I consider the above picture a very good representation of what backpacking is all about and why I enjoy it so much. It was taken handheld under the rain, looking downwind, trying to protect the lens from the elements long enough to press the shutter, while pressing both elbows against my body to minimize camera motion. The rain was not freezing, but it was far from being a summer downpour. Cold relentless rain coupled with non stop cold wind makes for a powerful combination. The kind of day in which you are happy that your rain gear costs several times more than most others while looking very similar. The kind of day in which most day hikers stay home. In fact, the kind of day in which most folks, day hikers or not, would prefer to spend drinking anything warm, instead of braving the elements.

The kind of day that I do not precisely enjoy while backpacking, continuously wishing for the rain to disappear, to slow down, to give me a break, or at least to turn vertical again, but that only afterwards I slowly start to appreciate as memories sink in, and months later realize how fortunate I was as I forget about the miseries and save everything else onto my gray matter. The challenge, the adventure, the smells, the sounds, the views, the cold, the colors, the climbs, the descents, the fordings, the campsites, the plants, the animals, the feeling, the fears, the rewards. The hiking. Backpacking, trekking, bushwhacking, however you want to call it. And then I make a couple of safety backups so I never forget them. Wild weather brings on the challenge, forces you to improve your skills, tests your stamina, and only afterwards does reward you with the satisfaction of having faced the conditions coming back successful and renewed. Coming back invigorated. Because going out in fact means going in. Where, I do not know, but you do not go out, you go in, that is for sure.

I like the picture not only because in my opinion it properly transmits the unpleasant weather to the viewer, but because it does so from the point of view of the backpacker, this is, from my point of view. The flooded path on the foreground brings confidence, safety, something to hold yourself to. It anchors the photo, shows where you are, your starting point, no need to do anything if you do not want to. The mountain pass on the background is your objective, your destination, your purpose. That is where you want to get, where you have to get, your goal. And the choice is up to you. Either stay put where your are, cozy in the foreground, or go for it towards your goal, back there on the other side of the image, which you have to cross, somehow following the path, step by step. From my point of view the image invites you to go forward, to follow the path, pulling you into the picture, away from the foreground and towards the background. But it also lets you know that it is not going to be easy, as the path gets less certain, more blurry, the farther ahead you look, the farther you walk, the longer you push. The choice is clear, at least for me. Move your feet, start going, enjoy the hike.

"Water, water, water .... There is no shortage of water in the desert but exactly the right amount, a perfect ratio of water to rock, water to sand, insuring that wide free open, generous spacing among plants and animals, homes and towns and cities, which makes the desert so different from any other place. There is no lack of water here unless you try to establish a city where no city should be." Edward Abbey

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