[at-l] slackpacking: opinions on it ?

[m_factor@hotmail.com (Mara Factor)]

HYOH.

That being said, you can ask yourself whether "you" are out to walk from 
Georgia to Maine or are "you and your pack" out to walk from Georgia to 
Maine.

I like hiking.  I like backpacking and day hiking.  I am trying to minimize 
my pack weight all the time.  There are some people out there whose 
backpacks weigh less than other people's day packs.

That being said, I was walking from Georgia to Maine.  I had no doubts that 
I could carry my pack, but when opportunities presented themselves, I was 
happy to hike without my backpack.  I didn't slackpack at all until the 
Shenandoah.  By the time I finished my thruhike, I had slackpacked a full 
quarter of the trail.  I just saw it as minimizing the weight I had to carry 
at any given moment.  I (not my belongings) was out to walk the distance.

A couple of warnings:

Many people who slackpack a lot find it difficult to pick up their full 
packs and keep walking if they've been slackpacking a lot.  Neither I nor 
most of the people I was slackpacking with found this to be much of a 
problem, but we did see a lot of people who did.  Many of them stopped 
slackpacking and just carried their packs all the time.  I don't know of 
anyone who got off the trail because they no longer wanted to carry a full 
backpack but I wouldn't be surprised if that did happen to a few people.  As 
a matter of fact, slackpacking can allow you to keep moving when some types 
of injuries might otherwise pull you off the trail for short periods of time 
(or possibly for good).

Also, you do lose some flexability when you slackpack.  If you are expected 
at a certain time, you may have to keep moving when you might otherwise stop 
at a great swimming hole or a wonderful viewpoint where you woudld otherwise 
take a 2 hour break.  If you get tired, you have to keep moving.  You can't 
stop for the night without your pack.

So, once again, hike your own hike, and set your own priorities.

Mara
Stitches, GAME99

http://friends.backcountry.net/m_factor

>From: Desert Nomad <lucy@uia.net>
>Date: 29 Dec 2001 21:14:04 GMT
>
>Do you think it is taking away from the mystique of the AT or is "hike
>your own hike" all that truly matters??

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