Packing For The Trail

We’re in the middle of packing for a river trip. It is a ritual we have gone through for at least 30 Yukon summers. As I spread the gear all over the floor to pick and choose what to bring, the familiar smells of campfire smoke, leather and canvas starts to bring back memories. I’m into the well used cooking gear up to my elbows mentally going through our menu to help me decide.

“Don’t you think we should get a new one”, asks Irene as I throw an old, black enameled and much scarred coffee pot into the pot bag. “That is getting to look pretty beat up.”

“Naw, it’s just a little experienced”, I reply. “Just like me.  Good for a few miles yet.”

“Any fool can be uncomfortable”, was a favorite saying of a friend of ours who packed many a journey with us. He has since departed for that great campground in the sky but I can hear him say it each time I pack for another trip.

As I gaze at all the paraphernalia spread around me it is obvious that I am a camp-gear junky and have taken his wisdom to heart. I’m a sucker for a new gizmo and the pile of gear around me represents some 50 years of collectibles. Each article carries a memory with it. Some work, some don’t. Just because it doesn’t work is no reason to throw it out. Things get added not replaced!

I have been saving screw top, plastic jars of every description for years to where a large garbage can is required to store them all. There are packsacks, duffle bags, cooler bags, ammo boxes, barrels and plastic containers in all sizes and shapes.

There are a variety of portable stoves on the floor that range from a homemade 50gram, alcohol-burning and spindly thing to a full size three-burner propane stove. There are coolers of every size, color and description. There is a selection of lanterns both propane and gas. There are utensils and dishes of every description.  The knees aren’t what they used to be and a brand new, foldout kitchen unit that is a state-of-the-art convenience stands out prominently in the pile of gear around me.

The take-it pile keeps growing as I sort through the stuff on the floor.

“We’re only going for three days!” Irene exclaims.

“Hush”, I say.  “Repeat after me - Any fool can……..”