Backpacking 101 - Part 1

High school, senior year, a friend and I are in the school library talking about another friend that was going to go on some adventure to Kansas. We decided then and there to do something just as bold. We decided that we would go backpacking in the Smoky Mountains.

A couple of important facts to note. Neither one of us had ever been to the Smokies. We had never backpacked before either. The sum of my hiking experience, away from my forest preserve across the street in Northern Illinois, was reading adventure stories in Outdoor Life and Field and Stream magazines.

But it sounded cool. We would be walking across the entire park on a level, mountain top trail, the Appalachian Trail. And I had all the gear, like clod hopper hiking boots and wool socks, to go along with a pack that I bought at a Sears store.

My friend was a soccer player, a fanatical weight lifter, and a health food junkie. I was comparatively frail and ate food like pizza burgers. But we made the commitment to go and he gave up going to the senior prom so that he could afford to buy new tires for the Plymouth Valiant we were to drive there in. On the other hand, I mink oiled my clod hopper boots as my big preparation for the trip.

So in June of 1978, we set off and drove 15 hours straight from the suburbs of Chicago all the way to Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee. We were in awe of the mountains as we approached the park and since we had no place to stay, we slept in the car at the ranger station. The next morning, we informed a ranger of our intentions to cross the park in 7 days and off we went to park the car at a nearby trail head.

What happened next was what happens when reality meets inexperience.

Did you know that it is very humid and muggy in Tennessee in June? Did you also know that hiking boots that are a couple of sizes too big when worn with wool socks will enable you to grow the biggest blisters on your heals that you have ever seen? Did you know that hiking trails in the Smoky's go up and down and are never level? Did you know that when one of your backpack straps keeps breaking, you have to stop and try and put it back together again while nats and other flying insects attack you? Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Long story short, I was 17 years old and under the stress of the real world, wanted to go back home asap. I told my friend that he could keep going, that I would just hitchhike my way back home. Like I said, I was 17.

He cut short his trip as well and we drove all the way back home like we were escaping from East Germany. It was a devastating blow to my hunger for adventure and my yearning to explore and I would not try something like that again for a long, long time. But I did try again.

For my 30th birthday celebration, I chose to go backpacking in Grand Teton National Park. This time, I was prepared. Prepared for everything right up to the point when we hoisted our full packs onto our backs and nearly fell over from the weight. A friend of mine and I looked at each other and said, "We are gonna die."

To be continued.