Simplicity Strikes Again

My Dad and I took Kai (5 years old) with us backpacking on the Lone Star Trail this weekend.  It's a 150 mile trail that winds through the Sam Houston National Forest.  Deep in thick and tall pine forest, you feel like you're really getting away from it all.

We hiked in about 3 miles and then pitched our tents right before it got dark.  You can camp and build fires anywhere along the trail, depending on forest fire potential conditions and hunting seasons.  The next day, we packed up and finished out a loop by hiking about another 4 miles back to the car.  Kai carried his own sleeping bag in a backpack.

I could go on and on about how backpacking and primitive camping is made easier and safer by going simple and light.  The number of examples is infinite.  But, one of my favorite methods lately is a certain type of stove - the MSR Pocket Rocket.

You just screw the "stove" to the canister and light.  That's it.  You can save lots of fuel by being able to turn it off quickly and light it back up again with just a flick of a lighter.  If you wanted to light a real campfire, you could hold it by the canister and point it at the pile of twigs you want to catch alight.  Nice!

Big props to my dad for coming out and hiking the trail.  And to those of you that think that 5 years old is too young for primitive backpacking, Kai didn't want to leave and is talking about going back as soon as we can.  Kids are as tough as they are awesome!