[at-l] Kirby's thru-hike list and related posts - kinda long

[Clark Wright]

Much good information has already wound its way to Kirby for his planned ’08
thru-hike; here are a few additional thoughts:

 

1)  Truth be known, I am a victim of my culture, and to me the process of
listing, identifying and buying or borrowing my equipment was, well, an
enjoyable act of (dare I say it?) consumerism! :-)  Just as with the
physical and spiritual aspects of walking, after learning from others, feel
free to hike your own hike when it comes to acquiring your “stuff” for your
hike.  You can learn about yourself in this process too – sometimes it is
hard to “let go,” and to me one of the most wonderful gifts folks on this
list and elsewhere can offer you is wisdom in finding the courage to let go
of more and more “stuff” as you start this journey . . . a journey that, I
might add, you already are on and will continue on after your thruhike, too
. . . a lot of life – especially in our incredibly affluent society today –
is about learning to let go of stuff, and grab on to relationships.  I
learned more about relationships on my long AT walk in 2001 than at any
other time in my life, with the possible exception of wonderful summers
spent at an awesome summer camp, and with team sports.  Very different
environments, but in the end it is all about relationships . . . including
the most valuable ones of all – with yourself, your Creator, and those you
love the most.  On that score, do not forget to add to your list blank spots
for these – do you want to take something spiritual?  My Mom (good old
always incredibly thinking Mom!) gave me several of her favorite Bible
verses on a laminated postcard – even though I carry my faith much more
precariously and uncertainly than she does hers, that was, and is – one of
the most precious items in my pack . . . my favorite on that now tattered
card is from Isaiah 40:31: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not
be weary; they shall walk and not faint."  Powerful words to lean on when
the day otherwise sucks – not so much for me as a direct affirmation of
personal faith, but rather that my Mom was pouring those words into my tired
muscles with her love at any point in time that I needed that.  Other
equally important, low cost, lightweight items of a similar nature can
include a love note from your spouse or significant other; a list of people
you love to think about and possibly write to, and a journal and camera to
capture important moments for your own benefit.  Something I am glad that I
did is to spend time photographing people, shelters and signs, as well as
the Trail’s natural beauty.  The natural beauty sometimes does not come out
like you remembered, because of its grandeur, the context, the sounds,
smells, etc.  But your pictures of your fellow wanderers, places you stayed,
signposts along the way . . . and your own personal writings – these will be
priceless to you later.

 

2)  In a related vein, give some serious thought to those you love that you
will be leaving behind; while injuries often force people off the Trail, I
think the number one reason many hikers do not stay with their thruhike
goals for as long as they would otherwise like is due to a failure to
address and positively deal with the separation from family and loved ones.
While the future is always unknown, trying to deal with the ones you love
before you leave can bear great fruit in the months that follow . . .

 

3)  Now, on to a few gear-related thoughts.  Target and Walmart carry cheap
LED lights that have the 3 and 4 bulb head pieces, without the elastic
headband, for about $7.00; if you make your own elastic headband, you can
cut the price for a nice LED headlamp from $30-$40 down to less than $10
bucks.

 

4) Always check out Campmor.com and look for their deals on Red Ledge
rainwear, which IMHO gives you the most awesome bang for the buck – great
quality, taped seams, low weight and low cost, and always look for close
outs or specials on various polypro and fleece T-shirts, long sleeves, long
undies, boxer undies and base layer fleece jackets.  For example, right now
I just checked them out and they have Red Ledge rainpaints on sale for
$16.95, with the waterproof breathables on sale for $29.95 – full zips,
taped seams – can’t beat that!  Also saw great deals on fleece jackets,
vests and pullovers from $15 to $30 bucks.  [And, no, I don’t work for these
guys!]  

 

5) I think hiking poles tend to make my hands cold – either by conducting
cold up the metal and/or constricting blood flow while gripping them – or
both.  My solution is to buy a cheap pair of fleece gloves from Campmor or
equivalent and then cut the fingertips out to make a cheap pair of
fingerless fleece gloves.  Back in 2001, I actually found a pair of those in
a Campmor catalog, but cannot for the life of me find them anywhere anymore,
so I make a pair with the idea being to carry them on into more spring-like
weather for the sole purpose of using with my hiking poles.

 

6) My personal cooking kit consists of one, clear Lexan cup, one 59 cent
Tupperware bowl that is a smidge bigger than the Lexan cup, and one Lexan
spoon or spork; I then nestle that into one titanium pot, with lid, and then
inside the Lexan cup can be nestled either an alcohol stove for warmer
seasons or my 3 oz snowpeak “giga” stove, along with a small bic lighter and
about a 1.5 inch square section of one of those scrubber/sponge thingeys . .
. now for really cold winter hiking, I still swear by my MSR whisperlite,
and I often take along the aluminum foil windscreen for that to use with my
snow peak or with an alcohol stove.  I got one of those Jetboil stove kits
as a Christmas gift and while I like it, love the built-in cozy, and it
clearly is more fuel efficient, it is just plain too tall and tipsy for my
liking for a thruhike; they make a stabilizer kit for it, but it is
expensive and does not look like it would last the rigors of a thru . . .

 

7) I hate “hat head;” two things to consider on that score:  one, a buzz cut
or at least real short hair; two, definitely consider a fleece toboggan or
hat instead of wool; while a lot more costly, I splurged on the windstopper
stuff for a good fleece toboggan and it is one of my favorite colder weather
gear items, and lasts forever. 

 

8)  If you go the route of primarily only boiling water for various
dehydrated stuff (you don’t need to go fancy, I mean things like stovetop
stuffing, 4-cheese mashed potatoes, hot chocolate, tea, coffee, oatmeal,
lipton cup-a-soups, lipton dinners, ramen noodles, a few back country pantry
meals, etc.)  and eating other calorie-dense foods (i.e., cheese, bagles,
peanut butter, precooked bacon, hard boiled eggs, etc.), you will have very
little need for soap.  While this at first may sound a bit gross and weird,
when I finished eating something like oatmeal or mashed potatoes in my Lexan
cup or small Tupperware bowl, I would pour a bit of boiling water in and
then stir that around and drink it – free calories and sterile hot water!  I
also liked carrying a small square of packtowel to then clean the cup or
bowl out with, using some more boiling hot water, and that was that.  Why do
you need soap, which can give you the runs, when boiling water cleans and
sterilizes everything?  Instead of soap, I suggest you take a minibottle of
hand sanitizer – you are much more likely to get sick from your own dirty
hands after using the bathroom or dipping contaminated water than from dirty
dishes, and the sanitizer is a lot more efficient and environmentally sound
(i.e., no soap suds dumped anywhere).

 

9) Speaking of high calorie foods – I found that I had to eat a lot more
“real” foods and a lot less dehydrated stuff in order to feed the furnace
that my body metabolism became.  5,000 to 6,000 calories a day is a LOT –
especially when you look at the back of some supposedly 2-person dehydrated
dinner and see that it only has 400-500 calories total!  You would need 10
of those (supposedly 20 meals!) each day to just maintain!  You are much
better off with select, dense (yes, that often means heavy, too) foods that
you like – my favs are cheddar cheese, bagels, hardboiled eggs, precooked
bacon, the tuna and chicken you can now get in the foil vacuum packs,
raisins, nuts, and beef jerky.  Add to that some fresh fruits, an occasional
green pepper that you can keep many days and slice up into any dehydrated
meal for extra vitamins and flavor, some real butter when it is not hot, and
your favorite crackers, breakfast bars, etc. and you are pretty well set.
In the summer, I tried not to cook at all; and I took along lots of powdered
Gatorade mix – and an old Gatorade bottle works great as a free water
bottle, too!  One lesson I learned the hard way is do NOT use flavored drink
mixes in a platypus or other similar hydration system – unless you like
black stuff growing in your drink tube and bag, that is! :-)

 

10)  Last but not least – your footwear will probably give you the most
challenges of all; take care of your feet!  Put duct tape on every hot spot
early on (or on even open blisters if you let things progress that far), and
leave it there, and it will work wonders for you . . . if you are tough
enough, you can sterilize any open blister or sore with a dab of that hand
sanitizer – after the initial scream, you know your wound is clean! :-)
DON’T use moleskin – think about it – it adds thickness, which means more
rubbing, and it is rough surfaced, which means more friction and heat . . .
bad stuff, unless you are using it to build up around a wound – which of
course puts the built up part of your foot at greater risk . . . keep it
clean and use duct tape, and you will be fine – assuming your shoes are
right for your foot.  Has anyone mentioned to you that your foot may grow
one, two or even three sizes larger?  This is especially true for people
with higher arches; mine grew a full size – permanently; one of my buddies
grew 2.5 sizes, which then later shrank back down to only one full size
larger permanently.  The moral of that revelation is don’t invest a ton in
some shoe when you start out thinking that you will use it all the way.
Also, if you leave in early spring, consider wearing a heavier taller
shoe/boot and then switching to something lighter after 1-2 months; many
people like new balance; I like Salomons; there are a lot of decent shoes
out there, but the key is how they fit your feet.  As with the moleskin, too
much cushion can be a very bad thing; you want your heel locked and
protected – not moving up and down a bunch on each step due to some overly
soft-cushioned sole.  Once winter is over, you have to decide if goretex is
something you want to spend money on and fool with in a shoe; some swear by
it; I find that my feet are gonna get wet – period, so I never bothered with
it.  In fact, once it got to summer, and my feet are well calloused, I
intentionally walked in every puddle and stream that I could.  I do not
recommend this unless your feet are working really well for you, as your two
enemies in footwear generally are heat and moisture, but once you have a
good pair of shoes, there is nothing better than walking in a cold stream
with them on so the coolness will last.  Of course, the smarter thing to do
is stop, take your shoes and socks off, wade barefoot, enjoy the beautiful
sounds of the water, and chill out, but I still liked the kid in the puddle
technique, too!  Re socks, smartwools are nice and comfortable and soft, but
don’t last very well for most people; I love bridgedales – they last well
and fit well; Rohner makes an awesome sock for colder periods; you can often
find blowout deals on bridgedales and Rohners by checking out the Sierra
Trading Post catalog website and wading through the pages for the sock deals
scattered throughout . . .

 

Enjoy the hell out of the total process, and take some bit of wisdom from
all you meet – if you get halfway or more on your thru, you will never be
the same! :-)

 

Thru-Thinker

 

p.s.  Sloetoe’s recent “Beauty Feeds” post was awesome!

 

 

I. Clark Wright, Jr.

Ward and Davis, LLP

409 Pollock Street

New Bern, NC 28560

252-633-1101

252-633-9400 (fax)

252-229-5900 (cell)

 


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