Wild Bound

Author: Steve Gillman

Backpacking light, sometimes called fastpacking or ultralight backpacking, doesn’t mean leaving anything important behind, or sacrificing comfort. My seventeen-ounce down sleeping bag keeps me warmer than my previous four-pounder did. I used to use a five-pound backpack, and now have a more comfortable fourteen-ounce one. I still bring all the necessary safety gear and food when I head into the mountains - I just have lighter versions. Why? Here are six reasons.

1. More Comfort

It feels much better to have 15 pounds on your back than 50. No asking for help to struggle into that heavy pack. A heavy load leaves you sore at the end of the day, and you sweat a lot. My light backpack can be slung from one shoulder and then the other to let my back cool, and I never feel sore from carrying the weight.

2. More Range

A long day with a heavy pack might be 10 miles. With my running shoes and 15-pound load I have often gone more than 20 miles in a day without suffering. That means I have a whole lot more range. Areas of wilderness that were out of reach for a weekend trip are now possible.

3. Fewer Injuries

Some will tell you that light backpacking is dangerous because you carry less gear and less durable gear. The latter may be true, so baby that sleeping bag. But it is also true that with less weight on your back you are less likely to twist an ankle, hurt your back or lose your balance. On balance, my experience is that I have less of a chance of an injury when going light.

photo: Eric Ward CC-By-SA

4. More Freedom

I used to carry an extra day pack for climbing to the summits of mountains when I was backpacking. Who wants to scramble up those steep sections with a 45-pound load? Then, I had to return to my big pack - even if I saw a better route down. Now my pack is so light that it goes everywhere with me. I hardly ever notice its weight, and I like that freedom.

5. Faster Travel

You may not like to go fast all the time when backpacking, but isn’t it nice to have the option? That’s what going light gives you. It means you can speed up to reach that waterfall, or speed up to make that campsite after playing in the waterfall too long. If there is a storm coming in, you can move to safety more quickly when you are carrying less weight. Also, if have an emergency and need to hike out to the car or a town, you can do so much quicker with 15 pounds on your back than with 50.

6. Simplicity

Have you seen that Corona Beer commercial where the couple brings a load of equipment to the beach and begins laying out towels, opening coolers and setting up umbrellas that are almost blown away by the wind? Then another couple walks to the beach with nothing but an icy bucket of Coronas and they sit down to enjoy the view. That’s simplicity.

Some people get a thrill from finding ways to cook the fanciest meals while in the woods, and from having folding furniture and electric socks, but not me. Backpacking light means simplifying things a bit, which is not a sacrifice, but a pleasure. I often go without a stove, for example, relying on foods that don’t need cooking. Not cooking? I like that. It also means no dishes to wash, and more time for swimming in that alpine lake.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/camping-articles/backpacking-light-six-reasons-why-278354.html

About the Author:

Copyright Steve Gillman. Want more information on Backpacking Light? You’ll find a free ebook, as well as photos, gear recommendations, and a new wilderness survival section, at: http://www.The-Ultralight-Site.com

Popularity: 36% [?]

I thought I would try something different today, so I made a video on how to dehydrate spaghetti sauce in your oven.

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The sky had turned a dusky pink as we pulled into the parking lot on the side of the Forest Service road. The snow was about 6 inches deep and all the other vehicles in the parking lot were big trucks with snowmobile trailers behind them.

Brenton popped the trunk on our little Kia Rio, and we hurried to strap our new snowshoes on. The afternoon was slipping by fast, and we only had about 3 hours before sunset. The clouds were heavy with unfallen snow.

I slipped my arms into the straps on my backpack, buckled all the buckles and we set out to put a few miles on our snowshoes.

Right away, I noticed that the snow wasn’t really deep enough to need the snowshoes. We were just out there for practice, and to get a few newbie mistakes out of the way.

Newbie lesson#1:

About 1/4 mile into the hike we stopped to test our alcohol stove in the cold. We tried to move quickly to get the stove lit while our bodies were still warm from hiking. Priming an alcohol stove in cold weather requires extra priming fluid.

After three attempts the stove finally lit and we heated up some tomato soup.

Newbie lesson #2:

After eating the soup, and attempting to scrub out the pot as best we could, I decided to learn freezer bag cooking–at least for winter hiking and camping.

We packed up our gear and got back onto the trail. The snow was rotten. Two weeks ago, we had 18-24 inches of snowfall (overnight), then we had a week of 50%deg; weather. The first snowfall had turned into an ice crust over top of an air pocket, and the snowfall from the night before was powder on top of the ice crust.

We kept falling through, but it wasn’t as jarring as trying to post hole with out snowshoes over rotten snow.

Newbie Lesson #3:

About 1/2 a mile into the hike, my backpack woes began. The pack was heavy because we hadn’t had time to plan what we were going to carry. I am glad that we were just doing some test conditioning rather than actually trying to get anywhere. Backpacking requires pre-planning every ounce of weight. Maybe someday I’ll be so used to packing my backpack that I can just throw things in, but someday isn’t today and I doubt that it will come for quite a few years.

Newbie Lesson #4:
Enthusiasm waned at about 3/4 of a mile into the hike. My pack was too heavy and it wasn’t adjusted properly for my body. We decided to turn around and head back to the car. I need to adjust my pack so it hugs my body. The temperature started dropping and by time we got back to the car, I was ready to head back home.

Our first snowshoe hike was a pilthy 1 1/2 miles. Those newbie mistakes may not seem like much but they could have had disastrous results if we had planned a longer trip for our first snowshoeing hike. Next time I’ll try to remember my camera too.

Live and learn, and don’t jump off the high dive until you know how to swim.

Popularity: 34% [?]

In my last article, I mentioned buying a food dehydrator to make my own camping foods. Unfortunately, right now I have neither the money nor the space for a food dehydrator, and when I am totally honest with myself, I have enough kitchen appliances that have long been forgotten.

If you are like me and don’t have a food dehydrator but you still want to make your own camping food, You are in luck! Your oven (yes, an ordinary kitchen oven) can be turned into a makeshift food dehydrator.

I remember my brother making jerky in the oven when I was a kid. For a day (maybe more) we had the oven turned on low and the door propped open. The oven was off limits for cooking, but the deer jerky that came out at the end was worth the wait

Turning your oven into a food dehydrator is really very simple.

• Heat the oven to a temperature between 140-160° F
• place the food you are drying on a cookie sheet or straight on the oven rack, leave room for air circulation
• prop the oven door open with a rolled up magazine or a wooden spoon
• stir food every couple of hours and wait.
• Dehydrated food will end up leathery to touch. Make sure you take a piece out and let it cool before determining doneness because the food will be softer when it is warm.

That’s all there is to turning your oven into a food dehydrator. Next week, I hope to have some oven dehydrating recipes to publish for you. Nothing is quite as fun and preparing for a summer camping trip on a snowy winter day.

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Last week, I was preparing for our camping trip, and one of the major expenses was finding food suitable for camping. Eventually I would like to get a food dehydrator, but that’s just not in the budget right now.

Camping food has to meet the following criteria:

• light weight
• non-perishable (doesn’t need refrigeration)
• quick cooking
• balance of protein, carbs, and fats

Ramen Noodles are a recommended staple for backpackers, but there’s really no “stick to your ribs” value to Ramen. Ramen noodles are all carbs, and I will be hungry again in…oh…about 3.2 minutes.

My shopping guideline for meals is $1 per meal per person, or $3 per day per person. This is my standard when I am at home, and my goal for while I am out camping too.

Breakfasts

Breakfast sets you up for the rest of the day. In my experience, this is the cheapest meal of the day. When I’m camping, I like a warm breakfast to get me started.

Basic ingredient list:

• instant oatmeal– Buy the plain variety and pack individual servings in ziplock bags, mix with dried fruit, nuts, chocolate, GORP (good old Rasins and Peanuts), etc.
• Hot Granola
• bagels–with peanut butter, butter, or jelly (you can get all of these in individual servings or put them in a squeeze tube)
• dehydrated potatoes–find a kind that you can make with just water (Idahoans), add bacon bits, beef jerky, cheese powder (as in mac-and-cheese sauce)
• rice with honey and dried fruit

Lunch/Dinner

I prefer the idea of grazing throughout the day, instead of a sit down lunch meal, but for winter camping a warm lunch sounds really nice.

Grazing foods would include GORP, trail mix, granola, jerky, etc.

For a hot meal, I would base it around a carb and add protein and fats.

Carbs:

• Ramen
• Pasta
• instant potatoes
• instant rice
• tortillas
• pitas

Protein

• meat in a pouch (you can buy tuna, salmon, chicken, etc in a plastic vacuum sealed pouch. These are kind of expensive. I wouldn’t use them every day, but maybe good for a treat
• Jerky
• dehydrated beans
• TVP (this is usually available at a natural foods store such as Trader Joes or Whole Foods. It is often used as a hamburger substitute)
• lentils (cook in about 30 minutes)
• hard cheeses (parmesan, romano, etc)
• summer sausage, pepperoni

Fat

In the summer you will probably get plenty of fat from nuts and trail mix. In the winter, you will need more fat in your diet, so plan on bringing butter or oil to add to your recipes. You burn a lot of calories with winter hiking and camping, so feel free to enjoy chocolate and brownies too.

Seasoning

If you want to add some seasonings, most spices are backpacker friendly. Dried soup packets are a good option for flavoring too.

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Last night our snowshoes arrived. We ordered the Atlas 12 series shoes (I got E1227 and Brenton got 1230). Any new toy has to be tried out right away. We started out in the house practicing adjusting the snowshoes.

I decided that it would be easier to leave the snowboots in the snowshoe bindings and then put the whole thing on when we got to the park.

We got out to the park and stomped around the park for a while, tried running, and watched the stars for a while. After about 20 minutes, I was plenty cold enough to go home. I checked the weather when we got home, and it was 12 degrees outside.

We headed back to the car and I started to undo the bindings on our snowshoes. What I found when I leaned over, left me doubled up laughing. When I put my snowshoes and boots on, I managed to put them on backwards. I think I might have to paint an R and L on my snowboots after this. You’d think I would know how to put my shoes on by now.

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This weekend was taken up with more work towards our Christmas camping trip.  Saturday evening, I spent 6 hours wandering stores looking for outdoor gear on my shopping list.  I bought a lot of good stuff–sleeping pad, waterproof matches, good water bottles, etc–without spending too much money.  At least it wasn’t too expensive until I stopped at the book store to look at their selection of books on winter camping.

Today I intended to publish a winter camping gear list, but I started reading my new books instead.  I confess I feel overwhelmed and insufficiently prepared for winter camping.  I wonder how much more I need to spend to be ready to go out winter camping.

Yesterday we got about 1 foot of snow over a 24 hour period.  Today the temperature has warmed up a lot, and I am facing the fact that winter can kill you.

What I really want is to embrace the wilderness as home, but in the “comfort” of my apartment, nature doesn’t seem very friendly.

I just have to remind myself that people have been going out on winter camping trip for hundreds of years–long before goretex was invented.

Popularity: 38% [?]