[pct-l] Wannabe Solo Female Hikers

Sat May 1 11:08:01 CDT 2010

Good morning, Kathi,

Congratulations!  It appears you’ve banished all the “…ghosties and ghoulies
and long-legged beasties and things that go ‘bump’ in the night…” to the
cave of disbelief along with Puff the Magic Dragon.

You’ve come about halfway.  The first step – the step that most people never
take – is merely sleeping out on the ground, any distance away from the
familiar security of a building.  The thought of doing so among of bunch of
kids “camping-out” in the backyard is usually pretty scary.

Eventually some of us find ourselves camping with others in a “wilderness”
setting -- away from the domesticated environment, away from the yard fence,
away from the potential security of a building -- although that setting may
not have been “wilderness” in the last 150 years.

Next, some of us begin to camp alone in a wilderness setting.  It’s amazing
how few people have been alone -- really alone.  Not alone in a building,
alone in a parking lot, or alone out of sight of all the other people on a
stretch of trail; but alone by having hiked all day without having seen
another human and without having a reasonable expectation of seeing someone
else during the night and in the near future.  Sleeping out alone is a
singular achievement in self reliance: You can and will do so, while most
others cant’ or won’t.  Sleeping alone in a wilderness has few unique
technical problems, but it does have – for many – the potential for
significant psychological problems to the point some people experience the
“wide, open spaces” variant of agoraphobia.  Women can be especially
vulnerable.  You mention, “I didn’t feel alone…”.  It’s OK to feel alone –
in fact I celebrate it – but it’s less good to feel lonely; a term with
negative connotations.

The final step is to eschew the tent entirely -- rejecting the safety and
security of its massive 1.1-ounce-per-square-yard fortress walls -- and
begin sleeping out alone under the stars.  I like accepting the variable
light of the open night sky rather than living in the poor, homogenized
(lack of) light inside a tent. Sometimes the night is very dark, but with
starlight it’s not as dark as the inside of a tent.  Other times I’ve been
able to able to read my maps and guides by pure moonlight, without a
flashlight -- something I couldn’t do inside a tent.

I like listening to the night-sounds undiminished by a tent, and I like the
instant 360-degree visibility when I am curious about what’s out there.  I
remember a night in the Mazatzal Wilderness of central Arizona when I was
awakened by a repeated grinding noise -- not growling, not grunting, but
grinding.  Try as I may, I couldn’t imagine what critter could be making
that kind of sound.  Finally I slowly turned in my bed to shine a light in
the direction of the sound and there was a large mule-deer buck picking
bites of gravel from the spot where I had urinated earlier, and chewing it
to claim the salt it contained.  If I had had to un-zip a tent and squirm at
least partially out, he would have vaporized into the night and I never
would have been able to enjoy and remember the event.

I find that on a still night animal noises are disproportionate to the
animal’s size.  A mouse sounds like a deer, and a deer sounds like a whole
band of elk.  I was once awakened in the tent by a companion who urgently
said, “I hear something!  There must be a bear out there!”  Groggy, I
replied, “Bear have big, soft, fuzzy feet.  If there really was a bear out
there you wouldn’t hear a thing.”  Unfortunately, for the rest of the night
I then heard, “I don’t hear anything!  There must be a bear out there!”  The
fact is, while a bear can appear and disappear soundlessly at times, they
are usually rather noisy as they go about their business in camp.  They
shuffle, and wheeze, and sniff, and snort, and lick their chops as they
forage for food.  Bears don’t want hikers; bears what hiker’s food.  I don’t
care if they step over my sleeping bag on their way to checking-out my bear
‘can.  They can give it your best shot; I probably won’t even wake up.

I do quite a bit of section-hiking, and the aspect I dislike the most is
having to be at a certain place, at a certain time, to meet a ride.  On a
long-distance hike I’m seldom troubled with too much spare time when alone
in camp.   I plan to be on the trail from sun-up to dusk, at which time I’m
sufficiently tired to hit the sack and sleep.  About the only time I’ll hike
further than I want – or less – is in the rare event I need to reach a trail
town before the Post Office closes for the weekend.  Companions often exert
pressure to stop early in the day, or continue further than one prefers.  I’m
not ready to bend my hike just to be companionable.  I hike nominally alone,
so I have the flexibility to just tell them, “Do whatever you want.  I’ll
see you up the trail somewhere”.

You’re well on your way to becoming a competent, self-reliant, long-distance
hiker.

Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09

On Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 12:46 PM, Kathi <pogo at pctwalker.com> wrote:

> I see a lot of messages from mostly female hikers wanting to have a
> partner for the PCT because they are concerned about hiking alone. I WAS
> one of those. For a long time now I have been trying to get the guts to
> go on a trip by myself. I knew this was something I had to get past
> before I could tackle a thru hike. I thought I would share my experience
> in case it might help another person who has the same thoughts about
> solo-"scary"-hiking that I had.
>
> After the Kick Off I had decided I would set out from Warner Springs on
> a couple day trek to see what it was like. When I was getting ready to
> go I did a lot of "oh, I can't go because of this reason or that reason"
> trying to justify not going. I was totally prepared for whatever the
> trail or weather had to bring so I had no excuses and I finally got the
> guts up to set foot to dirt.
>
> I thought to myself that if I was too freaked out or bored by being
> alone I could always make this a day hike and turn around. At first I
> kinda jumped at every lizard that rustled in a bush and every bird that
> flew out of a tree. Then I noticed I wasn't jumping but looking to see
> where they went. About one mile into the trail I thought "no problem...
> solo backpacking is great... I can keep going". I felt totally safe and
> natural by myself. I didn't feel alone and I wasn't nervous that
> something was going to happen. It surprised me how quickly that peace of
> mind came and how totally part of the natural world I was. It was an
> absolutely awesome experience!
>
> I got to my stop for the night and was surprised by some trail magic by
> Squatch, Jester and Diamondhead. They had all kinds of food and drink to
> offer. The site was pretty close to a public road which made me nervous
> but the trail angels assured me that it would be safe so I set up my
> tent after they left and decided to stay. That was a little boring for a
> while because I had hit my destination so early in the day and there was
> no one to talk to and I didn't have anything to do since I was fed well
> by the trail angels. During a normal trip though I would have journaling
> to do and dinner to make etc., so I don't think that will be a problem.
> Plus normally I would have decided to go further but since I had told my
> folks back home that I wouldn't go past that point I didn't want to
> change up my plans.
>
> Night came and I always thought that I would be freaked out by hearing
> animals at night and worried about that. I had the opposite reaction to
> what I expected of myself. I heard some coyotes and was hoping they
> would come closer to my camp instead of moving further away. Totally
> surprised me! I wanted to hear the animals and see them. It was a
> wonderful experience.
>
> The entire trip was so wonderful that I am more excited than ever... and
> I was pretty excited before... to thru-hike the PCT. I have nothing
> holding me back now... no excuses!!! I hope this might help others who
> have the same worries about going solo.
>
> ... and another thru hiker is born. :)
> Kathi
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