[pct-l] Being clean on the trail...

[Jeffrey Olson]

Perhaps it's a matter of changing how we think about "being clean."  
Each of us sweats while hiking.  Each of us has a comfort zone for how 
clean our clothes need to be, how clean our extremities need to be, how 
clean our crotch area needs to be, how clean our hair needs to be.  
Personally, I don't think a filter is warranted, and iodine tablets not 
very often on the PCT.  I don't share food, shake hands, or get poop on 
my hands very often.  I don't worry about dirty hair or body.  At 55, I 
realize I need to keep my crotch area clean.  I use two handiwipes a 
night and once a day take 10 minutes to dip my butt in some water and 
rinse.  I do this when the water is descending to the flatlands, not 
when someone may drink from the creek downstream.

The key for me is the two handiwipes a night.  I do my face first, then 
hands, and then the crevasses down under.  Once I started this regimen, 
I have never had a crotch rash or butt burn or rubbing thigh problems.  
I didn't have to do this til I hit 40.  Skin changes, and my resilience 
to sweat and bacteria and all that happens in the crotch area changed.

I have gotten poop on my hands, and have been totally grossed out.  This 
is the worst as far as I'm concerned.  When I'm cruising, I take a dump 
first thing in the morning, sometimes in a hole I dug the night before, 
usually not.  I am forced out of bed to take a poop.  I have no choice.  
I am so damn regular I can prepare for it the night before.  I have 
never gotten poop on my hands when I took a dump first thing.  I'm too 
damn aware of what's going on.  The urgency is too strong, and my 
patterned response to the urgency too well routnized.  It's when I get a 
little bug or bacteria in my system that makes the routine unroutine.

I have had the trots, having to poop every 10 minutes for a whole day.  
I didn't get very far, and my brother-in-law and his yellow lab were 
happy to have a short day.

But beyond poop, the "idea" of cleanliness is so personal that 
discussion is almost not warranted.  I met a 20 year old woman in the 
Maroon Bells outside of Aspen this summer who wore make up and cologne.  
When I got inside her "sphere of influence" I reeled.  I literally 
stepped back in shock and awe...  She had three testosterone driven men 
with her.  I'm glad I'm no longer in my 20s.

Cleanliness has an objective component.  If you hike day after day 
without crotch rashes or foot problems or armpit irritations, you're 
clean.  For me this means two antibacterial handiwipes a night, a butt 
dip once a day if possible, rinsing clothes no less than every two days 
- EVERY TWO DAYS RINSE YOUR CLOTHES - or more often.  One of my favorite 
moments was spending two hours on the creek out of Deep Lake in the 
Cascades, a couple hundred yards downstream from where the trail 
crosses, naked, napping, clothes drying on young pine trees.  I lay on 
my butt pad naked and took a nap.  On my 05 section hike when I reached 
Oregon, I rinsed my shirt and shorts every day.  It was hot, so no 
stress, but I realized this is key to maintaining my body in the comfort 
zone.

I don't believe soap is necessary at all in the wilderness.  Especially 
if you're doing 20s plus.  It's really easy to take showers and wash 
clothes at town or resort.  Taking soap intothe wilderness means you're 
not quite there in terms of being one with the environment and larger 
world/reality.  This may be my opinion - no soap in the woods - but sobe 
it...  A couple of handiwipes a night and storage in a baggie for 
disposal when civilization is reached - so damn easy that I can't 
imagine why Doc Bronners or any other soap would be needed.  And Ive 
hiked with women - soap isn't necessary...  IT'S NOT NECESSARY...

I've met a number of thru-hiking women who chuckled at their 
pre-conceptions, who were comfortable with stained clothes, hair that 
stayed in place once combed, legs so caked with sweat and dirt that only 
deep cleaning/scrubbing could alter reality, and who wants to alter 
reality when on the trail??? Maintaining vaginal cleanliness is not that 
difficult...

Admittedly, I express a male's perspective.  But I revel in trail 
cleanliness - it has nothing to do with civilization's cleanliness.  My 
most satisfying 30 day hiking trip on the PCT was with my fiancee in 
1991.  We hiked from Lassen to South Tahoe.  We were bound for Whitney 
buy I blew out an ACL because I was carrying 65 pounds. 

My male perspective is that trail sex is beyond great and wonderful. We 
were both concerned with cleanliness because of the threat of vaginal 
infections.  The reality that emerged is we could make love anywhere we 
wanted, and we did, as long as we kept the important parts clean.  From 
a guy's perspective, what a wonderful focus!!!!

Our worst moment came from drinking water at a lake south of Lassen 
where our filters didn't do their job.  We commonly experienced diahrrea 
- every ten minutes or so we'd get up from our open air sleeping area 
and  run to squirt.  God, what a  bonding experience that was...  We 
squirted on each other's squirts/poops and laughed the whole time.... 

Being clean is subjective.  I take care of it in ten minutes.  I've met 
hikers who spent 20 minutes a day getting clean, a couple times.  Much 
more than that and I don't think a person could actually thru-hike, or 
even do long section hikes.  The need would overwhelm the vision and 
leaving the trail would happen. 

I love being clean, but what that means is different at home here in 
south dakota from what it means on the trail,.

Jeff, just Jeff...