Lightening The Pack Makes Hike More Fun

Ray and Jenny Jardine have devised a series of hiking and camping techniques that first appear very strange, but which allow them to hike long distances with extremely light backpacks.

They proved it last summer by hiking the entire Pacific Crest Trail, all 2,700 miles of it from Mexico to Canada, in three months and three weeks, averaging 24.5 miles per day.

Not only that, but they actually enjoyed themselves.

Because their packs are light, they hike in running shoes. And get this: They cut the tongues out of the shoes to save weight.

During the trip, the Jardines detailed their inventions for making backpacking fun and fast, how to keep your feet happy and your pack weight light.

The tips are compiled in their recently published The PCT Handbook ($18.95, AdventureLore Press, LaPine, Oregon, 97739).

The couple keys in on foot comfort, pack weight and food, the challenges every camper faces, and Ray Jardine’s answers are using running shoes with fresh foot-pad insoles, carrying only 20 pounds of gear (his wife carries 17 pounds), and avoiding freeze-dried packaged dinners but instead creating high-nutrition meals.

“During a day’s march of say, 20 miles, the hiker takes roughly 45,000 steps,” Jardine said. “A pair of boots often feel like a pair of encasing concrete blocks, and for good reason.”

Ray, who once pioneered many climbing routes in the Yosemite Valley, advises against wearing light running shoes in snow, however, and adds that the greatest benefits of light footwear can only be realized after embracing a vigorous pre-hike training regimen designed to strengthen your ankles, as well as the rest of your body.

But you can add to this advantage by carrying as little weight as possible, further lightening the stress on your feet. In turn, your emphasis becomes on moving forward and enjoying your surroundings, rather than enduring a very heavy pack, head down, feet sore, trudging onward.

Weight carving starts by carrying only essential equipment, harshly judging the tradeoff of weight to function.

Most PCT hikers carry 45 to 55 pounds, with some Sherpa types trying to lug up to 75 pounds.

Instead of doing without, Jardine suggests maximizing every article. For instance, Jardine started hiking the PCT with a pack weight of 20 pounds, yet it included 47 items; his wife had a pack weight of 17 pounds, yet it included 60 items.

Between them, they had all major articles of comfort and safety, including tent, foul-weather gear, fresh clothes, cooking gear and first-aid equipment.

They even had bonus items, such as pack umbrellas for hiking in the rain.

The advantages become even greater if you use care to plan meals precisely so as to avoid carrying any extra weight.

“You just plain have to eat quality food, and lots of it,” Jardine said. He suggests variety, “power foods” such as corn spaghetti, homemade grain-based porridges, turkey jerky and snacking at every rest stop.