High Noon: Backpacker’s Delight

Back in my youth, I hiked regularly with my scout troop. But the packs we lugged around back then were basically the equivalent of a medieval torture device, designed to bruise kidneys and misalign your thoracic vertebrae. Jump forward 30 years, and I found myself reluctantly shopping for a new backpack at REI . Coincidentally, the same place that sold me that horrific metal-framed monster of long ago. Only this time, everything has changed. I walked out of the store with an Osprey Kestrel 48 backpack that literally felt like a comfy old quilt had been lovingly wrapped around my hips and shoulders. Apparently, backpack technology had made some huge advances in the past three decades/ Idaho Dad , A Family Runs Through It. More here .

Question: When and where did you last go backpacking?