Aravaipa Adventure with Eric and Dave

Part II: Packing

As the impending date drew near, Eric came over again to help me pack. Before he arrived, I chose the items I thought might be light enough to carry and warm enough so that I wouldn’t be miserable. I put them into a large pile on my bed and proudly showed them to Eric.  He stood over the pile, scratched his beard, and mulled.

“What else do you have?” he asked.

I opened my closet and let him snoop. To my horror, he pulled out a bright pink and black yoga outfit that had been given to me the previous Christmas. Since I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing such a getup to the gym, it had remained unworn in my closet for nearly a year.

“Now we’re talking,” he said.

“No way,” I balked. “That won’t keep me warm.”

“It will if you wear layers,” he said. “And it won’t take up much room in your pack.”

He had me there. The skin-tight yoga pants rolled into a much smaller ball than the baggy  windbreaker sweatpants I had chosen.

Then he picked up my large yellow Arizona T-shirt and shook his head.

“That’s to sleep in,” I said. “It doesn’t take up much room.”

“You can sleep in that,” he said pointing to the yoga outfit, “or whatever else has a multiple use. This is a one-use item because you can’t hike in it. It’s too bulky and made of cotton. If it gets wet you’ll get cold.”

And chances were that we were going to get wet—a lot—even if it didn’t rain. Aravaipa Canyon is basically a stream that runs through a canyon, with most of the trail being in the stream.

So the large T-shirt was out.

“Then what do I wear to hike in if it’s hot?”

Eric was looking around the room. “Do you have an exercise tank top that’s not cotton?”

And so it went. By the time we were finished my large pile had been transformed into a much smaller and much different assortment of clothing.

Clearly I had a lot to learn.