High Sierra Topix

WD,
Nice to see that you went ultralight way back then...ouch!
BTW, Is that an old squeaky Kelty under that hat?
Mark

To be fair, that was not my normal load. A student got sick that day so I had to carry his sleeping bag on top of my pack.

Yes that is a Kelty. Here is something you can do with a Kelty that you cannot do with today's internal frame packs-- covert it to a baby carrier. Both my kids got to ride in that Kelty!


1975- my oldest daughter on a 2 week trip in the Tetons

1977- my younger daughter. By this time with 2 kids we had horsepackers take in our supplies.

Thanks for posting the Kelty baby carrier photos. I remember fondly using mine. My son had a propensity for leaning out to get a better view and since he rode so high in the pack, it made for interesting hiking. Somewhere there's some Kodachromes of me carrying my son on his first backpacking trip, but I don't know when I'll get around to digging them out.

I converted my standard Kelty to accomdate my kids. First I had a friend weld an extra bar onto the extension bar so that I could attach a canopy that I had sewn. The canopy had a top pocket for diapers and had mosquito netting. I suspended a seat in the top. As they got bigger I had to make a slit in the back so they could hang out there feet. I needed all that space under them for my own gear. My most trying trip was taking them both out for a weekend by myself, 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 years old, carrying everthing including the youngest! I must say that was not something I ever tried again! My problem was not the kids hanging out the back, but that they slept like logs while being packed. This really messed with bedtime when I was beat!

WD: These are wonderful pics of you- such a bright spirit! Thanks for sharing them. For someone who didn't get to the Sierra until the 1990's you have sure made up for 'lost time' (not that the time was lost really...)

For backpacking, we modified the Gerry pack I used to carry him everywhere (from day hikes to the grocery store - he liked reaching out to try and grab something on a shelf that caught his eye). We stuck the modified Gerry into the Kelty - it fit almost perfectly. The one problem is he rode rather high. From the age of 3-1/2, we did his own walking - we went to May Lake in September and had it to ourselves. After that we limited our distance each day to what was comfortable for him, though sometimes I did carry him for a short spurt at the end of the day when he was tired.

Ok, so 27 years ago, some friends & I decided to hike up to Devils Bathtub above Edison Lake. We didn't make it but had a great time until the next morning. Probably due to what we mixed in with the Gatorade.

here i stand atop harrison pass - 1979 or so...


and somewhere ...errrr..... in the sierras.

Yep. Cotton sweatshirt and jeans. And this was 83...I'd been backpacking since 68 so I should have known better by then!:) Notice the old ensolite pad wrapped around the huge sleeping bag too....

lostcoyote;
That blue (or is it gray?) shirt with CSUF - would that be Fresno or Fullerton?
I am a graduate of CSU Fullerton.
Cheers,
Herm