I got another e-mail from Pinball. He is busy plowing the callouses off his feet, after his CDT(Continental Divide Trail) hike, with his Black and Decker power sander. Key, he says, is using really coarse sandpaper.
Related post: Tools for your feet
A zero day is a day when no miles are hiked. Most long distance hikers take them and even think they are necessary, probably because so many hikers tell them they are necessary. Though getting a hot bath, ordering a pizza and laying in bed eating it while watching old movies is wonderful and when it is cold and wet outside can feel like the best thing in the world, I’m not sure it does anything to help my performance and may even hurt it.
What I have found more rejuvenating than taking a zero day in town is to hike fewer miles on the trail for a few days. Sleep in, take long breaks hanging out on the crest and eat more food. I discovered this when after my son would join me for a week of doing 15 mile days I would feel completely rejuvenated in a way that 3 days in a motel room never did it for me.
Zero days break my grove and suck up all my time and money. I think it’s best to keep moving no mater how slowly.
I hiked with a guy called “Just Dave” for awhile and I said, “You know, I think zero days hurt performance.” He said he thought so too. He only took one zero day for the Appalachian Trail and he said it was the worst mistake he made. I don’t think he took any for the Pacific Crest Trail. The best hikers don’t take zeros.
I have an inspiring, fun to look at book called Home work—Handbuilt shelter. It has lots of pictures and diagrams of little, beautiful, and cheap homemade homes.
One of the articles in it, I thought might be of particular interest to some readers, is called “Perpetual Camping.” It’s about a newsletter called Dwelling Portably. Dwelling Portably is written by people who find some unused land and dwell there for awhile or otherwise dwell portably. Doers report on what works and doesn’t, ask questions, and offer advice.
The people who produce it say:
While quite young, Bert and I decided (separately, before we even met) that buying property was foolish. You can’t really own land;the government owns it and can kick you off any time you do something that any of dozens of government agencies disapprove of .
We also noticed that much land, especially in the west was not used or was used infrequently. That inspired us to become perpetual campers: living in a place while it was desirable; moving on when conditions changed.
Issues vary: some have much about vehicular dwellings and little about backpacables or wickiups. Or vice versa. So, for a broad sampling, order several back issues.
Bert and I have built portable dwellings that are as comfortable as houses. In some ways they are more convenient, because they are small and well insulated, our body heat keeps them warm during winters—avoiding the labor, mess, pollution, and hazard of a heating stove.
Dwelling Portably is $1 dollar an issue. add .50 if sending check or M.O. for less then 6 dollars. (Their prices encourage you to order many back issues) 1/$1; 6/$5; 13/$10; 30/$20 Dwelling Portably, POB 190-hwk, Philomath, OR 97370
Or order online from Microcosm Publishing (Thanks, Pig Monkey, for the link)
When I carried a stove and drank green tea on the trail, I would wash my face and hands with the used, still warm tea bag in the mornings.
Related post: Mornings on the trail
Here is the secret to getting big easy miles when hiking the desert section of the Pacific Crest Trail( PCT). It’s amazing as you can get a 30 mile day in and still spend most of the day laying in the shade. Your pack will be light because after about 6:30 at night you don’t need much water. Your feet will feel great because they get a 5-6 hour rest in the middle of the day.
It you only want to do 20 mile days, well then, it will be really easy.
If you hike when it’s hot, you are going to need a ton of water and the trail will be brutal. If you hike when it is cool, it will be easy and you won’t need to carry much water.
Related posts: Backpacking lights
How to keep your umbrella from blowing away while you take your siesta.
When I go to to the barter faire, I volunteer to sit with people in the calm tepee. It’s nice in there. There is a fire going in the middle that makes it warm and the light colored walls reflect the light from the fire, making it light inside as well.
There is never any smoke. The guy who tends the fire says this is because he burns saskatoon(amelanchier) wood. Saskatoon or serviceberry is native to every state in the US except Hawaii and it grows on both sides of the Cascades.
I usually use the no wash method of cleaning up but sometimes I end up with a frying pan or dishes to wash. I never use soap because it takes a lot of water to rinse the soap off. Instead I use baking soda.
One time I ran out of baking soda for awhile so I used wood ash instead–it worked. To make soap you need grease and lye. Lye is made from wood ash. So, mix the grease from the pan with wood ash and you have essentially made soap.
Baking soda works under the same principal but it is safer on your skin. Wood ash in water releases lye so you don’t want it getting in your eyes or sitting on your skin.
I guy on the trail told me this tip; he always leaves his cellphone in his shoe when he recharges it because it’s easy to forget your cellphone but you’re not going to walk out of town without your shoe.
A big bag of potato chips easily fits into a quart zip-lock if you smash them up first. Then you just eat them with a spoon or put them in your tortilla along with whatever else you are putting in there that day. If you are cooking, they also would be a good addition to hot meals.
I met a guy on the trail who’s favorite trail lunch was peanut butter, cheese, fresh onion, and crumbled up potato chips all rolled up into a tortilla.
Potato chips offer about 150 calories per ounce; One of the best calorie to weight ratios you can get.
Walking through the grocery aisle I spied a new product, Chicken of the Sea smoked salmon, in little take along, no refrigeration pouches.
When I saw it I said, “Yes! I should get a bunch of this and I can be eating smoked salmon all winter long” Good thing I had the good sense to buy just one and try it out first.
It’s nothing like smoked salmon; bad flavor and a bad texture. So bad.
When I suspect a urinary track infection I:
Drink plenty of fluids
Take vitamin C. It’s supposed to make your urine so acidic that bacteria can’t live in it. For UTIs, Outward Bound Wilderness First-aid recommends taking 1 gram of vitamin C 4 times a day.
If those don’t work I take antibiotics. I usually carry the antibiotic– Septra DS or the generic equivalent. You’ll need a prescription. The generic version is only 4 dollars at Walmart. They are worth the weight to be able to take care of myself. Finding a doctor to prescribe them and a pharmacy to fill them can seem like an insurmountable task when I’m sick and on the trail. Septra DS can also be used for other kinds of infections.
Recommended dosage of Septra DS 80/160 is twice a day (3 days for bladder/urethral infections, 10 days for kidney infections)
From “Where Women have no Doctor“:
Bladder infection signs:
• need to pass urine very often. (It may also feel as though some urine is still left inside.)
• pain or a burning feeling while passing urine
• pain in the lower belly just after passing urine
• urine smells bad, or looks cloudy, or has blood or pus in it.
(Dark urine can be a sign of hepatitis.)
Kidney infection signs:
• any bladder infection signs
• fever and chills
• lower back pain, often severe, that can go from the front, around the sides, and into the back
• nausea and vomiting
• feeling very ill and weak
If you have signs of both a bladder and a kidney infection, you probably have a kidney infection.
From “The Thru-hikers Medical guide”:
The development of fevers, vomiting or pain in your back could signify that the infection has spread to the kidneys. Kidney infections can be serious, so go to the ER if flank pain or fevers develop.
In 2008 I bought a Rail Riders eco-mesh shirt for my Pacific Crest Trail(PCT) thru-hike; by Lone Pine(mile 750) I ditched it.
Here are the problems I had with the shirt:
1. The sleeves are too short, so my forearms got burned. A good hiking shirt should offer full skin coverage for when the sun it blazing and the bugs are biting
2. It doesn’t close fully, so it leaves this gaping hole at the chest which leaves skin exposed to sun and bugs.
3. The elastic on the sleeves is too tight.
4. The mesh panels on the side rips easily. I met someone else on the trail with an eco mesh shirt and hers was ripped in the same place as mine.
5. The mesh fabric balls up really quickly. So it looks bad.
6. The shirt stains really easily.. And you just can’t get it clean.
7. Not one useful pocket. It came with one little pocket on the sleeve. I put my reading glasses in it but they fell out and I lost them.
8. They embroidered, “RailRider” on the back of the shirt; I hate logos.
And finally I would like to say something about back vents on shirts. They are of no use to someone who is wearing a backpack and actually just makes it hotter because you have more fabric back there plus back vents look stupid.
Related Post: How to make a good hiking shirt.
Living without running water is easy. Truth is, it’s easier than with running water if you consider the time and money you have to spend on plumbing, paying water bills, fixing pluming, worrying about it freezing, etc. I don’t spend 10 minutes a week on water.
You just do things differently so you don’t waste any water. Take for example making spaghetti:
So you see, no washing, no wasted water.
Once in awhile I wash a few dishes but for the most part my system is: 1. Eat from pot, 2. clean with spatula, 3. boil water in pot and use for hot beverage.
Related Post: A Vagabond’s guide to kitchenware and dish washing.