Whi is your ideal backpacking partner???

Genghis Khan.

I'd love to see if I could outdrink him beside the campfire.

Easy!
No contest.
My wife.

a lot of the folks that I have met on here from The Bay Area. Fantstic partners each and all. My wife too!

JC.

Changing water into fine wine… fresh fish galore, multiplying loaves, calming wind and rain. Instant healing in case of mishap. And dispensing wisdom too. Need I say more? :)

She's good looking, spirited, tough, fit, endlessly happy and thinks I'm the boss. My border collie Moxie.

Jesus Christ!

Katharina Pierini

Great question Tom. No doubt it would be a real treat to go out with any of the individuals at the top of your list and learn from the best. Mostly I tend to favor someone who is most closely matched in abilities and philosophies on trail conduct. Some people like to smell the flowers, others like to knock down big miles. Some take LNT to a high level and forego TP and campfires, others embrace it to a lesser degree. People have different philosophies on risk taking and safety. I like to play my mp3/speaker in camp, other shun that and prefer quiet solitude. The people I go out with the most these days have become good friends and we multiply each other's enjoyment out there. Of course, for me these folks include UL gear junkies and hammock campers. The hangers in my backpacking club cluster together and tend to plan trips around tree availability.

Mr. Thompson….+1 on that! She is great!

‘He travels fastest who travels alone’ – Kipling

Ken

My ideal partner is solitude

Roger

'I was never less alone then when by myself' – Gibbon

‘He travels fastest who travels alone’

Sure, but that wasn't the question.

"Genghis Khan.

I'd love to see if I could outdrink him beside the campfire."

That would probably be the last contest you ever won. ;]

Jesus would be the ultimate hiking partner.

Stream crossings?- just walk
Burden?- carried
hungry?- eat for weeks on the same loaves and fishes
need extra stakes? -… OK, OK… TOO FAR

Wife +1.

Then a few buddies of mine from camp, and a folk or two from the MN BPL chapter. Then Sam Haraldson.

"need extra stakes? -… OK, OK… TOO FAR"

LOL. Don't worry Jeff, if you need a backpacking partner in hell, I'm there…….

"Katharina Pierini"

Okay, I'll go with Katharina too. Of course, I've never even met her, but I'm willing to take Ken's word for it…..

if you need a backpacking partner in hell, I'm there…….

Needs to be a Facebook page for sure!

Doug. Thanks for the trust, no matter how misguided :)

No doubt about it…

whether it is a one day bushwhack through old growth devils club or a 400 mile kayak trip.

My soon to be partner (he is only good for dayhiking currently):

Ford, my oldest – who will turn 13 this month, back when he was 7 or so – has been my constant companion backpacking since he was 5:

And my husband as well.

Mostly though I end up with peeps such as Dicentra and Hoosierdaddy!

+4 for Jesus the Christ. He practiced the lightweight hiking philosophy, thought outside the box, understands nature intimately, afflicts the comfortable & comforts the afflicted, & could convert water to single malt scotch (He's already done water to wine! ;) )

+5 for Jesus. I go out to worship and see God's amazing creation. Hope to add my sons and wife at some point soon on some easy trips.

+6 for Jesus! My Son is my second choice… although, we usually do a trio thang. (Jesus, my son Michael, and Me.)

i would gladly go with anyone willing to go with me.