Have you taken a true multi-night backpacking trip into the wild outdoors? The kind of trip where itโs just you (maybe some friends), your pack, some trekking poles, a trusty pair of hiking boots, and a grand sense of adventure?
If you have, youโve probably experienced the captivating magic of trail life. The range of emotions you feel during and after a big adventure spans from the tough lows up to magnificent highs, but the memory you take with you in the end is truly magical.
In this 4-part series, Iโm not going into the nuts and bolts of backpacking or the how-toโs or what to bring, but instead taking you through the mental aspect of trail life and what your senses experience:
Part 1: Trail Life & Magic of Backpacking // Tickle Your Senses
Part 2: Trail Life & Magic of Backpacking // Reset to Simple
Part 3: Trail Life & Magic of Backpacking // Ties That Bind
Part 4: Trail Life & Magic of Backpacking // Memories That Stick
For those of you who love Gear Lists (like me) and want more detail in what we take on our multi-night backpacking trips:
Check out what we take โ Our Current Backpacking Gear List
Mrs. Saturday & I crave more time and miles on the trail. Itโs a reset of our spirits back to a simple and pleasant routine. We love being fully immersed in the culture and richness of local and diverse environments. While on our savings journey, more time on the trail vs. expensive luxury travel can be an effective way for us to take more frugal trips.
Doesnโt THAT sound exciting?
Backpacking provides added flexibility and frugality to vacations where normally you have to might book a hotel or AirBnB. But, if home happens to be with you, then you can literally be anywhere you want!
Now, into the magic of backpacking and trail life.
Bonding, Friendship & Camaraderie
Backpacking trips have a way of bonding people and adding a special layer to friendships that others canโt quite understand unless they were there to experience it.
I think it has to do with a special mix of ingredients you canโt get in any other environment. Humans come from nature and introducing us back into our natural state does wonders for the soul. We were especially built for walking, socializing, and teamwork so when you put these together:
Nature + A Common Goal + Hardship + Fun + Magic + Embarrassing Experiences = Guaranteed Bonding
You are all equal in this environment. Each step you take is the metric you measure toward your common goal as a team. Just like with a marriage, itโs never a 50/50 relationship. Itโs probably more like 70/30 or 40/60 or maybe even 20/80! There are ups and downs and when you can pick someone else up from their low or if they do the same for you, itโs becomes the glue that bonds friendships together.
The longer you hike with others, the more youโll discover peopleโs idiosyncrasies, unique abilities, weaknesses, and also their limits physically and mentally. Everyone is different in their own way and each person brings unique qualities to the table.
Shared Highs
Facing our fears on top of Devil’s Bridge in Sedona, AZ.
Traveling alone can be a journey of self discovery & personal insight, but humans naturally love to share experiences. Thereโs something magical about looking out over the edge of a cliff at a gorgeous sunset in mutual awe. Stories that are told and retold for years to come are made from experiences like trekking along a trail and just as you round the next corner, a group of elk peer up at you, or maybe you scare a bear that takes off with a start, crashing through the brush, likewise scaring all of you!
Through the ages, simply sitting around a crackling campfire has been the kindling that can bond a group together. Nothing could give more immediate gratification of working together after a hard day’s hike in the cold than the results of a campfire.
Some of these high moments can happen by pure chance, like the time we spent hiking 20 miles on the Appalachian Trail and towards the end we got slightly lost and stumbled across a hiker inn that sold ice cold Bud Limaritas, had fire pits, and clean showers! An oasis of good memories.
Other memorable highs can be cleverly engineered by being thoughtful ahead of time. Imagine hiking for days, far away from civilization, to discover someone brought your favorite beer or sangria and gifted it to you the moment you needed it most. The same can be said for any variety of luxuries like chocolate, candy, or fresh fruit.
Shared Lows
While some of these types of experiences make great stories after the fact, when youโre in the moment itโs probably why the phrase โmisery loves companyโ is so well-known. Enduring hard times with others can bring you much closer together.ย Maybe you’ve hiked until you’re all delirious, low on energy and lost, only to road walk endlessly to find something to get you out of your dismal situation.
It doesnโt get much more miserable than being dirty, exhausted, wet, and freezing cold while youโre setting up your tent in the rain with no end in sight. Sometimes just the thought of knowing youโre not alone makes hardship just a bit more bearable.
Embarrassing Moments & Inside jokes
Many times in life, the people closest to you get to know things you normally wouldnโt reveal to anyone. Trail life likes to present many of these fun opportunities to let your friends in on things you normally would rather not be known. Embarrassing and uncomfortable things. This privileged information adds another layer to your friendship and whether you classify it as innocently hilarious or maybe blackmail, those faux-pas can tie you closer to someone. One of these great โopportunitiesโ happened to me.
On a trip to Yosemite with a couple of friends, I got the privilege of being be part of a now infamous inside joke in our group. We had settled into our campsite and after some time, nature calls and you need to โdo your business.” Apparently in this area, we heard that small, soft pine cones make amazing toilet paper. One person in our group raved about it, so I thought I’d give it a try just to say I had. I take our shovel with me, a bit of toilet paper, find a nice spot, and get down to business. I have my pants down to my ankles in an awkward position, and as luck would have it, a kid comes trotting down the path near me and all I could get out was a grin and a cheery “excuse me!” Later that day, after sharing this with the group, we laughed until we cried and then laughed some more.
A Helping Hand
People tend to remember kindness shown to them at a moment in need and the same holds true on the trail. This is one reason strangers you might come across on the trail that help you out for no reason other than to show kindness are called trail angels. In groups that we’ve hiked with in the past weโve been shown kindness and have always returned the favor when we can.
When we were just getting started, small things like someone bringing a strong enough clothesline for everyone to use was a nice gesture. Other times when hiking in the desert with some friends, we loaned an extra bandana for some sun cover and brought enough extra water in case they ran out (which they did early on). On another trip when we had two water filters fail at the same time, having a good one to borrow in the group was greatly appreciated and saved us a lot of frustration.
Deal Breakers
On the other hand, you find out real quick the types of people you canโt work with. Backpacking is raw and wild and friendships can either flourish or disintegrate quickly. Weโve had friends in other parts of our life who were so negative (even during the best of times) that once we couldn’t take any more, had to be released back into the wild.
Life is too short for bad company when there are so many rich friendships out there, yet to be discovered.
Trail life is not easy and requires cooperation and at least a positive outlook. After several miles on the trail your nerves will be tested to the max and how you react to each stress reveals a lot about your personality.
Your attitude is your currency.
Build Unique & Strong Friendships
Backpacking with friends can a strong bonding experience for many reasons. With every situation you face together and overcome, it becomes a story to be told and a “remember that time when…” Precious memories like that can’t be bought. You have to earn them with your time, effort, and attitude but in the end itโs so worth it.
Next up in this series is Part 4: Trail Life & Magic of Backpacking // Memories That Stick
I can feel your memories! You’ve had such great experiences.
I’ve hiked numerous times but mainly just day trips. I did one trip with a tour, where we carried backpacks and some gear but we didn’t sleep outside. Still it was rustic enough for me, trekking through the Grand Tetons.
We had an inside joke on that trip, but that joke was on me and it had to do with what you that “business” you referred to. I just refused to “go” outside. Day 1, then day 2 passed, and I managed to always make it to a break with some sort of bathroom (or hole with a door). By day 3, I was not as lucky and I couldn’t hold it in. I found some large rock to hide behind, and did my business. When I finished, I walked around to the front of the rock. And that’s when I realized it was a small MONUMENT to some girl scouts and their leader who were struck by lightning on that very spot! I felt like an idiot.
HAHA! Omg Mrs. Groovy, that’s great. That sounds exactly like a lot of our experiences that we laugh at when we get back. Maybe a little horrifying at the time but great stories!
A handful of months back this year we just saw the Tetons while visiting a friend. They were gorgeous. We didn’t hike much on that trip, but one incredible memory was paddle boarding on a river & when we rounded a bend, a giant moose stood in the middle while we floated by.