transporting lunch, pails and dishes on short excur- 

 sions from camp. 



Making up a pack, while somewhat of an art, is not 

 difficult to learn. The open packsack is laid flat on the 

 ground. Then a blanket is folded, not rolled, so as to 

 cover flat and exactly the whole side, which will touch 

 the man's back. Then rolls of clothing or other soft 

 articles are shoved down to the bottom of the pack- 

 sack. On top of this may be placed such heavy and 

 angular articles as canned goods, cameras and books. 

 After that the packsack may be filled up with anything, 

 but great care must be taken that the side near the 

 man's back remains flat and that no hard angular ar- 

 ticles will be felt on the carrier's back. Blankets, 

 clothing and pillows finish off the pack on the top, and 

 it is surprising what an amount of material a large 

 packsack can hold. In fact, old campers say that a 

 packsack never gets full. 



While it may be true that the capacity of a packsack 

 is unlimited, the carrying capacity of a man is decided- 

 ly limited. 



For a man not used to this kind of work, forty 

 pounds is enough, fifty pounds is a big load and sixty 

 pounds is a heavy burden. None of these packs seem 

 excessively heavy at the beginning of a trail, but at the 

 end of ten miles they will seem to have doubled their 

 weight. 



I remember a big young man, with a good opinion of 

 his strength, starting bravely on a ten mile trail with 

 sixty pounds. At the end of three miles he was ready 

 to divide his pack and return for half of it the next day 

 and he made no objections when I offered to exchange 



17 



