The trail immediately began to climb. For much of the next five miles, the terrain was exposed because of the massive killing of trees by the mountain pine beetle.
We met day hikers, mountain bikers, weekend backpackers, and CT hikers on the climb, though no NOBO CDT thru-hikers. It's sometimes easy to pick out novice backpackers in these situations.
One woman we talked to was hiking the CT. I have to give her credit because she had an upbeat attitude when she was obviously struggling. She was carrying a gigantic pack, one of the largest I've seen on any hiker.
When I noticed a full roll of duct tape dangling from the outside of her pack by a large carabiner, I wondered what was in the pack. Did she filled it so full that she didn’t have room for the tape?
I didn't say anything to her about her pack, though I wanted to point out she was breaking three of my backpacking rules.
- Never carry anything strapped to the outside of a pack that could snag on a tree branch.
- Never carry a full quantity of duct tape or other consumables.
- Never carry a pack larger than you are.
In case you were unsure, the last one is the most important of all.