Before I left on my trip to Patagonia, I came across this delightful little book at Recycled Reads. Written in 1951 by various members of the Sierra Club of San Francisco (the focus audience being people exploring the National Parks of the American West), the editor, David R. Brower, prefaces the sixth printing in 1962 with this message. “More than a decade later (and six printings later, each helped by suggestions for readers), the book is still at it. The need seems even greater in these days of ubiquitous attempts to move the wilderness experience to the roadside. True wilderness is where you keep it and real wilderness experience cannot be a sedentary one; you have to seek it out—not seated, but afoot. That, at least, is how the Sierra Club Feels about it. D.R.B Berkeley, August 1, 1962”
The slim volume is packed full of useful advice. Like backpacking itself, the authors succeed by leaving out anything extraneous. In these days of blogs and listicals, I miss the matter-of-fact tone of these mid-twentieth century how-to books. Adults writing to adults. Informative. Sensible. No nonsense. And focused on the subject, not themselves. Still there is optimism, humor, and encouragement.
The book has one chapter with advice specifically for women, but it could have just as easily been labelled for the novice backpacker. “What [success] takes is know-how, and precisely the same advice that applies to men and boys should be assimilated by women and girls.” The reminder to the novice is to practice enough ahead of time to be in shape in order to enjoy the experience.
The one issue women faced in 1951 that has been remedied in 2015 is that there were not good hiking boots made for women. The book suggests they buy their hiking boots in the boy’s department.
Another chapter is written especially for men but could be titled, “For the Experienced Backpacker”. The advice is how to mentor the people in your group who are less experienced; how to assess the abilities of everyone in order to plan treks that have enough options for all levels. The goal of the leader is not to show-off or to race but to optimize the experience for everyone by adapting it to individual capacities.
I took the gist of the advice to heart and profited from it. I was careful in my selection of clothes and equipment. I packed light. I put myself through “…a schedule of physical training…hikes of increasing length carrying a pack and wear the same shoes that you will wear on your trip so that they will be thoroughly tested and broken in.”
“To begin with, test your capacity for hard exercise and exposure on easy trips before undertaking anything too strenuous. Do not go along with a bunch of cannonballs whose ambitions run to great distances, great altitudes, and burning speed…unless you know your ability to keep up.”
I couldn’t avoid going along with a bunch of cannonballs, but I did have a very accurate assessment of my abilities and the trails we were hiking (based on my research). I was able to say, for example, “Run along and look for me in six hours.” By their standard I was slow but I beat every one of my own estimates. (Probably because we had extraordinarily fine weather for every hike.)
When it came time to put my practice into action, I was pleased that I had brought nothing unnecessary nor was I ever wanting for something I’d forgotten. I was comfortable in my clothes, with my equipment, and in my person. I was a slow walker (in a group of fast runners) but I never lacked confidence in my ability to complete the distance.
The Patagonia trip was not a true backpacking experience as defined by the Sierra Club. We stayed in refugios, hotels, and even an upscale lodge and went for long walks on well-established trails. “Glamping” is what one woman called it. (Glamorous camping).
The success of my treks encourages me to push a little harder. Maybe some day I will return to Torres del Paine and actually backpack the 5-day “W” route or the 9-day “O” route. This little book leaves me with the feeling, “Yes! You can!”
GPlus Discussion
Apr 5, 2015
Rugger Ducky
+1
Beautiful.
Apr 5, 2015
M Sinclair Stevens
+2
+paul beard Yes. That’s it exactly! And I think the attitude comes through in that quote, “What success takes is know-how…” That attitude was part of my own upbringing (about that same time period) summarized with the Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared.
I tried to prepare for everything that was within my control. I did this so that I could focus all my energy for the unexpected, for circumstances outside my control.
On the last night in camp, our group leaders gave us each a little humorous reward. I was dubbed “Most Prepared”. They may have been taking the mickey out of me, but I managed a wry smile. They had no idea.
Apr 5, 2015
Peter Strempel
+1
+M Sinclair Stevens
Did you know that I was once a boy scout? A shirt sleeve full of badges for doing sub-military activities. The image of me as a scout becomes increasingly comical as the years pass and my attitudes have changed, but I never regretted the experience and discipline. Until the Brisbane flood of 2011 the 1970s Boy Scout Manual was still on my bookshelves as a handy reference for all things outdoors. It was a well written compendium of camping, orienteering, hiking, and other skills that seemed never to patronise its intended audience of boys.
Well done on the preparation part of the trip, and rest assured that I envy you the experience and the fortitude to wander in the remotest region of the Americas.
Apr 5, 2015
M Sinclair Stevens
+1
+Peter Strempel I loved the Boy Scout manual although I think our childhood copy is still with my parents. The merit badge approach to learning intrigued me. I liked the specific measurable goals. And I liked that there was no prescribed order. You could work on any subject that you fancied.
For the most part, unfortunately, my knowledge remained mostly theoretical. I was usually satisfied to read about how to do something without taking the bother to practice and achieve.
However, as an adult, life has become (how should I put it?) more three-dimensional for me. I have learned to embrace the physical world and take pleasure in pushing myself to do things I was once content only to imagine.
PS. Do you remember specifically any of your merit badges…or one you were specifically pleased to have achieved?
Apr 5, 2015
Marla Caldwell
+3
This was thoroughly enjoyable as a book review, and interesting as a take on hiking as a novice for someone who once hiked but not in many years. I was fortunate as a teen to get to hike a section of the Appalachian Trail annually for several years, and I wish every able-bodied teen or young adult got the same opportunity.
Apr 5, 2015
M Sinclair Stevens
+2
+Marla Caldwell I wish that, too. I agree with the book’s editor, to paraphrase, experience of a place is not sedentary (that is, passively viewed from a car or train), one must seek it afoot. I feel I never know a place, urban or wild, unless I have walked in it. This is part of what my friend +nomad dimitri refers to as “steeping in the local stew”.
Apr 5, 2015
Marla Caldwell
+1
+M Sinclair Stevens I agree. There is much to experience that can only be reached through immersion in a place, in its scents and sounds and textures as well as its sights. Too, there are places worth experiencing that are not accessible by motorized vehicles.
Apr 5, 2015
M Sinclair Stevens
+1
+Marla Caldwell “…scents, sounds, and textures…” Just so!
Apr 5, 2015
Peter Strempel
+3
+M Sinclair Stevens
I think I enjoyed my first aid badge the most. Making bandages and splints for broken bones from my scout scarf and sticks found in the woods. But the one my troop leader (Arkhela) was most proud to give to me was the rescuer badge, which usually only went to senior scouts (which I was not). That one was all about saving people’s lives if they were stuck on a cliff, drowning, or lost, or some shit like that. It was the last badge I earned before I joined the army cadets.
Apr 5, 2015
nomad dimitri
+2
+Peter Strempel rescuer! Cadet! What is +M Sinclair Stevens​ doing in Patagonia without you? Better than any guide book.
Apr 6, 2015
M Sinclair Stevens
+3
+nomad dimitri Well, I’m home in Austin now safe and sound. However, if I’m ever lucky enough to travel in Australia, I’ll certainly try to enlist +Peter Strempel as my guide.