A Day in the Life

With all the rain that’s trapped us in our tents over the last week I’ve had a lot more time to write. With that, I should have a few more updates and information posts coming. I’ll do my best to keep them coming, but I’m just having so much fun digging cat holes and cursing at those stupid stealthy rocks that trip me up. Now that I’ve found a good rhythm to my hiking, I think it’s time for a day in the life!

Wake Up

Most days on the trail begin around 6:45 am. I set my alarm each morning because I know I’ll sleep till 8 – 10 am if I don’t, and I’m usually the slow poke outta camp. Waking up with an extra 15 minutes before others has become a nice little ritual; I try to grab bear bags off the bear cables (I’ll get to those) for the Tribe and start my hot water for coffee and oatmeal while the world is still for a few more minutes. This is also my chance to walk around camp naked, which has proved vital for my mental state. It’s easy to tell when other hikers wake up because of the distinct sound of sil nylon, some unreasonably loud sleeping pads (seriously, imagine rubbing two balloons together every time you move), and the always famous zipper sounds.  At night these noises are the bane of sleep, cursed by all those condemned to crowded shelters or packed tent sites. In the morning, this early warning system has proved key in protecting other hiker’s mental state during my morning spread. On days without the alarm, usually because I forget due to exhaustion, those same sounds are the standard alarm clock that start the whole camp moving.  There are always early risers, but they generally stay to themselves when camping to keep from waking others in the wee hours.  No matter what you do or who you are, there is no real stealth when packing your gear, but effort is always noticed and appreciated by the hiking community. Ps. My nakedness is usually caused by changing out of my sleep clothes into my day clothes, I don’t just get naked for fun. That would be weird..

Once the camp is stirring, the fun begins.  Several groggy, but cheery, good mornings start the camp conversation of how many times someone woke up, who slept like a baby for once, and who had to pee how many times in the middle of the night.  This is always followed immediately by the conversation about not wanting to get out of the sleeping bag. Some things never change, even in the woods.  I start my noisey part of the day by rolling up my sleeping bag and gathering my gear up from around my tent.  My chargers and electronics stay by my head in a dry sack, knee brace (and shoes on rainy days) down by my feet, and pack off to the side.  My sunglasses hang from a hook to keep from being crushed, and my hat dries, from either sweat or rain, on the same hook. I usually hang my daytime underwear in my vestibule (the part of my tent that’s under cover, but not inside the bug netting) to dry and air out, and leave my stove, water bottles, and camp shoes off to the side in the vestibule as well. I’ll do a little video tour of the inside of my tent one of these days.

Breakfast

My stove set up, something I’ll do a video on later as well, is a combination of a wood based and alcohol based stoves. On rainy or lazy days with little dry wood or motivation, I use the alcohol stove, burning 91% isopropyl rubbing alcohol as fuel, to boil my water for meals.  I try getting fancy with my cooking, sometimes I’m even successful, but I’ll save that for another post when I’m a little more consistent and not a contender for world’s worst chef or boldest stomach. Cooking is definitely a creative outlet out here, some are better than others. I digress.

In the beginning I started my day with a reasonable two, maybe three instant oatmeal packets. Now that the hiker hunger has set in, I typically range anywhere from four, when rationing, to eight, when trying to cut weight and/or splurging because I’m beautiful and deserve it, packets of instant oats.  Some reasonable people would say, “Grant! That’s almost a full box of oatmeal packets per morning!”, and those people would be correct.  I should probably find a better system, but how can anyone who’s tried fruit and cream instant oatmeal possibly argue with my addiction? I don’t have a problem for loving them, you have a problem for not loving them enough.  If they made it in bulk I’d buy it, alas, here I sit with my 4 – 8 packets.  I’ve discovered instant oats are also the best way to avoid dishes because you can pour the water straight into the packets.  For coffee I combine a packet of instant coffee, at least one Swiss Miss hot chocolate packet, and a tablespoon or two of butter, then dump the rest of my hot water into my camp mug. If I have instant breakfast packets I’ll add that to the mix as well. This is my favorite part of breakfast.  Calories are the name of the game out here folks, and fats have the highest value with 9 calories per gram, compared to 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates or protien. Butter is typically good out of the fridge for at least 4 to 6 days, so I’ve started the habit of adding it to my coffee in camp and town, and all my pastas along with olive oil which has a whopping 120 calories per tablespoon! Pure gold.

Once I’ve scarfed down breakfast, which, since I eat significantly more than most other hikers, takes me a lot longer than the rest of the Tribe (also why I wake up early), I finish tossing all my gear into its standard configuration in my bag and pack up my tent.  If I haven’t gotten water already in order to cook breakfast, I’ll head to the closest water supply and filter a liter of water to start out my day on the trail.

Hiking!

I walk. The end.

In all seriousness, this pretty much sums up the majority of my day.  I walk alone a lot due to my pace or late departure, but I frequently walk n’ talk with folks from the Tribe. I share plenty of views and tough climbs with fellow wanderers I meet along the way, and our meetings are always joined with good humor and bright spirits in spite of the challenge we face together. It’s an incredibly welcoming team community out here since we’re all just people on the same big journey.  If you ever need anything, have any questions or doubts, or even just want to join a random group and chat, you’ll rarely find a problem with that. There are some strange folks out there, and as long as you can tell which information you hear is reasonable and which isn’t, those folks are harmless.  I’m asked all the time if I ever feel as though I’m in danger or if I carry protection, and to those still wondering or waiting for a report: nope. I carry an oversized knife for emergencies and because it makes me feel manly, but it’s almost exclusively for cheese and summer sausage at this point. I did use it for fire wood one time, and I’m proud of that.  As a healthy young male, I do, however, have a different standard of sketchy than others.  The two women I hike with, Ten and Chip, have felt uncomfortable around some people, really just one nice but creepy guy in particular, but they usually just leave the situation and rejoin the group.  We keep everyone as aware of trouble as we can, and with proper communication and a little common sense there isn’t any issue. If a real situation appears it’s simple enough to just hike on to the next site. 

We meet up as a Tribe for lunch at predetermined spots, and though we leave as we ready up, we normally end each day hiking together as we get into camp. Lunch varies each day and each week depending on the variety at restock spots or how much we’ve snacked.  Nutella and peanut butter spread on a tortilla is a personal favorite, but other times I wrap cheese, hot sauce, and summer sausage or pepperoni in a tortilla. Trail mix, fruit snacks, and granola bars also pass as lunch, usually on the days before town after we’ve eaten all our better/heavier foods. Other than lunch, the day is only broken up by pee breaks, digging cat holes (which we’ve started to just refer to as “hanging the bear bag”), and the amazing and ever important snack breaks which are typically accompanied by awesome views. Other than that, it’s just one foot in front of the other!

Setting Up Camp

The immediate response to setting up camp typically depends on the mileage and weather of the day. On sunny days we collapse at our claimed tent spots and either take a moment to contemplate how much our bodies, namely our feet, hate us, or setting up our tents. If weather is iffy, the tent is always the immediate starting point so we at least have some cover.  Once set up, we unpack our gear into our tents, then set off for water. If the day was particularly rugged, I’ll begin with a foot and leg massage before doing anything else, but that’s just me. I like to take the time to thank my body for what I put it through each day.  Dinner is also a huge motivating factor through the last 3 – 5 miles each day, so if we’re out of water we quickly filter some and start our dinner prep.  This is my favorite part of each day and also why trail families are a beautiful thing.  Plopping down to make dinner and share jokes, bear bag hanging experiences (these conversations make up about half of our dinner talk, even with strangers. It’s surprisingly normal to discuss poops), and stories from the day with a bunch of fellow dorks and goobers is why people are able to make it through the trail.

Pasta and rice are the go to meals for a lot of hikers.  Some adventurous folks bring fruits and veggies to the picnic table, but jokes on them since they have to pack out the peels and less desirable bits.  Most people bring out Pasta Sides, a brand of quick meal pastas which come in an exciting variety of flavors. Those flavors are never in the towns we visit, but they do exist, I hear. One generally sees Alfredo, Broccoli Cheddar, or Chicken Fettuccine. Once bored with those, mac n’ cheese or instant mashed potatoes are a good carb loading substitute. The hungry ones go for Ramen Bombs, a package of Ramen in a package of instant potatoes. Mind you the potatoes are usually portioned for a family of four, but I’ll be darned if they’re not delicious and super filling. So far I’ve done one Ramen Bomb. My one mistake was not adding enough water to the potatoes, or not stirring it enough; either way, it was a touch powdery. Still a solid 8 on the tastey scale I just invented. I’ll try to offer my rating for each meal I try as I go. Once food has been consumed the dishes are done, teeth get brushed, pees get peed, and all food or food smelling items are gathered into bear bags. These get hung in a tree when not at at shelter, or on cables set up by the volunteer groups which maintain the trail when at shelters in certain sections. Bear bags are pretty much any bag which can hold food. They aren’t (all) bear resistent, usually people just use dry sacks or even grocery bags which they tie or clip on to the rope and hoist up out of reach. I, personally, use good ole Darryl the Bearrel, my 2 lb 9 oz bear canister/instant bench/pain in the ass. It’s nice because I don’t have to hang a bag at night, I just lock it up and move it out of camp and away from a hill a bear would roll it down. It’s not noisy, and when I inevitably forget my toothpaste in my pocket I can just drop it in the can rather than take down my bear bag and wake up the whole camp. My only complaint comes from its incompatibility with my backpack. Due to the nature of my near frameless pack, it tends to push into my back while walking if I’m not careful while packing. It’s a tedious ordeal when doing it everyday, and it’s limited capacity usually means I hang a bear bag with my extra food for the first day or two out of town because I eat unreasonable portions. That last part is exclusive to me and my stomach, but it does play into a day in the life.
Once all that gets done, all that’s left are a second round of massages followed by stretches, changing into my sleep clothes, journaling, and Z’s! Rinse and repeat with new terrain, interesting people, and occasional unexpected events.

I hope you enjoyed a day in the life of a hiker, we certainly love it out here! If you have any other questions or subjects you would like a detailed post about just let me know!