“Pack it in, pack it out” Principle
Happiness for Beginners“Pack it in, pack it out” is BCSC’s practical rule for leaving no refuse behind in the Absarokas: participants must carry out what they bring, rather than treating the wilderness as a place where unwanted things can simply be discarded. The rule governs both the contents of a hiker’s pack and the handling of waste, making environmental responsibility an unavoidable part of daily life on the course.
Definition and Practice
During the packing demonstration, Beckett explains that participants should take only what they need because every ounce must be carried on their backs. The permitted personal items include a toothbrush, two ounces of toothpaste, sunscreen, ChapStick, and a comb; makeup, lotion, jewelry, and electronics are prohibited. The restrictions make the rule tangible: packing light is not only a matter of comfort, but also part of a broader discipline of limiting what enters the wilderness and taking it all back out.
The instruction applies explicitly to used menstrual supplies. Beckett tells the women to double-bag them and carry them back, forbidding disposal in the woods. Leaving tampons on the trail is grounds for expulsion. The blunt specificity turns a broad environmental principle into a concrete requirement, with a clearly stated consequence for breaking it.
Enforcement and Daily Consequences
The rule reaches into private, ordinary bodily routines as well as equipment choices. Helen reacts with anxiety to the prospect of carrying used supplies and to the larger austerity of the trip, which also means going three weeks without bathing or deodorant. Her response shows how the course’s leave-no-trace expectations are experienced not as an abstract slogan but as a series of intimate practical demands.
Beckett’s presentation also makes clear that disposal is not a matter of convenience: waste must be contained and carried out, even when doing so is unpleasant. The course thus places the responsibility on participants to manage the consequences of what they bring, rather than leaving refuse for others or for the landscape.
Helen, Jake, and the Rule’s Wider Meaning
Later, Helen considers the environmental implications of a Whoopie Pie and its wrappers. She imagines Beckett objecting not only to the packaging, but also to the industrial chemicals, plastic, and transportation involved in getting the snack to the group. Jake has hidden the wrappers at the bottom of the trash before Beckett notices Helen. The moment does not change the stated rule, but it brings its ethic into a less formal setting: the material trace of a seemingly minor snack becomes visible, and Jake quietly keeps Helen from becoming an example in Beckett’s lesson.
Across these moments, the rule joins the physical limits of backpacking to an ethic of accountability. Participants must carry their own supplies and the waste those supplies produce; even Helen’s passing concern about the snack points toward a wider awareness of what precedes an object’s arrival on the trail. The course’s demand is literal, immediate, and enforceable: leave footprints, not discarded belongings.
