[pct-l] 80 lbs

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

On Oct 26, 2010, at 1:17 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> It is interesting that the "heavy weight" folks I met always tried  
> to rationalize their pack to me even though I never said a word.  
> These folks were always quick to point out how small my pack was.

I've had the same experience.

This summer I hiked a few days on the JMT. At a creek crossing I knew  
I would have to get my feet wet so I just walked right through to the  
other side and kept going. On the other side, I heard someone holler  
out to me, "That didn't slow you down one bit!" I turned to look at  
the person and there were a couple of guys putting their shoes back  
on after crossing the creek. I went over to say hi. They started  
making comments about my small pack. They were genuinely curious. One  
of the guys wanted to give me his card so I could go see his trip  
report and pictures when he was finished. I never once made a  
suggestion or anything to them about gear, but I did answer a few  
questions.

Later, I was sitting near a small stream treating some water and  
having a snack. I was admiring the views when two women carrying  
enormous loads rest-stepped up the trail. The first lady saw me and  
the first thing she said was, "We're just taking it slow, trying to  
savor the experience." I didn't even say hi yet to her. Anyway, I  
asked her if she was hiking the whole JMT. I was feeling lonely and  
wishing I could meet some friendly hiker trash who would want to talk  
about their adventures. She said they were hiking the JMT and then  
she started making excuses for not going light. I didn't care about  
any of that, I just wanted to hear about her adventure.

On and on it went for 4 days. It was always like that. I never really  
met anyone. I never really got to talk about adventure and the  
wonders of being there with anyone. Every conversation was steered --  
not by me -- toward pack weight and how heavy their packs were and  
how slowly they were going and excuses and apologies. I never said a  
word. It's not my place. I just hiked along and people made these  
comments to me out of nowhere. It was really frustrating.

Diane