Origin Stories of Backcountrypost.com

[Perry]

What a great way to get into the outdoors!


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[JackBurns]

My Mom is the reason.

 

[Reef&Ruins]

My parents taking me to Joshua Tree, Anza Borrego, and Sequoia-Kings Canyon when I was a kid got it all started.
Lots of trips to Yellowstone and Grand Teton (with my parents) as a teenager helped out.
Got into ruins in 2008 after a 'lifelong dream' (since seeing it in a textbook in 5th grade) was fulfilled by visiting Mesa Verde.
That's the cliff notes version of the story.
Now I take my family all over the place to visit public lands.

 

[OwenM]

My grandfather had me outdoors at every opportunity when I was a kid, and I spent most of my summers with my grandparents. His best friend had a 440 acre farm with a couple of lakes, along with a mix of pastures and woodlands.
We did a lot of fishing and shooting, occasionally hunting. Cub Scouts, Webelos, and at one point a very active Boy Scout troop that did monthly camping trips contributed a lot, too.
As a young adult, whatever field time I got as a paratrooper was always my favorite thing about the military, but afterwards it was always work, work, work. I went on a short backpacking trip with a couple other guys maybe once per year for awhile, then even that tapered out as they moved or had kids.
Somewhere along the line, I started doing some dayhikes and occasional overnighters by myself, but it wasn't something I got very excited over, or thought much about.
And then it happened. Out of the blue, about a decade ago, I ended up in an email exchange with a photographer who lived in Las Vegas. To make a long story long, I got invited on a tour of Bryce and Zion, plus Red Rock and other stuff around LV. All dayhiking, but it got me hooked.
That was 10 years ago this coming March. Since then I've made 8 more trips out West, done many dozens more dayhikes, spent ~400 nights in a tent in a dozen different states, and quite a bit more than 400 dollars on gear!

 

[balzaccom]

My dad was a school teacher who worked in the summers as a state park ranger in California, so I grew up with the mountains. My first hike was on my mother's hip at well under a year of age (that was long before Snugglies or child carriers.)

here's a photo of me in my second summer,,,enjoying a bath on the deck of our ranger cabin...gotta love the fact that my mom managed to raise four kids like this...

My first backpack is pictures below: Kings Canyon at the age of 12, with my 16 year old sister and her friend...and cotton sleeping bags. We loved it

 

[Rockskipper]

Resurrecting an old thread because it's very interesting - if you haven't contributed, please do.

 

[scatman]

Resurrecting an old thread because it's very interesting - if you haven't contributed, please do.

Sorry, I haven't converted any of my film shots to digital, so you're getting a picture of a picture. This is one of my first backpacking trips in my mid-twenties, to the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana. My clothing included a wide brimmed cotton hat, and my Utah State sweatshirt that I wore my last two years while attending USU and Levi jeans. When those got wet, they stayed wet. I was young and stupid then as opposed to being old and stupid now.

Behind me in the distance is the Chinese Wall.

 

[Kmatjhwy]

Love this Scatman. So now you have been in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. I was back there hiking all over in the early 80s several times, with also up in Glacier. Do sincerely want to go back up there again one of these days. Yes then we were as you say ... young and stupid, with now being old and stupid. But at least we are still upright where we can see the sun.

 

[Janice]

Thanks @Rockskipper for restarting this. It's really fun to read everyone's stories.

I never thought I would be a backpacker but got into it because of Yosemite and its too-popular lottery for High Sierra campsites. Now I'm completely obsessed! Here's a bit of history:

I grew up in MD outside of DC and my parents were much more interested in the outdoors than other people I knew. They took us on month-long national park trips in a 22' Winnebago. We did some nice hikes, and while we were driving my dad would tell me to look out the window and see the beautiful scenery, but I mostly just wanted to get back to my solitaire game. (This was back in the 70s when you didn't have to be buckled in.)

After college, my boyfriend (now husband) and I enjoyed dayhikes near where we lived and the occasional trips we could afford out West. Big elevation gains exhausted me - that's still the case a lot of years later! We honeymooned in the Tetons and Yellowstone, and that was a very unusual honeymoon destination among our friends.

With our young family, we had fun car camping with friends each summer along the fantastic Lake Michigan coast. When our kids were 6 and 9, we took them on their first trip out West - Tetons and Yellowstone. That was a huge success! They were fabulous hikers (their athleticism and unlimited junk food helped) and listening to Harry Potter kept them occupied during the long car rides. Every summer after that, we took a family hiking trip to great destinations - Washington/Oregon, Utah/Arizona, Michigan, New England, etc.

Summer of 2011 we stayed one night at Granite Park Chalet in Glacier, and that was our first time ever hiking to our sleep destination. I loved being in the middle of nowhere that night!

In 2013, we really wanted to hike and stay in Yosemite's High Sierra camps, but we didn't get lucky with their lottery. When I forwarded the rejection email to my husband, I didn't notice the line at the bottom suggesting a guided backpacking trip as an alternative. My husband wrote back saying we should do that. I immediately said NO, I don't know how, I'm not strong enough, I can't do it. Well, 5 months later we were backpacking in Yosemite, and I loved it! It was really hard for me and I was definitely the weak link in our group - even though I had trained a lot, systematically increasing the weight in my pack every week, I sucked at the uphills even though we had acclimated to the altitude with dayhikes ahead of time. But I was hooked and eager for the next trip, which ended up being Buckskin/Paria, and we've done one or more trips every year since. I have learned a ton and still have a ton to learn - especially about off-trail navigation, which I'm trying to improve in for upcoming trips this spring.

I found BCP when researching Boulder Mail Trail a few years ago. I had NEVER participated in anything like this and tiptoed into the water rather than diving in. We got a lot of great help with our BMT trip, as well as that summer's Colorado trip (we had to shift gears due to fires where we were originally planning to go). By now I check regularly and love learning about new places from your TRs and photos.

THANK YOU, everyone, for supporting me (without realizing it) in this later-life backpacking experience that has become so important, satisfying, and healthy for me!

 

[scatman]

Love this Scatman. So now you have been in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. I was back there hiking all over in the early 80s several times, with also up in Glacier. Do sincerely want to go back up there again one of these days. Yes then we were as you say ... young and stupid, with now being old and stupid. But at least we are still upright where we can see the sun.

I'm guessing that you have accumulated quite a bit of wisdom over the years @Kmatjhwy. You'd have a long way to fall to reach my level.

I spent some time in Glacier too, on two sperate backpacking trips. Once when I was 28 and a second when I was 30. I also went back with my family when the kids were pretty young, but we didn't backpack on that trip, only a couple of day hikes with the kids. I wouldn't mind going back at some point.

 

[Kmatjhwy]

Scatman, Well thanks for your compliment! It seems you also have acquired quite some wisdom also thru the years. This past fall I had received a ride with someone from Idaho to Kanab. If biking up thru your area, like sometime in April, would sure like to meetup with you sometime. Just See What Happens! Now as I look at it, how much unroaded and wild country is still out there to been seen and to experience. Wishing You the Very Best!

 

[The Trout Whisperer]

Started camping by working summers at 12-13 to by Coleman, tent, sleeping bag, lantern and stove way back when. Then in th 80’s seein backpackers comin out of th backcountry I thought, that’s what I wanna do..so, in my late twenties, with a jansport book bag with things tied hanging off it, into th backcountry I ventured…Ozark Highlands Trail..prob 1991..th ole Lowe alpine contour IV..5400 cu in bout 45-50 lbs for an overnighter..those icicles were as big as my legs..some bigger1992 or so in Bandelier National Monument..5 day trip..got better…45 lbs in same pack for th trip. With casque sundowner clad feet.this past Sept…Gneiss Creek Trip…3500 cu in pack..32 lbs( hammock n chair included!) for th 4 day trip…gettin smarter on th weight in my older age..cept for bein dumb n leavin th puffy jacket in th vehicle. Trail runner clad feet now.

Found out that comfort does matter somewhat..so, chairs, hammocks, good food, etc can and are worth th extra weight …

Happy Trails to y’all!

 

[Janice]

Started camping by working summers at 12-13 to by Coleman, tent, sleeping bag, lantern and stove way back when. Then in th 80’s seein backpackers comin out of th backcountry I thought, that’s what I wanna do..so, in my late twenties, with a jansport book bag with things tied hanging off it, into th backcountry I ventured…View attachment 105416Ozark Highlands Trail..prob 1991..th ole Lowe alpine contour IV..5400 cu in bout 45-50 lbs for an overnighter..those icicles were as big as my legs..some biggerView attachment 1054171992 or so in Bandelier National Monument..5 day trip..got better…45 lbs in same pack for th trip. With casque sundowner clad feet.View attachment 105418this past Sept…Gneiss Creek Trip…3500 cu in pack..32 lbs( hammock n chair included!) for th 4 day trip…gettin smarter on th weight in my older age..cept for bein dumb n leavin th puffy jacket in th vehicle. Trail runner clad feet now.

Found out that comfort does matter somewhat..so, chairs, hammocks, good food, etc can and are worth th extra weight …

Happy Trails to y’all!

I agree that comfort matters!