A Taste of Real Backpacking

A couple weeks ago my friend Brian and I met to carry out phase two of the backpacking plan we started last fall. This time we would start at the East Fork Park office and carry our backpacks to a primitive spot on the backpacking trail.

Brian got some lighter equipment at Christmas for this year’s hiking since, unlike last fall’s backpacking trip, he would actually have to carry the pack. Brian’s load weighed in at about 35-40 pounds until he loaded on the 5 pound fire log I asked him to carry. Yes, I carried one too. We didn’t know the firewood situation at Camp One, plus it had been raining the day before and we knew a fire would be hard to start. And the fire would be important to our menu plans, for on this trip we planned to do more than just boil water with tiny stoves for dehydrated meals. Back to that in a little while.

There are three trails back to the site: one a quarter-mile, another a mile, and finally a four-miler. We chose the mile trail. We would have taken the four-miler, but we had only about an hour of daylight left. 

The first half-mile was on a park road. As we walked I asked Brian how he was doing with his load, which happened to be about 10 pounds more than mine. His reply was, “Anybody not strong enough to carry a little weight probably shouldn’t be backpacking.” Ok, that’s one way to look at it. 

Not only do I appreciate Brian’s pithy words of wisdom, I also appreciate the pithy things he doesn’t say. Like, after the third time I tell the same story, he doesn’t say, “Boy, I really wanted to hear that one again.” He is the perfect hiking companion. You may want to invite him on your trip, but you’ll need to check with me first.

We turned onto the wooded path. It wasn’t nearly as muddy as I thought it would be. It was an enjoyable stroll back to the site. It’s been a couple years since I backpacked. I felt so good I started singing.

We arrived at camp and dropped our packs in the shelter. There were tents to set up, but it was already time for our first coffee break. I asked Brian if it was too late in the day for some Starbucks. I was concerned it might keep him awake. I liked his answer, though. “This, and maybe another, might just get me back up to baseline.” Now there’s a man who can handle his caffeine. 

There was some wood handy and, of course, there was no problem starting our fire log.  The only way our fire could have failed was if we had forgotten the lighter.

In case you wondered why we didn’t plan on sleeping in the shelter, Brian wanted to try out his new tent. I decided to set up my tent too. He put his new air mattress and sleeping bag into it. The only thing missing was a pillow. He’s a hearty soul who can sleep on a sack stuffed with clothes.  For every year I camp, the thicker and softer my pillow needs to be.

Now it was time to turn the dogs loose. Nathan hotdogs, that is. We followed that with sausage strips. We found some honeysuckle branches that made perfect cooking sticks. I knew honeysuckle must be good for something. The sausage strips weren’t quite as good as bacon, but over a fire they weren’t too shabby either. 

The nearly full moon was so bright we hardly needed our lamps. With the upper canopy not grown in yet, we had a great view of some constellations. Our stargazing was accompanied by marshmallow eating. They were marshmallows with a chunk—and I mean a big chunk—of chocolate inside. Now if someone can figure out how to cover them with a layer of graham cracker, we’d have all-in-one s’mores.

We chatted till about 10, then I retired to my tent. Brian stayed up a while to enjoy the fire and the stars. I’m usually the first to hit the sack when I’m out backpacking with any group of people. And to some peoples’ annoyance, I am the first one up padding around camp in the morning, usually before daylight.

During the night there was more singing, but it wasn’t me. A pack of coyotes serenaded us from nearby. As loud and obnoxious as they got, I was glad they didn’t move in any closer for a big finale.

I slept in till 5:30 a.m. It was easy to start a fire in the morning with the other fire log. I had coffee, oatmeal, and a chocolate-filled marshmallow or two. I ate again when Brian got up. Don’t hobbits eat a second breakfast too?

We decided to take the quarter-mile route back to the cars. We had only an hour of daylight left—oh wait, I already used that excuse for not taking the long route. And it was only 9:00 a.m. I guess we had no excuse this time. After we dropped our packs in our cars, though, we hiked a couple miles in the park before we went home. 

One day soon we plan to add on mileage and/or nights on another backpacking trip. Maybe someday we’ll do all 32 miles around the park. I’ve done that twice, once on a solo trip and once with another friend, but both of those adventures were quite a few years back.

This backpacking plan might take quite a few more phases before I get back up to that level again. I’ll try to keep you informed about our trips. Maybe you’ll develop an appetite to take some backpacking trips yourself. Or, with all the talking about food that I do, you’ll just develop an appetite.