[pct-l] Backpacking in combat boots....before the UL revolution

[David Evans]

Welcome to the 21st century!  Equal rights = equal responsibility
Women can carry there own @$%^ing packs..... and the dog!   :>)




Yes Switchback  &  Mendo Rider,
Backpacking has certainly changed since the UL Revolution.
Hauling 50-60 lb packs and wearing "waffle stomper boots" was the norm
in those pre-revolution days.
I remember when I first hiked the JMT with the Scouts in 1996 hauling a
75 lb pack starting at Yosemite and a
85 lb pack after resupplying at Vermilion.
I remember when I first hiked Mt.Whitney in 1968 or 1969, with my wife,
hauling a monster pack and wearing
combat boots.

BTW....you ain't "Hard-Core" until you hiked Whitney in combat boots.

I was a bad a$$ recently discharged Marine Corps "Grunt" used to hauling
heavy packs and treating my women right.
So, it went against my grain to have my lovely recent bride haul a pack.
So, everything went int a "Marine Grunt" pack and onto my back with
Karen (my wife) skip hoping along and me grunting all the way.....that
may give you guys a clue why they call the Marine Infantry the "GRUNTS".
BTW....I also had to carry "Schatzy", our miniature Dachshund most of
the way.
But Karen cooooing into my ear...."Reinhold you are my hero"....made it
all worth it.
That is all I ever wanted to be......."Karen's hero".

Say guys,  I understand now-a-days you guys make your women carry their
own packs.
Yes, things have really changed from the days when Switchback and
Reinhold ruled the trails.
Yes, there was a time when Saber Tooth Tigers roamed the wilderness, the
bones of hikers littered the trails and only
"Hard-Core Mountain Men" dared to roam the wilderness.

JMT Reinhold]
One of the pre-revolution "Old Timers