Backpacking Preparation
Hello my fellow Backpackers. This is going to be an article on things to have completed prior to getting to a trail head with your pack. The scope of this will cover physical preparation, planning your route and daily itinerary, food, and equipment maintenance and prep.
This writeup will be most valuable to the beginner to intermediate backpacker. I’ve been backpacking for about 15 years and typically get out about twice a year. These two trips are often the highlight of the year. As far as how I’ve learned; through reading books, the web, and backpacking. There is no substitute for learning by doing. The lessons I’ve learned in the wood are priceless and at times, they’ve been learned the hard way. See my article on Lessons Learned to possibly avoid something that less than pleasant…
A book that I’ve found very useful is The Backpackers Handbookby Chris Townsend and I highly recommend it. It will teach you skills as well as a gear guide. I don’t know if all gear advice will be current but it’s still worth the read.
I mainly use websites to find places I want to go and to plan a route. Recommended websites for planning where to go and trails are:
www.backpackinglight.com(trips and gear)
www.andrewskurka.com(long trips, strategy, and gear)
www.christownsendoutdoors.com (the author of The Backpackers Handbook above)
Physical Preparation:
This is an important topic. You must convince yourself that you can do what you are planning to do. If you are an avid runner, mountain biker, triathlete type you are going to be fine. If you are not in athletic shape you need to prepare yourself for backpacking.
I have a regiment that works, which started out with a genius physical therapist I had when I trashed my neck (pinched nerve – pain…) a long time ago. She asked me as I was going through the healing process of my neck “What is your goal of this therapy? Where do you want to get to?”. My response of immediate “I need to get back to backpacking”. Here I was anticipating the typical and expected response of going to a gym and starting on a treadmill, walking improving to running, increasing incline over time. I was wrong. My genius physical therapist said “OK – bring me your pack on your next visit – I want to check the fit.” So I brought it, knowing my fit was good as it must be. She agreed the fit worked. She told me to get back to backpacking I needed to train – by backpacking!. She told me to put 10 pounds in it, and hike in various terrain settings. We increased weight to 25 pounds and increased length of workouts over time. I backpacked that year. Pure and simple genius and unheard of!
This is my advice on physical preparation for the non-athlete: Hike two to three times per week on trails. Always carry a daypack (I use a small one) but it has water and gear and weighs 10ish pounds. And if you can find hills, hike them as much as possible. I find the nastiest, gnarliest, hills I can because I’m always headed to mountains when I backpack. Time yourself and improve your pace over time. Sometimes when I’m psyched I might even run on some sections. Most weeks – all year – I will get two hikes in. For the month or so prior to “the trip” I will increase to three hikes. All hikes I do are 2.5-3.5 hours. If the idea of wearing what most likely will be 40 pounds on your back is unknown or new to you, increase that weight in your pack on the hikes as you are able.
Anything else you add to the above is purely an individual desire. Weight training, mountain biking, swimming, etc are all great cross-training concepts. Personally my exercise passion beyond hiking is Yoga, all styles. There are added benefits to Yoga which I will discuss in the Lifestyle – Exercise area of my website. But the combination of hiking, walking, and Yoga serves me well in life and keeps my body and mind younger than I am…
Your Route:
As I think of what to write here, my first advice is if you are a beginner – don’t plan your route and don’t plan your daily itinerary! Let someone else do that for you that knows what’s what. But I started my backpacking and didn’t get that advice nor would I have taken it (Yes – Hardheaded, Invincible, Fearless). So my second bit of advice is make sure you read my article on Lessons Learned – you might need it.
Parameters:
Number of Days from Trailhead In to Trailhead Out
Trail Routes
Time of Year
I’m not going to get into what kind of trip (ocean scape, mountain scape, desert scape, etc). I’m not going to get into best day activities (fishing, hot spring pools, animal watching, fossil finding, etc). This writeup will be purely function and not a personal preference discussion.
Number of days is self-explanatory – you know what time you can carve out. For the beginner, take it a bit easy. I’d recommend 4 to 6 days.
Trail Routes leads to a bit of a discussion. There are three main kinds of routes: Out and back, a Loop, and a Through Route.
The “Out and Back” and “Loop” get you back to exactly where you started. Out and Back has the advantage that you are going back exactly the way you came so you now know it. The Loop has the advantage that you are experiencing new terrain, new views, all the time so this is often a bit more interesting.
The Through Route is nice in that you are experiencing new terrain all the time like the Loop, and it’s like the Out and Back but you don’t go back. This takes more preparation because you need a dropoff and a pickup at your two trailheads or you need to get a car to your exit. So it’s a bit more of a hassle. Sometimes you need to do a particular route, maybe a canyon (Grand Canyon Of The Rockies), or a particular river (Virgin River) and going both Out and Back is way too long. So you do a Through Route.
It’s up to you to pick the location you are heading to. And you can decide on the type of route that your meet the needs of your goals.
Altitude / Elevation is a consideration too. My group probably wants to add a paragraph here on me. I screw this up half the time. There are many parameters that go into planning where you are going, and how you are getting there. There typically is more than one way. It’s true that I always know the altitude we start and the altitude we are going to. I care about how high an elevation we are going to due to the physical and health aspects of it. I know, for me, that I get headaches above 10,500 feet and I try not to sleep this high, in fact I have a hard time sleeping above this. What I fail at, and probably always will, is tracking total elevation gain and drop. More than once I’ve planned a trip to a special location, and the route start and finish is a 3000 to 4000 foot gain. But halfway through it, you might go over a saddle and drop down 1000 feet into a valley only to have to regain all that altitude. I hate losing a lot of altitude I’ve already gained. My friends want to throw me off the saddle when we look down into that valley. So my advice is that you might want to pay attention to those elevation lines on your maps. If you’re using computer tools and generate an elevation profile check it twice. I do this, but still I just seem to not notice as much as I should the elevation drops. But remember that I’m Hardheaded, Invincible, and Fearless – I’m trying to get somewhere damnit. And the elevation drops haven’t killed me yet…
Here are a few points on time of year to consider. You have to be cognizant of trail conditions and water. As a rule, I want water from the wood. I’m not carrying all my water needs on my back, ever. There are many streams on maps that have water only in the more wet seasons and not necessarily when you go out into the wood. And although more rare, I have seen alpine lakes that look like puddles if the winter had low snowfall. Check on your lake destinations, the deeper they are the more likely they are just fine and full of water (and fish).
Another important consideration is snow when you are going to higher altitudes, for instance in the Northern Rockies. Not falling snow but melting snow. In the Northern Rockies some snow never melts, but it’s typically pretty safe to go at the end of July. Ground snow has two consequences; First, you’re going to lose your trails – you can’t see where they are until you get past the snow field and it’s not always easy to find them at that point in the middle of the mountain wilderness – it can take time. And two without crampons it gets dangerous to walk over a snow field as it’s slippery and it’s possibly steep. Your other choice is to hope you can walk around it. Hope is not a strategy. So, my advice – avoid the time of year where ground snow is prevalent. I plan higher altitude trips where there is heavy snowfall in the winter in late July to end of August. There is still snow, in fact there are skiers skiing North facing slopes! But the trails are manageable.
Also; Avoid rainy seasons. Avoid stream/river runoff seasons. If possible avoid mud/bog season. And last but not least avoid black fly or mosquito season.
Daily Itinerary:
At this point we have an idea on when we are going, how many days, and in general a location. The next level of granularity is a daily plan. Personally I like getting to a key location or locations and hanging out in them for some exploration. For me personally, more often than not this has to do with water (think Lake or River). Making and breaking camps is time consuming so hanging out in a location for a couple of days makes sense to me. While at my target location(s) I’m exploring, day tripping, finding elusive animals, hitting a peak, and fishing for a couple days. After all it’s a target location right? It might take two days to get to your target location, why not hang out for a couple days?
Let’s get a bit more detailed and discuss Pace. I can hike 2.5-3 miles per hour when I’m doing my hiking exercise regime. It does not happen backpacking. First backpacking is a day long physical endeavor and not a 2-3 hour hike. The pack is heavier. I mostly live at sea level, and I backpack in the mountains at 8000 to 11000 foot elevation. When you start out in the wood you will be going uphill with much less oxygen. You and your group take breaks for meals and snacks. And trails sometimes just disappear and you have to figure it out. And you have to cross rivers, scramble over ridge lines, navigate skree fields, look at vistas, take some pics, and there will be “weather”. There is always “weather” in the mountains. When I plan a trip I plan that we will go at a 1-1.5 mile per hour pace. For my group, that is the pace. My group includes mostly athletes. Keep in mind, you’re not in a rush either. You’re supposed to be enjoying this.
I’ve targeted the beginner/intermediate for this article and here is my advice on daily itinerary: Assume you do no more than 8-10 miles in any day. If it’s on flat ground and sea level you can do more. I’m almost always in the Northern Rockies. And I’m doing 8-10 miles in a day. If that gets you to your destination – Great. If it doesn’t, break it up into two days. If you are just making and breaking camp every day and on the move always, I’d stick with 8 miles per day. You need a destination concept each day. You need a plan as to where you are breaking camp, approximately, every day. Much of the wilderness is not campsite friendly – slope, rock, moisture, exposure can be unfriendly. Campsite location needs to be considered. You honestly can’t just break camp anywhere. Camp site selection will get it’s own article. For the scope of this article, read about where others have camped on your route. Have a plan approximately where your campsites will be. And don’t be surprised when your plan changes real time due to weather or some other unforeseen condition like a dead animal carcus with a grizzly bear sitting on top of it.
Your planning needs to include navigation. I always have a map, a compass, an iPhone for GPS (and a way to charge it). There are numerous navigation apps. I use Gaia GPS. My maps for the region are loaded and my route is loaded before I head out.
Food Planning:
I’m going to touch on food planning. I will add an article with food suggestions and reviews for much more advice and details. But you need to buy your food before you head out.
You need fresh foods which you will likely buy the day before. Fruit, cheeses, meat logs/sticks, protein bars, trail mix/nuts. Buy anything you’re carrying that’s perishable.
Next you have the foods that you add boiling water to. The typical backpacking style food pouches are very good. But I have one warning on them – most say they are for two meals. Forget this – you will eat all of the pouch each sitting. They are NOT two meal pouches. I also bring and eat your every day style “add boiling water freeze dried meals” like pad thai, or mac-n-cheese, or other noodles. These are cost effective. But because these are for a normal “human style food consumption day” and not a backpacker day for a “starving Goliath”, you need more to go with it if it’s for dinner. They are fine for lunch.
Consider backpacking mountains with a 40 pound pack and on the move for 8 hours per day. You are going to burn 6000-8000 calories roughly. You need food or your energy level is going to decrease. You need fuel. And you need to keep hydrated too, and drink a lot of water.
Equipment Maintenance And Preparation:
There are few things you have to do to keep your gear in shape. These are important.
Waterproof Your Boots (every year)
Waterproof Your Rain Gear (every few years)
Water test and reseal your stitched tent seems or any tent damage (every year)
Clean your stove mechanism, make sure it’s running well and your spark is good (every year)
Check all batteries for any battery operated gear (headlights, water filtration, spot communicator etc). Check your replacement batteries making sure they are still good
For fire, check, refill, and replace if needed any lighters or matches
If you use an air mattress, fill it and check for leaks and fix if needed.
Check your water filtration, bladder, tubing for leaks. Verify your water filtration works
Spot emergency communication style devices need to have a subscription plan enabled and verify it is working
If you’re a beginner and not quite used to your equipment, give it a dry run. Take it out, set it all up somewhere near home, make it familiar, and make sure it’s all working well. You don’t have to spend the night out, but it won’t hurt…
And last but not least, the day before you go out I recommend trimming your toe nails. One overgrown toenail cutting into the side of another toe can lead to some suffering…
Over time I will figure out the best way to do revision control on my articles to make sure once I write a revision my readers will know what has been added or changed.
Comments / Questions Of Course Are Welcome and will help me improve and update the content.
Thank You For Reading
