Where the Mountains Meet the Sea: Trekking the Olympic Range (Photo Essay)

[Stephanie Jordan]

Companion forum thread to:

Where the Mountains Meet the Sea: Trekking the Olympic Range (Photo Essay)

[Curtis B.]

Thanks for posting this. I quite enjoyed the writeup and the photos. It would have been nice to have been introduced to lightweight backpacking as a youth!

[Michael Gunderloy]

Is there a trade-in program where we can swap our old-school HA trainer for you?

[John St. Laurent]

I'm from Port Angeles, the principle town on the Olympic peninsula, and started out as a Scout as well, so this resonates with me a great deal. Those are great memories that still make me smile.

My troop didn't run an Eagle mill, or go to the council camps during the summer. What we did do was traverse the Olympics. We also abandoned tents early on, not only for weight but because the affordable ones simply couldn't keep you dry in the heavy rains of the shoulder seasons. It helped that our scoutmaster was a carpenter with ready access to visqueen and a grommet set from his Coast Guard days. There weren't many gear shops then, so resourcefulness was key. We even did MYOG snowshoes one season.

When the ultralight phenomenon came on the scene it was easy for me to embrace the idea of tarps and low-cut shoes, since I'd never know anything else. If anything, the emerging gear was a vast improvement in comfort, aside from any weight considerations. Coming from one of the wettest places in the lower 48, I can perhaps be forgiven for being reluctant to embrace sleeping bags made of down though.

I have no doubt that a young man will one day look back at a lifetime of exploration and point to his experience on this trip as his inspiration too.

[Stephen Parks]

What a great experience for those kids to have so early in life. What I remember about my scouting experience: exceedingly heavy gear transported to site via pickup, playboy mags on the scout bus, smoking cedar bark rolled in notebook paper, listening to Eddie Murphy's "Raw", and other such character building activities. We did occasionally manage to work in a day hike.

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