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

Fri Dec 12 09:34:15 CST 2008

Good morning, Patti!

I applaud you for desiring to take the method less traveled, so to speak. Some want to run away into the woods. Some just can't take people anymore and need a break. Most, it seems, simply want a change of scenery but not habit and go into the mountains to hang with new friends and take on a new challenge, hiking 25-35 mpd (forget even reaching Canada) in gorgeous scenery with camaraderie parties along the way. Most of them become disillusioned with the trail, too, since that experience was little different than what they knew prior, and drop out never knowing what they missed.

Case in point:
    Occasionally I teach skill clinics right on the trail to the herd as they pass by a particular area. In '06 I had the opportunity to hike with the herd out of Kennedy Meadows to Chicken Spring Lake in order to teach them, during a high snow year, how to cross swollen creeks and self-arrest techniques. I met and hiked with many of this swarm, great folks, indeed, however, one guy stood out for this reason:
    He said that from the moment he started his hike, those he met encouraged him to hike fast and get the miles in daily. He was a strong fellow and had no problem with that, but the ethic required allowed no time for fun and enjoyment of the wilderness he was flying through. By the time I reached him, the herd had just received their snow-related gear, was encumbered and complaining about all the useless weight of snowshoes and the like, and had slowed down, now climbing up into the Sierras. This suddenly allowed for lunchtime naps and 10-15 mile days.
At one lunch he mused with me that one of his pleasures in life was to climb trees and enjoy the views. Up to then there had been no time for even that. 
    I asked him why he was out there; what was his purpose in hiking from Mexico to Canada. He admitted that he had adopted the standards of everyone else from even before the trip started (ultralight, high mileage, no on-trail zeros, multiple trips off trail, frequent resupplies, etc.) and was thinking of quitting and going home. I told him there were other ways to enjoy the journey and he began to realize that he could change his new habits and begin to enjoy the trail more while still maintaining his required pace. He immediately climbed a suitable tree nearby!
    Although he did leave the trail burned out and disillusioned, I heard he had a new outlook on things and was going back to school. I have not talked with him since and do not remember his trail name.

So, like Thoreau, know why you want to live deliberately in the woods and if you're content with what you wish to do and how you wish to accomplish it, even if apart from the ways of the herd, it is your own adventure and plan accordingly.

Mtnned
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: patti kulesz 
  To: ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com 
  Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 12:35 AM
  Subject: Re: [pct-l] zero days (nights) on the trail instead of in town?

        I haven't hiked the entire PCT yet but will in 2009. I totally agree with you. I was planning on resupplying every ten days or so and I've had soooo many people tell me no do it more often. I want to saty on the trail as much as possible and explore, etc like you said. I love the wilderness and I want to be there the entire time not in the towns mingling, ect. Even here in LA people who have lived here all their lives tell me, b/c I have only been here a few years, that I know of trails they have never heard of...it's b/c I would rather be out there than here in the city and I stare at maps all day and say I want to be there and I go and explore. There are places right on the trail to shower at campgrounds and hot springs....you just have to look for them, which is what I do...that's what maps are for I guess...hehe

        patti

        --- On Thu, 12/11/08, ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com <ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com> wrote:

          From: ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com <ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com>
          Subject: Re: [pct-l] zero days (nights) on the trail instead of in town?
          To: "Julian Plamann" <julian at amity.be>, "pct-l" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
          Date: Thursday, December 11, 2008, 10:37 PM

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'sCastille Soap.Regarding food: I didn't care about weight-even carried miscellaneous booksto read for fun-so I carried a lot of food to pig-out with on "daysoff."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 anotherdoesn'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 PMSubject: [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 therange > 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> _______________________________________________> Pct-l mailing list> Pct-l at backcountry.net> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l> _______________________________________________Pct-l mailing
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