Date: 2012-08-21
From: Zeta Pass

To: US 2 (back to Susan's)
Miles today: 12.6

Susan gave us permission to use her truck today. Rocket is taking a zero day to rest her knee and run some errands. Scrambo and I are going to finish the slack we started a couple days ago. Rocket has already done this section and she's ok with not doing it again.My white sleeveless hiking shirt finally disintegrated to the point that I had to throw it away. Rocket is stopping at an outfitter today, so I gave her some money to pick up a new sleeveless hiking shirt for me.Susan filled us up with a hearty breakfast and we stopped put some gas in the truck on our way out. Scrambo and I also got some stuff for lunch from the deli across the street.  It's actually quite a drive to get out past Pinkham Notch from Franconia. Once we got to the trailhead, Scrambo and I pushed hard up the blue blaze trails to Zeta Pass. We made about 4 mph., not bad considering the elevation gain. We were a little bit more casual once we got to the top. Slack packing really allows you to enjoy the experience. Shedding the weight allows you to hike faster, farther, and with less fatigue.Since I brought up the subject of purist thru-hiking in post a few days ago,  I've become aware of a group of hikers that consider themselves to be ultra purist. These guys believe that slack packing pollutes the integrity of a thru-hike the way that I believe skipping sections does. According to the A.T.C., a thru-hiker is someone who passes every blaze in a calendar year. It doesn't say anything about how much weight you have to carry while doing it. These "ultra purist" will actually load their pack up with overnight gear even if they know they are going back to town at the end of the day. I don't understand that. If carrying the weight of a full pack on every mile of trail makes you a better thru-hiker. Does that also mean that a guy carrying a 35-40 pound pack is doing it better than an ultra lighter who carries a 12 pound pack?....I don't think so. In fact, I think it's the other way around. Backpackers always start out heavy and trim their pack weight as they gain experience. Anyone can carry a heavy pack out into the woods. The outdoorsman that impress me are the ones who have enough experience and creativity to go out into the woods with next to nothing.Anyway... We met Rocket at US 2 and went to the super Walmart in Gorham. I bought some extra food to send to myself in Maine. Other hikers have said that the resupply opportunities aren't so great further up the trail.Once back at Susan's, Rocket and Scrambo started cooking a feast. I was upstairs typing on the computer. It was a really nice evening. This is to be our last night at Susan's. Before bed, Scrambo and I did a shakedown of Rocket's pack. She's carrying 40+ pounds. Scrambo is right at the limit of what's considered "ultralight" with his 25 lb. pack. I looked at what he's carrying before we went on our slack this morning. Scrambo has carefully considered the weight of everything he's carrying. I couldn't find a lot to criticize in his pack. Between the two of us we hope to find where Rocket can shed some weight.A pack shakedown can be a traumatic experience for some people. People grow attached to the things they carry. You will get a lot of excuses why they need to carry this or that. But pain is a great motivator, it's what helped me to open up to the idea of a pack inventory or "shake down". It's a humbling experience, you have to be willing to admit that there are other hikers out there that know more about backpacking then you do. For a pack shakedown to be successful you have to first find someone with a lighter pack then yours. Hopefully this person has carried a light pack for at least 1,000 miles, that way you know that they know what they're talking about. You don't have to do it exactly like they do, but you want the gram counting/chuck it mindset to rub off on you. That way when the shakedown is over, you'll become your own critic. Do I really need to keep carrying this???Rocket was a good sport about the shake down. We found many items that we knew that she could do without. She tended not agree with us most of the time. We did manage to create a small pile of things she agreed to send home. But I saw at least one thing from that pile make it back onto her pack the next morning : PSeriously though, it takes some guts to spill the contents of your burden out in front of somebody else. In many ways it feels like you are opening up your life to criticism. So, if you've already gone LIGHT, be respectful of others as you help them to lighten up. If you're currently burdened by the weight of a heavy pack, set your feelings aside and open yourself up to what somebody else could teach you. I admit that I'm the kind of person that has trouble deflating my ego. But I've learned a lot about ultralight backpacking by humbling myself and listening to people that know more about it then me.