[pct-l] Wannabe Solo Female Hikers

[Kathi]

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
>     _______________________________________________
>     Pct-l mailing list
>     Pct-l at backcountry.net <mailto:Pct-l at backcountry.net>
>     To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
>     http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
>     List Archives:
>     http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
>
>