This weekend, the LA Times ran a story by Dan Neil, following his adventures as he tries to make a six-day, north-south backpack through Joshua Tree National Park — weighed down with 7 pounds of high-tech gear. And that’s 7 pounds in a pack that already tips the scales at 50 pounds. Ultralight, this is not.
I realize this Neil probably did this just for the story. No experienced hiker would feel the need for a GPS receiver, two personal locator beacons and a satellite phone. Nor would they ditch their tent in the middle of the park because their pack was getting too heavy. *I* wouldn’t bring an iPod, but that’s a personal thing.
There are mini-reviews of several of the devices he uses, including the much lusted-after Garmin Colorado, as well as a few traditional travel tales to keep you entertained. Neil’s a good writer, and his description of the mindset of long-distance hiking is one of the most accurate I’ve ever read:
Like other sustained-heart-rate aerobic exercises, backpacking releases neuro-hormones that, first, bring a rush of mental energy — the brainstorms, flashes of insight and relived conversations that you mutter to yourself like a crazy person.
Then, the lull of repetition, the hypnosis of boots, the trance of the trail. Crunch crunch crunch. No talking now. This is the time of listening to your body.
But for all his modern gadget-based assistance, in the end — even though he drove through the park before he set out to bury water all over the place — after 3 days and 40 miles his toenails threaten to fall off and he hitches a ride back to his car.
Goes to show you — the gadgets don’t make the hiker. The hiker makes the gadgets.
But the hiker still probably wants all those gadgets, anyway.
Photo Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times
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Very interesting subject, but I agree with you that the hiker makes the gadgets. I will however give the guy credit if he represents the general population. I did enjoy the article until I found out he had to give up. If I were he I would not have published it until I did it the second time with success. Two ultimate lessons learned here are; 1) don’t allow dirt (sand) to get into your boots, and 2) don’t let your feet get sweaty or hot.
I unfortunately had an experience that involved using a Garmin GPS that helped. A buddy and I were finishing up a day of chucker hunting on Sunday Oct 30 during the fall back of daylight savings (so we lost an hour that we were counting on from remembrances of the on the day prior). Anyhow, we decided to hike/hunt around this mountain and you guessed it we ran out of daylight. Well, my buddy, who was out of shape, had a Garmin GPS. He was to wipe out to continue. Not having the Garmin with me when I proceeded to find his jeep, I inadvertently hiked around a hill and came right back were I had left him. But get this, I was so sure of my skills in navigating that when I found my buddy I thought he was even better at it than I and made it to the jeep, given he had the Garmin GPS. I finally faced the facts and then took his Garmin GPS and trail blazed it 2 to 3 miles or 1 hour, over the roughest terrain one could image even in the daylight, but straight to the jeep. Now get this, it took only 10 minutes to find him once I got the jeep and drove back to him. I would not have exchanged that experience for anything. I’m a problem solver; I would have eventually got out with out the GPS. Ultimately it becomes a choice, do I want to way myself down with the GPS or depend on the great outdoors using only God’s initial gift to us – our brain.