A Lesson From My Backpack

We recently returned from a trip to Glacier National Park. It was a trip full of breathtaking beauty. I have so many thoughts I want to share, ones that continue to press in on my heart. I’m not really sure where to begin, so I’ll just start with the one that seems to have grabbed hold of my thoughts and won’t let go… it’s about my backpack.

This story really begins with a trip to Acadia National Park, in 2021. We set out on a hike but I was not prepared. I knew nothing about proper hydration or proper hiking nutrition. I thought I would be fine with no breakfast, a bottle of water and a couple of Cliff Bars. It also happened to be one of the 4 hottest summers recorded for Maine. I found myself in trouble, scary trouble, on the top of Mount Gorham.

A few years later, hiking through Italy, I once again found myself with not enough water, on a hot day, during a 14 mile hike. After that, I set out to learn about hydration and nutrition. I have spent the last year researching and practicing what I have learned so that I can protect myself. The problem is, I’ve taken it to the extreme.

On our hikes this year, I load my backpack with 2 hydration bladders, one with 3 liters of water and one with 2 liters of water with electrolytes. But only twice, in the last 17 hikes, have I come anywhere close to drinking all of my water and both times it was in ridiculously high temperatures, one day was 101 degrees. The amount and variety of snacks I was packing was nuts, pun intended. And in Glacier, add to that my camera and extra lenses, my jacket, extra socks, salt tablets, sweat towel, tape for blisters (I could keep going), my backpack was around 30 pounds. I looked like I was packing for a week in the backcountry, not a day hike to a mountain lake. I look at the photos and I just have to laugh. But it has made me ask myself why? Why do I overpack?

I had made a wrong step here, on the wet, slippery rocks, and I was trying to figure out what to do. It was so much more difficult to correct my footing because the weight on my back was pulling me backwards. It was a sheer drop-off of about 50 feet to my right. Baggage has way more unintended consequences than we ever consider till it's often too late.

It’s a simple answer, it’s fear. Acadia and Italy were scary and I never want to be careless and put myself in those situations again. I’m so afraid of finding myself with not enough, so I pack for “just in case.” Even things that haven’t been used in 17 hikes, I won’t take out because someday, on some hike, I might need it.

And if I dig a little deeper, it’s pride too. I want to be good at what I do. Somehow poor planning is a sign of weakness to me, I want to be strong and plan for and carry all that I might need. 

But it’s made me stop and notice where else I see that same attitude in my everyday life... it’s everywhere. Our home has too many pockets of things that never get used, or won’t run out for a year, because I shop for “just in case.” It’s in our closet and in our attic, because someday I might need it or want to use it again.

And here’s the thing, my 30 pound day-hike backpack made my hike less enjoyable. It is hard to carry 30 pounds of weight 11 miles and climb 2200 feet with it. Baggage can steal our joy. It weighs us down for no good reason.

This photo captures the weight of the baggage. It wasn't a particularly difficult hike or uphill climb. But it was hard for me that day. I wasn't feeling great, I was tired, and it's clear now that I was fighting the weight of the extra baggage making it difficult to fully absorb the beauty all around me.

God has been at work for the last few years clearing out the baggage of a lot of my younger years and the freedom and the joy that has resulted is life giving. The baggage I carried around on life’s journey was stealing so much from me. But I’m realizing that it’s time to apply those lessons to other places in my life too, starting with my backpack. Every item I put into my backpack should be assessed for it’s true necessity, but  the same is true for our home, our cabinets, the attic, the closets and perhaps most importantly, the same is true for my mind and heart. 

Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.” That’s the criteria for how I assess what gets to take up space in my mind and heart. Everything else is unnecessary baggage that weighs me down and steals the space for what's really important, the things that reflect the heart and mind of God.

Who knew God could teach me so much from an overweight backpack!

(P.S. When Scott (my mostly reserved, not usually overly expressive husband) read this, he stood up and did a happy dance, literally. He made me laugh out loud, I could have predicted his delight, just not the happy dance!)