I was at my sisters and she gleefully produced an ad for a Mervyns white sale and a coupon for 20 percent off at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.    And that is how I came to enter a mall for the first time in 15-20 years.    And how I came to own bedding.

I bought a set of jersey sheets, a fleece blanket and a cheap down comforter.

Even though I’m an active sleeper, all my bedding stays in place and my bed is still made when I wake up.   I think it’s because the jersey sheets stretch when you pull on them instead of coming undone.    Also they aren’t slippery so the blankets stay put.

They’re also warm and feel good.

They’re not expensive—I paid less than 20.00 for a top sheet, bottom sheet and 2 pillow cases.

I’m not back on the trail nor am I dropping out for a bit.

I have un-monkeyed it and it shouldn’t happen again.

To wring out the piece of clothing, I throw it over a tree branch that hangs over my deck and wring it out by twisting it like the illustration shows.

The illustration is from a book called Living on the Earth.   I’ve had this book since I was twelve.    From baking bread to building a home, nothing takes more than a page to explain.

That’s the way things should be—if something takes more than a page or two to explain you’re probably making it too complicated.

Sun and snow today which are two commodities I haven’t seen enough of this winter. And since sun is my power and snow is my water source, they have been sorely missed.

I bought my Macabi hiking skirt in 2004. I tried hiking in it on the CDT but my legs would get burned when I laid down for a nap and I got some chaffing between my legs.

I see many thru-hikers wearing them though, men and women, and they love it.

I wear mine all winter long with long underwear underneath. It feels warmer to me than pants. I also think there is something about wearing a skirt that is good for flow.

There are snaps to shorten the skirt. There is also a clip to make the skirt into pants or shorts. The shorts thing doesn’t really work because it’s still really easy to expose yourself…. maybe I was doing it wrong.

If it rains, you can shorten the skirt with the snaps and wear a trash bag skirt over it or put on rain pants and pack the skirt away till it stops raining.

One thing you need to be mindful of when wearing this skirt—don’t stand next to any heat source or it starts to melt and burn. I have little burns all over mine from standing near a campfire, a propane heater, and even just standing next to a wood stove.

It snowed all day yesterday. But it’s supposed to warm up today so it might turn in to a big slushy mess. I better act fast if I want to harvest all that water.

Yesterday while I was out snowshoeing I saw a guy plowing his road with a big wooden V that he drags behind his pickup. He has a full size pickup but it’s not four-wheel drive. He puts a bunch of weight in the back of his pickup. First he drags the big wooden V going down hill and then drags it back up. It does a good job. It’s a cheap way to plow a road.

So far my road isn’t plowed which is the way I like it. Eventually the guy that lives furthest up the road and has to go to work will pay someone to plow it and I’ll contribute to be neighborly not because I want the road plowed.

Maybe when that guy retires we can stop plowing the road. I doubt it because most people can’t stand staying home.

Chicken soup for a sick person:

1. A lot of chopped fresh garlic
2. Some grated fresh ginger
3. small can of chicken
4. Some “Better than Bouillon” chicken soup base
5. Water
6. Cook until good
7. Add some fresh lemon juice

Enjoy and heal!

To mix natural peanut butter so there isn’t  that huge layer of  oil on the top, you turn the jar  upside down.    Then every time you  go by it, turn it over again and it mixes itself.

It works.

This is how I run my laptop directly off my DC battery power. I connect a 12 volt cord to a battery. For my solar system I have gel batteries but when I go up to my other cabin I bring a deep cell battery. Red clamp on positive/ black clamp on negative.

Then I plug my DC power adapter for my computer into the socket.

There is a different DC power adapter for every laptop.

If you don’t have a DC power adapter for your computer you can plug a little inverter into the socket and it will run your AC laptop off of DC. They have an annoying little fan that eventually stops working so I don’t like using them.

That’s why I haven’t been posting lately. Because of that and because I took a ride from a sick neighbor and got sick.

For awhile I thought I was going to die. Even though I wasn’t that sick and was still walking 5-7 miles a day.

Every time I get sick, I think I’m going to die. I say, “Crow, you’re about to the end of your trail now.”

I think I do it because it makes being sick more of an adventure.

Regular post to resume shortly.

Taking pictures of stuff is also a good way to throw out stuff.

A couple moves ago, I was moving into a tiny apartment with my now-wife, and there wasn’t nearly enough room for all the stuff I had. As I was digging through it, deciding what could go and what would stay, I found that more often than not, the reason I wanted to keep something was because of the memories attached to it. Without the stuff, I might never think of that memory again, and it would be lost to me.

So, for everything like that, I took a picture of the item, printed it out, and wrote a little summary of the memory on the back. The item could then be thrown out without fear of losing the memory.

I like having the physical photo instead of just a digitized copy because it will last much, much longer than the digital copy will. In 50 years, I could dig through a box of stuff and find the photo and get the memory. Not so with the digital file unless someone spends a lot of effort moving files to new media every few years.

There are many cheaper ones out there but they aren’t small, quiet, or fuel efficient.  When I see how much gas people with the cheap generators use, I’m so thankful I bought this one. It think it’s supposed to run up to 20 hours on one gallon of gas.

I’ve had it for  5 years.  I use it to charge my batteries on my solar system when the sun doesn’t shine.

For a while now, when it’s cold, it has been starting and then as soon as I go inside it dies.  I have to start it like four times before it stays running.

I always add stabilizer to my fuel because my fuel sits for so long.

Last year I  tried adding some Heat to it.  That improved things a little but not much.

This year I bought some octane booster and added it to the fuel.    I don’t remember what kind but I think it said “barely legal!” on the bottle.     The generator runs perfect now. Problem solved.

There is this sailboat race around the world to see who would be the first person to sail around the world unsupported.

This guy decides  it’s just the thing he wants to do but he doesn’t have a boat.   So he designs one and gets financial backing to build it.

Only catch is, if he quits he has to pay for the boat.   He puts up his house, which is housing his wife and 4 children, as collateral.    On the day before the deadline to sail,  he sits trembling saying “The boats not ready.”   But people tell him that he must go. 

So he goes…..

Oh one more thing, he is not a real sailor, just a weekend sailor.

Meditate

This is the most important thing you can do..  Take some time to meditate everyday, look at where you’re headed, and steer yourself in the right direction if you find you have wandered off course

No intoxicants

Awareness is the treasured commodity.  Why would you give up a drop of it.   Besides, hermit life is like being on a trip only you don’t have to give up any awareness to enjoy it.

No Stimulants

The hermit mind is more sensitive.  Give it a bunch of coffee or other stimulants and it can run away from you.

No Pets

Yeah, animals are great.  They also cause problems, tie you down, take time, and are expensive.  More than one hermit has been squashed by their animal empire.

Keep your eyes on your own life

Don’t rail on about government conspiracy theories, chem trails,  plagues, total collapse of the economy,  the end of the world, etc. Just take care of your life and let the rest of the world take of its self.

Be careful of your companions

You would think this would be an easy rule for a hermit to follow but it also means the media that you read and listen to.    For this reason I don’t  use TV, radio, or newspapers.  They’re too negative.

Refrain from negativity

You make your own trip.  You want to dwell on negativity that is where you will live.

Spend time outside everyday

You need to go outside.   Hermits that don’t go outside  get weird.   The outdoors will enhance your life in every way.

Move

A human  needs exercise to be healthy, no one is exempt.

Don’t let your life become cluttered

Get rid of something everyday.

Clean your living space

A clean and tidy living space will help you stay healthy mentally.

Bathe

Wash yourself everyday.  Even if it’s very cursory, it makes a difference in your attitude.

Brush and floss your teeth

Bad teeth will make you sick and make it so you can’t eat good food.   It also makes reentry hard.

Smile

It feels good and will make you happy.

Seek inspiration

In the same vein as “be careful of your companions”,  seek out something inspiring  everyday.   Look for books from people well on their spiritual path to get inspiration from.

Keep noble silence

Spend some time everyday without  reading, writing, talking, listening to music, or looking at videos.  Just silence.  If you want a great experience, keep noble silence all day, day after day.

Find employment

Everyday find some chore to do like chop wood, wash windows, pay a bill, do laundry, etc.   This will keep your life running smoothly and things won’t pile up on you.

Don’t eat food that is bad for you

I’ve heard of a person achieving enlightenment while eating only nettles but I think if he only had doughnuts to eat he maybe wouldn’t have been so successful.       Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, they’re all connected.  Food that feels more like a drug you should stay away from.

Practice yoga

Yoga is amazing.   It keeps you fit in every way.   Easiest book to learn and practice yoga from:  Richard Hittleman’s 28 day yoga plan

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Yoga class for recluses

Most of the time it’s just me in my sphere on the trail.   So I lie down in the middle of trail confident that no one will be coming along.

I need to be careful  of doing that right out of town because there are often day hikers around.   One time I  felt sleepy coming out of town, so I laid down on the trail and went to sleep.  I woke up to a day hiker screaming because she thought I was dead.

A hiker on the Appalachian Trail told me this story:  She was hiking along when she saw a man lying on the trail.  He had his tent laid over him and a “Do Not Disturb” sign out.  “Odd place to take  a nap” she thought as she carefully slipped by him mindful of not disturbing him.   A little ways down the the trail she met a sheriff who said the man was dead.

I found this little book on the Internet.  It’s called  “Pocket PCT— An Elevation Guide it the Pacific Crest Trail.”   It weighs 3.8 oz(108 grams) and covers the entire trail.

I’ve never used it or even seen it but it looks really useful.   I may try it out the next time I hike the PCT.

It cost 19.95 which is 10 dollars more than the Wilderness Press PCT Data Book but I was thinking it might be more accurate.    The Wilderness press data book is missing some important water sources and it doesn’t always show you when you are at the top of a climb.

The Pocket PCT is built around an elevation profile of the entire 2655 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. The mile-by-mile elevation profile is represented in chapters, each beginning and ending at a common resupply location. The detailed profile shows water sources (each rated by reliability), water cache locations, resupply points, and hundreds of other landmarks such as campgrounds, roads, creeks, rivers, and trails. Symbols identify each point of interest and includes that point’s elevation (and directions if off-trail). Commonly used resupply point addresses and other information is included in the back of the guide, including directions to each resupply point from the trail.

It doesn’t have any maps in it, but maps and way points for the entire trail can now be downloaded for free from Halfmile’s Pacific Crest Trail Map Site

That’s the great thing about cabin life, it doesn’t cut you off and protect you from the world as well as a house.   It more enhances life than cut you off from it.

When it’s dark, you know it’s dark.  When it’s cold outside, you know it’s cold.

If you want heat, you go chop wood.  If you want water, you need to melt some snow.

If the cabin burns down, you need to figure out a new shelter.    But that’s all it is—shelter.

Some people think my life is harder than for people who live in a house.   I can tell you, from my house sitting experiences, that I have far more time and far less chores to do than a house dweller.

It takes me like 40 seconds to clear the snow off my porch.

When I house sat for my sister, I had a long walk to shovel, many decks to shovel, and a long driveway to plow.

My toilet is a bucket.   I have two of them.   Once a week I dump them under a big pine tree, rinse them out with my saved gray water, and rake some pine needles over the top. It takes 10 minutes a week at the most.   They work flawlessly, don’t use water, and they make top soil.

At my sisters, not one of her three toilets worked flawlessly.   A half of day was spent cleaning up after one of them overflowed.

Though my cabin is cold in the mornings, some night it’s probably close to 80 degrees.   To be that warm when it’s cold outside feels delicious.

I make a nest on the floor with blankets and pillows and in the dark cabin, stretch out in front of the wood stove and the propane heater, drink tea,  look out at the stars, and think, “There is no where I would rather be.”

At my sisters house she has inlay hot water coils that heat the floor of her large house.   You set it and the house  stays that same temperature all the time.  So it’s too hot when you’re sleeping and too cold when you’re awake.

The one thing I thought that her 3500 sq ft. house would have over my 200 sq. ft. cabin was space.   In my cabin, I carefully lay myself out to do some yoga postures so I have enough room.

The shocker was that because she had filled all her space with stuff, I had the same problem at her house as in my cabin.  She had no more room to stretch out and do yoga as I did.

If I need a new roof—500 dollars.  If she needs a new roof—10,000 dollars.

I can wash all my windows, inside and out in under an hour.  She needs scaffolding to wash her windows.

My shelter serves me; she serves her’s.

I could go on and on but my point is cabin life is easier, more comfortable, more beautiful, and much more sustainable than big house living.

When I had a house it was full of stuff.  It made me tired.   So, I made a rule.  Everyday I had to get rid of at least 10 things.   I did that for months.   Everything I got rid of increased my energy.

Then one day I couldn’t think of anything else to get rid of.   I started feeling so tired.   I told my son and he posted on his geek board that I had beer making supplies to give away for free.  Within hours there were a couple of geeks taking away my brewery and my energy surged.

After my big purge, I was robbed and then I had even less stuff.

Then I sold my house and  I had to get rid of almost everything.   There was no room for sentimentality.

It was so freeing to dump all the pictures of my past into the garbage.  I don’t need pictures; I lived my life; I was there.

Now, I have less stuff but I still try to  get rid of one thing a day.

It’s a good goal to set: by the end of everyday— less stuff.

What’s an uncluttered life worth.   Certainly more than any of the clutter is worth.

There are enough ads in this world we don’t need them on our clothes.

Company names and logos look  bad and render clothes useless for anything but for the activity they were intended.

I once owned a nylon shirt in vibrant blue with no logos on it. I wore it for everything. When I took my dying mother on a cruise, I wore it with some black slacks and fake pearls to formal night. Then I wore it on a 5-month Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike. I kept wearing it every day for the next year. Then I wore it for the Florida Trail. Next, I wore it for the Appalachian Trail. Somewhere in Connecticut, I replaced it.

That was a good shirt. It didn’t have any logos so all I needed was one shirt that went from formal night on a cruise to hiking a long trail.

My grandchild is preparing to be born, so, I have been shopping for baby gear. The outdoor clothing manufactures are putting logos on baby clothes! I can’t believe anyone could be so crass.

They aren’t going to stop until people refuse to wear their company toting stuff.

Everything looks better without logos.

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Removing the logo from your pot lid