[pct-l] Sleepless on the Trail

[jgus at sunbow.org (Judith Gustafson)]

Hi Steve,

You don't mention whether you are having difficulty sleeping because of
pain, or are just wide awake and restless.  I had trouble sleeping for both
reasons and here's what I did about it.

I took one Naprosen at night and one in the morning for aching legs, feet
and ankles that often keep me from sleeping.  That's the NSAID
(anti-inflammatory) that's good for 12 hours.  I also use ibuprofen but then
you have to carry more of 'em.  I take it with dinner, and by bedtime the
aching ankles, etc., are under control.

For just plain wide awake restlessness, I have tried the following:
Consider taking an antihistamine such as Benadryl at bedtime.  It should
make you sleepy (that's all No-Doz is, an antihistamine), and you ought to
be carrying it in your first aid kit anyway.  If you are able to (or like
to) drink milk and you carry powdered milk with you, consider a cup of hot
milk after dinner, it's good with tea (try decaf Constant Comment), hot
chocolate, or just honey (I recommend honey sticks) or brown sugar.  If
being borderline cold is keeping you from sleeping well, be sure to wear a
hat or cinch the hood of your sleeping bag over your head.  It is also
necessary sometimes at night when you're really cold to eat some carbs, such
as an oatmeal cookie, to give your body some fuel to warm itself up.  I am
not suggesting, however, that you sleep with oatmeal cookies in your tent,
especially in bear country.  How you get the cookies out of your bear
canister, if you use one, properly placed 100 feet downwind of your tent, is
up to you.  My recent JMT hiking partner put hot water in a Nalgene bottle
at bedtime to lull herself to sleep, then drank the water the next day.

For maximum comfort, since I sleep on a 7 ounce, thin Mt. Washington foam
pad, I like to scoop out a "hip hole" in the ground where my hips are so I'm
more comfortable lying on my side or on my back.  Be sure to fill it in
before you leave in the morning.

The last problem is needing to pee at night.  If you sorta feel the need but
it isn't really critical, don't try to "just sleep through it."  If you
gotta go, go ... you'll warm back up and fall asleep faster than trying to
ignore your bladder.  When its really really cold out and I don't want to
get dressed and leave the tent, I pee in a large INTACT ziploc bag, used
only for this purpose, seal it up, and put it outside for disposal the next
day.  You have to have a really understanding (and trusting) tent-mate if
you decide to try this.

If the "night noises" keep you awake, try earplugs.  I have even tried
counting sheep, but darn, I can't get the critters to go over the fence one
at a time.  A snoring tent-mate is another issue.  I hate to wake someone up
who has actually succeeded in falling asleep but --- a couple of gentle
nudges might get him/her to move into a snore-proof position without waking.

When all else fails, if I have been clever enough to bring something to read
and have enough juice in my Tikka headlamp batteries, I turn away from my
tent-mate, turn on the light, and read until my eyelids droop.

Hope I've given you some ideas!  Happy trails and happy dreams!

Two Legs