hello, old friend

I was going to write a bonafide love sonnet to my Kelty, but Keats and Shakespeare were not around to edit my clumsiness so I thought it best to stick with prose. That said…

I learned to backpack at NOLS with a Kelty external frame pack for a number of reasons. As they will tell you, it is "the perfect transitional pack when junior sizes are too small and adult sizes are still too large" (read: I'm kinda petite). Plus internal frame packs were still heavier than the traditional externals, and I needed all of the weight help I could get!

I trekked with that thing for weeks, averaging 10-15 miles per day up and down rocky, Southwestern terrain. I was new to all of it, so I learned to hold the weight steady and rock scramble in a very quick timeframe. When I left NOLS I sadly turned the pack in and went for an internal frame pack, perceiving them as better "because everyone else had one." Durrrr…I've had smarter moments :-)

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Last Fall, a friend of mine moved to Tucson and wanted to give me some of her camping equipment that had gathered dust. In the pile was a Kelty Yukon, which even happened to be blue (just as my original pack). I was ecstatic!! I felt like I'd been re-united with my first love, and indeed I had. Spend that much time with a pack and you'd be misty eyed too :-) These days I've got a fantastic internal frame pack, so I've designated my "new" Kelty to cart caving gear to the various pits that we drop.

However, I am seriously considering using it on "regular" backpacking trips too. It sits so beautifully on my hips, and the weight balances really nicely on a woman if you know how to pack it. Externals are said to pose problems for balance if you are rock scrambling, but I managed scree slopes and tough terrain with no issues in the Gila and Galiuros.

Bonus points:

• My back is nicely ventilated
  
• They are often much cheaper to purchase new
  
• The frame can be stripped in times of emergency to haul someone out of the backcountry. Not that we ever want to use our Woofer training, but it does happen.
  

For those of us with weight considerations, take a look at the Kelty Yukon. There are internal frame packs that weigh less now that the technology has improved, but I still stand by Ol' Blue [Eyes] as a nice option not to be sneered at. Read more about external vs internal packs here.