[pct-l] zero days (nights) on the trail instead of in town?

[ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com]

For Julian and aspiring class of 2009,

On both of my pct and cdt treks, I rarely left the trail. Nearly all of my 
"zero days" were on-trail and I loved them that way.

I was out there to live deliberately the trail life and to stay out of the 
towns (it took too much trouble and energy to get to them, anyway!). So it 
can be done - if you want to.

I was fortunate in that most of my resupply boxes were personally delivered 
to me at highway crossings, campgrounds, ranger stations, and the like on or 
near the trail, so I didn't have to hitch to towns, which were a shocking 
affair, anyway. I wanted to spend as much time in the wilderness as 
possible.

Showers were sponge-baths, relished and invigorating!
Clothes were "washed" as needed in my cook pot with Dr. Bronner's Castille 
Soap.
Regarding food: I didn't care about weight-even carried miscellaneous books 
to read for fun-so I carried a lot of food to pig-out with on "days off."

I left early on my trips, so there was no one else out there to be social 
with, which might have caused me to go into town once in a while.

To me, it seems like a tremendous waste of energy to be going off trail so 
often, as many do these days. Plan your trip for how you want to experience 
it. That means you've got to know what you want. Unfortunately, for many, 
that takes time and a level of self-awareness that goes deep. In our busy 
world, there is little time for serious, or even introspective, thought, so 
many just count on other's experiences and lessons to guide them, though 
often finding, once they hit the trail, that what worked for another doesn't 
work for them.

Zeros on trail allowed me, also, to explore other things like that peak over 
there, go swimming and lay out in the sun despite the ants and bugs, climb a 
tree or two, catch up in my journal while listening to the creek, eat some 
more, take the time to try to cook a BIG meal, hike a loop trail in the 
area, hang out with some newly-acquired friends, go fishing, re-organize my 
pack, dry out wet clothes, tent, bag, etc..

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail does not always have to be about getting from 
A to B, putting the miles in, etc.. Most likely you will not do it again. 
This, for many, is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. How do you want to 
experience it?

Mtnned
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julian Plamann" <julian at amity.be>
To: "pct-l" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 6:57 PM
Subject: [pct-l] zero days (nights) on the trail instead of in town?


> The subject of thru-hike cost that has been floating around on the list 
> for
> the past week or so has got me curious about something.
> Are there any former thru-hikers that managed to spend the majority of 
> their
> zero days+nights on the trail itself? I'm talking somewhere in the range 
> of
> 5 or less nights spent at hotels or in hostels. I may be wrong, but I 
> think
> I remember reading somewhere that Billy Goat spent every night sleeping
> under the stars on at least one of his thru-hikes. I also recall reading a
> few comments in Yogi's handbook of hikers saying they wished they had 
> taken
> more on-trail zero days.
>
> I say this in anticipation of my upcoming thru -- not as a plan by which I
> can save money, but rather because I've always been more comfortable
> sleeping under the stars than in an enclosed room. That said, I also know
> well the feeling of occasionally needing to get the type of clean that can
> only come from a hot shower and freshly laundered sheets.
>
> -Julian
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