“One of these days I’m gonna get organizized” is how Travis Bickle put it in Taxi Driver.  These late Winter days give us a great chance to rethink, or perhaps really think for the first time, about how we organize our pack. I’ve talked before about Situational Awareness in a general sense and this is a concrete example of that.  Knowing where your gear is when you need it can literally be a life saver.

The first part of knowing where to find your stuff is actually pretty simple in theory at least.  If you always put things where they belong they will be there when you need them.  This is one of those things that is easy to say but much harder to do.  There are really only two places an item should be; in its storage place or in use.  In the real world there is a third place which is where you set it “just for a second” while you grab something else.  This is fine so long as you keep track and of course isn’t fine when you realize the next night that you’ve left your stove or water filter, or god forbid both, miles behind on the other side of a mountain or three.  That’s why I try to resist that urge to set things down and take the extra time to tuck them away where I’ll expect to find them later.

OK, but where do things belong?  That is the second part of knowing where to find your stuff and the only person qualified to answer that question is you.  The key to this step is developing a system so you have one to follow back there in step one.  There are some basic concepts to keep in mind and some things you’ll probably want to avoid, but ultimately it comes down to what works best for you.  The type of pack you  are using and type of gear you carry may have an impact on your choices as well so what works on one type of trip may need to be altered as things change.

Keeping the weight centered and close to the spine will help with balance and fatigue.  If the load is shifted too high you become top heavy which means you will be fighting your load more than you need to and risk losing your balance on trail.  If the load is shifted too low or away from the spine it will put a strain on your shoulders as the pack  pulls your whole body backwards.  That can be especially dangerous on steep climbs but even on level ground forces you to work harder to carry your load.

It can help to think of your pack in terms of thirds when considering balance.  Split horizontally the top and bottom should be lighter with the center containing the heaviest items by volume.  Split vertically the left and right sides should be lighter with the center again holding items with the most mass.  If you have heavier items that make sense to carry in a zone outside the center try to counterbalance with additional weight on the opposing side.

When looking at how I use the things I carry with me I also find it can be useful to think in terms of thirds.  Dividing things by when and how I use them lets me group them together and prioritize access to them logically.  I put shelter and sleep system in one group, food, fuel and mess kit in another with clothes and incidentals in the third.

Shelter and sleep system are only used in camp so they don’t need to be easily accessed on trail.  They also are relative low weight items so work well as the bottom third of your pack.  Some packs have a specific compartment for this at the bottom.  Even if your pack doesn’t you can just load these items first.  You can loosely pack them to maximize space or use stuff sacks but keep your expected water exposure in mind.  You’ll need to keep your sleep system dry for it to work properly and you may have to put your tent away wet if drying isn’t an option so dry sacks or plastic bags may be a good idea.

Food, fuel and cooking equipment tend to be some of the heaviest items people carry.  These things generally aren’t used on the trail unless you are stopping for a hot lunch or taking hot beverage breaks on a Winter trek.  That along with their density makes the center of the pack a good place for them.  Spreading items around can allow you to maximize space but storing food in a stuff sack or using nested mess gear make it easier to take things out of the pack when you need access.  I prefer the latter approach so smaller items aren’t swimming towards the depths of my bag.

The upper third and outer pouches of my pack I use for clothes and incidentals.  I have a primary dry sack that holds my strategic reserve; sleep wear, sleep socks, extra trail socks and usually an emergency sweater or fleece depending on conditions.  These are clothes I don’t expect to need to access on trail and are very important to keep dry.  If everything else fails and all my other clothing is soaked this is the stuff that will save my butt.  This sack also serves as my pillow with varied results depending on how fully stuffed it is.  Clothes that might be needed on trail are either on top of the main compartment or in external pouches for fast access depending on how likely I think they’ll be needed.

Keeping things you might need on trail in places you can reach easily means you are more likely to use them.  My regular pack has belt pouches that I make good use of.  One side has three Clif bars and hard candy which I can access without breaking stride.  The other side has my bug dope, head net, sun screen and lip balm all of which again can be in my hand without stopping if I want.  Being able to access them easily means I don’t wait until it is too late to add some fuel or put on sunscreen.  I use a water bladder and tube for the same reason; easy access means it gets used.

The top lid pouch on my pack contains small but important items such as my lantern, first aid kit, maps, sanitary wipes, a small spindle of string and another of paracord.  These pouches are easy to access on trail as well as in camp so perfect for corralling smaller items and anything you can’t afford to waste time looking for like the first aid kit  or light source.  The side pouches on my pack work great for longer items so I put my tent pole in one along with my fishing rod while the other side holds my rain gear.

Once you come up with a system and stick to it for a while it really doesn’t take much effort to keep it up.  The benefits keep coming though.  Whether you are throwing together a pack for a last minute trip and don’t forget anything or find yourself getting out on the trail faster in the morning because your hands seem to know where to put everything even before the instant coffee kicks in, it really helps to have a little bit of organizization.

So that is a bit on how I do it and my thoughts behind it, but really that isn’t what is important.  What matters is that you have a chance now to think about how you do it.   Are there things that you might want to rethink?  A little thought now can take us a long way on the path less traveled by.

This young man didn’t have the most organizized of packs but he enjoyed taunting me by ducking under blow downs I can’t dream of limboing under any more.

The extended January thaw offered much appreciated respite from this Winter’s frequent bouts of arctic chill.  A thaw like that is a double edged sword though it seems.  It gives us a break from the emotional and physical clenching that comes with below zero temps, but in that loosening we give up some of the firmness that allows us to maintain our resolve.

Sometimes a lull can make us feel like the worst is behind us even when we know better.  The eye of a big wind producing storm, the slight lessening of the grade in the middle of a long climb or in this case a long mid-winter thaw all can lead us to let down our mental guard.  It is a very human thing to hope though I can only imagine animals do it too.

Such hope can be dangerous though if embraced too fully and then found to be false.  The flock of robins in these pictures appeared near the end of the thaw.  Likely following the warm air north they had enough time to get this far before Winter closed back in around them.  Now their hope of an early Spring appears to have turned into a resolve not to freeze to death before it gets here.   They are in almost constant motion, flitting from branch to branch in effort to keep warm.

We people too felt some of that hope of Spring and now perhaps to spite the lingering Winter or perhaps flitting about to keep warm like the robins, activities seem to be on the rise.  I am seeing more and more of this year’s thru hikers talking of their plans, finalizing their gear and counting the days until they start their migrations northward.   Much like the robins, getting carried away with hope and heading north too early can lead to getting caught in the snow unexpectedly.

Even once the snow is gone patience is still something I try to hold on to.  The mud season here in Maine is a terrible time to be on trail.  No matter how warm the sun or how sweet the air trying to get out there too early can do a lot of damage to the trails.  A few days of slick mud trail can do a lot of mental as well as physical damage to us as well.

Winter will turn to Spring, snow will turn to mud and eventually the trails will dry out just in time for the black flies to come out…each when they are ready.  Our need to hurry them along won’t change them a bit though the stress of it might change us.   Better to go with the flow of nature than to try to fight it.  Let it be as it is now and enjoy each day of each season for what it is.

Of course I admit I have trips planned and unplanned I’m looking forward to.   The anticipation is bittersweet like the smell of Thanksgiving turkey an hour before its done.  It is far too early to let the excitement carry us away, but it is never too early to dream.  I’ll bide my time and try to remember that some things can’t be rushed in life and especially on the path less traveled by

Mid-Winter through early Spring is a time I call “Not Shopping Season”  The days are getting a little longer and the sun is riding higher above the horizon.  The senses begin to feel a hint of the Spring to come even though it is months away.  The mind starts to imagine the adventures it will open the door to.  A season of hope to be sure, but there is a dark undercurrent to this time of year.

Not Shopping Season is the time of year when all things seem possible; short trips, long trips, new places and old…and what to bring on these trips‽  With time to think, read, talk, argue and laugh about gear with like-minded folk this time of year can be treacherous indeed.  Lurking around every corner is another wonderful item that would be perfect for this Summer’s dreamt of adventures.

It doesn’t matter that the item isn’t really needed.  It doesn’t matter that you already have something similar.  What matters is action and if you can’t apply your energy toward moving down the trail then buying trail gear will be just the thing!  The item comes, is unboxed with great joy, tested in the living room or back yard and then since you still can’t hit the trail…the cycle begins again!

Understanding the time of year and myself well enough I make an effort to fight these instincts.   I remind myself that when I’m puffing my way to the top of a steep climb I rarely am thinking “If only I had more gear with me!”  I also keep in mind that if I spend a lot of money on fancy new gear I won’t have money for fuel and supplies to actually go anywhere.

So this is the season of trying not to buy things.  So far I’ve done very well, but lately I’ve been slipping a bit.  Nothing for me, but I’ve been thinking Mrs Stranger needs a new pack for this year.  Well and her sleeping bag isn’t very well suited for trail use so it may be time to get that double quilt we’d talked about.  Of course our daughter will need bigger trail shoes this year and…

Yes, the Not Shopping Season is in full swing here.  It is good to have a sense of humor about these things I think.  We are human after all and people are pretty funny if you are paying attention.  Good to be honest about our silliness with ourselves at least.   So we weather our Winter months in good spirits, dreaming of days to come on the path less traveled by

We were prepared for the snow when it came early.  When the sub zero blasts came one after another late in December we said “Ayuh, the Farmers Almanac said it was going to be snowy and cold.”  When the ice storms came I’d done a lot of work moving snow off the roof to get ready for them and then spent some time in the freezing rain removing ice to keep the house above water.  Winter in Maine is to be expected, prepared for and dealt with. It’s not something that comes as a surprise and certainly not something to complain about.

That being said I don’t think anything could have prepared us for this year’s January thaw.  We have had so much warm weather and rain that the snow cover is almost completely gone.  Some of the big rivers are breaking up creating ice dams and flooding, but in general the flooding has been surprisingly limited.  Perhaps this big thaw now will give us an easier time come Spring.  A man can dream of a short Mud Season can’t he?

These wild turkeys are pretty pleased with the thaw.  When the snow was a few feet deep behind the house they were nowhere to be seen.  Now that there is some bare ground they have come out to the forest edge to feed.

In deep winter they roost up in the trees farther into woods.  If you’ve never had a turkey come swooping out of a tree and over your head it is certainly an experience.  Seeing them fly up into the trees will make you laugh as you’d never expect these fat guys to get off the ground.  Stepping out on a still Winter’s night to empty the coal hod and hearing the flap of those big wings right over your head will give you a shot of adrenaline before you laugh though!

These birds are still looking pretty fat this year.  In leaner years they get very skinny by Spring as feeding in deep snow is not easy.  We’ve been watching this flock since we bought this house a few years back and consider them part of the family now.

I’ve been doing a bit of my own January thawing lately.  This time of year I try to use up my left over dehydrated food from the previous year’s supplies.  Nutrition, flavor and texture all suffer from keeping that stuff around too long so this is a great time of year to use up what you can.  That will clear out space in the freezer for this years supplies.  I’ve been making lunches with my dried ground beef, pastas and sauces.  The sauces would still be good for another year but they help me use up everything else.   Last night I used the last of my mixed veggies in a soup for the family dinner.  Soon it will be time to start drying for this year’s trips.

The seasons are always in motion, for the turkeys and for us.  We’re both cleaning up last years food and enjoying a little mud under our feet instead of ice and snow.  Winter will be back in a few days, we know that, but eventually it will pass on to Spring.  Knowing that is what gets us through.  That and thoughts of paths less traveled by.