*sigh*

So, I am back from my too-short backpacking trip. It was wonderful. I wish I was still out there, actually. I love the feeling that overtakes me when I find my groove, at that moment when the fact that I'm hauling 30+ pounds on my back up a steep mountainside ceases to matter. It's the moment when the heaviness of the pack, the pain in my knees, the struggle, the world - everything - just melts away. I am blissfully in a state of nothingness. Some people use yoga to achieve this, but I prefer backpacking.
I realized a few things on this trip, however - or, rather, a few things were confirmed for me. In no particular order, they are:

1. The vast majority of backpackers are male. I was trying to figure out why this is. I'm thinking that it might have something to do with the fact that, when backpacking, you do not shower for several days at a time. You wear pretty much the same clothes day in and day out, including to sleep - and these clothes quickly become, uh, ripe. You get sweaty. Very sweaty. You can't wear heels or other "cute" shoes. Makeup is completely and utterly pointless. In fact, anything you do to try and "beautify" yourself is pretty pointless. All this is not to say that all women are prissy and girly, but I think that many, many women buy into the stereotype that we're supposed to be pretty and nice and sweet-smelling. It's too bad - I could see how this could be an activity where one might meet lots of nice men. And, if everyone smells bad, it won't matter.

2. The even-vaster majority of backpackers are white. Of the 60 or so other backpacking folks I saw this weekend, only one or two were non-white. This brings up many other questions, such as: Is backpacking somehow an elitest sport? What are the differences in the value systems of the various cultural groups living in the Portland area, and how do those differences affect a particular group's view of nature? And, finally, is Portland the whitest city in America, or what?

3. Sometimes, it's really nice not to have to talk to the person with whom you're hiking. Silence is a beautiful thing, especially when your hiking partner and you are on different wavelengths in terms of the depths of your thoughts. Also, people who talk too much on the trail miss the point, I think.

4. I never, ever sleep as well as I do when I'm in a tent, on a cool night, in the middle of the wilderness somewhere.