Large Format 4x5 Camera Hiking Backpack Question

[xkaes]

I will add that I prefer a "panel-loading" to a "top-loading" backpack because in the case of the top-loading kind, you dig and dig some more to get anything. Especially photo gear. Hence the Granite Gear that Photobackpack sold is my happy choice.

I guess it depends on the pack. Most of the external packs I've considered -- and all of the ones I've used -- allow access through the top and the back. But it's a non-issue for me since my camera gear always goes in on the top -- in a separate camera bag with shoulder strap -- that comes out in seconds (see third photo). All I need to do is grab the tripod -- on the outside of the pack -- and I'm ready to go.

[Vaughn]

You must have developed incredible biceps! Most of my excursions are off-trail, and much of the time I need at least one hand to keep my balance -- climbing over boulders, etc. My guess is that half of the time I stop, it's because I want to take a picture. The other half of the time, I stop to give my back a break!

Ten years of building and maintaining wilderness trails got me use to carrying tools in my hands on long hikes.

[xkaes]

Ten years of building and maintaining wilderness trails got me use to carrying tools in my hands on long hikes.

For me "wilderness" means "no trails". Sure, there are tons of "wilderness areas" with a ton of "trails", like the Maroon Bells in Colorado. They are more like highways. They even have "rush hours". For me, if I'm really in the wilderness, I'm no where near a trail.

This is the kind of USGS map I seek out:

[Drew Wiley]

Welcome to the club. On numerous occasions I've scrambled up some remote cool and discovered obsidian chips or a broken point.

[Drew Wiley]

Col, not cool (this Dumbphone changes spelling), but often very cool and windy indeed.

[xkaes]

OK, I confess, sometimes I carry a Minolta 16mm camera in my hand while I hike. It's smaller than a pack of cigarettes. No need to focus with its 22mm lens and enormous DOF. It's just for grab shots. But if I'm falling over, it's the first thing that goes!!!

[Drew Wiley]

What I'm implying is that there were trails everywhere at least 12,000 years before you or I were ever born.

[xkaes]

Welcome to the club. On numerous occasions I've scrambled up some remote cool and discovered obsidian chips or a broken point.

I once hiked down Oak Creek in Utah -- no trail -- from the Boulder Plateau (National Forest) down through Capitol Reef National Monument. From snow up high to desert heat down below. We discovered a 200 foot tall "knob" at a creek junction that "the Ancients" obviously used as a look-out, and spent many a day chipping obsidian points -- probably from the obsidian field in Yellowstone. We left it as we found it, but it was a true treat to connect with the past.

[Drew Wiley]

Nice area, except for the idiotic commercialization of the little town of Torrey, and all the ATV damage to the clay hills on the opposite side of the Park. The Escalate drainage might be in trouble if coal interests ever do get in there. "Regulations" banning extraction waste getting dumped into streams have just been erased. But I'm looking at topo maps of the San Juans in CO instead. That looks like a heavily trafficked area. But I'd still like to explore it. Know of any quiet sections?

[xkaes]

Nice area, except for the idiotic commercialization of the little town of Torrey, and all the ATV damage to the clay hills on the opposite side of the Park. The Escalate drainage might be in trouble if coal interests ever do get in there. "Regulations" banning extraction waste getting dumped into streams have just been erased. But I'm looking at topo maps of the San Juans in CO instead. That looks like a heavily trafficked area. But I'd still like to explore it. Know of any quiet sections?

It's really too bad what has happened to little towns like Torrey and so many other places. They (AKA MOAB businesses) are now running constant TV ads in Denver -- and probably other places -- to get people to go to Moab in the Winter. They are already over-run in the Spring, Summer and Fall, so why not the Winter? There's money to be made!!

As to the San Juans, the main place to avoid is anything around the Chicago Basin. You can only get there by using the Telluride to Silverton railroad. Good luck getting a ticket. Last time I was there they only took cash. The only place you can get off the train is at Needleton (not a real town). There is an old dirt road that the backpackers use to get to the Chicago Basin. Today, it is basically a highway. Maybe the Forest Service requires a permit nowadays. Maybe not, as the size of the railroad keeps the traffic in control. It's beautiful, but you will never be out of sight and sound of humans. Not my idea of "wilderness" despite the official designation. If you go, leave some room in your pack to carry out other people's trash.

The BEST place in the San Juans is the Grenadier Range to the north of Chicago Basin. No one goes there because it is not easy. You can get off at Needleton, cross the Animas River, wave good-bye to the crowds (DON'T TELL THEM WHERE YOU ARE GOING), and walk north along the river -- NO TRAIL, but it's flat. You can turn right at Ruby Creek (one mile), No Name Creek (1.5 miles), or Ten Mile Creek (2.5 miles). You won't see anyone. There are no trails and the vegetation is lush, so forget about carrying your camera on a tripod! A Minolta 16mm in your hand can be useful, however!

You can go into the Grenadiers from the north or northeast, by Kite Lake and the Colorado Trail, but the north side of the Grenadiers are basically snow-covered all summer long.