First Post – A Confession/Trip Report

[Jake D]

Cool trip for sure. great pictures

only part i don't like is "We ended up getting saddled with lots of extra gear."

i'm very much in the camp of "you want it, you carry it"

I feel this is one of the only ways people will learn to leave things at home that are not necessary. if someone else is going to carry it they have no negative reinforcement to packing too much. Also if you carry it then you will notice what is getting used and what isn't. If something doesn't get used, it's left behind next time.

what can be left behind is probably my biggest lesson learned on BPL. I have Jamie Shortt's trip report blog bookmarked to look at his 5lb trips over and over to see what is possible. I don't go that light myself but the mentality helps.

[Travis B.]

Hey Jake,

I agree with the sentiment of your post. However, on this trip the lady organizing it and myself were the only experienced backpackers in the group. Though during pre-trip planning I tried to advocate packing light, we were spread out throughout the country and were not able to do good shake-downs to reduce weight. I can't blame the other two (my girlfriend's gear was pretty light) for packing heavy. Neither one had been on a backcountry trip before and like most people do, they packed their fears. Throughout the trip I was able to give them a few pointers on how to cut their weight and hopefully they'll use their newfound knowledge on other trips.

More to the point, my entire logic for trying to reduce weight is to simply enjoy my time in the bush more. However, it's only one small aspect of increasing trip enjoyment. Another important aspect of increasing enjoyment, especially on group trips, is having everyone get along and keeping group morale high. In my mind, I'd much rather haul an extra 10 lbs of gear on my back than watch a 50 year old lady struggle up the side of a hill because she didn't have the time, money, resources, or knowledge to reduce her pack weight.

The one stipulation that I enforced on the trip was that I was happy carrying additional gear, but only food and other group stuff. I wasn't going to be hauling someone's heavy, inflatable seat pad so that they didn't have to sit on the hard ground at the end of the day…

That being said, despite my initial frustration with having to carry a bunch of extra gear, it rarely mattered when we were wandering around enjoying the marvelous views.

Cheers,
Travis

[Jake D]

I can see that. being from different areas makes it difficult to do any changes. And trying to give feedback to folks you don't necessarily know well is a whole other deal.

I do carry more of the shared gear with my GF because it is usually a short trip anyway so the effect on me is less. ie i put our tent in my pack on the 2nd day.. no big deal to me, helpful for her to lose those 2lb.

[Tom Clark]

Thanks for sharing your great views!

[Steve Horne]

Great trip report and great pictures. Thanks for taking the time to write this up and post.

[Valerie E]

Travis,

Not EVERYONE on BPL is a gram weenie (although, I agree that some days, it sure seems that way!)… I guess like every "public" expression opportunity, you get the good, the bad, and everything in between! Personally, I skip over all the uber-detailed gear reports, but others want those as their main focus…

Canada's parklands are probably undervisited, but maybe we should keep it that way…;^)

BTW, the ol' Robert Service excerpt really brought back memories for me of school (Montreal)…it's been a long, long time since I've thought of that poem!

Really gorgeous shots, and wonderful trip report! Thanks and kudos.

[Author]

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