GREG BURCH'S BACKPACKING PAGE

...at daybreak I am the sole owner of all the acres I can walk over. It is not only the boundaries that disappear, but also the thought of being bounded.

-- Aldo Leopold

It's almost easier to define backpacking by what it isn't than by what it is. Backpacking is that sport that you do outdoors over more than one day, away from automobiles, boats, bicycles, horses and roads, that isn't skiing or mountain climbing. Backpacking is the sport that lets you go three or four days without shaving or taking a bath.

Backpacking is the sport that lets you get to places very few people go, see things very few people see. Some of the best moments of my life have come at the end of a long, hard day of humping a tough trail, seeing the sunset from a 12,000-foot mountain pass, smelling the food cooking over the hissing stoves. Then comes what I call "the Movie": The night sky in the uninhabited mountains. The best seeing there is! Many is the morning I've awakened with a sore neck from looking up at the sky for hours the night before.

• If you're a backpacker, but not an astronomy nerd like me, consider investing some time in learning about the night sky: A little knowledge makes the mountain sky even better. A great way to learn about astronomy is with a wonderful program called Dance of the Planets.

PLACES. I judge trails by how challenging they are (without being dangerous or so hard you can't have fun), the beauty of the surrounding countryside, how easily you can get to essentials (especially water) and how isolated the place is -- so it isn't overrun with people. With this in mind, here's a selection of some of the places I've backpacked.

The Gila Wilderness On the New Mexico side of the border with Arizona (just north of Silver City), the high canyons through which the headwaters of the Gila River run is about the best place to backpack I know of. I've done more trips in the Gila area than I can count now. The first 38 miles of the main Gila River itself, from just below the cliff dwellings National Monument down to Turkey Creek, is about the most beautiful place on earth. This stretch of the river is accessible only about half way down, by way of Sapillo creek, either through the slot canyon (which I haven't done yet, but according to my friend Joel White, requires some seriously amphibious travel) or across the very dry top of the mesa. I've done the whole 38 miles once and the Sapillo mesa "insertion" into the Gila canyon twice. When you're down in the main canyon, you can see how Geronimo and a small band of riflemen could hold off the U.S. cavalry for so long. Full of game and with plenty of fresh water and shelter in caves, the Gila canyon is about as close to a natural fortress/paradise as you'll find on this planet.

• Personal photos from the Gila Wilderness:
  • I'm checking out the rocks bpgila18.jpg
  • Tim Sims and I, indicating the smoking brakes on our transport from the descent to the riverbpgila20.jpg
  • Bill Luker and I near the beginning of a long hike in 1993 bpgila22.jpg
  • Me, reading during a lunch break bpgila24.jpg
  • Frank Pool and I, in the Gila Canyon bpgila26.jpg
  • Near the end of the trail:
    • Me bpgila28.jpg
    • Frank Pool bpgila30.jpg
    • Bill Luker bpgila31.jpg
    • Evan Nave bpgila32.jpg
  • I indicate the trail below to Bill Luker (one of my favorite pictures) bpgila33.jpg
  • On the trail again (6 weeks after knee surgery in 1995) bpgila35.jpg
• Western New Mexico University Gila site
• GORP Gila Wilderness site
• GilaNet

Chiricahua Wilderness Not far from the Gila, the Chiricahua is just on the Mexican border in southeast Arizona. There is a wonderful loop trail that on the south face of the mountains offers breathtaking views out into the Mexican Sonoran desert.

• Personal photos from the Chiricahua Wilderness
  • Joel White in camp bpaz01.jpg
  • me in camp bpaz02.jpg
  • me humping a load; we climbed all that way bpaz04.jpg
  • me at our highest point bpaz05.jpg
  • Joel White (l) and Russ Miller (r) and the view south into Mexico bpaz10.jpg
• Chiricahua National Monument
• Park Search Chiricahua site
• Geology of the Chiricahuas

Sangre de Cristo Mountains Unbelievably close to the urban concentration of Santa Fe, the Sangre de Cristos offer a very nice (but poorly marked) trail system that is perfectly set up for making base camps on the upper Pecos River and taking one- or two-day side trips up to the peaks.

• Some personal photos from the Pecos Wilderness
  • Frank Pool, me, Evan Nave, Tim Sims bpecos15.jpg
  • Frank Pool and Tim Sims lead the way into the Pecos Wilderness bpecos01.jpg
  • View from the flanks of Pecos Baldy bpecos18.jpg
  • Evan Nave and Frank Pool summit Pecos Baldy bpecos20.jpg
  • We recreate a famous flag-raising on the north flanks of the Pecos range bpecos30.jpg
  • Bill Luker and I play in the snow bpecos35.jpg
  • Evan Nave, Frank Pool and I peer at a map bpecos37.jpg
  • The manly men at the end of the trail bpecos39.jpg
  • Other photos of the Pecos can be found at the EXpedition97 page

Big Bend Natural Area I've only been to Big Bend once, and that was to the Rancherias trail in the state "Natural Area" (the Texas equivalent of a federal "wilderness area"). This was a mere three day trip with Frank Pool, Bill Luker and Tim Sims. We dubbed this the "Valles Marineris Death March" and it was undoubtedly the hardest backpacking trip I've ever done. Not the longest or the highest, it was the driest and involved the worst trail conditions I've ever survived. I felt like a real hero when Bill and I walked out to the road at the end. I want to go back to Big Bend, but on an easier trail.

• Photos from the "Valles Marineris Death March"
  • Tim Sims near the beginning of the Rancherias Trail bbend03.jpg
  • Tim and Frank Pool using a map to aid in getting lost bbend04.jpg
  • Bill Luker and Tim believing that they are not lost in a cactus forest bbend05.jpg
  • Me, looking back for the last point at which we weren't lost (yes, I used that stupid travel pack, despite being cautioned not to by Joel White . . . what a moron I was . . .) bbend06.jpg

"RECENT" TRIPS

Here are some notes, descriptions and links to info on trips I've done in the last few years.

DEATH MARCH 1998. Frank Pool, Tim Sims, Evan Nave, Scott Borders and I spent four days in the Chiricahua Wilderness/Coronado National Forest in mid-March, 1998. Follow the link for more info.

EXpedition 97. An "extropian" backpacking trip over the July 4th holiday in 1997 in the Pecos Wilderness in Northern New Mexico. A moonless, perfectly clear sky was the highlight of this trip that coincided with the landing of the Mars Pathfinder/Soujorner spacecraft

DEATH MARCH 1996. Frank Pool, Evan Nave, Bill Luker, Tim Sims and I hiked up to just below the Truchas Peaks in the Sangre de Cristos during the last week of May, 1996. The trip was a great success, despite some pretty cold nights and a hard, all-uphill hike the first day.

GEAR. Nothing teaches the lesson of "less is more" better than backpacking. One of the things I'm proud of is the fact that these days I usually unpack my pack at the end of a trip and don't regret having carried any of the things I put away. (Speaking of gear, REI recently opened an outlet in Houston, so my backpacking budget is at real risk!)

• The Basics. This is my annotated list of basic gear.
• I switched to an internal frame pack in the Spring of 1995, a move that really improved my wilderness travel. You hear people say that internal frame packs are too hot to use in summer because of the lack of air circulation on your back. Don't believe it. If it is a little warmer, the increased comfort and stability more than make up for the heat. Plus, I think internal frame packs look better, and it's always important to look good when you're sweating.
• When I had my right knee rebuilt in early 1995, I started using a set of adjustable-length trekking poles. This has also really improved my endurance and given me a lot of confidence.
• With the steady deterioration in my knees and ankles, I have turned to heavier and taller boots. I bought a pair of Asolo Geysers in April, 1996 and they have really improved my endurance. No more mid-rise light hikers, I'm afraid! A set of good high-tech orthodic insoles also has helped. If you're getting dangerously close to 40 like me, putting some extra bucks into good footwear can make a big difference.
• If you're still using iodine water purification tablets, go ahead and spend the money for a good filter pump. In most of the U.S., the latest generation of filter pumps is more than sufficient to deliver great drinking water and the difference in taste is worth the price.
• Finally, I have imagined a piece of high-tech equipment I call the "Hikeman". In its most advanced form, the "Hikeman" is a wilderness PC, with a CDROM drive and a GPS locator. I envision CD trail guides that would have detailed maps, keyed to the GPS system and on which a user could overlay data about flora, fauna, climate and trail conditions. Each CD would have general first aid and survival information and information of the same kind more specific to the area. Eventually, of course, a "Hikeman" would include a two-way satellite communication relay. I have mixed feelings about this last. The security of being able to call in a chopper if somebody breaks their leg or gets mauled by a bear would be nice, but I sure wouldn't like having to take a call from the office while I'm huffing up a mountain trail 20 miles from any road ...
• Michael Connick's "Ultralight" Backpacking page: Gear Wisdom
• The Lightweight Backpacker: Charles Lindsey on doing it with less

TRAINING. This link leads to some thoughts on preparing your body for backpacking.

UPCOMING TRIPS. I'm always planning a trip or two, and spend more time than I should daydreaming about them. Right now I'm dreaming about this:

• Pico de Orizaba, Vera Cruz. I've been talking about a trip (Summer, 1999, 2000?) up the north face of Pico de Orizaba. (Look here for an account of a trip I took to the south face of the mountain.) This will be a pretty involved expedition, but may be one of the best backpacking trips of all time ! ! !

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Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.

-- John Muir

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