The Backpacker’s Journey

[Rex Sanders]

Companion forum thread to: The Backpacker’s Journey

Rex Sanders examines the arcs and stages that backpackers take as years and mileage start to add up.

[dirtbag]

This was great!! I enjoyed reading this Rex! And seeing picture of you back in the day!!

[Alex H]

Rex you made me laugh at this one!  My first thought was you have been spending too much time thinking about this but yet it is pretty accurate.  My only variance would be that while many folks do increase their mileage as their packs get lighter it only goes so far and then they plateau, never going to high mileage days (20+).  I have been backpacking for over 50 years, have gone through all your stages, hover near an ultralight baseweight but yet have only done a few 20 miles days and as I get older have a sweet spot of around 15-17.

Great thoughts though!

[Stephen Seeber]

Hi Rex:

Enjoyed reading this.  You would think that today, with all the resources on line (such as BPL), the process could be accelerated.  Maybe seeking such resources is part of the journey that must be learned and acted upon under duress.

[Bruce Johnson]

Thank you, Rex. We are of a similar vintage, and have taken different routes to end up in similar places. It is good to get positive feedback from your article. Competitive backpacking seems like a contradiction in terms, but I see it regularly. Less, more, further, faster all miss the central point for me, but to each their own. I’ll see you out there.
Bruce Johnson

[Author]

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