[pct-l] Lightweight Backpacking--I'm a Believer

[Brett Tucker" <blisterfree@earthlink.net (Brett Tucker)]

Ha ha ha ha. We'll see what we can do it about!

Unfortunately, there are only so many pronouns, voices, moods, and tenses in
the English language. If there were enough to go around, we could each write
our own books in our own way and please probably ourselves and we alone. :)

- blisterfree

----- Original Message -----
From: Christine Kudija <cmkudija@earthlink.net>
To: Brett Tucker <blisterfree@earthlink.net>; Appalachian Trail
<at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>; Pacific Crest Trail
<pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 1:55 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Lightweight Backpacking--I'm a Believer


> Brett (blisterfree) wrote: <From Ray Jardine's "Beyond Backpacking," which
I
> edited . . . >
>
> Hey, Brett, next time you edit Jardine's writing, make sure you convert
his
> constant, pounding, use of the first person plural (i.e. "we must...we
> do...we think...we eat....")!!!   ;-)    I've heard Ray is perfectly nice
in
> person, but this aspect of his writing makes me CRAZY - just like the
> proverbial hospital nurse, chiming in a saccharine voice "And how are WE
> today?"
>
> Oh, goodness.  I hope I haven't started another anti-Ray rant
session...the
> more things change, the more they remain the same...
>
> Christine "Ceanothus" Kudija
>
> "Never measure the height of a mountain, until you have reached the top.
> Then you will see how low it was."  Dag Hammarskjold
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Brett Tucker" <blisterfree@earthlink.net>
> To: "Appalachian Trail" <at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>; "Pacific Crest
> Trail" <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 10:31 AM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Lightweight Backpacking--I'm a Believer
>
>
> From Ray Jardine's "Beyond Backpacking," which I edited:
>
> "Even though reducing our packweight is extremely beneficial, reducing our
> food weight is entirely counterproductive. We must never scrimp on quality
> food. Ultralight (and nutritionally empty) meals are about as useless to a
> hiker as a pogo stick would be to an astronaut. Neither provide enough
> usable energy to get them where they want to go.
>
> Continuing with the analogy, rocket fuel is incredibly heavy, but it is
also
> packed with enough energy to propel both it and the spacecraft skyward...
>
> When we consider our hiking inventory, we must remember that the weight of
> each item, while a major concern, is less important than the item's
> function. In my experience, most lightweight "foods" are not functional."
>
> (pg. 182 - Food chapter)
>
> To anyone looking to lighten their loads without compromising on food
> enjoyment, buy the book and focus particularly on this chapter. Quality of
> food is enormously important to a long-distance hiker. And town stops
(such
> as Cascade Summit or Kennedy Meadows on the PCT, and many of the smaller
> towns along the AT) don't necessarily provide a great nutritional boost,
in
> terms of the services they offer.
>
> One of the great benefits of reducing the baseline packweight (minus food
> and water) to its bare minimum, is that we're then free to fill some of
that
> empty space with truly useful things, like fresh produce. What's more
useful
> on a long journey, say 1500 miles into a PCT thru-hike, a camp chair or a
> fresh, ripe, Granny Smith apple? That may be hyperbole in this case, but
you
> get the idea.
>
> These are just generalized thoughts on the subject, not directed at or
> against anyone else's beliefs. The following is included only for
reference.
>
> - blisterfree
>
> -------------------------
>
> From: "dude" <dude@fastmail.ca>
> Date: Sun,  8 Sep 2002 15:20:51 -0400 (EDT)
>
> It takes getting used to.  The last ultralight hike that I planned
> with some friends illustrated the point:  We had just finished hiking
> about 14 miles before lunch and all my friends were saying all
> morning long how great the ultralight philosophy was because we could
> cover so much distance so effortlessly.  But then when we had lunch
> (tuna and crackers), my buddy says "Wait a minute... Let me get this
> straight.  I hike 14 miles before noon and the only food i get are
> these six crackers and some damn tuna!!!???"   Like I said, it can be
> a let down if you are looking forward to a big reward at the end of a
> day's hike, but once you get used to it and just accept that the
> rewards will only be at the drops or at the end, then it works out
> fine.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> PCT-L mailing list
> PCT-L@mailman.backcountry.net
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>