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Do you have favorite reading material to take on backpacks? Any particular authors?

azbackpackr wrote:It doesn't matter where I am, I usually have something to read in my bag.

Me too. Fall/winter backpacking means long, long nights; much longer than I can sleep.

Ditto, again! One time I decided it was time to hike the tourist trails (S. Kaibab and Bright Angel) in the Grand Canyon. I had already hiked a lot of the so-called unmaintained trails. I thought taking my 19-year-old son along with me, right before Christmas (Winter solstice) would be fun. We camped a couple nights at Bright Angel backpacker camp, the one right by Phantom Ranch. It got dark at about 5:30 pm. It got light about 7 a.m. The first night, my son crawled into his sleeping bag and fell asleep and didn't wake up until I had coffee ready the next morning. Well, that was companionable. Not. What is more, you can't build a fire and sit next to it in the Grand Canyon. I had two choices, read my book until I fell asleep, or read until the cantina at Phantom opened to the general public at 8:30 pm. So I crawled into the bag at 6 pm and started reading. I fell asleep before 8:30, so didn't go to the cantina. Oh, well.

Here's the funny part: At the stroke of midnight, which happened to be the beginning of the solstice, what seemed to be a large parade of people came down the trail from Phantom Ranch towards the river. The trail is just across the creek from the campsites where we were. This happy group was determined to make as much noise as possible, and they had planned well. They had trumpets, bongos, tamborines, pans, (lots and lots of pans) and other instruments of aural torture, and they were singing or chanting or something, very loudly, as well. I was awakened and lay in my sleeping bag, wanting to go out there and yell at them to shut the heck up. I fumed and fussed as I lay there, until suddenly I realized that actually, I was a bit jealous. THEY were having fun, whereas I was trying to get through the longest night of the year inside of a sleeping bag on the ground!

Needless to say, my son slept through the whole thing!

I will never go backpacking again in December in the Northern Hemisphere to a place where you can't have a campfire. I don't care HOW good a book I bring, it is still too long to be in a sleeping bag! It seems it might be the perfect time to stay at Phantom, though.

I've read 3 books by David E. Brown: The Grizzly in the Southwest, The Wolf in the Southwest, and Borderland Jaguars. All on dayhikes, however, over a period of time. Very interesting books.

I've tried bringing reading material with me on backpacks but so far I get too entranced with star-gazing and don't end up reading it. The view out in the Supes is just to good to not stare at : ) Plus I end up seeing at least a few shooting stars almost every night I'm out there.

The view out in the Supes is just to good to not stare at

I can't argue with that. Luckily, we have those same stars to gaze at down here in Tucson

One time years ago I was camping, but somehow I brought the wrong sleeping bag. No idea whose it was, where it came from, or why I grabbed it. However, I'm 6'4", and this bag was definitely not made for an adult much less someone as tall as I am. I was just uncomfortable enough that I couldn't sleep, and I forgot anything to read. Lots of screw ups on that trip, but college was fun....
I ended up reading labels all night. Methylisothiazolinone acetate.....
Ever since I turn around shampoo and soap bottles in the shower so I don't have to look at the damned labels.