Dumbest thing taken on a backpacking trip?

I don't get it? What were the railroad spikes even for? Was he going to use them as tent stakes?
 
@RedSoxFan I need to know what the spikes were for. please help!

I did bring my tent once and forgot all the tent poles at home. This was back when I was drinking a lot so it didn't really matter to much. Used the tent as a ground cloth and just put the fly over me like a big blanket.
 
Not exactly on topic, but on the general theme: a very character-building backpacking experience is to let a pot of cooking/cooked food get knocked over, do some quick mental calculation, and then go ahead and scape it up and eat it anyhow.
 
Interesting to see everyone's perspective on what is dumb. Its not unheard of for me to carry canned food, glass jars of pesto or spaghetti sauce, a 6 pack of beer, books, whiskey bottles, champagne, coolers, footballs, maps of other parks, Ipod and speakers, board games, multiple sleeping bags, potatoes, onions, corn on the cobb, apples, and so on.

I almost always use a 3 man tent on solo trips in grizzly country. Back in 2006, 07, and 2008, I was too poor to buy a new tent. The only good tent I had was a North Face Expedition 25 mountaineering tent that weighed 12 pounds. I did a lot of backpacking trips with it, including some over 10 days.

The silliest thing I think I've seen was when my brother carried coconut scented tanning lotion on a trip in bear country.

I had a friend once bring a full bottle of wine, but didn't bring a corkscrew. I spent an hour digging out the cork with my knife.

My first solo backpacking trip was back in 1996, in the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. I was 16, and outfitted myself from Wal Mart. I brought a machete, which was strapped along the outside of my pack. As I hit the trail, 2 hikers asked me what the machete was for. I said "bears". lol.
 
Great question! And awesome replies.
One time on a solo snowshoeing trip into Rocky Mtn NP, I brought hallucinogenic mushrooms. There is not much weirder than a night full of hallucinations in total darkness in a tent by yourself. Yes, awesome colors, visions, and patterns but by dawn I was exhausted and half-crazy. I did step out of the tent for awhile when things became really strange but as soon as I returned to the tent, total zaniness ensued. Never again.
 
Outdoor_Fool said:
Great question! And awesome replies.
One time on a solo snowshoeing trip into Rocky Mtn NP, I brought hallucinogenic mushrooms. There is not much weirder than a night full of hallucinations in total darkness in a tent by yourself. Yes, awesome colors, visions, and patterns but by dawn I was exhausted and half-crazy. I did step out of the tent for awhile when things became really strange but as soon as I returned to the tent, total zaniness ensued. Never again.
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Now that's how you connect with ole mother nature!
 
Back in the days when I was a scoutmaster, our troop did an overnighter to Malan's Basin east of Ogden, Utah (about 3 miles with 2200 feet of gain and about 250 feet of loss). One of my scouts took a lawnchair, a small Dutch oven, five pounds of charcoal and 2 frozen rock Cornish game hens plus all of his other gear. We weren't even out of view of the truck and he set up his lawnchair and announced that we could go on but that he would spend the night where he was! Of course we made him keep going and he eventually made it to where we were doing our overnighter. He did eat really well that night!! It was a good lesson for him though. I knew it would be!!!

I once went into the Wind River Range with a 90 lb. pack which included nearly 40 lbs. of camera equipment (large format stuff-very heavy). But I got some great images and the extra weight was worth it!! I wouldn't/couldn't do that again but I'm glad I did it then.
 
WindRiverHiker said:
I once went into the Wind River Range with a 90 lb. pack which included nearly 40 lbs. of camera equipment (large format stuff-very heavy). But I got some great images and the extra weight was worth it!! I wouldn't/couldn't do that again but I'm glad I did it then.
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90 POUNDS?!
 
Outdoor_Fool said:
Great question! And awesome replies.
One time on a solo snowshoeing trip into Rocky Mtn NP, I brought hallucinogenic mushroomsQUOTE]

At least the shrooms were light weight .... :uhhuh:
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One of my first backpacking trips when I lived back in NY was in the High Peaks of the ADKs - My pack weighed about 50lbs for 3 days - I brought way too much food - I don't know why, but I had about 2 or 3lbs of trail mix in my bear canister along with some mountain houses and a ton of clif bars. I didn't even eat half the food I brought. Surprising, since we were all stoned most of the time.

I actually fared better than my 3 friends who all had bulky external frame packs and cotton/canvas sleeping backs lashed on the outside. It was drizzling and wet the whole time. They were wearing jeans and hooded sweatshirts. They were soaked. One dude fell off one of the wet log bridges into waist deep water and had no change of clothes. Fortunately our camp was a lean-to site. They also brought a full bottle of Wild Turkey, that wasn't dumb though, that was great.

wildturkey.JPG
 
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