How My First Backpakcing Trip Almost Became My Last
Feb 25, 2016 11:06:19 GMT -8
rebeccad and jj like this
Post by Coolkat on Feb 25, 2016 11:06:19 GMT -8
Well today I'm holed up at home due to weather and work being cancelled so I thought I'd share a story. I almost put this in the trailhead register but this said "trip reports / Storytelling" So here it goes and I apologize now for the length and if you get bored to sleep reading it but I had fun remembering and writing it up. Be kind as I'm not a writer so I'm sure there are plenty of grammatical and spelling mistakes.
How My First Backpack Trip Almost Became My Last
Years and years ago just after I got my first real job after college and I had few bucks to play around with I somehow became interested in backpacking. I don’t remember now what initially sparked my interest but I’ve always enjoyed outdoor activities from fishing, camping, to road and mountain biking. Even though the internet was still in its infancy I’m guessing I saw an article on a website somewhere.
Not really knowing what I was doing I did a little bit of research purchased a backpack which I still have and use for week or longer trips. I also purchased a zip stove, water filter, sleeping pad, and bag. However, since I still somewhat unsure of myself and didn’t really know where or how to start and because my friends had absolutely no interest such things my newly purchased equipment sat in the basement for nearly a decade.
Then RedDoug and I became friends. As we became friends I was excited to find out that he was actually experienced in backpacking. Perfect! I still didn’t have a tent so he sold me his used Mountain Hardware ten at a bargain price that I couldn’t pass up. Then he invited me to join him on his next backpacking trip.
Although I was excited I don’t remember much of the planning stages. I just remember showing up at his house very early the morning we were to leave. We had about a 6 hour car ride ahead of us. As we were packing things up. He asked me if I had a pair of trekking poles. I had never even heard of them so I said no. He looked at me for a second then went to the back of his garage. He found some old x-country ski poles cut off the baskets and handed them to me. Then he asked me if I had pack cover and rain gear. I hadn’t even thought of this stuff but he was gracious enough to let me borrow a spare set of both. I was beginning to see the value of going with someone more experienced.
After we spotted the car and got to the beginning of our hike. I hoisted my way over packed backpack up on my back and started the trail. Did I say I was over packed? I don’t really know how much the pack weighed. If I were to guess it was probably about 50lbs maybe more for 4.5 day trip. The first couple of miles I was fine. Then the pack started to get heavy. I wasn’t going to complain but I did mention to Doug that the pack wasn’t all that comfortable. He was nice enough to stop and show me how to adjust my pack and that helped some for a little while.
Then the pack started to dig into my shoulders. A little while later the whole top of my shoulders and upper back started to just ache really bad. About 5 miles into our first day we took a rest which helped a little bit. But when we started hiking again it didn’t take me long to start feeling the pain again and to start hating life but I didn’t want to complain so I just kept my mouth shut. After all I could see that Doug was having a good time and I didn’t want to ruin it for him.
By the time we got to our stopping point for the day I was extremely miserable. Not only was my shoulders aching big time but I was extremely tired. It took all I had left to put one foot in front of the other the last few steps to the spot where we set up our tents. I flopped my pack down and felt like I was going to float away. I think I was near my breaking point and it had only been 7.5 miles. How in the world was I going to make it another 3.5 days?
That night after eating and hanging the food bags I was laying in my tent still hurting. My mind started swirling. How in the world can I go any further? How can I break it to Doug that I couldn’t really do this and that I guess I wasn’t really cut out for this after all. But both of us had invested vacation time and money and I really didn’t want to ruin the whole trip.
The more I thought about it and the more I felt the pain I really started to get worked up. I think I was on the verge of some kind of anxiety attack when I just jumped out of my tent and began to pace back and forth a little in the dark. At this point I started telling myself that I just need to calm down. Then I remembered that I brought some ibuprofen with me. I quickly dug into my pack found the bottle, dumped like 4 pills into my hand, found my water bottle swallowed quickly. I got back into my tent and tried to talk myself down a little. It didn’t take long and I actually fell asleep. Something that I didn’t think would happen.
When I woke up in the morning I’m not sure what happened over night but I felt so much better. It was like a brand new day and yesterday’s pain was forgotten. The weather was still excellent and I actually felt a little excited about the rest of the trip. Inside I felt embarrassed about how I almost ruined the whole trip for both of us the night before by telling Doug we’d have to hike out in the morning.
Don’t get me wrong the pack was still way too heavy and my shoulders still hurt but my attitude had changed but somehow that good night’s rest after I actually fell asleep completely re-charged me. By day 3 I was really into the “groove” of this backpacking thing and thoroughly enjoyed my time. I don’t think I’ve ever told Doug this story before but if he reads this he’ll know now.
Years later with a few more miles and hikes behind me. I’m now hooked and even choose to go solo about half the time. There is nothing like being out in the wild!
How My First Backpack Trip Almost Became My Last
Years and years ago just after I got my first real job after college and I had few bucks to play around with I somehow became interested in backpacking. I don’t remember now what initially sparked my interest but I’ve always enjoyed outdoor activities from fishing, camping, to road and mountain biking. Even though the internet was still in its infancy I’m guessing I saw an article on a website somewhere.
Not really knowing what I was doing I did a little bit of research purchased a backpack which I still have and use for week or longer trips. I also purchased a zip stove, water filter, sleeping pad, and bag. However, since I still somewhat unsure of myself and didn’t really know where or how to start and because my friends had absolutely no interest such things my newly purchased equipment sat in the basement for nearly a decade.
Then RedDoug and I became friends. As we became friends I was excited to find out that he was actually experienced in backpacking. Perfect! I still didn’t have a tent so he sold me his used Mountain Hardware ten at a bargain price that I couldn’t pass up. Then he invited me to join him on his next backpacking trip.
Although I was excited I don’t remember much of the planning stages. I just remember showing up at his house very early the morning we were to leave. We had about a 6 hour car ride ahead of us. As we were packing things up. He asked me if I had a pair of trekking poles. I had never even heard of them so I said no. He looked at me for a second then went to the back of his garage. He found some old x-country ski poles cut off the baskets and handed them to me. Then he asked me if I had pack cover and rain gear. I hadn’t even thought of this stuff but he was gracious enough to let me borrow a spare set of both. I was beginning to see the value of going with someone more experienced.
After we spotted the car and got to the beginning of our hike. I hoisted my way over packed backpack up on my back and started the trail. Did I say I was over packed? I don’t really know how much the pack weighed. If I were to guess it was probably about 50lbs maybe more for 4.5 day trip. The first couple of miles I was fine. Then the pack started to get heavy. I wasn’t going to complain but I did mention to Doug that the pack wasn’t all that comfortable. He was nice enough to stop and show me how to adjust my pack and that helped some for a little while.
Then the pack started to dig into my shoulders. A little while later the whole top of my shoulders and upper back started to just ache really bad. About 5 miles into our first day we took a rest which helped a little bit. But when we started hiking again it didn’t take me long to start feeling the pain again and to start hating life but I didn’t want to complain so I just kept my mouth shut. After all I could see that Doug was having a good time and I didn’t want to ruin it for him.
By the time we got to our stopping point for the day I was extremely miserable. Not only was my shoulders aching big time but I was extremely tired. It took all I had left to put one foot in front of the other the last few steps to the spot where we set up our tents. I flopped my pack down and felt like I was going to float away. I think I was near my breaking point and it had only been 7.5 miles. How in the world was I going to make it another 3.5 days?
That night after eating and hanging the food bags I was laying in my tent still hurting. My mind started swirling. How in the world can I go any further? How can I break it to Doug that I couldn’t really do this and that I guess I wasn’t really cut out for this after all. But both of us had invested vacation time and money and I really didn’t want to ruin the whole trip.
The more I thought about it and the more I felt the pain I really started to get worked up. I think I was on the verge of some kind of anxiety attack when I just jumped out of my tent and began to pace back and forth a little in the dark. At this point I started telling myself that I just need to calm down. Then I remembered that I brought some ibuprofen with me. I quickly dug into my pack found the bottle, dumped like 4 pills into my hand, found my water bottle swallowed quickly. I got back into my tent and tried to talk myself down a little. It didn’t take long and I actually fell asleep. Something that I didn’t think would happen.
When I woke up in the morning I’m not sure what happened over night but I felt so much better. It was like a brand new day and yesterday’s pain was forgotten. The weather was still excellent and I actually felt a little excited about the rest of the trip. Inside I felt embarrassed about how I almost ruined the whole trip for both of us the night before by telling Doug we’d have to hike out in the morning.
Don’t get me wrong the pack was still way too heavy and my shoulders still hurt but my attitude had changed but somehow that good night’s rest after I actually fell asleep completely re-charged me. By day 3 I was really into the “groove” of this backpacking thing and thoroughly enjoyed my time. I don’t think I’ve ever told Doug this story before but if he reads this he’ll know now.
Years later with a few more miles and hikes behind me. I’m now hooked and even choose to go solo about half the time. There is nothing like being out in the wild!