A couple weeks ago I did a wonderful little desert trip.
Something that I haven’t done in years is share a backpacking trip report gear list. This post will break that trend.
I want to share how I planned this trip, what gear I took, and why I selected each piece of equipment.
Continue reading A 4-day Backpacking Trip in the Anza Borrego Desert
Sometimes I take things for granted, such as going backpacking whenever the urge strikes me. With the COVID-19 lockdown in California backpacking was out of the question. Many trails remained opened, but trailhead parking was closed everywhere. Some areas, such as the San Jacinto Wilderness were completely shut down. As things began to open up here, it was time to take a trip. Continue reading First Post COVID-19 Backpacking Trip
According to this article at REI, “Type 2 fun is miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect.”
At the end of October I did a 5-day backpacking trip with my friend Peter Vacco. Unfortunately our 3rd hiking partner, Doug, had to cancel at the last moment to attend to a family matter. He may be glad he had to miss the trip after all, because Day 3 of this trip was definitely Type 2 fun.
Continue reading Type 2 Fun in the Yolla Bolly Wilderness
A couple weeks ago I joined a group of friends for a backpacking trip in Northern California in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. It has been quite a while since I wrote about a backpacking trip here on PopUpBackpacker, mostly because I find trip reports to be time consuming to put together and the entire process is somewhat boring for me. However, this is a special case.
My friend Doug, who lives in the Pacific Northwest, and I have been talking about getting together for a desert backpacking trip for over a year. Doug was going to be in Phoenix for a family event and asked if I was up for a backpacking trip. Heck yes!! Continue reading A Walk in the Desert With Doug – Or How to Plan a Backpacking Trip
It’s been a little over a month since the last post here. I’ve been busy. Latest project was to finish and texture a bunch of new drywall then paint the living room and dining room. Whew! I needed a break. So the first weekend of May I hiked up into the San Gabriel Mountains to hang out with a group of backpackers for a couple days. Continue reading Gathering of the (backpacking) Gear Geeks (GGG) — So Cal Edition
Back in 2009 a group of people who frequent the forums at backpackinglight.com started an annual get together they called the Gathering of the Gear Geeks (GGG). Apparently an ultralight backpacking gear-centric weekend affair, it was of no interest to me as gear is mostly boring. I equate it to a bunch of auto mechanics getting together to share their wrenches and sockets… something that never happens.
Over time, as the so-called ultralight gear became more main stream, it seemed the GGG was becoming more about diverse people getting together for a weekend with one common interest – backpacking. Re-winding to last year, my friend Craig suggested we ought to go up and meet some of these folks in person, which would be an 870 mile round trip for me. Not a trip I would want to do again just to camp out for a couple of nights. But… Continue reading A Four-day Walkabout & GGG X for Dessert
Last week I did a three day backpacking trip with two friends.
When Doug and Peter put this trip together and invited me, I knew it would be special. A small group with two of the best hiking partners one could ask for.
The Internet is a strange beast. With the anonymity of a computer screen and keyboard there are many people who are not what they appear to be — a counterfeit persona. Along with this there are many people who collect “friends,” “followers,” or “likes” as some sort of ego fulfilling stamp collection.
In spite of this electronic universe, a diligent person can recognize the sincere and honest people on the World Wide Web. But these folks can only be acquaintances. Friendship requires face-to-face real world interactions. At the end of October I spent a few days with some Internet acquaintances who I can now say are friends.
In November and December of 2000 I backpacked from my house in Palm Springs to Lake Mead and back.
Part 8 can be viewed here.
It took over a year to document this trip in 8 parts, something I could have done in one afternoon sitting in front of a computer. It wasn’t an epic trip, but for me it was an adventure. It wasn’t presented as a trail journal or daily diary, and it isn’t full of insights or as a “how to” guide. There are no gear or equipment information. Just short daily summaries of a month in the Mojave. It is mostly for my kids. They probably don’t remember that I took this trip and I may not have even mentioned it to them. But what I will share later will jog their memory. As I normally operate, I didn’t bring a cell phone with me. In 2000 cell phone coverage was just about nil in most of the places I walked. Today, fortunately, there still is no cell reception in Joshua Tree National Park or the Mojave Preserve – this is a good thing. But in 2000 phone booths were common and I did make a couple calls to my kids when resupplying in cities. So, are there any learnings, conclusions, or insights to be gained from all of this?
Continue reading Backpacking 500 Miles in the Mojave Desert (epilogue)