And the Alpine Club of Canada publishes this among other notes upon women’s costume: “It is the dropping of the waist line down to the hips that is the secret of a woman’s wearing her knickerbockers gracefully. The top of the knickerbockers should hang on the point of the hips, with the belt as loose as possible. This makes discarding corsets, which of course is absolutely necessary, most comfortable.”
These notes on costume are intended to cover the subject, and to serve as reminder and advice to those contemplating walking tours of all sorts. But the practice of walking as an art and recreation does not by any means require such elaborate preparations. Otherwise, the devotees would be few. For an extended tour, or even for a holiday excursion, one may well give consideration to these many matters; but for a Saturday afternoon walk, it will suffice to put on proper footgear, leave one’s overcoat at home, carry a sweater if need be, use forethought about details, and be ready to betake one’s self from office to highway, with assurance of comfort and enjoyment. And beyond this, there still remains to be spoken of the daily round of walking from home to work and back again, from office to restaurant at noon. This daily regimen of walking requires no special costume—admits of none, indeed. It may be that as one is thoughtful to take more steps on the routine path of life, he will give more careful attention to the shoes he buys and to clothes. But let no one close his mind to the subject with the too hasty conclusion that walking requires an impossible amount of special clothing. Any one who cares to, can make any needed modification of his ordinary business costume, without making himself conspicuous, and probably with gain in comfort and consequent well-being.
Equipment
On a one-day excursion, a man will walk unburdened; and, on exceptional longer trips, pack-horses may carry the baggage from one camping ground to another; but, ordinarily, on a tour continuing day after day, one will carry on his own back all that he requires. Should his route lie through settled country, where shelter and bed are to be found in farmhouse or wayside inn, the man will travel with lighter load, and with greater freedom and enjoyment; if he must carry his blanket, too, walking becomes harder work. It may be that one will spend his vacation in the woods, and journey partly afoot, partly by canoe. In that case, a good part of his walking will be the arduous toting of impedimenta (canoe included) across portages, from one lake or stream to another. Proportionately as his burden is heavier, the sojourner in the wilderness will be disposed so to plan his trip that he may stop for successive nights at favorite camping places. From these he will make shorter trips, and, unencumbered, climb mountains, perhaps, or explore other parts of the country about.
The bulk of what is carried should be borne on the back. Drinking cup may be hung to the belt; knife, watch, money, and various other small articles will be carried in pockets; map-case, field glasses, or fishing rod may be slung by straps from the shoulders or carried swinging in one’s hand, ready for use; but, for the rest, everything should be carried in the knapsack.
In case the pedestrian is traveling in settled country and is not obliged to carry a blanket (and such is by far the freest, pleasantest way to go afoot), the best knapsack to be found is of a kind in general use in the Tyrol. It goes under its native German name, rucksack. It is a large, square-cornered pocket, 20-24 inches wide and 16-18 deep, made of a light, strong, closely woven, specially treated fabric, of a greenish-gray color, and all but water-proof. The pocket is open at the top, slit a few inches down the outer face, is closed by a drawing string, and a flap buckles down over the gathered mouth. Two straps of adjustable length are secured, each at one end to the upper rim of the sack at the middle point, and at the other end to one of the lower corners. When the filled knapsack is in place, the supporting straps encircle the shoulders of the wearer, the closed mouth lies between the shoulder blades, the bottom corners extend just above the hips, while the weight of the burden, hanging from the shoulders, rests in the curve of the back. Genuine Tyrolean knapsacks are, since the War, no longer procurable in this country; good copies of them are, however, to be had in our sporting-goods shops. The army knapsack is fairly good.
In case the pedestrian makes his tour in some remote region, where lodging places are not certainly to be found, he will be obliged to carry his blanket, and probably some supply of food. In such case, he will choose a larger knapsack. The sack known as the “Nessmuk” is a good one; and another, somewhat larger, is the “Gardiner.” These sacks are neither of them large enough to contain both blanket and the other necessary articles of camping equipment; the blanket should then be rolled and the roll arched upon and secured to the knapsack after the latter has been packed. Grommets sewed to the knapsack afford convenient means for securing the blanket roll in place. A still larger (and heavier) knapsack, large enough to contain one’s camp equipment, blanket and all, is called the “Merriam Back Pack.” It is recommended by an experienced camper, Mr. Vernon Bailey, chief field naturalist of the U. S. Biological Survey.
In hot weather the knapsack becomes uncomfortably wet with perspiration. Wicker frames, sometimes used to hold the sack away from the back to allow circulation of air beneath, are bothersome and uncomfortable.
For carrying heavier burdens short distances, as when making portage on a camping trip, a pack harness is used. Its name sufficiently explains its nature. An additional device, called a tump line, may, if desired, be bought and used with the pack harness. The tump line is a band which, encircling the load on one’s back, passes over the forehead. With its use the muscles of the neck are brought into play, aiding the shoulders and back in carrying. It is astonishing, what an enormous burden a Canadian Indian can manage with the aid of harness and tump line. These articles may be bought at sportsmen’s stores, and at the posts of the Hudson’s Bay Company, in Canada.
The equipment for a summer walking tour, on which one is not obliged to carry a blanket, should weigh from ten to twenty pounds, according as one carries fewer or more of the unessentials. It is impossible to draw up lists of what is essential and what merely convenient, and have unanimity; one man will discard an article which to another is indispensable; the varying conditions under which journeys are taken will cause the same man to carry different articles at different times. The ensuing lists are intended to be suggestive and reasonably inclusive; for any given walk each individual will reject what he finds dispensable.