How I got roped into backpacking

You may wonder how a rockabilly girly-girl like me ended up wearing a 30lb. backpack in the middle of the wilderness. Actually, I am still wondering too. I think it went something like this.......

I wasn't raised in an outdoorsy family. My family only took me camping once.  I was five years old and we went in an RV trailer to the Grand Canyon.  I remember hating the trip because apparently camping made my family fight a lot.  My only other outdoor experiences came from summer church-camp trips my grandmother sent me on. The point was to get close to God, not nature, but most of the kids were just concerned with trying to get closer to the opposite sex. This didn't set me up with appropriate expectations of what an outdoor vacation really was.

Luckily, I married well in this regard. My husband Zack was brought up in a camping family. Every generation before him was outdoorsy, so he has it running through his blood. He was camping before he could even walk! When we started dating in '05 he took me on my first camping trip to Yosemite.  I was in awe. I had never seen anything so beautiful before. Even though this was my first tent-camping experience, I took well to it. We started hiking more regularly and eventually he mentioned wanting to try backpacking. I had no idea why anyone would want to carry all their gear on their back all day just to sleep on the ground somewhere else that night, but I figured I would give it a try. After all, how hard could it be to hike with a backpack on? 

Boy: Go Climb A Rock. Girl: okay!

This is about the point that I learned that we can't go backpacking with the 7 person Coleman tent we already had and that we had to buy specialized lightweight backpacking gear, and that it was all very very expensive. So we saved what we could from our lousy paychecks and bought each other backpacks and sleeping bags for Christmas. That year his parents also bought us a two person Kelty backpacking tent, a Jet Boil cooking system, an MSR water filter, and some sporks. We bought a few other essentials like boots, clothes, sleeping pads, trekking poles (for me), water bottles, a camelback (for him), food, etc. I was really excited for our adventure, but also scared shitless that I just wasted all my money if I didn't like it. 

Apparently you can't backpack with a pack like this. 

We booked a trip to Yosemite for that following spring when Zack's dad would be camping with his trailer in the valley. Safe, right? Someone would be there to notice if we didn't come back in time. We picked a route that included a check on Zack's bucketlist- Yosemite valley to Half Dome and back. We would overnight in Little Yosemite Valley backpackers camp, do Half Dome the next day, and backpack out the next day. 17 miles in three days sounded like a piece of cake, no problem! We were able to get our Wilderness Permits for the trip, but unfortunately the Half Dome cables wouldn't be up at that time due to snow. Zack was bummed but I was very relieved. The thought of that hike scared me to death!

When we got to Yosemite we stayed a few nights in the valley. We hiked Sentinel Dome, which was a lot of fun. The view was spectacular. But, because of my luck, I scratched my cornea and had to seek medical treatment in Yosemite Valley. They got me in within minutes and gave me some eye drops. They said I could still backpack the next day. Rats, I guess that means this backpacking thing is actually happening! 

Happy Isles Trailhead (4,020 ft.) -- (Mist Trail) -> Vernal Fall (5,070 ft.) -- (Mist Trail) ->Neveda Fall (6,020 ft.) -- (John Muir Trail) -> Little Yosemite Valley (6,050 ft.)

We tried to get an early start, but we still hit the trail too late. By the time we hit Mist Trail the crowds were in full effect. Zack had told me that we would get wet on this trail, and to bring a poncho, and he wasn't kidding! On that day, this trail was hell in my eyes. It follows right along side Vernal Falls and is composed of short, steep, irregular granite steps. Not only did the mist pelt us in the face the entire time we climbed up the slippy death stairs, but the crowds behind us got so annoyed at our snail pace that they kept going around us, forcing us to the ledge in order for them to pass. 

Even though I was hiking with a scratched cornea that caused me photophobia (and I didn't bring sunglasses) and a head cold I caught a week prior, I kept going. We reached the top of Vernal Falls and were on our way to Nevada Falls by way of the JMT. This was my first encounter with switchbacks.....DUH-DUH-DUHHHH. I had a few choice words for the trail at this point, and even though I was spewing out a fair amount of four letter words, Zack encouraged me to press on. He swore that a warm meal and a good nights sleep would do wonders. 

After what seemed like the longest day of my life, we made it to Little Yosemite. I wasn't immediately impressed. Where was the pristine untouched wild I was promised? It looked just like the valley, but smaller. Duh, I guess the name implies that, right? We walked around the designated camp sites for a place to set up our tent. I expected to find a lot of weathered, trail hardened, rugged men waiting to tell me their tales of adventure. But, I found that people were quiet, private, and liked their solitude. I had so many preconceived notions about backpacking that were quickly disappearing. 

We had only eaten oatmeal and a protein bar by that time, so I was starving and looking forward to a good meal. My dehydrated Mountain House mac and cheese was yet another disappointment. I couldn't even eat it sitting down because the bugs were so crazy. They were as big as butterflies and would dive-bomb your head as you tried to eat. The only thing we could do for momentary relief was to eat while walking in large circles. 

I wish I could say that I got a great nights sleep that night because I was so tired, but alas, I didn't sleep a wink! I didn't realize until that night how small our Kelty tent was. I felt claustrophobic and smothered all night. I was also terrified of a bear ripping into my tent and scalping me after hearing so many people telling me stories. Every noise terrified me. All I could do was stare at the ceiling of the tent and hope that the sun would come up soon so I could get out of that god damn tent.

As you can guess, we didn't stay another night at Little Yosemite that trip. We hit the trail back to Yosemite Valley that next morning and I swore I would never backpack again. 

So, that was how I ended up backpacking. But Backpacking Bettie, your first backpacking trip was so horrible, why would you ever do it again? Why would you say you love it so and start this blog?

Well lovely readers, backpacking must be like child birth. As time passes, you forget the pain and only remember the good. You convince yourself that it wasn't that bad and that you would actually do it again. You have all the stuff from last time, so you may as well give it another go. I am also stubborn in some respects, and didn't want to admit failure. But that trip wasn't a failure. It was exactly what I needed to teach me first hand about backpacking- what to bring, what not to bring, and that it is all mind over matter. I also learned that I was over weight and that I might as well be carrying a 50lb dumbbell in my pack. In the next year I lost 50lbs and got into shape before attempting another trip. 

My next backpacking trip was one of the best weekends of my life, and convinced me that backpacking is right for me. Stay tuned for the story (and lots of pics) on that trip!

-Dollie the Backpacking Bettie