Ultralight Backpacking Skills - A Three Day Test

Home
>
Outdoors
>
Ultralight Backpacking Skills - A Three Day Test

Ultralight Backpacking Skills - A Three Day Test

On Lake Michigan, at the end of the Stonington Peninsula, there's a stretch of empty beach. Part of the Hiawatha National Forest, it's framed on either side by private property, with no easy access. To walk on the beach, however, is legal. Past the last cabin, the public land starts, and goes for six or seven miles. This is where I would test my ultralight backpacking skills and gear.

I hiked a few miles the first day and explored the woods, where I ate wild blueberries for an hour. Then I set up camp behind a small ridge on the beach. I collected dry grass along the edge of the forest, which made a nice mattress. I pitched my backpacking tarp fairly high, so the breeze would keep out the mosquitos. When camp was set, I went for a swim.

This area has many crayfish, which look and taste just like miniature lobsters. After swimming I caught a dozen under the rocks in shallow water, and carried them back to camp in a whipped-cream container I found. You never know what will wash up on a beach.

I boiled them with some cattail hearts and evening primrose roots, in my cheap three ounce pan. It made a good meal with the crackers I brought. (You remove the meat from the tail of the crayfish, after cooking.)

It was summer, so I hadn't brought a sleeping bag. At seventeen ounces, my bag wouldn't have added much to my packweight of eight pounds. I just wanted to try using a nylon sleeping bag liner I had recently sewn (5 ounces). I wore my clothes to bed, including a hat I made from the sleeve of an old thermal shirt (1 ounce). I slept well, and ate granola bars for breakfast.

Water was all around, so I only had a 16-ounce plastic pop bottle (1 ounce) and a few iodine tablets for purification. I took a good drink before I packed up.

I found fresh bear tracks on the beach. The bear had walked within 60 yards of where I slept. I had a freon horn (2 ounces) that I'd bought after reading that people have used it's high-decible shriek to scare off bears. I pulled it out. I followed the tracks for an hour, but only because I was going in that direction.

I had two old cabins to explore, another patch of berries I knew about, and a beach full things to check out. The strangest item that regularly washes up is light bulbs. I take them home to use them. After years of finding these, a sailor finally told me that they throw them off the ships to shoot at them in the water. I was finding the ones they missed.

The next day I headed back. The rain I expected never came, so I didn't get to test my garbage bag rainsuit (2 ounces), but I had used a similar one with success before. Overall, I was happy with my ultralight backpacking "test." Of course, you can get by with fragile clothing and gear when you're hiking an open beach. Oh, and I never did see the bear.

Steve Gillman is a long-time backpacker, and advocate of lightweight backpacking. His advice and stories can be found at http://www.TheUltralightBackpackingSite.com

In The News:

War criminal convicted over Srebrenica genocide to be sent to UK prison
Wed, 12 May 2021 14:59:00 +0100
Radovan Karadzic - the Bosnian Serb political leader convicted over the Srebrenica genocide - is to be transferred to a UK prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Bodies wash up on banks of Ganges as COVID deaths pass 250,000 on India's deadliest day
Wed, 12 May 2021 11:13:00 +0100
Bodies of COVID-19 victims have washed up on riverbanks in India as the country endured its deadliest day of the pandemic so far.

Israel-Gaza death toll rises as UN envoy warns of 'heading to full-scale war'
Wed, 12 May 2021 04:34:00 +0100
Barrages of rockets have streamed out of Gaza while Israeli jets pounded the territory in return, in the most severe outbreak of violence since the 2014 war.

Israel still in grips of political crisis as violence escalates on both sides
Wed, 12 May 2021 15:47:00 +0100
The scenes of violence in the Gaza Strip and across Israel are tragic but should come as no surprise.

Six days of escalating violence in Israel and Gaza - how did it happen?
Wed, 12 May 2021 14:32:00 +0100
The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has not been seen on a scale like this for years, but the tension is always there.

tikatoshop.it

Erfahrungen mit Pallhuber Wein
Agen Bola SBOBET Terpercaya

Travel in comfort and at your leisure with CT Airlink Limousine & Car Service for top quality private transportation and exceptional customer service. We operate Sedans, SUVs & Vans for CT Car Services to covering all Connecticut airports including Car Service from CT to Newark Airport , Mohegan Casino Uncasville CT, Foxwoods Casino Mashantucket CT, Manhattan Cruise Terminal NYC, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal NYC and Bayonne Cruise Terminal NJ. CT Airlink hire licensed and friendly chauffeurs who have in-depth knowledge of the Areas.