Month: September 2007

Suffering the pangs of the loss of trail life.

Reentry from the trail is hard. It’s like jet lag of the soul. I wish I had just turned around at the border and started hiking south until the weather got too bad to be out there. Life on the trail is so beautiful and life in civilization is so annoying.

Last time I finished the PCT, I remember feeling the same way: sad and sort of angry that I wasn’t on the trail. The feelings never did really go away.

Time to get moving again.

My post hike recovery time of eating, watching tv and looking at the Internet is coming to an end.   It’s time to move on to one of my cabins and start preparing for winter.

Life is so easy on the trail; all you have to do is get up and hike every day.  My thoughts on the trail are only: how much food do I need, how much water do I need, how many miles can I walk, and what a great view.  In the real world there are so many options and things to think about and do.   I miss the trail.

Final gear list for PCT hike.

great-gear.jpg

  • Mountainsmith Ghost backpack lined with white plastic garbage bag (Love this pack. It broke and I hiked with a Mountainsmith CDT while it was repaired.)
  • Marmot Helium 15 degree sleeping bag stuffed in to a clear plastic bag- This bag kept me toasty warm while camping under the stars on high windy crests. I was never cold yet sometimes I was too warm.)
  • Z-Rest full length closed cell pad (Great pad that I whipped out to lay on during my breaks and allowed me to cowboy camp with out a ground cloth.)
  • Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo with pole and tent stakes. 1 1/2 lb shelter with cooking porch and big enough for me and all my stuff)
  • Black Diamond Pearl headlamp (wouldn’t go back to hiking without a 1 watt led again)
  • Silver Swing Liteflex EuroSchirm trekking umbrella (better and lighter hiking umbrella then the Golite Chrome Dome)
  • Nalagene 16 oz wide mouth bottle
  • 1 1/2 liter disposable bottle (Duct tape wrapped around bottle) Extra cap with a hole in it to use as hiker bidet
  • Polycarbonate spoon
  • Nylon Food bag lined with an oder proof liner
  • Sil-nylon clothes bag (doubles as pillow)
  • Emergency space-blanket and fire starting kit (fuel tablets and a bic lighter) Never used this stuff
  • Whistle and Photon light on a clip.
  • Sunglasses with strap (Actually, I lost my sunglasses. I lost at least 5 pairs of sunglasses)
  • Reading glasses
  • small camp towel (Important for wiping the condensation off of the tent walls and for drying off after a shower)
  • Office (large plastic ziplock)
  • cell phone and charger (First time I have carried a cell phone. I liked having it)
  • pen and small notebook
  • maps and guide book sections
  • Casio Compass/Altimeter watch (most accurate altimeter watch I have ever owned)
  • Iriver 2g Mp3 player and fm radio with headphones (worked well)
  • Ditty bag stuff
    • Sunblock
    • Callus file
    • Chapstick tube
    • Tube of Carmex for my feet
    • brush head
    • toothbrush (child’s size)
    • toothpaste
    • Dental floss with needle in side.
    • super glue (important for gluing the cracks in my feet together)
    • classic swiss army knife
    • Aqua Mira water treatment
    • Keeper menstrual cup
    • First aid kit
  • Clothing
    • REI Ultralight raincoat and rain pants(switched to these after my Drop Stoppers disintegrated and before I headed in to wet and brushy Washington.)These were kind of heavy but I needed some rain gear and just bought what they had. When it was rainy and brushy I kept my hiking pants dry in my backpack and only wore my rain pants for days.
    • 4 way fleece balaclava (Usually wore it to bed. Would not leave home without it.)
    • Neoprene socks (1 Pair) (Really nice to have while postholing over Muir Pass also when my feet were getting dried out)
    • Wool socks (1 pair)
    • Light socks (1 pair)
    • Bug head net (Never used it)
    • Garbage bag rain skirt ( More functional than rain pants, when it is warm.)
    • Fleece Glo-mitts (great)
    • Mountain Hardwear Hiking pants
    • Mountain Hardwear canyon shirt
    • Sunday Afternoon Adventure hat
    • Pantagonia Sport top
    • One pair of Synthetic underwear
    • Summer Buff (Wore it all the time)
    • Simms sun gloves (lost these somewhere but wished I hadn’t)
    • Mont-Bell Therma-wrap jacket. (Not as warm as I had hoped, but really light)
    • New Balance 817 running shoes with New Balance pressure relief insoles. (SL-2 last: wide in the toe box but narrow in the heel. Come in really wide sizes)
    • Chaco Z-1 Sandals (I had to switch from Z-2’s to Z-1’s after 900 miles because of excessive thickening of the skin between my big toes) This is the first time I hiked with two pair of shoes; it was really nice to be able to switch shoes when my feet would get tired. I didn’t get any blisters.

    I also carried a Cassin Ghost ice ax and a BearVault 350 bear canister from Kennedy Meadows(mile 702.8) to Echo Lake(mile1094.5). I also carried my ice ax through the Goat Rock Wilderness in Washington.