I took my first backpacking trip right after I graduated from college. I was living in a student co-op in Berkeley, and a bunch of us decided to celebrate the end of the year by going up to Half Dome in Yosemite. Having never backpacked before, I borrowed whatever gear I could from friends and scrounged an assortment of food from the co-op.
At the trailhead to Vernal Falls, I carried a Coleman external frame pack, a white gas two-burner car camping stove, a gallon of fuel, a four-person tent, a gallon jug of water, some extra clothing, and a five-pound jar of peanut butter.
I was twenty-three years old, young, fit, and I was in pain.
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