Basecamping


I am sure I am not the only backpacker who at the end of a long winter dreams of the adventure of backpacking trips of years past, and looks forward to new places to explore and journeys waiting as the snow melts. The lengthening spring days induce me to again study hiking guides and maps for new places I hope to travel to. The type of backpack trips I start to plan is something loosely called 'basecamping.'

Basecamping involves trekking up to a beautiful spot usually high in the mountains and setting up camp at the same location for several nights. I then spend my days exploring the surrounding forests, alpine plateaus, hidden lakes and high mountain peaks without the heavy pack. Staying put for a few days gives my usually sore middle age muscles a chance to rest, and with renewed energy and mobility allows me climb to places I would probably not get to with the pack on.

I cannot say I get the same satisfaction from doing a loop trip from beginning to end, carrying the pack each day without a rest, breaking and setting up camp each morning and night. I don't believe I am alone in saying that carrying that heavy pack on my back for days is very hard work.

Basecamping gives one time to slow down and pay attention to the beauty of a landscape that we may only get to once a year or so. Last summer I camped at a wonderful spot on a high ridge at the top of a Rocky Mountain valley. I was only 20 yards below the last of the conical Engelman Spruce and Subalpine Fir. Above me spread an treeless alpine basin with three mountain lakes, and above them magnificent snow-covered Colorado peaks. One day, after exploring the vast landscape above me, I returned to camp early because of a rainstorm, which continued while I cooked and ate my dinner. Then after dinner as the storm drifted to the east the sun broke out and added a perfect mountain rainbow to the front of the passing storm. The rainbow curved down over alpine peaks and its end disappeared into the spruce and fir in the valley below my camp.

The copyright of the article Basecamping in Backpacking is owned by James E. Ratzloff. Permission to republish Basecamping in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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