Is Backpacking a Sport?

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I used to backpack a lot with my dad and brother back in junior high and high school. We were dorks back then. I probably weighed 100 pounds on some of those trips, but I’d load up a big old canvas Boy Scout external frame pack with 50 lbs of gear…just for a three-day trip up near Lake City, Colorado. I used to cram frozen steaks, cans of beans, cans of Dr. Pepper, sweatshirts, and extra pairs of jeans into those trips…it’s no wonder my packs were so heavy back then. The trails were never that difficult, with only a slight elevation increase. But I always remember being pretty miserable on the way up.

But I’ve learned. Last weekend I went on my second big backpacking trip in the last two years with some good friends, and I think I’ve gotten a good taste of the virtues of packing light. My pack — a midlevel GoLite pack I got off eBay — weighed only 25 pounds, but carried enough gear, clothing and food to keep me clean, dry, and well-fed for four days. It’s a good thing I learned to lighten up, too. This trail was nearly six miles long with an elevation gain of over 4,000 feet. We hiked up to the Bushnell Lakes, a set of three alpine lakes between 11,000 and 12,000 feet near Coaldale, Colorado.

Going up — thanks to intermittent rain and occasional climbing stretches that were pretty much like walking up flights of stairs in a lovely forest setting — took six hours. After two days of camping, hiking, summiting, flyfishing (big, beautiful cutthroat trout at the top lake), and hanging out around a campfire, we came back down to the trailhead. The descent took less than two hours. And while the road up was exhausting thanks to the climb and the altitude, the road down was flat-out painful. A steep descent like that — over rocky terrain — is constant pressure on the quads, the calves, and the soles of the feet.

The trail up and the trail down are both tough, but you know what makes it a lot easier? Traveling light. With a smaller pack I could enjoy most of the trail, rather than focusing only on getting to the destination as soon as possible and getting the stinking pack off my aching back. It’s why you can still smile after three miles and 3,000 feet of climbing, like this:

The lesson? I think there’s a pretty good metaphor in there somewhere. There’s value in simplicity. And backpacking teaches a person a lot about simplicity. Like how it’s OK to eat oatmeal every morning. And how it’s not a crime to wear the same shirt for three straight days. And how the best thing to do with a bunch of good friends is to just hang out and talk and tell stories, especially if a campfire is involved. And how a weekend without televisions and cell phones and box scores isn’t necessarily bad.

If you want a full recap of the trip, along with pretty pictures, you can find it starting here at my family’s blog.

And if you get a chance, go backpacking.