One Night Wilderness: Portland. Douglas Lorain

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      Mount Hood from Zigzag Mountain (Trip 39)

Advice for the First-Time Backpacker

      This book is not a “how-to” manual for new backpackers. Entire books have been written on this subject, many of which are very good and well worth reading. (For recommendations, please turn to Appendix B.) However, since every year thousands of people go backpacking for the first time, it is important to cover a few basics about making the transition from dayhiking to backpacking.

      First and foremost, welcome! There is something enormously liberating about spending a night in the wilderness. Many of the Pacific Northwest’s most spectacular attractions are beyond the reach of a comfortable dayhike, leaving them for the overnight hiker to enjoy.

      Before joining the club of lucky souls out there sleeping under the stars, however, it is important that you go in with both eyes open (while you hike, that is, not while you sleep). Many people who regularly take dayhikes assume that backpacking is just dayhiking plus spending the night. Wrong! The two activities have some very important differences. For example, people often blithely assume that since they regularly go on dayhikes of 10 miles or more, they can cover the same distance when carrying overnight gear. This is a fundamental error because backpacking is an activity in which gravity displays its most sinister qualities. Believe me, your hips, shoulders, feet, knees, and probably a few body parts you had not even thought about in years will feel every extra ounce. And at least in comparison to dayhiking, backpacking requires carrying quite a few extra ounces.

      Perhaps more importantly, backpacking calls for a different mental attitude. It is usually unwise, for example, to travel alone, at least on your first few trips. This advice applies even to people who regularly take solo dayhikes. Most people assume that this recommendation is for safety reasons, but while there is some safety in numbers, the main reason not to go backpacking alone is mental. Human beings are social animals. Most people enjoy backpacking (or any activity) much more if they have along at least one compatible companion with whom they can share the day’s events and experiences. And having a hiking partner will make your journey more comfortable, because you can lighten your load by sharing the weight of community items such as a tent, a cook stove, and a water filter. If you haven’t got the sales skills to talk reluctant friends or skeptical family members into coming along, consider joining a hiking club, where you will find plenty of people with similar outdoor interests. (See Appendix C, for the names and addresses of some local organizations.)

      Another thing that distinguishes backpacking from dayhiking is that backpackers need a different set of skills. They need to know how to hang their food to keep out bears and other critters. They need to know how to select an appropriate campsite—where breezes will keep the bugs away, where there aren’t dangerous or unstable snags overhead, where the runoff from overnight rains won’t create a lake beneath their tent, and a host of other variables. They need to know the optimal way to put things into their packs (where heavy items belong versus lighter ones) to carry a heavier load in the most comfortable way possible. Although the list of skills is long, they are all interesting, relatively easy to learn, and well worth the time and effort to acquire. (Turn to the recommended reading section in Appendix B, for a list of books that will help.)