I was looking out my window and saw this antler (shed) laying on the ground. The first time I saw this property I found a big shed lying on the ground and thought, “This is a good sign”. Every year now, I have found a big shed but this it the biggest so far.
Seriously good trail bar.
When I was hiking in the North Cascades last summer, I met a woman with a painful knee. I gave her the ace bandage that someone had given to me and she gave me a Cherry Pie Larabar. It was delicious. The only ingredients are: dates, almonds and unsweetened cherries. You probably could make your own.
Clean clothes, grapes, and a new whiteboard marker.
Snow!?
It snowed last night, which is discouraging for someone who was hoping to someday get their truck unstuck and go somewhere. It’s suppose to be in the 50’s, during the day, for the next week. So it shouldn’t be too much longer before I’m mobile.
Yesterday on my walk a neighbor drove by me and for the first time this winter I felt envious. Â She was all smiling and waving and driving to town; it made me a little annoyed.
The technology that gets me online
I live in a small cabin up on a hill where electricity is not available. I power my laptop with a 120 watt solar panel that is attached to a regulator, the regulator is attached to two 98 amp hour gel storage batteries. I went with gel batteries because they are safer to have indoors. The regulator is so the solar panel won’t overcharge my batteries.
Most days the solar panel collects enough energy that I can power my laptop all day long, but when the sun doesn’t shine, I have to start up my small Honda generator, attach a battery charger to my storage batteries, and charge them up. I bought the Honda EU2000i because it is small, light, quiet, and fuel efficient. I have used 10 gallons of gas since November to charge my batteries and vacuum my cabin. Last year I only used 5 gallons but last year I didn’t have Internet.
Total price for the whole system:
120 watt solar panel 650.00
Pole 100.00
Rack 275.00 I bought a rack that is big enough to hold another panel in case I decide to enlarge my system.
Two 98 amp hour gel batteries 400.00
Regulator 125.00
Wiring and PVC pipe to bury the line in. 20.00
A 12 volt plug, like the cigarette lighter you have in your car, that attaches to the batteries- I got the cigarette plug for my laptop so that I can run it directly off 12 volt. 10.00
Honda generator for days when the sun doesn’t shine. Online from Mayberry. 900.00
Battery charger– The charger is one that can safely charge gel batteries–not all of them can. 100.00
Total: $ 2580.
My source of knowledge on how to set up my system came from reading the Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook and the guy at the local solar shop, who would draw pictures of how to set it up on the back of old envelopes.
Phone came up here a couple of years before I moved here; the neighbors think someone made Verizon do it, because for laying 3 miles of underground line, through very rocky land, they only netted 4 customers. They charged us all 650 dollars to hook up but I don’t think that even begins to pay for what it cost to put it in. They didn’t put a pedestal anywhere near my cabin so first I had to get Verizon to install a pedestal at my drive way, which took a year, Then I had to find a person with a cable burying rig to come and bury cable from the pedestal up to my cabin–about 800 ft. That gave me dial-up internet.
uh…maybe not
I loaded garbage and dirty clothes into my truck and with dreams of town food, headed to town. I didn’t get far. If I could just get past my gate I could make it. It froze last night and I thought it might be easier to go through the snow when it was frozen but maybe I’m wrong.   It might be that this afternoon I will try when the snow is more slushy. Disappointment reigns, for a brief moment I was like another person– a person who could get in a pickup and drive somewhere.
Step one.
Today I put chains on my truck, the front and the back, and moved my truck around a little bit. I’m not sure if I can make it down the big hill, but if I don’t I’m sure I can’t back up it.
I’m thinking if I shovel out the gate and open it so that I don’t have to stop that I may make it through the deep snow at the gate. I think I’ll try going to town on Tuesday, as the dump isn’t open till then and I have a pickup with a winter full of garbage in it. Then I’ll get my propane tanks filled, some fresh food and maybe even do laundry.
Town isn’t very exciting, laundry, grocery shopping and a very small library is about all there is to do You can stand on one end and see the other end.
It’s a little sad to see winter end; it’s been nice, but it’s time. Now I have to make some decisions about what to do this summer.
Outward Bound
When I was thirty-six and my son was grown, I signed up for a 78 day Outward Bound winter semester class. I had always dreamed of doing an Outward bound class so I saved up ten thousand dollars, went hiking everyday, after work, to get in shape, and signed up for the course. The other participants were 18-21 years old and none of them had ever left home. The woman I shared a room with, the night before the course started, had never even ate in a restaurant by herself.
The course included rock climbing and a desert trek in Joshua Tree, an advance wilderness first aid course, alpine mountaineering in the Sierras, and sea kayaking in Baja. For 78 days I endured the non stop chatter of 10 other people, heavy gear and the humiliation of being treated like a 5 year old out on a field trip.
Once, in Baja, we turned our kayaks into a beautiful protected lagoon. There was a huge whale skeleton laying on the beach. I beached my kayak, grabbed my snorkel and mask, jumped into the three foot deep water and started snorkeling. It wasn’t long before I hear a whistle. I looked up and there was the instructor, he said, “In order to snorkel, you must first have a snorkeling safety class, then find a snorkeling buddy to go with you, have an instructor in the water, and an instructor in a kayak.� Outward Bound could suck the fun out every outdoor experience.
I think that Outward Bound class has cemented firmly in my mind the ideas of light weight travel, the joys of solo adventure, and never, no mater what, signing up for any group experience.
Summer balaclava
I love my balaclava and I like it for sun protection, but in the summer I don’t want to be wearing a black fleece balaclava for sun protection. Searching on the internet I found this solution: the coolmax summer buff. You can use it a bunch of different ways; what a useful thing this seems to be. Watch the video for instructions on how to turn it in to a pirate cap and a lot of different styles. Someone on the internet said that they hauled a person up with one of these.
Spring is coming on fast.
The snow is receding quickly.  Already the first 1 1/2 miles up my road is almost clear of snow. It’s warm, now, and the weather forcast is calling for the same the rest of the week.  I’m hoping, by Saturday, I will be able to get my truck out and go to town. There is still about two feet of snow at my gate but I think I can shovel that aside. I was down at the little store, today, there was a man there who said in town the spring flowers are blooming.  Town is about 2000 ft. lower then me, I think.  The little store is 550 ft lower. I like being up high but it takes longer for spring to get here.
Repackaging your trail food.
Packaging can add a lot to the weight in you food bag and then in your trash baggie. If after a week on the trail, you have more garbage then will fit in a one quart ziplock you probably didn’t slim down enough on the packaging. My favorite re-packaging bags are one gallon size food storage bags; I just tie a lose knot in them. The food storage bags weigh .10 oz. or 2 grams. They can be reused, but are hard to find in a mini-mart, but most mini marts will have ziplock baggies for your repacking needs. Carry a few extra just in case.
Cookies- dump in a baggie and throw the packaging away
Chips- the bag that they come in is fine but let all th air out of the bag and smash them up.
Mac and Cheese- throw away the box, dump the noodles and the whole cheese packet in baggie
Cereal- toss the box and just use the inner bag.
Instant mashed potatoes. and Liptons noodles and sauce. The baggie weighs less then the packaging and since I don’t eat a whole dinner at a time it works better for me to re-package it. If you are carrying more then one packet of either put them both in the same baggie
Ramen noodles- the package they come in is fine.
Instant milk- toss the box and dump milk in baggie.
Instant coffee- empty in baggie.
Corn nuts- empty into baggie and throw away the packaging.
Nuts- re package in baggie
Jerky- the bag it comes in is fine, but it is a little heavy.
Bars- the packaging they come in is fine.
Freeze dried food. – These expensive meals come with heaviest packaging I have ever seen. Toss the package. Either pack it in the inner bag that it comes with or throw contents in a storage bag. It doesn’t make any sense to cook in a bag; it will just leave you with a heavy gooey bag to pack out. Boil the water, dump the dinner in pot, put a cover on the pot, wait, and then eat out of the pot. See my no pot washing system article for a no water, safe, pot cleaning system. I have gone 6 months without washing my pot once.
Spring’s here
Even though it was 7 degrees (-13 C) a couple of days ago and snowed a foot of new snow, it was 50 (10 C) today and the snow is melting fast. If this keeps up I may be able to get my truck out and then this winter will be officially over.
Pine resin incense
If, on my walks, I find a pine tree weeping resin, I sometimes take some. Then, I put a small piece of it on my wood stove and it makes my cabin smell good.
Trail food—resupply as you go.
This stuff can be found at most little stores along the way.
The Carbs:
Tortillas
Instant mashed potatoes
Noodles and sauce
Rice and sauce.
Mac and cheese
Ramen noodles
Bread or bagels
Cereal – Throw away the box, of course, and pack the inner bag.
“Bon Appetit” danishes – Besides carbs, fat and a load of calories per ounce, these probably don’t pack squat in nutrition but they taste good and you can pack them as tight as you want in your food bag and they don’t break apart, they just get a little flatter.
Chips—just let them get all crumbled up and eat them with a spoon.
Corn nuts
Dried fruit
Crackers
The fats:
Peanut butter—I recommend buying the 8 oz plastic jar and then re-filling it, because the 8oz size is sometimes hard to find. Peanut butter is calorie rich, requires no cooking and is good in a tortilla or just eat a spoon full.
Cheese—My personal favorite. keep it in a zip lock. It gets a little runny in the heat but it’s still good. The individually wrapped 1 oz sticks of string cheese make good pocket food.
Butter—put in in a empty, plastic, peanut butter jar. I have never carried butter but I meet a hiker that was having a problems with losing too much weight and he solved his problem by putting loads of butter on everything.
Margarine. lots of hikers carry a squeeze bottle of margarine.
Oil— You can find small plastic bottles of olive oil- but probably not at a little store.
Nuts. For some reason cashews seem to be the nut of choice for little stores; they usually also have peanuts and sometimes almonds.
Seeds—pumpkin, sunflower, etc.
The protein:
Nutritional bars— I look for ones that have substantial protein. Expensive.
Lunch meat—who would have thought. I read about bringing lunch meat in Yogi’s PCT book, She recommends buying it in small packages because they will stay fresh that way until you eat them. I tried it, and sure enough the meat stayed good for days and it’s much cheaper and more available then tuna packets.
Jerky
Powdered milk
Salami
Tuna packets
Chicken packets
Something fresh: apples, carrots, etc.
apples— If you have been on the trail for a long time, a piece of fresh fruit or a vegetable tastes wonderful. I eat the entire apple core and swallow the seeds and stem, so I don’t have to pack out anything.
Treats:
Cookies— personal favorite: Mystic mint cookies. Fig newtons are also good.
Honey bear— peanut butter and honey in a tortilla is pretty tasty. but you can also just take a swig if you have a mind to.
Hard candy
Gum.
Hot beverages: hot chocolate, tea, coffee, lemonade mix, jello mix, etc.
If they have a little deli I usually buy something pre-made for dinner that night. It’s sort of like sticking a carrot out in front of a horse; it coaxes me out of town.
Example of one day of food:
4 oz cereal or danish
2 oz powdered milk.
2 bars, Nutritional bars, granola bars, or candy bar with nuts.
4 oz of snacks- jerky, chips, nuts, dried fruit, etc. I try to pick a variety in the fat, carb, and protein category. For instance if I’m buying for 3 days I may get 4 oz of jerky, 4 oz of nuts, and 4 oz of corn nuts or chips.
2 oz hot beverage making stuff.
2 oz fat- cheese
2-3 oz protein – lunch meat, salami, tuna packet, etc.
3-4 oz carbs.—rice and sauce, instant mashed potatoes, noodles and sauce, or tortillas
4 oz something fresh- apple, carrots, etc. – only for whole days on the trail; not for the day I hike in 
nor the day I hike out.
3 cookies.
approximately 2 lbs (.90 kilograms) of food a day.
I usually make sure every meal has a carb, a fat, and a protein.