[pct-l] Wannabe Solo Female Hikers
Kathi
pogo at pctwalker.com
Sun May 2 18:01:40 CDT 2010
Hi Steel-Eye,
I always like reading your posts and journal. It is doubtful that I will
ever sleep without a tent (or at least a shelter like the serenity bug
tent thing) because I don't like creepy crawlys sharing my sleeping bag
with me. When I was younger I spent most of the summer sleeping out
under the stars and enjoyed the wildlife including waking up to a
raccoon staring me in the face, but I never liked the bugs and
especially didn't like a rattle snake who took up residence under my
sleeping bag. We all have our "thing". :)
Kathi
CHUCK CHELIN wrote:
>
> 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
> <mailto: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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