his article on the new Sierra Cup. In an aside he mentioned an article on the Sierra Club site, “Resurrect those old Sierra Club cups?”. I read the article and was fascinated. Is it safe to drink untreated water in the wilderness? The article references research done by Robert Rockwell, Ph.D.
Dr. Rockwell states:
Untreated Sierra Nevada water should be, almost
everywhere, safe to drink . . . if you ‘drink smart.’ If you don’t
‘drink smart’ you may ingest diarrhea-causing organisms. But it
won’t be Giardia. Camp cooks in particular need to pay special attention
to cleanliness. Wash hands thoroughly, especially before handling
utensils and preparing meals.
If you contract Giardia in the backcountry, blame your friends .
. . not the water. Because up to 1 in 14 of us carries the Giardia
parasite, we all need to do what we can to keep the water pure.
Defecate away from water, and bury it or carry it out.
I had to read the whole paper. I just don’t like getting my data from third parties. The paper was very enlightening. I think I am convinced on the issue of Giardia. However, I will continue to treat the water I drink in the wilderness. Why? Well, Giardia is just one of many water bourne bacteria and viruses. If I run into a situation where I am without water treatment and I have fresh, running water, I will feel safer drinking it.
But the weight of water treatment equipment or chemicals is small compared to the peace of mind you get using it.
One point we can all take away though is PROPER CAMP HYGIENE. What our moms have been telling us for years…”Wash your hands.”
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Entry Filed under: Backpacking, Hiking
October 30th, 2006
spryken
Everyone knows that walking is a great exercise, at least I hope they do. And walking is an easy exercise to do, that is until you put a 20-40 pound pack on your back and start up a mountain.
Training for a backpacking trip is important. Being in excellent condition will do more to make your trip enjoyable than anything else you can do. Lighter packs help, but training is key.
Two years ago, I went on a 50 mile hike sponsored by our local Boy Scout Council, Occoneechee. I was woefully out of shape. I tried to get some semblance of fitness by going to the gym for 2 weeks prior to the hike. Let me tell you that is not enough. I worked on aerobic exercise and while I am convinced it helped, I was miserable by the end of the hike. Of course the terrible boots I had didn’t help matters, but the main reason was fitness.
Later that year, I took a crew to Phimont Scout Ranch. I trained hard for that trip. First, I knew that I would never make it if I didn’t. Base Camp at Philmont was 6000 feet higher in elevation than that 50-miler. And we went up to 12,500 feet. I worked hard on aerobics but also added some weight training. The difference was incredible.
For a short weekend hike, you probably don’t need to worry about training as much. But if you are going on an extended trip, do youself a favor and start getting into “hiking” condition. You will enjoy the scenery a lot more if you can lift your eyes up from the trail just in front of you.
Been There, Done That ….. Learn from my example.
Entry Filed under: Backpacking, Hiking
