This brought back memories, this is a clip from an essay on an earlier paddling trip. Put's our need for gear in perspective.

I shared the lake with one other paddler. When our boats passed within about 100 yards of each other I heard a cheerful “what a beautiful morning “his voice easily carried across the glassy surface of the lake and through the thin air. He enthusiastically struggled in his vinyl 2 person inflatable raft to paddle my way. I decided to save him the effort and shifted my weight and with a few dozen strokes closed the gap. He chatted as I paddled closer. Within few minutes I knew more about him than I know about some people I have worked with for years. He had always dreamed of taking his family to Yellowstone and when he found his boat at a garage sale for 3 bucks it just added to his desire. He had worked hard to get the cash to provide his family with this dream trip. Now he was living his dream just a few miles from the Great Divide on one of the most spectacular lakes in the country. He was proud of the design and construction of his oars. He didn't have money to buy oars so he cut a branch from a tree in his yard and cut the lid to his toilet in half and with a few screws attached the blade to the shaft. If nothing else that probably solved the lid up or lid down argument in his house. A PFD would need to wait for a future payday. I wondered how he afforded the gas for the trip and just hoped if he was caught by a park ranger with no permit or PFD that the ranger would be older and understanding and not some young kid that has come out to protect the park against less enlightened people than himself or herself. It was apparent my friend’s needs were simple, he didn't need a barber or a dentist to be happy and I write that with respect. In many ways he was the person I wished I could become but I was not willing to trade him places. I really doubt he would have been willing to trade me places either. He was friendly sincere, genuine, and genuinely happy. He carried no extra weight, he was not burdened with yesterday or tomorrow. He ask for little and gave much. I think we cannot measure charity in how much we give so much as how much we are willing sacrifice to give. He had little but I think he was willing to sacrifice all. Clearly he had sacrificed more to get his family to Yellowstone than I had. I am a Wyoming native and trips to Yellowstone and the Tetons were routine for my family. Would have it been the right thing to give him a few PFD’s and a twenty for a permit and let him know he was in the middle of one of the most regulated pieces of land in America? Possibly, but at that time when I felt like I was in tune, I was too out of tune to even have the thought, I was blind. Hopefully I gave him something more valuable than stuff. I did give him a smile and a genuine conversation. I shared some laughs and some desires. We shared hopes for our kids, love for wilderness, and gratitude for the morning we were living. Looking back on the moment I had not disciplined myself to be focused on his needs, he didn't need to have discipline to focus on my needs it was just naturally how he lived his life.