Notes from Peaklessburg

Commentary on being a Suburban Mountaineer.

MHW Enterprise Daypack: Seamless from Desk to Summit

/ Andrew Szalay / Leave a comment

After searching seriously and casually for over a year, I think I found the next-to-perfect daypack for the office and a day in the backcountry. There are a number of daypacks that are capable of doing the double duty of the lifestyle of suburban mountaineers; remember, I made this site for people that work 50 weeks a year just to hike and climb the other two. The Mountian Hardwear Enterprise daypack does the job.

These days, work does not tend to require a briefcase like we did before the age of computers and smartphones. We tend to carry pad holders and folders in compact folios, but we still commute and get around with either a messenger bag (which is great for cycling but can be brutal on your spine from long walks) or a backpack. In the past, my trail daypack and bag for work have been two separate things, until now.

The North Face, Patagonia, L.L. Bean, Jansport and a lot of other companies manufacture daypacks with both pencil dividers and laptop sleeves (essential for the office, class and the coffee house) that can be taken on the trail. However, not all of them were built for extreme durability and include a convenient hole for a hydration-system and an ice axe loop. I got it all with the MHW Enterprise. It’s 1,850 cubic inches large and is stylishly designed to boot! In fact, it fits my large monitor laptop with ease, which I write these posts.

On the downside, people reviewing the daypack have observed that while it’s size could be considered by some to be big enough for a overnight, it’s straps (particular the waist strap) is not strong enough for a 40-plus pound load. However, I carried quite a load over the weekend and felt the waist strap (simple webbing) could be unformfortable with a greater weight. Generally, I try to keep my loads around 17 pounds and limit it to about 25 if possible, and it works wonderfully well. The only improvement I would make is to add and elastic draw string closure for the water bottle sleeves on either side. I’ve carelessly bent over twice already sending shooting my Klean Kanteen like a torpedo for the floor. (Good thing that bottle is so durable!)

Well, I’m almost ready for my commute to the office now. I’ll replace the map, first aid kit, and compass from the weekend’s excursion with my padfolio and binder for work. Happy Monday, everyone!

Thanks again for visiting.  If you enjoyed this post, you can following the Suburban Mountaineer on Facebook or on Twitter (@SuburbanMtnr). There you’ll get more hiking and alpine information and news as I come across it.

Shutting Down the Parks

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Here in the United States, there is a viable worry that the national legislature won’t approve spending for the government in time to prevent a shutdown of national government services.  While law enforcement services will continue uninterrupted, our access to federal public lands will suffer and, potentially, so will the parks.

The U.S. federal government financially provides for the National Parks, Bureau of Land Management lands, National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges and similarly designated public properties.  These properties include recreational areas and wilderness, such as mountain ranges, treasures in natural beauty, like Arches National Park, and historic landmarks, like American battlefields and homes of great Americans.

While government affairs professionals are optimistic that the legislature will reach a deal, the threat of closing these public lands off from the taxpayer are very real.  The last time the U.S. federal government shutdown was in 1995, which shutdown only portions of the government.

Is it possible that some services, like public land access, might be maintained while others are shutdown?  Yes, but access to public land is likely to fall victim to the closures.  It is more likely that the legislature might fund portions of agencies, or only certain agencies, to maintain what might be considered essential services.  For instance, the Forest Service is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  It the department itself is not funded, the National Forests will remain closed.

It is possible that the public lands themselves could suffer during this time. I am less concerned about the natural order of things than the human element.  I believe the parks would be fine if we left them alone, for the most part.  I’m worried about trespassers that don’t respect the land.  Fortunately, according to the Access Fund, the “essential” law enforcement funds will be allocated to protect the public lands.

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The AAC: Support for Achievement

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If you climb regularly and are already a member of American Alpine Club (AAC), you know the value it brings.  If you don’t climb regularly, you might be tempted to think the US$75 dues are not worth it for you.  Even if you don’t enter the vertical world frequently, your passion for the mountains and the sport will benefit from membership. 

I wanted to join in the late 1990s to join the ranks of its members like Bradford Washburn, Charles Houston, Steve House and others.  But the dues were expensive for me, when I was still a high school student.  Now I am a working professional and a proud member that benefits from the AAC even though I hardly hit the steeps as often as I once did. 

The AAC offers climbers a great deal of support, even if you’re the Suburban Mountaineer in Peaklessburg.  The AAC works to ensure climbers maintain access to climbing sites in conjunction with the Access Fund and will engage in regulatory advocacy; it was quite active in the negotiated rulemaking in Denali National Park regarding climbing fees this past fall. 

The club also has adopted the spirit climbers embrace: Only through adversity and challenge can accomplishment truly be appreciated.  The membership ranks are climbers with the same adventurous spirit.  We may hike and fly fish, work in cubicles or outfitters, be introverts or extroverts, but we share the desire to solve vertical challenges.  And while the name implies alpinism only, today members are boulders, trad climbers, sport climbers, ice climbers and alpinists. 

Enjoying mountaineering from my desk and armchair these days and rarely visiting New England’s hills or the Pacific Northwest’s peaks, I enjoy the access it offers to the Henry S. Hall, Jr. American Alpine Club Library, the online issues of the American Alpine Journal, issues of Accidents in North American Mountaineering,  invitations to climbing community events in my region or across the country, discounts  to huts and lodges, as well as the support the AAC provides to climbers in rescue insurance, conservation efforts (including efforts in Los Glaciares National Park in Patagonia) and grants to the truly adventurous members. 

I enjoy the network a great deal, but the borrowing privileges at the library and access to the AAJ really impresses me.   I considered joining the Friends of the American Alpine Club Library for US$50 in order to borrow books for the Suburban Mountaineer site.  With that I would have had to pay shipping from the library and the return postage.  And I would not have had access to the AAJ back issues available only to members.  The membership dues seemed to be a significant bargain suddenly!  With membership, books are shipped to you as part of your dues; you only pay to return them. 

If you are not a member already, I recommend it.  It might even inspire you. 

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Adventure’s Purpose

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Alpinist Willi Unsoeld was a great mountaineer, best known for being among the first Americans to summit Mount Everest and also for the tragic story of losing his daughter, Nanda Devi, on her namesake mountain.  He was also a professor or religion and philosophy (but I’ve heard different explanations of what he actually taught.) 

Here is one quote from Unsoeld that struck a cord with me about hiking and climbing.  I always had this thought whenever I was going back and forth to the Adirondacks in high school and in college.  I think it may be even more resonating now:

” …Why not stay out there in the wilderness the rest of your days? Because that’s not where men are. The final test for me of the legitimacy of the experience is ‘How well does your experience of the sacred in nature enable you to cope more effectively with the problems of mankind when you come back to the city?'”

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Lessons from an Ignorant Climb on Mount Kenya

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Happy Friday, all!  The weather got warmer here in Peaklessburg.  Some friends in cold New England said it was up to 40 degrees (F) and they were downright giddy!  I hope you got out and enjoyed it as much as they did.

I finally read No Picnic on Mount Kenya by Felice Benuzzi at long last.  As everyone probably knows, it is the story of three prisoners of war from World War II interned at a camp by Mount Kenya (17,057 ft./5,199 m.) on the equator.  Through a great job of story telling, Benuzzi and his companions break out of the camp to climb the mountain and willingly return to life as POWs.

The part that interested me the most was that these climbers did not have much research on their target before venturing off.  They had a pair of contraband binoculars to study the mountain.  They had no reliable maps.  They had no idea about the climbers hut at the base of its primary spire.  They had no intelligence on the climbs by other alpinists before them.  This lack of knowledge, or little knowledge that they did acquire, allowed them to experience the joy and the struggle of exploring the mountain as if for the first time in history.

Today, it is not often that we as climbers, or even hikers, stumble upon a target on our travels and go off without a lot of planning and research.  There is a wealth of information today about the majority of mountains on the Internet, in outfitter’s book section, professional mountain guides and the American Alpine Club Library.  Sometimes we’re lucky to find a gem that no one has written much about and it is up to that explorer to lay down the first ascent (FA), if he or she is fortunate and gutsy enough.

While research is prudent, approaching a well-known peak or a little-known mountain with a degree of ignorance can open up opportunities.  Be analytical.  Be objective.  Think through the challenges on the ridges, walls and slopes.  There might be something worth trying, even if it has already been done and written about.  It will still be the first time, even if not a FA.

Well, thanks again for visiting.  Remember, you can follow the Suburban Mountaineer on Facebook and Twitter (@SuburbanMtnr) to learn of new posts and obtain other news and information.

Who’s Your Mountain Guide?

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I used to treat mountain guides like many people treat ski instructors; once they showed you the rudimentary basics, you were on your own to figure out the slopes all the way to double diamond.

Part of that approach is appealing to me (in mountaineering).  Many great climbers from the past learned to climb virtually on their own and then improved through their own tenacity for climbing.  The idea of approaching a mountain on your own, just you and it, was part of the romantic wilderness experience.  It also has the potential for greatness or a great fall, separating the bold as either brilliant or foolish.

Among non-climbers, mountain guides are often thought of in terms of the client-guide relationship described in Krakauer’s book of the 1996 Everest disaster, Into Thin Air.  In that relationship, the guide was similar to a shepherd, herding the wealthy (or semi-wealthy) clients to get to the summit.  I’d like to debunk that stereotype.

Now that I climb much, much less than I dreamed I would at this point in my life, I value guides differently than when Rock and River Guides in the Adirondacks taught me years ago.  For me today, mountain guides are still teaching me, reminding me of things I have forgotten or pointing out how to do things better.  This is especially true as gear continues to change and improve.  For instance, there are some better belay devices out there today than the ATC I initially learned to use.

Guides are also the guardians of the future of the sport.  Depsite that the Outdoor Foundation reports that climbing has declined with new entrants in the past four years (I suspect because of the economic downturn, which began in late 2006 with the delinquency and foreclosure crisis), the refinement of climbing depends on the knowledge of mountain skills and the quality of the instructors.  Even people (especially young people) are not flocking to the sport as they did several years ago, those that are sending ought to continue and develop their skills until other priorities (God forbid!) take over.  For me, I rely on guides to give me the pointers before I venture out again.

They’re value is appreciated even more so when things go wrong for hikers and climbers alike.  It is often a mountain guide that comes to the rescue.  In these events, the mountain guides expertise is appreciated even more and respected more than simply a recreational skiing instructor.

As an old issue of Climbing said, they have all the responsibility of a surgeon, despite a plumbers wage.   In that, they are part of the working class, at least in teh United States and Canada.  After a rescue (or hopefully you think so without one) they should be recognized as professionals.

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