in 2018 i started preparing for a hike of the appalachian trail in 2019. i read about ultralight. the gear seemed pretty expensive and i perceived an elitist mentality based on numerous reddit posts, a few various articles, and a youtube video here or there. (note: avoid reddit unless you are mostly familiar with and know exactly what you are looking for. otherwise it’s a blackhole style wasteland.) i embraced the overall philosophy, but i was also attempting to make due with some gear that i had already. i think i started the appalachian trail with an actual base weight somewhere between 15 or 16 pounds. a hiker must go through an orientation to receive their appalachian trail tag at amicalola falls. the tag is not required, but it’s fun to have it hanging from your pack. at the end, we all weighed our packs on a hook scale. mine was 35.5 pounds. if i recall correctly, that did not include water.
several hundreds of miles on the lone start hiking trail, 1600 miles on the appalachian trail, and many mistakes have taught me some hard learned lessons. i changed out pretty much my entire kit for my 2022 colorado trail thru-hike. ultralight was the way to go, elitist or not.
i would describe ultralight as essentialism. i have a mild to severe disdain for most any “ism”, but since we humans like to categorize things, i think that my philosophy fits in a category named that. minimalism could also be a name for it. carry what you need and nothing more.
simplicity
ultralight means being simple. i have a simple backpack. a simple tent. simple clothing. simplicity reduces the potential for gear problems. when a problem does arise, simple gear quite often means simple fixes. i’ve had to patch my tent. make a sewing repair to my backpack. modify gaiters to better keep dirt and debris out of my shoes. all on trail. simple gear also means that you find creative alternative uses for each piece. my groundcloth has served as a quick makeshift rain and/or hail shelter. a ditty bag stuffed with unworn clothes items becomes a pillow. my rain jacket gets used as a wind jacket as well as an extra layer when the puffy alone just isn’t keeping me warm enough. and finally, a simple kit is much easier to manage.
efficiency
ultralight means being efficient. and that doesn’t mean maximum productivity. having only what one needs means there is less to pack. less to struggle with. less to get lost in a pack or left behind. less to stress over. it means a minimum of wasted effort. any effort that is exerted is also only that which is necessary to hike. the task is distilled to its essence: maximum enjoyment of both the trail and the journey along it.
creativity
ultralight means being creative. there is something about walking/hiking in the woods that frees up the mind. as long as the mind is able to be free. when the burden on my back is as light as reasonably possible, i’m not focused on it. i can wander on mental journeys. walking becomes meditative. thoughts flow freely through my mind. a clarity of thought occurs. answers come, but not the kind to test questions or that science claims to yield. no, just answers that can’t be spoken because they have no words. the answers that science and technology cannot provide because they only speak the language of progress. and nature has no interest in progress. it’s not interested in moving forward or backward. it has no “interest” at all really. nature just passes; goes; proceeds. and the mind tunes into that procession, that natural stream. and from that a type of creativity emerges. an expression of nature. and it comes naturally only when the mind is relaxed and unfocused. ultralight helps me get there. i’m sure there are zen monks that can achieve that state in the midst of physical agony. i have not arrived at that point yet.
freedom
ultralight means being free. not the kind that governments fight over. not the kind to which one has a political right. nor the kind enshrined in some document. (let’s forgo the discussion of how those freedoms are necessary for a thru-hiker to enjoy the freedom i’m describing. i accede to your notion that they are a requirement.) none of those kinds. it’s a different kind entirely. nature is the governess and she has laws. laws that ostensibly cannot be broken and yet sometimes can and are. they are not documented anywhere. she doesn’t necessarily enforce them. they have a force unto themselves. they are murky, opaque, hard to feel the limits of until it’s sometimes too late. harsh and simultaneously very forgiving. forgiving in that they, or she, allow for limits to be pushed, carefully expanded. different for each person and different at different times for each person. the laws are nature and nature is the law. they are one and the same. we describe nature using words for the limits, the laws, that we believe we see because we have no other way. but she has no real laws. those are of our own making. and in that one can be relieved, unburdened. we can set ourselves free of our own unnecessary laws. going ultralight is burdening oneself with the least amount necessary to experience the unburdening that the trail and nature provide. that is the freedom i am describing.
i equate stuff with distraction. in the end, ultralight means being on the trail, in nature, with the least distractions possible. so, i carry the least amount of stuff possible, or that i deem possible. and i try to find the lightest of the stuff i do carry. i am still pushing the limits. attempting to push the limits. i eat a lot of “cold” food at home. i’m contemplating ditching my cook system again. i use it only for dinner. it’s not really about the weight savings. the total is only 350g (12 oz) or so. i really do find it a distraction. i’ve thought about what i didn’t enjoy about cold soaking on the appalachian trail and i’ll make some adjustments. and that’s also part of the fun. the doing. the freedom to get creative in simplifying and becoming more efficient. learning and then doing again.