“THE MOUNTAINS ARE MY BONES; THE RIVERS ARE MY VEINS,
THE FORESTS ARE MY THOUGHTS AND THE STARS ARE MY DREAMS,
THE WILDERNESS IS MY HEART, IT IS MY PULSE,
THE SONGS OF THE WILDERNESS WRITE THE MUSIC OF MY SOUL.”
GOING BACKPACKING…..
A few days’ backpacking can bring unrivaled freedom. Organization is the key to a good night under the stars and to make the wilderness your home. Backpacking makes you a free agent in the wilderness and keeps you in touch with nature. You get to experience it at its best, woken by sunrise and sudden rainfall……………
What to take
When you go backpacking you basically need to take the same gear as you have for the day-walks, and supplement that with the things you need to sleep and eat. Thinking this way makes it easier to work logically through your kit list to make sure you have not missed anything essential.
Packing your backpack
There’s a real art to packing a backpack because you need to consider a number of factors. Firstly, make sure the items you want during the day are easily to hand. These include waterproofs, hat and gloves and snacks; keep these near the top of your pack or in accessible pockets. You also need to make sure that your tent, poles, and pegs are easy to get to. If you arrive at your camping spot in pouring rain, you want to be able to get the tent up quickly without having to empty the contents of your pack.
But you also need to create little dry pockets in your backpack. How you do this will depend on the design of your backpack. You could use a one compartment pack and a liner to create a dry area at the bottom of your pack. In there you put your sleeping bag and any spare clothes. So you know that when you set-up camp, they will be dry.
If you are using a pack with side pockets, use one as a ‘clean’ pantry, to store water bottles and walking snacks. Store food and snacks in stuff sacks to make sure they don’t get contaminated. Use the other pockets to store your fuel bottle, tent pegs (an item that can easily get lost inside your pack) and any non-edible items that might contaminate food.
Finally, you want to make sure that you pack heavy items above your center of gravity and close to your back as this will really improve the stability of your pack. Fold your mat and slide it into the pack nearest your back. This gives you extra padding and prevent items digging in while you are walking.
Fitting your backpack
A poorly fitting pack can quickly make a backpacking trip miserable, so it is worth making sure that yours spread the load evenly across your shoulders and hips. The first thing to do is to loosen the shoulder straps and ensure that the hipbelt is resting just on the top of your hips. You should now adjust the back length so that the straps curve perfectly around your shoulders, and then tighten the shoulder straps using the chest height adjusters. Finally you need to tighten the top tensioning straps over your shoulders as to bring the backpack in close to your back. This helps to make the pack more secure, and also more comfortable as you are walking.
Using trekking poles
Most people use trekking poles incorrectly. They are really useful for taking some of the strain off your legs, but if you are not using them correctly then you are not going to get the most out of them.
The problem comes from how people use the wrist loops. You need to loop your hands in from underneath the strap and then bring your hand down to grip the handle and the top part of the loop.
When you are adjusting the poles for length, take the bottom section of the pole to the stop line and then adjust using the middle section, as this keeps the end of the pole lighter. Your poles should be roughly at elbow height.
Approach to long walks
When you start walking take things easy at the beginning. Go slow for the first hour to allow your muscles and heart to adjust. If you have been sitting in the office for the last week, you can’t expect your body to leap into action immediately.
If you are walking over a few days, plan in a few rest periods. Take the first day fairly easily; aim to walk gently for no more than six hours with plenty of rests. The second day you can up the pace a little, but on the third day it is a good idea to drop back on the distance you covered on the first day. After that you can pretty much walk as far as you feel able, but do listen to your body.
Food and drink
Have plenty of snacks and make sure you take more than you think you will need. Spare food is useful for emergency situations and you might surprise yourself with just how much your body requires.
Try to eat something every hour and keep drinking at regular intervals. Don’t wait until you are thirsty to take a drink; keep sipping water throughout the day.
We as hikers, explorers, and adventurers have the absolute duty to respect and protect our Wildernesses. Nobody else will do it for us. Take ownership!
The End.
Safe Hiking.
References and Acknowledgements
From the book: “The Ultimate Hiking Skills – Hinkes/Bagshaw”
Photos: Willem Pelser
Compiled by: Willem Pelser
