Backpacking, carrying everything one needs to live in the woods on one's back, is the most rigorous form of camping, and one of the oldest. In the Saranac Lake region, due to the prevalence of waterways facilitating water-based travel, it's popularity lagged until the development of modern, lightweight packs, tents and sleeping bags after World War II. George and Bob Marshall were two early regional proponents.
Although the word dates to 1916, its first use in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise occurred in 1965. Prior to that date, similar activity was generally referred to simply as "camping." The development of lightweight camping gear in the 1970s, using aluminum, nylon, down and dehydrated food led to a major boom in backpacking, raising concerns over environmental degradation from litter, campfires and bushwacking. There were proposals to put a tax on backpacking equipment, or to sell "passports" that would be required at campsites, to raise revenue to deal with the problems created by the influx.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, August 6, 1965
Roughing It!
By EDWIN REID
When and where did this phrase originate? My guess is, it is an illusion of some young "sooner" who was introduced to the western outdoor scene sometime in the 19th Century. Mark Twain used it as a title for a volume about his greenhorn experiences while roaming about the western frontier. But, I doubt that he had much to do with its birth.
But now, of course, its connotation has been slightly corrupted in recent years. I think now when the expression is used, such as, "They are really going to rough it on this trip," means that the outdoorsmen involved are not going to take advantage of many modern conveniences, no special equipment, no fancy foods, perhaps not even a sleeping bag or tent; or in another case, it may mean they are venturing into an extremely rugged wilderness where much will be required of them in the way of physical hardship and perseverance in order to survive the trip triumphantly. The first, of course, is the extreme of the greenhorn who brings with him an endless number of nonsense-items that clever advertising has convinced him he absolutely needs on his outing or else his pleasure and enjoyment would be greatly decreased. Granted each outdoorsman has a pet gimmick or two that another may consider rather ridiculous but this is not over burdening oneself with numerous such articles. The irony of the situation is that very often the "moving-van" type of hiker or outdoorsman usually has a much rougher time than his counterpart because he exhausts himself by lugging so much needless junk with him as though afraid to let go of the hand of civilization, without its products packed high on his back.
Actually the authentic woods men and outdoorsmen does not rough-it. Whatever he does in the outdoors is not done to persecute himself of pleasure 'for the fun of it.' The difference is he feels less foreign to the wilderness and therefore needs little but the essentials and a few pet items to make him feel as content as when in his own home. Because a man can endure and enjoy longer treks through pathless woods does not mean he is "roughing it" in his own eyes. This is simply where he wants to go, or seeing what he wants to see. The "roughing it" part comes into light when another tries to follow and finds it a rather unpleasant ordeal, completely overtaxing his peculiar physical condition. So he calls this "roughing it" but to the woodsmen it is simply walking through the woods.
No, the credo of the outdoorsmen of experience is not to "rough it" as much as he can, but rather "to simplify" his needs to the point where they are met without unnecessary and arduous backpacking, thereby, giving him the freedom to roam without being enslaved to a mountain of sweat and misery.
How far and how deep a man merges into the wilderness is not necessarily a means of calculating the degree of "roughing it. Two or three days may be enough for some novice to "rough-it" addicts without developing minor ulcers from their grease diets and sleepless nights; while others can spend weeks and months in the wilds and come out smiling and serene. Sure the long termers "roughed it" in the eyes of the world, but to themselves it was merely enjoying the peace and solitude.
Popularly "roughing it" seems to mean a way of going to nature for the purpose making things as miserable as possible just to see if you can take it and enjoy it. Some seem to think it is a way of proving what kind of a man you are. Maybe it is for them but I would not advise it to any but the true "rough its." And, who are they?
