I thought the point of back country hiking was to get away from technology and society.
Weight is of course a major consideration, but its not the primary reason im not bringing batteries on a hiking trip.
I thought the point of back country hiking was to get away from technology and society.
Weight is of course a major consideration, but its not the primary reason im not bringing batteries on a hiking trip.
As someone who does backpacking, a few reasons for bringing power sources:
- A satellite communication device. You don't use them for internet access, but it does allow me to send my location and a small message so I can let an emergency contact know where I've made camp for the night (and a lack of a message means I'm in trouble). It also enables me to contact search and rescue if I know I'm in trouble.
We did have to use it once when my sister lost her footing and fell of the side of a mountain and shattered her leg. (full recovery, thankfully)
- GPS receiver. I've shifted to using my phone as my GPS unit (with Gaia GPS). Trail GPS units have been subjected to planned obsolescence in a bad way, many will only be supported for a few years now, after that you can't load maps into them anymore. Might as well use your phone and Gaia works offline. Although you do learn that modern cellphones really, really hate being offline for weeks on end and random things start breaking down.
The latter was super important this year. With the budget cuts to park services this year in the US, many of our back country trails are in worse disrepair than they usually are. There were multiple days where the only way I knew I was still on the trail was to follow the dot on my GPS and look for the occasional cut log...
Rechargeable headlamp is another one.
I use my phone for navigation and camera. I also use it to read before bed. The powerbank recharges the phone on multiday trips. The powerbank can also charge satellite communication devices and headlamps when needed. This is pretty common for many backpackers.
As with most other activities, the point varies for different people. For some, it's a way to test their preparedness against the elements. And for some of those, the game is to do that in as small and light a package as possible.
There is no particular point to a hike any more than there is a particular point to a ride in a car. Back country or any other.
A hike could be just the way to get to the camp, where you will spend 2 weeks primarily coding.