{"id":24105,"date":"2023-06-20T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebigoutside.com\/?p=24105"},"modified":"2023-06-20T09:43:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T15:43:16","slug":"the-fine-art-of-stashing-a-backpack-in-the-woods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebigoutside.com\/the-fine-art-of-stashing-a-backpack-in-the-woods\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fine Art of Stashing a Backpack in the Woods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Michael Lanza<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stashing a backpack in the woods is just what it sounds like. If you\u2019re on a multi-day backpacking trip and want to take a side hike of any significant distance, like to a summit, and then return to the same spot to resume your backpacking route, it\u2019s a waste of energy (not to mention entirely pointless) to carry your heavy pack with you. But there are ways to do it wrong, and ways to make sure your pack and everything inside it are still there and not torn apart or gone when you return. Here\u2019s how to do it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The tips below are based on my experience of many thousands of trail miles and more than three decades of backpacking, dayhiking, climbing, trail running, and taking ultra-hikes and ultra-runs\u2014including more than a quarter-century of doing this professionally and testing and reviewing gear as a past field editor for Backpacker magazine and running this blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/strong>Hi, I\u2019m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside. Click here<\/a> to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside<\/a> to get full access to all of my blog\u2019s stories. Click here<\/a> for my e-guides to classic backpacking trips. Click here<\/a> to learn how I can help you plan your next trip.<\/p>\n

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Todd Arndt hiking the Spray Park Trail in Mount Rainier National Park. Click photo to read about that trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Basically, you want to make sure no animals (including humans) will find it and take or damage the pack or anything inside. Most hikers aren\u2019t dishonest, but some adults might mistakenly think a pack was inadvertently left behind and assume it\u2019s fair game for whomever finds it, or that they should deliver it to whatever agency manages the land so that its owner might reclaim it later (which is not helpful to you for the remainder of your hike); and kids will more readily take something they find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s more of a concern for me on popular hikes that attract a lot of inexperienced hikers. In more remote areas, where you\u2019ll generally only see experienced backpackers who aren\u2019t likely to make that assumption, I worry less about a pack being visible to people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wild animals are a concern virtually everywhere. Rodents, squirrels, and larger animals like raccoons and bears can be attracted by food odors, and might chew through or tear up your pack to get at food. Many animals, including bears, have a much stronger sense of smell than people, so they\u2019ll find a pack that\u2019s well hidden from sight. Other animals, like deer and mountain goats, will lick or chew on pack straps and hipbelts for the salt left behind when you perspire, and can cause damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jeff Wilhelm backpacking the Bechler River Trail, Yellowstone National Park. Click photo to read about that trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Since you can\u2019t lock up a backpack, you have to hide it in a way that avoids attracting an animal to it. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 If stashing it in an area with heavy human traffic, look around for a spot well off the trail and hidden from sight, in trees or bushes or behind a large rock, beyond where people are congregating or walking. If you\u2019re in open terrain with little or no vegetation, you may have to walk farther off the trail to leave the pack hidden by a terrain feature out of sight of the trail.<\/p>\n\n\n

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