Backpackers find solace, relaxation in journeys disconnected from technology – Butler Eagle
Backpackers find solace, relaxation in journeys disconnected from technology – Butler Eagle
Publish Date: 2026-06-14 11:40:00
Source Domain: www.butlereagle.com
Tammy Veloski hoists her camping backpack from the ground. It weighs over 24 pounds and carries everything from her tent to a cooking kit. Eddie Trizzino/Butler Eagle
Taking the scenic route
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — Joe Hardisky and Tammy Veloski trekked more than 14 miles through Clearfield and Cameron counties on a one-day journey through the Quehanna Wild Area — all while carrying backpacks weighing more than 20 pounds each.
The two members of the Butler Outdoor Club have hiked for days on end through forests around the East Coast, setting up shelters overnight and cooking stew on portable stoves to keep their energy up.
This is their idea of relaxation.
And while the journey is the destination for people like Hardisky and Veloski, they occasionally find something in the woods that makes the heavy hauls even more memorable. On this recent trip, they came across a 40-yard water transportation system made from V-grooved logs that brought water down from a spring to a cabin site that was deep into the woods.
It’s finds like this that Hardisky said make backpacking trips some of the most satisfying experiences he has ever had.
“It was amazing and it was still working like it probably did all those years,” said Hardisky, who spoke from a truck stop that he said could not be more of a contrast from where he was just a week before. “It’s the idea that you’re getting away from everything, just some really remote areas.
“If you do a four-nighter and you’re out for five days or so, when you step back into traffic it’s almost like culture-shock.”
Hardisky and Veloski each described themselves as experienced backpackers who trade the comfort of their homes for the compact embrace of a camping tent for at least several weeks of the year. And while they…
