Lightweight Testimony: Mother Nature Insisted I Go Light

Interesting and enjoyable story.

Really liked the concept of Navy officer goes backpacking!

(a long time ago, I was a snipe on a birdfarm)

Carol: What a generous article! I think many of us make both journeys to places on the 'outside' which are simultaneously journeys of an internal nature.

In the midst of a winter North of 60 in Canada's North West, I face similar dilemmas about how much is enough in a vast landscape with few town resources other than those which we carry between our ears…

Still, for ultra-long-range cycling I take many of the tips I learn here to lighten my load, both in weight and in internal heaviness as well…

Well done!
Paul Davis
Whitehorse
Yukon
Canada

Carol,

What a great read! Your story is VERY inspiring to me! I was worried that I was starting too late in life (47 years old) and with too little experience. In fact, the only camping experiences I had were a couple of summer camp/ boyscout weekenders as a kid. I've read a lot of the articles and reviews you've written and I want you to know that this one spoke to me the most. Like you I have always had an inner calling to explore the outdoors. It wasn't until now that I made a firm commitment to having my backpacking adventures. I think going backpacking is the ultimate way to really experience nature and appreciate the beauty of it all. It's the best way to feel the oneness of everything.

I was an OS from 1981 to 1982 and an OT from 1982 to 1985. Since you were at Adak, I'm sure you know what an OT was. The last couple of months of my enlistment the detailer made me an offer to go to Adak, after which he said I could have any duty station I wanted. I decided to get out and go to college instead. I've always regretted that decision.

I'd heard such wonderful things about Adak from friends who were stationed there, I wish I would have signed up for one more hitch to have the experience of serving there. I guess you could say in a way that "mother nature insisted I go light," because of my late age at starting backpacking and several sports injuries that never quite healed properly. I bought all this heavy gear before I read "Lightweight Backpacking and Camping," and before reading this site for the last 2 years. I am totally sold on the concepts of UL backpacking! So, now I have been in the process of replacing all of that previously purchased "heavy" gear with lightweight gear and I'm almost there.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that it's nice to hear someone else share a story that I can very much relate to. Thank you also for all of your other work on Backpackinglight.com. Your experiences and your guidance in your articles and reviews are greatly appreciated and have helped me immensely in my gear buying decisions as well as learning UL skills.

Thanks again,

Kendall

Carol,
Good to read more of your inspiring story. I'm not sure why I am still surprised to hear about a UL or SUL guru that went through a similar transformation. It seems we all are initially influenced by traditions/fears, and it takes time to reach a better way of doing things.

Thanks for all the nice comments everyone!

George,
"Snipe on a birdfarm" made me laugh. I'm surprised an acronym hasn't been made up for that. Or has one – SNOBF ?

Kendall,
Where were you stationed as an OT? I was at Navfac Adak in 82 and then went to COSL (now CUS I think). I was EMO, then OPSO at NOPF a few years later. Did you master the art of gram reading? (Just trying to throw around some more Navy lingo :)
Carol

Carol,

Where else could I've had 70,000 horsepower at my finger tips before I was 20 years old?

Ahead Flank!

Carol,

Wow! I haven't heard "COSL" or "NOPF" in 23 years! I was stationed at NavFac Centerville Beach in northern California as an OT from '82-'85. I periodically have dreams about squiggly AND straight lines all of which I can identify except for that ONE that comes online for just a few minutes and I have NO idea what it is. Or, I wake up expecting to see reader rot (carbon dust) covering the right side of my palm and I can still feel the red pencil in my hand. My favorite is getting ready for an inspection and my dixie cup is missing, their's a problem with my belt buckle or my uniform is a wrinkled mess – LOL… But, I suppose I had it easy compared to the people serving today. I almost went back in after 911 but my life had changed too much by then.

George,

I was an OS on the USS Roanoke out of Alameda, CA. for about a year before going to OT A-School in Norfolk Virginia. Which carrier were you on?

USS Independence
(Med cruises in '73 and '74)

Decommissioned I believe in late 90's

Carol –
I really enjoyed your story. Is Adak Island only for military personnel, or is it a place that civilians can go to? The picture you have of it is just beautiful.

Thanks for a wonderful read!

Kathy

Kathy,
Adak was only military when I was there, but has since been "decomissioned." It is a pretty unique place compared to the lower 48. I don't know what its status is now.
Carol