pack." The novice when he starts into the wnl- 

 derness with a heavy load, begins by thinking that 

 it is easy work. He goes up hill quickly, wastes 

 steps and strength, by stepping on logs instead of 

 over them, and at the end of his first two miles is 

 played out. His pack has, like a trained prize- 

 fighter, banged him over the kidneys until his legs 

 wabble. He is afraid he is going to be left behind, 

 that the skin is coming away from his shoulders, 

 and that he is going to die. In other words, he has 

 been "fighting his pack." 



I will not go into detail and describe pack shapes, 

 as I have used every kind, from the wooden Russian 

 alints shape of Behring Sea, to the "tump-link" of 

 Canada, and they are all equally uncomfortable. 

 The things to learn in packing are these — Arrange 

 your pack as well as you possibly can ; think of 

 something pleasant ; rest regularly, but not too often, 

 and DON'T worry at your load. 



Once I was packmg a good load across the 

 Alaska Peninsula to Behring Sea. The sun was 

 hot, the snow was deep and soft, and my feet had 

 chafed in my heavy rubber boots. I was "fighting 

 my pack" and getting beaten. How it started I 

 don't know, but 1 began thinking of a pleasure trip 

 I had taken years before. When I "came to," I 

 found that I had carried my pack over a mile of the 

 worst part of the trail, and had not thought of it once! 

 That was my lesson ; and since then my back no 

 longer "aches at the thought of a pack." 



98 



