[pct-l] Wannabe Solo Female Hikers

[Eric Lee]

Steel-Eye wrote:
>
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.
>

Nice writing, Steel-Eye!  I enjoyed reading that post.

One night a bit south of the Goat Rocks Wilderness in Washington I was
cowboy camping close to a small lake and there really was a whole band of
elk thundering around for most of the night.  It must have been quite the
party because I swear they were dancing a conga line.  I was a little afraid
one of them was going to come crashing straight through my camp but that
never happened.

It's funny what a psychological crutch a tent can be.  As Steel-Eye said,
it's dumb to think that those thin nylon walls afford any kind of real
protection at all but sometimes there's an unreasonable sense of anxiety
without them.  I guess it's the same reason why hiding under the bedcovers
helped with night fears as a child.  If I can't see the boogie man, it can't
see me.

It can take some practice to get over that but it's worth it.  It's easier
to set up and tear down camp, but more importantly, it leaves me feeling
much more connected to my hike and the area I'm hiking in.  One of my most
memorable nights wasn't on the PCT; I was camped at the base of Mt. Saint
Helens before climbing to the crater rim the next morning.  There was a
full, ridiculously bright moon that night and I was camped in a sandy wash
with towering ridges of lava boulders all around me.  Whenever I opened my
eyes I saw this huge, alien landscape.  As I lay there I could feel the
power of the mountain looming over me.  Admittedly it wasn't the most
restful night of sleep I ever had - I woke up a couple times after dreaming
about eruptions thundering down the flanks of the volcano toward my little
camp, but it was definitely memorable.

I really enjoy sleeping without a tent and do it whenever the weather and
bugs cooperate.  To be clear though, I never hike without bring along a
shelter; it just stays in the bottom of the pack unless it's needed.

Eric