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the opposite of ultralight


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  • #2098385
    Ozzy McKinney
    Spectator

    @porcupinephobia

    Locale: PNW

    My mother describes a trip she took in college, in Alaska somewhere along the coast… the name escapes me. They had a scale at the beginning, and you "had to have" 100lbs of gear to get permits/rights/whatever for the trail. She told me it spawned from an old government regulation meant to keep unprepared folks away. Anyway, they easily made the weight by stacking wine bottles in their packs! What a tough gal.

    Sidebar, she is almost 60 now with crazy-bad rheumatoid arthritis in her feet (it destroyed most of the joints, and they stapled them back together!), and is still good for ten mile days carrying a funny old Jansport external frame. Hope I got a few of those tough genes passed down.

    Anyone know the trail she described? Guess I should call my mother…

    #2098386
    Diane Pinkers
    BPL Member

    @dipink

    Locale: Western Washington

    Might want to increase the number of band-aids–that's a lot of sharp pointy things.

    How many sharp pointy things does a guy need?

    Wait, don't answer that……

    #2098498
    Owen McMurrey
    Spectator

    @owenm

    Locale: SE US

    "How many sharp pointy things does a guy need?"

    Or a gal? Hiking out from a short overnighter last week, I saw a couple headed in, both wearing huge packs(Virgin Falls in TN, 4.5 mile in/out). The woman had a knife/hatchet combo on one side, and a machete on the other.
    It's one thing to carry a big load because you can, but she looked very unhappy half a mile from the TH.

    #2098499
    David Thomas
    BPL Member

    @davidinkenai

    Locale: North Woods. Far North.

    >""My mother describes a trip she took in college, in Alaska somewhere along the coast… the name escapes me. They had a scale at the beginning, and you "had to have" 100lbs of gear to get permits/rights/whatever for the trail. She told me it spawned from an old government regulation meant to keep unprepared folks away."

    >"Anyone know the trail she described? Guess I should call my mother…"

    Sounds like the Chilkoot Trail starting out of Dyea, Alaska – one of the routes to the Klondike gold fields starting in 1896. Canadian officials required that stampeders take 2,000 pounds of supplies, half of it food, off of a detailed list to avoid very unprepared and under-provisioned people surging into the area.

    Wikipedia says, "Park officials still require travelers to make preparation for hiking in this area." although not nearly so much tonnage is required anymore.

    #2100140
    Tipi Walter
    BPL Member

    @tipiwalter

    Short of specialized military gear, BEAT THAT!

    I can easily beat your example being that I routinely (monthly) pull long trips without resupply. It's all about "backpacking", the "light" part sort of dissolves when your trip food load is 45lbs+. Here are some pic examples for your enjoyment—

    George
    Here's George on Upper Creek in Pisgah NF carrying Everything.

    24 Days
    Here's my pack at the start of a 24 day winter trip with one food/fuel load.

    Rob
    Backpacking buddy Rob with his big Astralplane.

    Mitten
    Little Mitten at the beginning of a 20 day trip and trying to keep me from tipping over.

    You get the idea.

    #2100143
    David Ure
    Member

    @familyguy

    Tipi, you win.

    #2100151
    Tipi Walter
    BPL Member

    @tipiwalter

    Don't be so quick to pronounce me the winner. What about George, or Rob? How about the other examples??—

    Example 1
    Another contender.

    Ex 2
    It's a tight race.

    #2100158
    TKB 1979
    Member

    @arizona1979

    Locale: DESERT SOUTHWEST

    "… when your trip food load is 45lbs+ …."

    Wow! I seriously need to start doing push-ups. My heaviest pack with everything was 48 lbs. Part of the trail was on a 2 1/2 ft. lip or ridge above/next to a stream. I tripped on a rock, starting tipping over that lip & could do nothing at all to stop it. Just sort of a slow motion roll onto my back & straight into the water. All involved agreed it was hilarious.

    I definitely think you win!

    #2100654
    Jake S
    Member

    @spags

    I've always liked this picture:

    georgia fog

    #2100658
    Ken Thompson
    BPL Member

    @here

    Locale: Right there

    ugh

    #2100662
    Marko Botsaris
    BPL Member

    @millonas

    Locale: Santa Cruz Mountains, CA

    Dang! Which one is carrying the stove do you think?

    #2100664
    Ken Thompson
    BPL Member

    @here

    Locale: Right there

    All that for a two night trip. Though we coveted their clean sweats after dinner. And they tarped.

    And now we have photographic evidence to show us how sick Walter is.

    #2100673
    David LaRue
    Spectator

    @phaedrus

    Locale: Chicagoland

    Is there hope ..?

    Scouts on Philmont Trek .. overloaded

    #2100675
    David Thomas
    BPL Member

    @davidinkenai

    Locale: North Woods. Far North.

    Ken: That looks like the Bear Valley Trailhead at Point Reyes. That's an impressive amount of stuff, but I've seen (and done) worse on that trail.

    #2100677
    Ken Thompson
    BPL Member

    @here

    Locale: Right there

    David, it is. I have too.

    #2100687
    Justin Baker
    BPL Member

    @justin_baker

    Locale: Santa Rosa, CA

    Am I the only person in the world who started off ultralight? My first real backpacking trip I had like a 25 pound pack. That was long before I had ever discovered this site or knew what ultralight backpacking was.

    #2100707
    Barry Cuthbert
    BPL Member

    @nzbazza

    Locale: New Zealand

    It that a pack mule in the middle of the photo hauling a ton of gear as well…

    #2100726
    Derek M.
    BPL Member

    @dmusashe

    Locale: Southern California

    You guys are being way too hard on the "clinkers" (it's what I call them, for obvious reasons) like this poor guy here:
    clinker

    These "clinkers" know that they no longer have to carry the oppressive weight of bear bells when they pack like they do…

    It's all very strategic… You hardcore ultralighters would never understand! :)

    #2100765
    Tipi Walter
    BPL Member

    @tipiwalter

    Love your pic Ken Thompson. It's an external frame festival!

    I have some time on my hands so I dipped into my photo archive and found some to share.

    Scouts
    Did someone mention the Boy Scouts? Check out a sudden October storm at 5,300 feet in the Southern Appalachians.

    Group Load
    Here's a standard group shot showing the usual packs.

    Creek 1
    Chantelle is crossing Slickrock Creek with a fairly large pack (although volume does not equate to weight).

    Wisenber
    Here is Wisenber crossing a creek and carrying a weird German pack which looks like a duffel bag with shoulder straps.

    Squirrel and Smack
    Here are two BMT thruhikers crossing Slickrock Creek with small packs.

    Old Jansport
    Here's a neat pic of an old Jansport pack.

    #2100767
    Tipi Walter
    BPL Member

    @tipiwalter

    Okay, here's some more—-

    Aarn
    Here's Medicine Man with his Aarn front pack setup.

    Thruhiker Pack
    Now this is more like it—a BMT thruhiker with a very small pack.

    Cola
    Here's Cola with his uber light pack and gossamer light poles.

    Black Wolf
    Here's Black Wolf's sub 5lb pack.

    German Tourist
    Here's the German Tourist with her pack approaching Big Frog Mt.

    #2100770
    Tipi Walter
    BPL Member

    @tipiwalter

    Molloy
    Johnny Molloy is old school with his external frame pack.

    Regina
    Regina Reiter's pack on a 9 day trip.

    Sgt Rock
    Sgt Rock and his pack on a 9 day trip.

    Duluth
    Looks uncomfy but it's a guy with a Duluth type pack.

    Bob Mt
    Out for a weekend.

    UltraLoader
    Let's get back to what's important: Ultraload backpacking. Here is Uncle Fungus at the start of a 20 day trip.

    #2100774
    Ron Jameson
    BPL Member

    @tigerpaws

    Locale: Upstate SC

    Tipi You are the man! You make us old folks feel proud. Ron

    #2100895
    Justin Baker
    BPL Member

    @justin_baker

    Locale: Santa Rosa, CA

    I'm digging the massive canvas pack. Is that a frost river?

    #2100904
    HkNewman
    BPL Member

    @hknewman

    Locale: The West is (still) the Best

    A couple months ago at Coast camp (Pt. Reyes), some backpacked in their surf boards and a party camp. Sometimes a big pack is needed.

    Several years back, during a Grand Canyon spring heat wave,I saw a couple with huge 70's externals going up the South Rim as the mid-afternoon shade extended on their climb. Sometimes a big pack is just a torture instrument.

    #2101092
    Jennifer Mitol
    Spectator

    @jenmitol

    Locale: In my dreams....

    When I was leading beginning backpacking trips in Northern Michigan a few years ago I had two crazy crazy experiences with people (well, way more than that, but two that are relevant to our conversation). Here is one of them:

    This guy asked to bring his girlfriend and said he'd keep an eye on her and do a pack shake down for her. He'd been backpacking "a lot" he said, but this would be her first. Since the trip was all of 9 miles over 2 days (specifically a beginner trip) and along the Manistee River Trail (easy easy, walk along the river so no water issues…perfect beginner trip) I said GREAT! Bring her along…

    Well……

    At breakfast (everyone arrived Friday night late), the couple dragged out their massive 90L packs, opened up a huge box of pancake mix and made pancakes on their 8" frying pan using their metal spatula. "We're going to eat like KINGS on this trip!" he said.

    Clue #1.

    Then we all pack up, not really paying attention to them and hit the trail. About 15 minutes in the girl, wearing blue jeans and a huge cotton hooded college sweatshirt, starts to cry. Her arms are numb and her shoulders hurt. She borrowed her son's backpack (he was obviously MUCH taller than her) and didn't really know how to adjust it. So we helped her with the straps.

    Clue #2.

    Then 5 minutes later we have to stop again, because she's still crying. We empty her pack. She was carrying CANS of food – not just for a meal or so, but cans of INGREDIENTS to make several meals, 5L of water. YES, 5L of water to walk 9 miles next to a full, flowing river. We dumped it ALL out. The guy protested…"she needs that to drink!"

    Clue #3.

    Then we stop for lunch. They pull out even more cans, full boxes of pop tarts…turns out she had a clean pair of blue jeans and a clean, thick cotton hooded sweatshirt for the next day, as well as a full pair of flannel pajamas.

    At this point the whole group basically shames the guy to carry literally everything from her pack except her clothes. Apparently he was a boy scout leader and that's "how WE do it!"

    We BARELY made the 9 miles by sundown on Sunday…in time for the 6 hour drive back to Chicago.

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