Tips, Tricks and Truths

These hard-earned hints, gathered over dozens of years and thousands of miles on the trail, range from the painfully obvious to the seemingly ridiculous. They're presented here for your pleasure in almost completely random order. Happy Trails!

Have a trip motto!

TEN TIPS:

1. Have a written trip plan.
2. Leave it with someone who loves you. Include your destination, in/out dates, members of party, equipment, make and license of car and anything else that might help them find you. Have a trip leader.
3. Macho does not equal a leader. A leader sets the pace, facilitates problem solving and is a source of optimism, goodwill and support for the beginners in the group. Carry a "Save My Trip" kit with you
4. - for the others. Stuff to silence their whining: second skin, jungle juice, ibuprofen, Benadryl, sunscreen, muzzle. The trip you save may be your very own. Make, use and keep equipment lists.
5. Triple-check off items as they are selected, checked out and placed in your pack. Referring to lists from past trips will help you remember what worked and what didn't. Have a pre-trip pizza/gear-dividing party.
6. Go over last minute details. Divide the community gear fairly. Get psyched. Eat pizza. No Cotton. You'd be better off naked.
7. No jeans, cotton undies or T-shirts, period. (The one possible exception is in very hot, clear weather, when a cotton T-shirt isn't such a bad thing. Even then, a synthetic shirt like Ex Officio's Baja is cooler, dries faster and offers more protection from the sun). Eat your fattiest foods first.
8. (Like this will be a problem.) Cheeses, eggy stuff and the like spoil fast. Drink heavily.
9. Especially at the very start of a trip. As you are driving to the trailhead, start pounding water down. Veterans can load up nearly a gallon before starting the hike. Don't use a flashlight at night.
10. If there is anywhere near enough moonlight, you will probably be able to see better without a flashlight than with one. This is because a) you can't possibly leave your flashlight on all the time, and b) your peripheral vision is vastly improved in the dark (and peripheral vision is what makes us feel comfortable in the dark). Try giving your eyes enough time to adjust without blasting them periodically with flashlight glare - you'll be surprised how well you really can see. You might also consider fastening a red, transparent filter over your flashlight. Astronomers and stargazers use these when reading star maps. Have a trip motto.

It can be an important quote, define group goals, be charged with deep meaning or just be a goofy-sounding phrase. Samples include: Slow is Pro (classic canyoneering motto); Stamina and Judgment (a recent example from Hell's Gate); and GAWA (secret call of the fishketeers).

TEN TRICKS:

1. Vaseline-soaked cotton balls, packed in a film canister make a reliable, cheap, non-spoiling, non-spilling firestarter.
2. A dab of butter or margarine in your evening cocoa makes it taste richer and gives you a blast of fat to kick in after the sugar for warmth and energy.
3. Using ski/trekking poles can reduce the strain on your legs and feet by up to 35%. Try it sometime.
4. Buy and carry a small backpack. The easiest way to carry too large a load is to have too much space to fill up in the first place.
5. Ask story-ended questions of your group. Ask about their first kiss, favorite car they ever had, single event that brought them on the trip, person they wish most could be there with them, their worst auto accident, three favorite books of all time, ten things they want to learn to do, etc. Everybody has to answer. Much fun.
6. FOR MEN ONLY: Use a pee bottle, especially in winter. To avoid late-night disasters, make sure it's a readily identifiable shape unlike anything else you're carrying, and be certain your tentmates know of your intentions.
7. Never put those little liquid-dispensing flip-top bottles inside (or near) a mesh stuffsack. The holes in the mesh are just the right size to grab the flip-top spout and the jostling of your pack will dispense liquid soap, cooking oil or primer fuel all over your gear.
8. Heavy-duty "trash compactor" bags make pretty durable pack covers, stuffsack liners and, when cut open, groundcloths. They even make good trash bags. They also serve as a virtually impenetrable rain slicker.
9. You can keep melted snow liquid overnight by burying it under a foot or so of snow. The snow itself is such a good insulator that it will keep the water liquid until morning. Just make sure you mark the spot well...
10. Develop eyes in your feet. Although it sounds funny, experienced hikers develop "eyes in their feet" that are invaluable to them in scrambling, stream crossings, off-trail hiking and canyoneering. Look where you are placing each foot. Evaluate every step; is it solid, loose, tippy, sandy or slick? Where will your next step be? Are you stepping too high or too low? Watching an experienced backpacker negotiate a scree slope or steep creek bed is to discover you need to learn to walk again. Become acutely aware of your stride when backpacking. One misstep could mean the end of your trip.

 

TEN TRUTHS:

1. No fires. Why do you think Marshall McLuhan called TV the "Cool Fire?" Fires are the television of the outdoors. If you don't have a fire, you will hear (and maybe see) wildlife you otherwise wouldn't, you'll look into the eyes of the people you are talking to instead of staring like a zombie into the fire, you won't broadcast your presence to other hikers in the area, and you'll have a lot more time to enjoy yourself because you won't be wasting it destroying the wilderness gathering wood, building ugly fire rings, struggling to start a fire and worrying that it's out. Best of all, because you won't be fussing with an obnoxious fire, you'll actually experience the magic transition of night to morning, from evening to night, the rapidly changing colors of twilight and dawn, the animals calling out to each other, the stars, moon and sun making their silent entrances and exits. No fires.
2. Don't cook inside your tent. It's dangerous (the tent is made, after all, out of gasoline), it releases a ton of water vapor into your sleeping environment (a very bad idea), and worst of all, when you spill something (and you will), it makes a horrible mess you have to sleep in. Cook outside, even in bad weather.
3. Don't spill fuel on your hands in severely cold weather. Fuel won't freeze at earthly temperatures. Instead, it becomes a below-zero liquid ice that first freezes to you on contact, then evaporates rapidly, chilling you even further. At those temperatures, a spill can be very dangerous. Don't spill.
4. Use your compass. A compass is not some kind of emergency parachute that will save you when things go wrong. If you don't know (specifically) how you got there, a compass won't tell you where to go to get home. Once you are lost, a compass is nearly worthless. Take a bearing at the start of your trip, and keep taking bearings throughout the hike so you have some kind of reference when things start to look a little weird. Take an orienteering course to learn and/or refresh your compass skills.
5. The Mosquito Rule. Mosquito density is inversely proportional to how much repellent you have left.
6. The Chocolate Rule. When deciding what to bring and what to leave behind on a backpacking trip, The Chocolate Rule is helpful. Simply ask, "Would I rather have this (insert name of gadget there), or an equal weight of chocolate?"
7. A wise soldier sits whenever he can. So does a wise hiker. Strap a Crazy Creek chair to the outside of your pack, ready to deploy instantly at every rest and lunch stop. Infinitely more restful than even the most comfortable rock or log.
8. Buy the best gear you can afford. Money is important here, but it has no value in the wilderness. And a single equipment failure can have catastrophic consequences far from home. Quality is important.
9. When lost, S.T.O.P. (Stop. Think. Observe. Plan.) Use your brain. The single most important survival tool you can bring with you is your brain.

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Barry Devenney "All the best times of my life have happened outside," says Barry Devenney. "The times when I have felt most, well, everything - at peace, scared to death, relaxed, focused, respectful, convulsed with laughter, loved and in love - for me, all of that happens first and best out under an open sky."

Devenney has been a television director, host for Outside Magazine's radio program, an environmental activist, a grantmaker and a communications professional for REI. He was the outdoor feature writer for the Tribune Newspaper chain, and has written for a variety of specialty outdoor publications.

A voracious canyoneer, telemark skier, oarsman and climber, Devenney has thrown himself into risky outdoor obsessions one by one. But the most exciting thing these days, says Barry, "is introducing my son Sean to the joy of Wilderness. Watching his new blue eyes marvel at the sight of a tree or bird makes even the most familiar hike new again - and an adventure rich with meaning."