.
For years the founder George “Wideload” (trail moniker) Wheeler has been an avid long distance hiker. In 1999 he completed the 2160-mile Appalachian Trail (A.T.). The year after, he hiked the 540 miles of Virginia to West Virginia on the A.T all over again. It was an incredible experience repeated. It was in on his ’99 Thru hike that he got the idea for Lightload Towels.
Finally just this past year “Wideload” hiked the 270-mile Long Trail in Vermont from the Canadian border to the Mass-Vermont border. It’s the oldest long distance hiking trail and was conceived on Stratton Mountain, Vermont the same place that the Appalachian Trail was given birth to some years later. This also was very magical and he hopes one day to redo the adventure.
He also spent about eight years living in Asia. There he had the opportunity to lead hikes in Taiwan and do hikes in Nepal, Pakistan and China. During this time he learned how to speak Chinese.
Another fondness he has is camping. He has spent time in many of America’s national forests including the Ochoco (Oregon), Davy Crockett (Texas), San Francisco (New Mexico), Willamette (Oregon), Piedmont (Alabama), Desoto (Mississippi), Allegheny (Pennsylvania) Green Mountain (Vermont) and many others.
So getting these in the mail I was puzzled and a little bit skeptical. These “towels” are mighty small. Seriously they are the size of a half dollar. My hubby was likewise looking at me crazy. However I am a good sport and set about following instructions. I headed over to the bathroom and after kicking teenage girls out, with loud protests I might add, I got to work!
First step run some water. Sink, tub, bottled water, whatever is on hand. If you are out camping or in the wilderness a stream, lake will do. At the beach? No problem, hit the waves.
It started growing! Pretty cool. I was excited to see it start puffing out into a towel.
Now look at that! A full size working cloth. It is washable also, so you will get lots of uses out of just one. Lightload towels also can be used as Beach Towels, which is pretty exciting for this beach going gal. Instead of having bulky towels to tote around everywhere simply slip these in your bag. Space saver! All their towels are survival tools. Use them for so much including a firestarter, face mask, insulation,diaper and more. The towels are soft against the skin and washable. Great for packing in small places and excellent for shedding weight.
LightLoad Towels Blog 