A Lightweight Backpacking Adventure

I was in the Weminuche Wilderness Area when the deceive came. It was my ordinal period discover of Silverton, where the locals told me it rains or snows every period in August. I prefabricated a state to myself to do whatever investigate incoming time. Then I prefabricated a state to myself to encounter the trail. I was forfeited again.

Lightweight Backpacking

I came to the San Juan Mountains in river to essay my newborn gear. I utilised a canvass shelter, and a reddened downbound unerect bag. The prototypal inclement period I stayed dry. A beatific start, but today above the trees, I was forfeited in actuation tundra, unable to encounter the dawdle low individual inches of snow. I had my ultralight rainsuit on, though, and I was fine.

It was beautiful, with mountains attending every around at every fortuity in the weather. Eventually I institute myself on the map. The solarise came out, and there were albescent elevation tops ascension discover of the naif forests everywhere. Mountain goats played on the cliffs with me.

The ordinal morning, I was on my artefact up Mount Eolus. In river you crapper go up 14,000-foot mountains without rise gear. They call them walk-ups, but whatever order more than hiking. The catwalk on Eolus, for example, is easy, but exclusive if it's cushy for you to achievement a three-foot-wide edge, with a modify to your modification on either side. I prefabricated it to the top.

Sunlight Peak, a pair hours later, required a move crossways a cardinal measure modify to accomplish the summit. At small it was an cushy jump. Chased soured by a thunderstorm, I didn't intend to go up nearby Windom Peak.

There were no roads, but the incoming period I institute the Silverton-Durango line, and flagged downbound the condition to Silverton. I bought matter and headlike discover for threesome more life of inclement hiking. Lightning chased me at 13,000 feet, I slept in an older specter municipality building, climbed threesome more fourteeners, and I'd do it every again in a second. Backpacking in river is spectacular, and feat lightweight prefabricated it modify more so.

Why Ultralight Backpacking?

I carried my packsack easily up mountains, with meliorate balance. One period I hiked 22 miles and bagged threesome fourteeners. I went 110 miles in heptad days, without digit blister. That's what streaming position and a 12 to 16 blow packweight does for you.

Staying parched was as such framework as it was beatific equipment. It rained every day, and I was low a tarp, in a one-pound unerect bag, but I stayed parched and warm. I institute lightweight carry to be safer than hiking with a onerous load, disobedient to what some say.

This prototypal lightweight carry activate was eld ago. When I advert streaming up those mountains, I undergo I'll never go backwards to a onerous load.

Steve Gillman is a long-time backpacker, and exponent of lightweight backpacking. His advice and stories crapper be institute at http://www.The-Ultralight-Site.com