Backpacking for photographers

My approach to getting there

i
The titanium spork

ii
Shelter

iii
• The Essentials

iv
Photography Gear

Lake Nanita • Rocky Mountain National Park

Part Three: Essentials

Now that I have a place to sleep, the rest of my needs are associated with keeping myself fed and safe. If you are like me, this is no small task and all those pesky ounces really start to add up so I try to keep it simple.

Water filter
I imagine that you could safely drink most of the water from mountain streams with no ill effect, but the park and forest services warn about Giardiasis at every opportunity. This is a gastrointestinal disorder caused by the flagellated protozoan, Giardia intestinalis. In reality you stand a much greater chance of catching this in a public pool, but the symptoms sound uncomfortable enough that you really, really, don't want to catch this in the backcountry. You could boil your water before drinking it, but this takes a lot of time and you end up carrying so much fuel that you don't save any weight. There are many filters on the market and most specify what they will and will not filter on the packaging. My filter is made by Pur and filters out everything imaginable. It was expensive, but I've never been sick while backpacking.

Stove, cookware, and food
If you really wanted to, you could live on powerbars for a long time but after a while they become very unsatisfying. I will normally eat a bar for breakfast (they now come with caffeine for us coffee addicts) and as a snack along the way, but for dinner I prefer something more substantial. I pack dried backpacking meals, not because they are good, or cheap—although the mountain chili is quite decent—but because they are easy, light, and last forever. Several brands even come in metal bags in which you can cook. No dishes. This is great if you hate doing dishes, and more importantly, it makes practicing good camping ethics easier. You can pack everything, including bits of uneaten food out with you. Cooking dried meals requires a stove, a pot for boiling water, and fuel. This is a lot of unavoidable weight. You can buy mini fuel bottles that are lighter and will last a single person quite a while. My stove is a MSR Dragonfly. It is light, always works, and boils water quickly. What really sold me, however, was the list of fuels that it will burn. If you feed this stove something mildly flammable it will work. You can even use jet fuel. Who uses jet fuel when camping? I've often wondered where on earth you are where you can't find Coleman camp fuel, yet you have easy access to jet fuel. If you shop around, you can find a small pot (these come in titanium to match the spork) that will accommodate the stove and cookware inside allowing you to save space.

Clothing
I pack as little as I can without sacrificing my safety. I always bring rain gear (strapped outside the pack), extra socks, hat, and a fleece pullover when in unpredictable environments like the mountains. You can get away with very little extra clothing in the summer. Today's hi-tech fabrics are light, breathe well, and most importantly, dry incredibly quickly. You don't need to pack three pairs of pants and three shirts for a short trip. During most of the year the only spare clothes I pack are socks and a light polyester tee shirt in case I fall in a stream. I stay away from cotton: no cotton shirts, pants, socks, or even underwear. Cotton gets wet and stays wet which can occasionally be dangerous and is always uncomfortable.

Other Essentials

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