On a recreation trip good companionship cannot be overestimated. Firstly, on a light pack trip most items of outfit can be used as well by two as by one. Again if one walks alone the trail is apt to become monotonous and doubly so after a half of a day’s trip has been completed. Good companionship stimulates a pleasant mental attitude and gets one away from the monotonous physical features of the walk itself. There may be also a pride in rivalry to spur one on to more worthy effort; otherwise he is apt to think only of his arrival at destination. Furthermore in the solitude of the great forests the establishment of the little bivouac home and the fathoming of the many secrets of the trail calls forth man’s gregarious nature. Look well to the choice of your bunkie for nowhere else do weak and strong characteristics come to the surface so forcibly as when men are thrown together in camp. As a matter of fact a wilderness pal of proper qualifications is really hard to find. He may be a jolly comrade in town but that does not qualify him as a first rate camp mate. He must do an equal share on the trail and in camp, he should be physically fit, generous, fair minded and big enough to overlook the petty griefs incidental to rough trail life every where. He who adventures into the big timber must look also with exactitude to the choice of an outfit, for the wilderness tramper matches himself against the forces of nature, and he must have equipment as well as the personal qualifications to surmount the difficulties successfully. The weight of outfit must be nominal since the packer must bear it alone from day to day, often through almost impassable country where the effort necessary in going forward alone is quite sufficient a strain without that of having to carry a single unnecessary ounce on his shoulders. A mistake in outfit may mean discomfort at least and possibly a spoiled trip. Life outdoors calls for a knowledge of equipment and methods which a large number of persons, because of their environment, cannot gain except from trial, or such as is imparted by some one more fortunately experienced. Hence we do not speak to the seasoned campaigner or to him who on the short vacation can travel with full equipment and with guides and who has abundant transportation facilities. The beginner however needs practical suggestions for going light into the wilderness alone and he welcomes simple hints for hitting the trail right. CHAPTER II GOING IN “LIGHT”