Lessons From the Backcountry: “Carry Less. Adventure more.” Wed, Sep 28, 2016

As with most of my trips, I begin with the feeling of being wildly unprepared as I hastily pack the car for the long drive to come. I have learned many lessons on my trips through the backcountry, some much harder than others, but the one that has permeated into many aspects of my life has been to PACK LIGHT. This lesson seems an obvious and simple one to follow, but for me, it was a mistake I had to carry for 70 miles through the Sierra Nevadas.

When entering a new endeavor or starting a new chapter in life, it is easy to carry fears, ideas, anxiety and many other forms of “mental cargo” that weigh us down and slow our progress. As I quickly learned within the first few miles, I was overzealous with my packing and was carrying too much. My fears of being unprepared and uncertain lead me to overload my bag.

Unfortunately, on this trip, I did not have the option of turning back and lightening my load, but luckily we can take the time to reevaluate our “mental packs” and find the heavy things that we may not need to be carrying. 

After suffering what turned out to be a 50lbs. pack for 70 miles, I have leaned out my bag from a beefy monster to what more closely resembles a daypack. And as we go through this adventure we call life, it's important to check your pack and reevaluate the things we carry because the lighter our load, whether physical or mental, the easier our adventure is. “Carry less. Adventure more.”