Ultralight Backpacking
(This 740th Buffalo Sunday News column was first published on June
5, 2005.)
Yesterday was National Trails Day and I offer a coda to that celebration
of hiking.
Some time ago I
reported on the cross-continent backpacking adventure of Andy Skurka. To bring
you up to date: Skurka, who began his trek on Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula last
August and passed through western New York in October, has now reached the
Rocky Mountains near Glacier Park in Montana, having completed 5/6 of his 7700
mile journey.
What most
impressed me about Skurka when we met last fall was how he had reduced his pack
to a remarkable eleven pounds. All I could think of was my own experiences
carrying much heavier loads.
One episode in
particular came to mind. My wife had driven me to a high wind-swept hill near
Ithaca and I pulled my pack out of the car to commence a five-day hike along
the Finger Lakes Trail. As I struggled into my pack frame, I sagged under the
50-pound load and Doris asked, "Do you think you are up to this?"
Quite frankly, I wasn't sure and I seriously considered getting back into the
car and returning home. But the first part of the trail was downhill. I just
shrugged, she gave me one of those "I may never see you again" waves
and I staggered off on my way. Needless to say, I completed the hike but that
heavy pack didn't help.
How I wish
people like "Java Joe" Dabes of Dryden, New York had been around to
help me lighten that load. Dabes' total backpacking load is 15 pounds, (unlike
Skurka he includes food and water making their loads similar) for a three
day-two night trip. When his wife joins him, he takes a tent, adding just two
more pounds.
Here is how he
carries off this amazing feat.
He buys
lightweight equipment from outdoor stores like Campmor, Eastern Mountain
Sports, Golite and REI. The competition among manufacturers is fierce and every
year these outfitters come up with still lighter items.
Only six pounds
takes care of his overnight equipment. These include pack, sleeping bag, tarp,
mattress pad, mosquito hood and ground cloth. The tarp I've been using weighs
five times as much as Dabes' 18 ounce version and mine is more subject to
tears.
Packed clothing
contributes less than two pounds: long-johns, T-shirt, storm pants, running
shorts, sox and a stuff-sack to contain them. That warm underwear adds the
most, eight ounces.
Then comes
another big saving: cooking supplies. The weight of stoves has never been more
than a pound or two but the butane, kerosene or white gas fuel with their
containers always added more weight. Dabes gets away with one pound for
everything by carrying only eight ounces of denatured alcohol in a bottle, his
0.4 ounce stove, windscreen, lighter and a 3-cup pot. For longer trips he also
carries a twig stove, homemade from a five-inch diameter tin. It weighs an
additional four ounces.
For that three
day trip he only carries five pounds of food and water, almost half of that
weight water. For his breakfasts he takes four oatmeal packets and two coffee
bags. For his lunches: six energy bars, a commercial turkey pepperoni and gorp.
And for his two suppers: six ounce freeze dried dinners in foil. He also
carries a plastic measuring cup and, yes, a lexan spoon. All this goes in a one
ounce stuff bag.
Another pound
and a half Dabes allots to what he calls necessities: such things as a small
folding knife, toothpaste and toothbrush, a head lamp, nylon rope,
biodegradable soap, various medications, toilet paper, a radio that carries
weather information, a cell phone and maps.
There are a few
other items he occasionally carries: a six ounce UV water sterilizer, a memo
pad and pen, together weighing only one ounce, and his six ounce digital
camera. He carries an eleven ounce hiking pole. Even these extras only raise
his weight total by 2 1/2 pounds.
For a detailed
listing of the items he packs including sources, e-mail Dabes at kabjnd@msn.com.
I'm all for
Dabes' style of hiking.-- Gerry
Rising