Getting to Just Right

Yesterday I was clever.

That is why I wanted to change the world. . .

Today I am wise.

That is why I am changing myself.

Sri Chimney

My last post (When Ultra-Lite is Too Lite, August 6) drew a huge number of comments from my readers, more than I have ever received from a single post. They centered around three themes: too much, too little, and just right. Getting to just right is a process, it seems. Pack weight matters. It matters a lot.

Many shared the reasons why they still carry a relatively heavy pack: a fondness for gourmet food in camp, a comfortable sleeping system, even the need to carry a CPAP machine.

Others told stories of ultra-lite hikers they have met along the trail. “They always seem to be cold and wet,” one person said, an observation I made several years ago when hiking the PCT. One hiker I met carried only a small day pack in which he had a sleeping bag and a single water bottle. His meals consisted of Gummy Bears and peanuts. He packed no extra clothes besides what he was wearing: cut-off’s and a T-shirt. He was nearing the end of the journey. Having completed over two thousand miles of hiking one would expect to see a fine and muscular specimen, but instead he simply looked emaciated. At the very least, he did not look to be having a good time.

Then again, an excessively heavy pack does not make for a good time either. As I wrote above, it is a process. Most hikers I learned start out with too much, make the transition to ultra-lite, and then begin the process of adding weight to increase comfort in camp, which is what I have been working on for the last couple of weeks as I prepare for my next trip.

As it turns out I made a trip to the big city recently while visiting my daughters, and we somehow found ourselves in REI. I had not planned to buy a new pack, but there it was, calling to me from the rack, an Osprey just three liters larger than the one I have been carrying since I hiked the PNT five years ago. I tried it on. It was comfortable. I bought it. Of course I did.

The purchase reinforced my obsession with pack weight. The new pack weighs two pounds more than the old one. I added a heavier, warmer sleeping bag, which added another two pounds. The weight was piling on fast. My goal had been to keep it under thirty pounds, and I succeeded by weighing in at twenty-nine, six pounds more than I carried on my last trip. Yes, I obsess about pack weight.

Buying a new pack has for many years been one of my greatest pleasures, rather like moving into a new home. I enjoy the process of figuring out where to put things, adjusting the straps so that the additional weight can be carried with ease, getting to just right.

Like Goldilocks I have slept on mattress pads that were too hard, too soft, and just right. Like Goldilocks I sometimes find my oatmeal to be too hot, too cold, and mostly just right. And like Goldilocks I hope to crawl into a cozy sleeping bag on the trail next week, snuggle into the warmth of down, and fall asleep in a bed that is just right.

For the next couple of weeks I will be on the trail instead of writing about it. I hope to return with new adventures to share with you.