[pct-l] Being clean on the trail... (2).htm

[Reinhold Metzger]

I can't help but chuckle when I read individuals lecturing how to avoid
giardia
through good sanitation and cleanliness, yet wash their butts daily and the
hands
that wipe the butts in the very water hikers drink.
That may be good giardia protection for them, but does nothing to protect
the down
stream hiker, who does not purify his water,from giardia......one good
reason why I
 purify my water.

Thank you Jeff for bringing this to our attention and heighten our
awareness.

Say Jeff, could you describe that Jezebel with all the make up, so if I ever
meet her
on the trail I can recognize her and offer her a Snicker Bar.

JMT Reinhold
The believer

-----------------------------------------

Jeff wrote:

> 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.  When I have to poop in the afternoon
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
> Previous message: [pct-l] Purell and Giardia
> Next message: [pct-l] Being clean on the trail...
> Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]
>
>
> More information about the pct-l mailing list
>