Some clothing options for your feet

You'll find people hiking in just about everything, from nothing but socks and shoes on Hike Naked Day to Mennonites conservatively dressed with dresses and bonnets or vests and big hats. Some men like to hike in kilts. I've seen both men and women hiking in sundresses - they're lightweight, loose, and if you don't have chub rub, they let air get up to your thighs so they stay drier and chafe less. A lot of people like to hike in running shorts for similar reasons - they're incredibly light and airy.

Generally, your clothing should be fast drying and as light as you can manage. NO COTTON except in very specific situations. Cotton retains moisture, which makes it heavy after you sweat. It also means that it will not dry off quickly as you wear it in camp, leading to heat loss and hypothermia. Are you hiking in August in Louisiana? Feel free to wear a cotton tshirt. Otherwise, stick with synthetics, or wool. There is basically never a good time to wear cotton socks, though. Once they swell up with moisture, the thickened fibers will rub and contribute to blisters.

There are thousands of garments available. I'm just going to list what's worked for me. Ladies, if you are shaped like a babushka, you are in the right spot to find clothing suggestions.

I'll start from the bottom. On my feet, I wear Vasque Trailbenders. These have a thickly cushioned sole with a wide gripping surface. They are the most comfortable, stable shoe I've worn in years. Shoe fit is, of course, as individual as feet are. But that's what's worked for me. I swap out the insole for Women's Berry Superfeet. The berry model has thicker high density foam under the ball of the foot. I've hiked thousands of miles and my feet show the wear and tear - on X-ray if not on the surface. The cushioning makes the difference between a fun day on the trail and a death slog.

Although my feet are not very big, I wear a size D insole, trimmed to fit my shoe. I have short toes. Insoles are designed as if you have long toes. If you have short toes, the arch in the theoretically appropriately sized insole can be in the wrong place! Make sure that when you choose an insole, you get one that fits your arch. Having support in the wrong spot can lead to pain and damage. My feet were much happier after I discussed this with a boot fitter and started getting the larger size insoles.

A lot of people like to wear Injinji toe socks to prevent rubbing between their toes. My toes are crowded and I find it extremely uncomfortable to have fabric in between them. If you do not have chubby toes like mine, you might be very happy with some toe socks.

It's common to wear a liner sock and an oversock. The theory is that rather than your foot rubbing against your one layer of sock, your liner sock stays put on your foot and the liner sock slides against the oversock. As far as I can tell, the theory is correct. Once you've hiked a few hundred miles, your feet may toughen up so that you can be less careful with them. This is my experience. But first you have to take good enough care of them to get to that point.

I find wearing two pair of socks to be pretty fiddly. I end up having to perform minute adjustments to get them wrinkle free and not tight around the toes. Instead, I wear double layer Wright Socks. (Note that for winter you can get a merino wool version that I can verify works great for warmth and blister prevention.) They hit the sweet spot between blister free and easy to use for me. They're lightweight and breathable. They are not, unfortunately, as durable as some other socks. A lot of hikers swear by Darn Tough socks. The company guarantees them! If you wear them out, they will send you a new pair. I know people who got through the entire trail on one or two pair of these socks. For me, they were uncomfortably tight. But thousands of other thruhikers can't be wrong - they're durable socks for a thruhike.

I wear short, stretchy gaiters to keep cruft out of my shoes. Any kind of grit that gets in there will destroy your socks. There are waterproof gaiters on the market, but as they hold sweat in, they are not useful in most weather that I hike in.

I gave up wearing shorts for hiking in 2010. After years of bug bites and three rounds of Lyme disease, I started buying thin hiking pants and tucking them into my socks. I treat my pants and my gaiters with permethrin, which I STRONGLY RECOMMEND. The best way to not get Lyme disease is to prevent the tick from getting to your skin to bite you. Daily tick checks are not sufficient because although it is rare for a tick to transmit the disease within a few hours of biting, it is possible. I got Lyme disease this way in 2011. The tick was on me for less than four hours, but I still got sick. Treat your clothing!

This has gotten long so I'll go over some pants options for women with hips in my next post.

Let's talk about your parts

Last post I mentioned the Intimina Lily Cup Compact - Collapsible Menstrual Cup (size A). FYI there's also a larger size. If you've had a child, for instance, you generally need a larger cup to fit your rearranged anatomy. Don't be left out, moms. There's an INTIMINA Lily Cup Compact -Collapsible Menstrual Cup (Size B) for you too. These cups are non-latex, non staining, and collapsible for packing. I leave the little case home and carry mine in a little cloth bag because I feel like it keeps it drier and airier.

You can also get something like a Diva Cup. It doesn't collapse, but otherwise does the trick. I liked devoting less space in my pack to my cup. Of course, either option is still wildly better than carrying non-reusable supplies.

I don't recommend taking tampons and pads. Carrying them out is kinda gross, you have to store them like you would store food (away from animals!), you have to shop for more in town. They may or may not carry your preferred brand at the dollar general. If you do decide to carry them, or need to carry them, getting something like a Waterproof Reusable Zip Mini Wet Bag makes a lot of sense. At under an ounce, it'll keep your used supplies away from your other gear, and it's opaque for privacy. Nobody else needs to know your business, know what I'm saying?

Non-menstrually, I'm a big fan of pee rags. Nota bene: do NOT pick up fallen bandanas unless you are absolutely sure they are not a pee rag that's fallen off somebody's pack. Even if they aren't pee rags, they have been used to wipe off sweat and snot and are still disgusting. Maybe handle with ziplocks and carry in to the next town to be washed. That said, these are a great solution to carrying and burying or carrying out a whole lot of bath tissue. You still need it for #2, or for menstrual fluid, but plain old urine doesn't need to use up your precious TP resources. They're easily washed in a ziplock with a couple of drops of Campsuds. Note that that size bottle will last you a life time, so I repackage mine into something like 5-100ml Empty Plastic Squeezable Dropper Bottles Eye Liquid Containers. One 10 ml bottle is enough for pretty much a thruhike for me. A lot of people use Dr. Bronner Baby Unscented Liquid Soap but having tried both, I prefer my CampSuds.

I don't use anything special for bath tissue. I get whatever TP the store has, preferably with enough texture to really clean. The single ply stuff that is what you can usually find in individual rolls is definitely not recommended. Yeesh. TP is one of the areas where it makes sense to cough up for better quality. Unfortunately you will almost always have to get a two or four pack to get good toilet paper. Find another hiker to share with. Also, take the cardboard core out of the middle of the roll. That way the roll squishes down and fits better in your pack. You can be all fancy and dispense your TP from the middle of the roll after you do this. I am not fancy. Regardless, be sure to double bag your TP. I put mine in a quart sized freezer bag like Ziploc Quart Freezer Bags. You definitely want the freezer bag version - it will live longer. Then I put that bag inside a gallon size bag like Ziploc Freezer Bag, Gallon Size. With the double layer, you're less likely to suffer the horror of wet toilet paper. Also, having the larger bag means you can open the smaller bag and have a dry space to reach into when it's raining. It is incredibly disappointing to soak your toilet paper with rain while you're trying to get some out of the bag. The larger ziplock also makes a good place to stash other hygiene related items.

Also it is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that you keep your booty clean. A microscopic speck back there is enough to create untold misery. I've been using individually packaged Preparation H Totables, Hemorrhoidal Wipes with Witch Hazel for years, but they are not universally available on the trail. Last year I found Sea To Summit Trek and Travel Wilderness Bath Wipes which have been great. You should be able to find them at outfitters for certain. I'm sending myself a pack with my maildrop.

If things get a little tender down there, you're going to need to baby your bottom. I break with tradition and use a product I found a few years ago. The tube is tiny, and it works really well. Mayinglong Musk Hemorrhoids Ointment Cream takes up minimal pack room and lasts approximately forever. I got most of a thruhike out of one tube. If you're using the wipes properly you may not need the stuff, but on those long, hot, sweaty summer days, I think even the salt crystals and heat you generate as your flesh moves across itself is enough to cause misery.

Winter backpacking trip

DeLee and I went backpacking this weekend.  I was desperate to get out, as I am ass deep in alligators at work and backpacking helps me de-stress.  We planned a short circuit hike (6-7 miles / day) in Shenandoah.  I knew it would be cold but I was confident that my clothing and sleeping bag were up to the task.  I didn't count on snow, however.

They closed Skyline drive on Wednesday or Thursday after some snow and ice.  This happens often enough that I didn't worry about it.  I figured that as usual the drive would open up again in a day or so.  But that didn't happen this time.  They did open up portions of the drive by Friday, but not the portion we needed to get to for our planned hike.  And Friday evening as we were driving out, they preemptively closed the entire drive because they expected more snow and ice. 

Well.  That changed matters a bit.  We had originally planned to drive into the park Friday night and stay at a hut close to the drive, thus saving $100 in motel fees or an early morning drive from home to the park.  The previous December we had stayed at the local Holiday Inn and it had been quite nice  - fridge in the room, spacious, clean, and best of all a gluten-free-friendly restaurant on the premises.  So we headed up to the Holiday Inn to see if they had a room available.  They did, and all my information was still in their computer so checkin was a breeze.  We ate dinner, did a little pack reorganization, and conked out. 

In the morning, the drive was still closed.  I made oatmeal with hot water from the coffee maker, stared at the snow up on the mountains, and contemplated.  And looked at my map.  We could still do our hike if we parked outside the park and hiked in the to the AT.  And if we went in at Compton Gap, there was even an entrance station where we could get a permit.  Done deal.

I've never intentionally done an overnight hike in snow.  I've been snowed on during a hike and then hiked out in the morning, but I've never gone in knowing that I would definitely be hiking and camping in snow.  But I have hundreds of nights of camping under my belt.  I figured it was time.

We parked the car at the trailhead and started up the trail.  There was, indeed, snow on the ground.  However, there was no entrance station.  We debated briefly and decided to be scofflaws.  It wasn't worth hiking back to the car, driving to the main park entrance for a permit, then driving back and hiking back up the trail.  It would have added an extra mile and who knows how long to our day. 

I'm not a good scofflaw.  I planned to throw myself on the mercy of the ranger if caught.  Especially as we had relied on the map in good faith.

We saw a few people in the first two hours, but after that we only saw three sets of footprints.  And then two of those sets suddenly disappeared at a road.  They must have gotten a ride out of the park.  So then it was just the one set, and they were northbound while we were southbound.  I was pretty sure we'd have the park to ourselves at night.

Several miles from our planned destination (which was 10 miles from our starting point rather than the planned 6 or 7) DeLee was pretty tired.  I found a spring running, but I didn't find a good place to put our tent.  The winds were supposed to pick up, and our tent needed to A) be staked, and B) be placed with its butt into the wind.  All the campsites we looked at either sloped such that our heads would be downhill, or had standing deadwood nearby.  And I wasn't sure I could get a stake into the frozen ground.  So I persuaded her to keep going.  She started slipping and falling on the next hill. 

With one mountain left to go, I decided we should walk down the drive to the hut rather than go over that last hill.  DeLee was pretty much done.  I couldn't hear her over the crunching of my feet in the snow, so I'd stop periodically to check for her.  And I turned around once and she wasn't there.  I started walking back up the mountain to her.  She was far behind.  But we were close to shelter, and she made it the rest of the way.

I got her into her sleeping bag and started heating water.  She didn't want to eat, but I wasn't having that.  I told her I didn't care if she *wanted* to eat, she was going to.  Once the water (eventually) boiled, I prepared my soup and she prepared her chili mac.  My soup turned out to be a better choice.  She had to ziplock up the remains of her chili mac because she couldn't finish it.  But at least she got food into her, and she seemed to feel perkier.

We got into our bags pretty quickly after that, because the temperature was dropping.  I have no idea how cold it got, but my sleeping bags (15 degree with a 30 degree quilt inside) were up to the task.  DeLee was cold at first but soon warmed up.

My fitbit says I woke up 17 times.  Only 17?  Seems unlikely. 

The morning dawned very cold.  I was happy when the sun crossed the nearest mountain and began to shine into the shelter.  It helped warm things up.  Even so, we ended up having to insulate the filter tubes with a down jacket so that the water wouldn't freeze as it dripped down the tube.  With the jacket on the tubes, we filtered four liters of water and were ready for the day.  We buried the water deep in our packs so that it would stay liquid, and we stashed the bite tubes in our shirts so they wouldn't freeze solid between sips.  Dehydration is a serious issue in winter because you tend not to feel thirsty in the cold.  I was determined to drink enough to stave off dehydration, mainly because dehydration leads to lack of energy.

After the slipping and falling yesterday, there was no question of going back over the mountains.  Instead, we walked Skyline drive.  Since it was still closed, we could walk on it anywhere we wanted.  We had to stick to the shoulder anywhere there was ice on the road, but much of the ice had sublimated since Saturday.  It was a bit tedious walking on the road, but we had great views at the overlooks, and there were a LOT of animal tracks on the road.  Way more than I had ever seen in the woods.  So that was fun.

Around mid morning a ranger drove by, checking the condition of the drive.  He stopped to do a sanity check - were we okay?  Did we have warm enough clothing?  We reassured him that we were fine, and the very fact that we were taking the safer road rather than the more treacherous mountain paths was an indicator that we were sane.  Or at least more sane than we might be. 

He told us it was 17 degrees out according to his truck's sensor, and he was on his way.  We told him to be careful on the ice.

By about 3 pm both DeLee and I were struggling.  We were tired, the temperature was dropping, and the wind had picked up.  With the sub freezing temperatures and 30 mph winds, the wind chill was brutal.  Fortunately we were nearly back to the car, so I sucked it up and soldiered on.  We were both pretty happy to see the car.

I ended the hike wearing everything I had brought except my down jacket and the wet socks from Saturday.  I'm pretty sure I've never worn that much to hike in, certainly not without getting too hot.  When we got to the car I was wearing:  wool socks, my boots, grocery bags in the boots (because the boots aren't waterproof), two pairs of long johns, zipoff pants, a down skirt, a rain skirt, a wicking shirt, a wool shirt, a fleece shirt, a wind shirt, a raincoat, gloves, overmitts, a wool buff, a fleece neck gaiter, a ball cap, and a fleece hat.  And I wasn't too warm.  Wow.

There are a few changes I'd make if we were to do it again, and I think we might.  Waterproof boots.  A free standing tent.  Chemical water treatment.  Extra stove fuel.  More wool socks. More high calorie food. And more soups and drinks.  But I think we did pretty well, considering.  My face is wind burned, and DeLee is a little sore from wearing heavy boots, but I'm happy with the trip.  It was beautiful in the park with the snow.  I loved the solitude.  Even as I was worrying about finding a camp site, I was still impressed with the drama of the scene around me.

Long story short, I went hiking with DeLee and it was good.

Trip report: Southern Shenandoah

My latest hike started in a hurry on Friday night.  I flew out to the barn to hold Pluto for our new farrier.  Pluto was startled by something behind him and managed to put his full weight on the farrier's already broken toes.  I was mortified.  I offered her advil, but basically there isn't much you can do for that kind of pain other than cuss.  Which she did.

Then I drove to DeLee's.  We ate something, then started to leave.  At the last minute I mentioned that it would be nice to have walkie talkies for the drive, since we would be in two cars.  She couldn't find hers, so we stopped at the REI on the way out of the neighborhood and bought a new set.  I was so glad we did, it was much nicer to be able to communicate than to have a four hour drive without speaking.  It was super, super helpful to be able to talk about when we wanted to stop to visit a rest area, or comment on traffic, or the like.

A couple of hours in, I started getting a lot of text messages.  I could hear the phone buzzing, but at 70 mph, in the dark, I was not able to read them.  (Which would have been illegal anyway.)  When I finally got the chance to pull over at Woodstock, VA, I found that my dad was in the emergency room.  We went to the McDonald's and called around, trying to find out what was going on.  Finally we decided to drive the hour on to Waynesboro for the night, as Dad seemed to be stable.

Later texts and calls revealed that he was doing all right and they had sorted out his problems, and Mom and Dad were joking about it.  Thus reassured, at midnight or 1 AM, DeLee and I hit the sack in our motel room.  Not the restful start one hopes for.

In the morning, breakfast didn't sit right with DeLee, and it vacated the premises quickly.  DeLee was very subtle.  I doubt the other diners even noticed.  DeLee is a trooper, and so we still packed up and got on the road.  By the time we got in the park, shuttled the cars around, and started hiking, it was after noon.  Oy.

The weather was beautiful and hikers were scarce.  Our parking spot was supposed to have a nearby trail leading up to the AT, but that trail seemed to have disappeared several years ago.  We bushwhacked up a mountain until we found the trail, then started north.  I think we saw four hikers all day.  So we were considerably surprised when we got to the shelter and found it full and surrounded by tents.  There were boy scouts everywhere.  They were in good spirits and a little rowdy, but they settled down and were amazingly silent all night.

We had managed to find a spot in the shelter, which was especially nice around 5 AM when it started to pour.  I love not packing up a wet tent.

The forecasted all day rain didn't appear.  It was misty and damp, and cold, but not solidly raining.  We had a beautiful morning's hike, but it was hard to stay warm on rest breaks.  At lunch we couldn't find a great windbreak, but we did find a downed log in a very brushy area.  We set up leaning on the log, and it wasn't bad.  I immediately made us hot drinks using my fabulous Jetboil stove.  Even with that we started to get a bit chilled as we finished lunch.  We packed up and got hiking again, but when I looked at DeLee her lips were blue.  I checked her frequently over the next few minutes until her lips turned pink again.

Shortly after her lips turned pink, her lunch turned against her.  She held it down, but she felt awful.  Her steps slowed.  She still walked, but I was stopping and waiting for her frequently.  Within less than a mile, she wasn't generating enough heat to stay warm and became hypothermic.  The trail crosses Skyline drive frequently where we were, so at the next road crossing we stopped.  We both dug into our packs for fleece to put on, and we stuck our thumbs out.  German tourists stopped and offered us a ride.  We had cars stationed in both directions, so we didn't care which way they were going.  (Weirdly, this is the second time that German tourists have rescued me in Shenandoah.  Another couple gave me and Mel a ride when I hurt my foot a decade or more ago.)

Back at Eddy, my car, we turned around and drove back to DeLee's car.  I was starting to run low on gas, so we stopped at Loft Mountain Wayside for gas and hot chocolate.  Then we headed out of the park, looking for a motel.  DeLee was still feeling shaky and wasn't up to driving the several hours home.

In Harrisonburg, we checked into a motel.  I was ravenous.  DeLee only wanted a hot shower and a nap.  I read the literature about local restaurants, but soon the call of a soft bed overrode my stomach.  I fell asleep too.

After a couple of hours of rest, DeLee was feeling a lot better.  The nap didn't hurt me any, either.  We got up and drove over to the Outback Steakhouse, where we had delicious food.  Our server turned out to be from DC, so it was fun to chat with him.  I brought D-Ribose to dinner with me for both me and DeLee, to help with after-hike soreness. 

So our two night trip turned into a one night trip, but one that avoided potentially serious hypothermia in really dangerous conditions.  It was about 40 and raining when we left the park.  It was likely 30 degrees that night.  Had we kept going DeLee would have been in deep trouble, and the likelihood is that I would have been hypothermic as well.  Instead, we met some nice people, had a delicious dinner, and slept at a nice motel.  That's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Although I wasn't the one to get hypothermic this time, I usually am.  I wasn't expecting it from DeLee, as she is usually more resistant to cold than me.  I thought we had planned well enough to avoid hypothermia, but DeLee's icky feelings were something I hadn't accounted for.  If the park had more water available in that section I would have set up camp for us and gotten her some hot food and beverages immediately rather than having her drive her car when she didn't feel well.  But, we didn't have enough water so that wasn't a good option.

Oddly, I felt great for pretty much all of the trip, paternal medical drama aside.  I was surprised at how good I felt. A little over a month ago I was still too sick to walk all the way around Greenbelt Park.  Last week I walked around the park with a lightly loaded pack and still felt pretty tired.  So why was I feeling so much energy this weekend?  My stomach didn't complain, my legs didn't complain, and I felt like I had boundless energy.  Today, the day after the hike, my legs have barely any of the typical post-hike ache.  My shoulders don't hurt from the pack.  I surprised JD by not wanting a nap.  Weird, huh?  My only supposition is it's the wheat, or lack thereof.  When I was reading up on celiac disease, prior to my (negative) test, I read about an athlete who stopped eating wheat for other reasons and was surprised to find herself with faster racing times.  She supposed that she had been held back by wheat, or its effects on her body, before without noticing.  Perhaps the same is true for me.

I'm definitely still sensitive to the stuff, as I have accidentally "glutened" myself several times, and felt awful.  Last time was earlier this week when I had sushi.  I thought I was so smart with my wheat-free tamari sauce instead of soy sauce, but I was caught by either the artificial crab in the California roll, or the spicy sauce on the spicy tuna rolls.  Within hours my guts hurt like they were being stabbed.  If I'm able to go back on wheat at all, it looks like it will be a while.  Sigh.  But I'm learning to live without it, and learning what to avoid out in the restaurant world.  (Turns out IHOP puts pancake mix in their eggs to make them fluffy.  Who knew?)

Lactose isn't so bad.  If I'm willing to swell up and look pregnant for a few hours, I can have some dairy.  Which I did last night, on my loaded baked potato.  I got my pregnant look on, and I enjoyed the hell out of that potato.  But it only lasted a few hours and then I was back to normal.  Being glutened takes two days to resolve - much less fun.

To sum up, and as notes to my future self:  maybe skip the trip in bad hypothermia weather.  But walkie talkies are fantastic.

Not feeling wordy

DeLee adjusting her poles before we left.

Our fairly nondescript starting location

It's still spring in the mountains

It was at least our second time crossing that day.

Sitting on the bench at PenMar

This rock wall interested me so I walked around to see what was on the other side of the hill.  It was a huge hole.  I'm pretty sure that's a retaining wall for the dirt dug out from a small mine.

The view of the storm (which avoided us) from the much-graffitied hang glider launch pad at High Rock.

1.2 mile round trip with 2-3 gallons of water.  Ugh.

Raven Rock Shelter is *really* nice.  The builders / maintainers visited while we were there.

Action shot!

The woods were overwhelmingly light green, with that pale color that says the leaves are new.

Walking through a field was a novelty

Gotta wonder how long that bike's been there.

Trail Journal Entry 3/26/2012 - Panorama

My tent survived the night extremely well.  My Hello Kitty duct tape patch was waterproof.  No inappropriate water reached the interior of the tent.  However, it was hella windy up there on the knoll where I set up.  I was fine until 4 AM, when it really kicked it up a notch.  Then the wind started to steal heat from my sleeping bag and sleeping pad.  I slept on and off, but I was chilly.  Once the sun came up I packed up and went down to the shelter to make breakfast.  It was strikingly warmer inside.  It faced the sun and had its back to the wind.  I'd say it was at least ten degrees warmer inside than just outside.  I quickly shed almost all of my insulating garments.

We had a short hike down to Thornton Gap and briefly onward to Panorama.  We all really wanted to go down into Luray for lunch.  I took them to Uncle Buck's, which I first tried last weekend with Just Blue Skies.  A burger and fries and some corn fritters really hit the spot.  Eventually we got back in the car and I drove Weaver and Sarge back to the park.  After hugs and goodbyes they set off for the last half mile or so, making it a very short hiking day.  With their heavy packs their feet are hurting.  They were going to the next Byrd's nest, which is a really nice place.  I hope they have a peaceful night and don't get too cold.

I was sad to see them go.  They're a lot of fun to hike with, and I like both of them very much.  Weaver doesn't live too far away so I hope that I get to see her again in the future, after she finishes the AT.  Sarge's future whereabouts are undetermined.  Maybe we can do a reunion hike, if he's not too busy hiking across the country or sailing around the world.

I have a crazy busy week ahead of me (and another speech eeeee!) and I still have to de-grease myself and do a tick check.  I suppose I should get to that soon.

Trail Journal Entry 3/25/2012 - near Byrd's Nest

I spent an uneasy night alone in the shelter. I woke often. Finally around 5:30 I woke up for good. I stayed in my bag but turned on the phone and read a book for a while. Around 6:30 it was light(ish) so I retrieved my food bag and ate breakfast. Even with dilly dallying I was packed up and ready to go by 7:30. I slowly walked up to the car and got in. I turned on the car and started the heater to keep warm. I was surprised to see that the outside temperature was 45. It had felt much warmer to me. In fact I had been a little too warm in my sleeping bag. 

Weaver and Sarge were a bit late. They intended to arrive between 8:30 and 9 but with whiteout fog to navigate they arrived at 9:30.   We changed our plan for the day to shorter mileage. Then Weaver's husband helped me shuttle my car a few miles down the trail. My permit now lies about my car location and my campsite. I doubt the rangers will care too much. 

Weaver and Sarge walked a couple of miles while we were moving cars. I walked north to meet them, then we proceeded south. They both have very heavy packs. No services in Shenandoah are open right now so they are carrying a whole lot of food. Unfortunately none of us thought of stashing most of their food in my car. That would have been a good move. Alas. 

The weather was hypothermia weather all day. We didn't stop much, and when we did I added a layer right away. We made out all right, but we were all tired by it. 

We contemplated trying to stay at Elkwallow, but there was no good, legal place to stay, and all the illegal places were too high visibility. Instead we made a hot meal and used the privy, and got water. So much water. We knew we would have to camp dry so we carried a lot of water for the last hours of the day. My shoulders have convinced me to finally get rid of my Gossamer Gear backpack. It just doesn't provide enough support, leaving the weight of my pack to dig into my shoulders and neck. It was bearable for a short trip but I'm done with it. 

Weaver and Sarge found a nice protected spot for their tent. Mine is rather less protected. This will be the first real test of my cuben fiber Hexamid tent. We have plenty of rain and wind. If I'm going to get wet in it, tonight will be the night. I expect I'll be drying the tent out in my bathroom again when I get home. With luck, my seam sealing job was sufficient. And my tent-setting-up skills. 

We had a very nice dinner together. I'm really glad I took the time to come out and hike with them as they restarted their thruhike. And that they wanted me here. They're good people, as JD says. Even when we're tired and sore and cranky, I like their company. And they told me that if my setup fails and my sleeping bag gets soaked, I'm to come to their tent and they'll figure something out to get us all through the night. Now those are good friends. So far so good on the tent though. I think my major concern might be dense fog wetting out my bag. I'm all bundled up and expect to take off a layer or two overnight. I desperately hope it stops raining so I can water a tree without soaking my sleeping clothes. 

In the morning we'll walk down to my car at Panorama, and I'll drive them into Luray for lunch. Then I'll drop them off back in the park and drive home to my real life after a nice little interlude in faux thruhiking. And they'll walk south for several hundred miles. 

Trail journal entry, 3/24/2012 - Gravel Springs Hut in Shenandoah

 Sitting in near silence, listening to birds and spring peepers. Content to be by myself in this shelter. Hoping for no boy scouts. Also hoping for no aggressive bears. I was privileged to be alone when two crossed skyline drive right in front of me on the way here.. And that's as close as I want to get. 

The weather is MUCH better than predicted, so far. Wishful thinking that it might stay that way, but a girl can hope. 

The owls are hooting away like crazy. It's like an owl rave out here. 

I'm reading the register in what remains of the daylight. I forgot I left an entry last october. Sarge and Weaver signed it! How sweet, and wonderful, that I'll be seeing them tomorrow. 

It's getting dark. I can hear the spring burbling fifty feet away, invigorated by today's storms. The air smells moist. If it rains, if it storms, I wonder if the shelter will stay dry. I wonder if my duct tape patched tent would be drier. I certainly can't set it up in the shelter. It's one or the other. I suppose I'll stick with the dubious charms of the shelter and a quicker time packing up in the morning. Or so I tell myself. Perhaps I'm just lazy. Perhaps I hope another hiker will come in and I'll get to meet them. The register hasn't mentioned bears since last fall. I have hopes that I won't see one here, but the days have been warm and they will undoubtedly start including the shelter in their daily rounds very soon. 

As the dark gathers, my eyes become less useful and my ears automatically take over. The sounds of the woods haven't changed but I notice them more.  This is why I have earplugs. Otherwise my hypersensitive ears and subconscious will alert me to every falling leaf and broken twig. I already know that most sounds are made by beetles, squirrels, mice, and birds. Nevertheless every sound conjures a bear. Earplugs. For my sanity and my sleep. 

Either I should have brought twice as much scotch, or I'm a lush. Or both. I thought a cup was more than enough for both nights, but it looks like I'm finishing it tonight. I should sleep extremely well. I'll blame my hangover on theoretical mice. 

Fog crept in while I wasn't looking. I was only fooling myself. The weather is going to suck tomorrow. 

Watching the night slowly get darker is the most peaceful thing I've done since Maine. 

I'm not sure where I'm going, but I'm having a good time

I got home last night from a great backpacking trip.  Just Blue Skies and I went on an overnight trip into Hazel Country, a once fairly densely populated portion of what is now Shenandoah National Park.  We spent the night before in Luray so that we could get an early start without having to drive a couple of hours first thing in the morning.

The weather was absolutely perfect.  It was astoundingly warm for March - so much so that JBS and I were both soaked in sweat.  I didn't mind, as I much prefer that to freezing (which is your other option in March.)  We had good views down into the valleys, and the flowers were just starting to bloom.  I enjoyed my conversation with Just Blue Skies, and overall just had a fantastic time.

But.

I did all the planning for the route based on my map.  I didn't have mileages for all the side trails, only for the AT.  So I guesstimated.  And I was WRONG.  For the first day I figured a 7 mile hike, or so.  If we had actually made it that whole distance, we would have actually done 14 miles.  As it was, we stopped far short at 10 miles.  Still, we stopped somewhere pleasant and had a gorgeous night.  The sky was clear (predicted thunderstorms and fog didn't happen) and we got to observe the Venus / Jupiter conjunction that's going on.  I determined that I can see stars, blurrily, right through my cuben fiber tent.  I also determined that a falling stick, if it's sharp enough, will go right through said tent.  It has a piece of Hello Kitty duct tape over the hole right now.

JBS's knees weren't too thrilled with some of the steep descents on day one, so we looked at the map and tried to choose a reasonable route for day two.  My original plans were right out, of course.  We were nowhere near where I had planned to camp, plus we needed to take it as easy as possible on the knees.  The problem was that we still had no way to judge just how long the trails actually were.

We headed out and I got to see some trails that I had never yet walked (Catlett Spur Trail, Nicholson Hollow Trail, Hannah Run Trail) and see tons of old properties.  I love seeing the stone piles in the fields, the old fences, the foundations and chimneys.  Nothing else is left at this point - whatever didn't get destroyed by the CCC has been destroyed by weather.

The next to the last trail of the day was a four mile slog uphill.  By the end, JBS's knees were giving out on her completely.  As soon as we got to the top, I found her a rock to sit on, ditched my pack, and took off for the car.  Mindful of my back, I didn't run.  But I strode with a purpose.  I made the 2+ miles in just about exactly an hour, and drove back quickly to retrieve my friend.  We immediately set out for home, knowing that we would be arriving fairly late.  JBS had to catch a train before 7 AM, and I had to go to work, so we didn't dilly dally.  We did stop in Warrenton, though.  I was dragging and I needed a Coke to keep me alert for the drive home.  With that and a mediocre hamburger, I was good to go.

Once we got home we took showers and did tick checks.  I think the final tally was two on me and four on her.  Today I stopped by the doctor's office to get a prescription for a prophylactic dose of doxycycline.  I don't think I had the ticks on me long enough to catch Lyme again, but I'm not taking a chance.  I asked the doc to write the script for more than one dose, so if it happens again I can take my one dose again without having to see her first.  She agreed, so I'm set.  (All signs are pointing at a big tick year.  Sigh.)

I'm also waiting on my lips to heal.  Just like in February, they got really irritated.  This time it wasn't my bottle, as I didn't take the same bottle.  It seemed to be my spoon, but I'm wondering if  the root cause is my old bite tube.  I think it might have latex in it.  I'm going out again next weekend, so I'll try a different bite tube and see what happens.

Oh, and it turns out that I actually DID have a way to find the lengths of the side trails.  On my shelf, forgotten for a decade, is this book: "Appalachian Trail Guide to Shenandoah National Park With Side Trails", 1999 edition.  I discovered it after googling "Shenandoah side trail mileage".  Oy.  Had I only known.  At least I'm prepared now for next time.

I'm still kind of tired from my weekend so I'm going to bed early.  Before I go, some pictures:

Ultralight Women's Gear: Only In My Mind

I've been thinking about ultralight backpacking gear.  As one does.

I love my Zpacks Exo pack in most ways, BUT it pokes me in the butt.  I emailed Joe Valesko and he's offered to modify the pack for me.  I may take him up on that.  Only problem is, I don't know if the modification I have in mind (shortening the pack frame so it ends before my butt starts) will really do it.  The pack needs to be braced on my pelvis, and shortening the frame means it won't.  With no bracing on the pelvis, it's pretty much a frameless pack again.  Me and frameless packs don't get along so well.  I've tried.  Seriously, I've tried.  I've hiked hundreds of miles in frameless packs.  And I've had seriously achy shoulders.  And an achy back, for that matter - my back does much better when it's stabilized by the pack frame.

Other options might be using a metal frame and curving it away from the pelvis (but metal is heavier, and a curved frame involves more complicated sewing in the pack I think), using a V frame so the point is at the less  voluptuous center of the spine, or adding cushioning around the tips of the frame (again more weight and more sewing).  Or other things.  I don't know, I'm just spitballing here.

I don't think I've run into a woman specific ultralight pack yet.  And there really needs to be one.  More than one, even.  We have proportionally bigger hips.  We store fat in our butts which means they protrude out the back, interfering with traditional frames.  Our shoulders are narrower and less muscled, which means that the straps pretty much HAVE to sit closer to our necks and therefore closer to the nerves emerging from the spine. (Ow.) Our torsos are shorter, not even taking into account the butt thing.  Our breasts interfere with both the shoulder straps and the sternum strap.  (For a number of years I used TWO sternum straps - one above my breasts, and one below.  It kept the pack more tightly strapped to my torso.)

Of course not all women are shaped the same.  Women who are shaped effectively like boys can use a man's pack with no problem.  Apple shaped women will have breast issues but probably no hipbelt issues.  Pear shaped women will need the larger hipbelts but won't have as many breast interference issues.  All the Marilyn Monroes out there will have problems with both.

It would be helpful if I could sew.  Or design things.  Mostly all I can do is try things on and say if they'll work.  And generally I can't even do that quickly, because it takes a few hours or even a few days before a pack really begins to sag into its final position.

The last is why trying something on in the store isn't that helpful.  It's not like I can try on a shirt and know right away if it fits or not. Backpacks CHANGE.  They bulge, they sag, they shift.  You really have to use one in field conditions to know if it works for you.  For the same reason, I'm reluctant to ask for modifications to the packs I already have.  I have no way of knowing if they'll improve the situation.  They might.  Or I might end up with a completely unusable pack, rather than a slightly painful one.

Finalizing some backcountry plans

I've slowly but surely been gathering gear and working out some plans for cold weather backpacking, so I can go year round.  I have a four (ish) season tent, which is my Tarptent Rainbow.  I have snowshoes, though I don't intend to go on snowshoe-worthy trips at first.  I bought my first ever pair of winter hiking boots, although I need to actually hike in them to make sure they will work for me.  I have a 15 degree sleeping bag, and a down quilt to layer inside it.  I have a canister stove, which MIGHT work in cold weather if I keep the canister in my jacket the rest of the time.  I'll have to see on that one.  Alcohol is definitely out, and I don't have a great history with liquid fuel stoves, so I hope the Jetboil will do it.  The Jetboil site suggests yes, but says carry two canisters so you can rotate in a warm one from your jacket.

I'll definitely need to carry one of my larger packs just to fit all the fluffy warm stuff in.

I think my NeoAir will be okay as long as I layer it with a foam pad.  My Big Agnes didn't do AT ALL last year, as my feet hung over the end and they were wretched in the cold air.  Cascade Designs has, of course, come out with a warmer and lighter version of the NeoAir than the NeoAir I have now.  Of course they did.  Dang.

I think I'm good on clothing (my butt is literally covered by my insulated Skhoop skirt), but my feet get cold at night no matter what, so I've ordered some down slippers to wear in the bag.  I think I'm getting pretty close to being ready to take a trial run.  Just a one night trip at first.  I might even redo the same trip I did last February in Maryland, so conditions will be as close to the same as I can get them.  I might even set it up so I get to go to the South Mountain Inn's Sunday brunch, like last year.  That was awesome.

Add some single use handwarmers, a hot water bottle (leak proof, preferably) in my sleeping bag,  and a wee dram of scotch, and I think it sounds like a fabulous night out.

You know what, though?  I think I'll try the whole setup out on my porch.  Just in case.  If my feet start to freeze during the night, I have a giant, hot husband who'll let me warm up my parts on him indoors.

New Gear Reviews

As it happens, on this trip I tried out several new (ish) items.  I hadn't thought about just how much of it was new until one of my fellow hikers brought it to my attention at the shelter.  I said "I hope this sleeping bag keeps me warm.  I haven't used it before."  And he said "That's new TOO?"  (His wife won't let him buy any new gear before he gets rid of some of what he has.  I advised he try out Ebay.)


New or previously unused on this trip:


Montbell Super Spiral U.L. Down Hugger sleeping bag #1
Z-packs Exo external frame backpack
a somewhat modified Platypus GravityWorks gravity filter
Evernew .75L Ti Pasta Pot
Enertia Trail Foods Three Cheese Mac
AntiGravityGear Katahdin Stove
Enertia Trail Foods Snack This Chocolate Love
Elemental Horizons Radiator Fleece Hat


That's quite a list, isn't it?


The sleeping bag was awesome.  Amazing.  Happy-making.  It isn't quite as stretchy as my previous Montbell Super Stretch U.L. Down Hugger #3.  They stopped making that model a while back, I hypothesize because it isn't warm once stretched.  The Super Spiral gets the job done.  It was stretchy enough to keep me happy and not let me wake up stiff in the morning.  My feet were still a little chilly, but that's the nature of the beast I suspect.  (The guy next to me put his shoes back on during the middle of the night, and put a handwarmer in each shoe.  It gave me food for thought.)  The neck-collar thingie worked really well.  I wore more clothes to bed than I really needed.  A couple of hours in I took off my down jacket and wrapped it around my feet, which helped a bit.  My torso didn't feel any cooler with the jacket off.  The sleeping bag is rated for fifteen degrees and in theory it got down to twenty nine, so it's no surprise that I was still quite warm and comfy.  Fifteen degrees is just about how much warmer I want to experience with bag compared to what it is supposedly rated for.


The backpack was almost right.  The load lifter straps don't appear to do anything.  If I had my pad in the holsters just right, the external frame didn't poke me in the butt - however, it wasn't just right all the time.  (I suspect that the person designing and testing the frame is guilty of not having a butt.)  I was using an eight section piece of Z-rest.  I don't know how it would work with a smaller pad, or an inflatable pad.  And I think the pack body itself could stand to be a wee bit larger.  With everything in it, (including two liters of water and two days of food) the whole pack weighed 23.8 lb.  I could not have fit in another day's food or any other gear.  It was maxed out.  Of course, that was with my huge fluffy warm bag.  I think it will be good for warmer weather hiking, but maybe not long distance hiking due to the space limitation.  Oh, and I thought the adjustable straps for the shoulder straps needed to be longer.  The shoulder straps themselves were just right.  I loved all the loops on the backpack.  The belt pouches I ordered with it were a great size, and firmly attached.  Despite the occasional butt-poking issue (resolved by fiddling with the sleeping pad) the pack carried quite well.  I expect to keep using it.


I've never carried the filter, but DeLee has carried one much like it on our joint trips.  It weighs a smidge more than my Steripen, hence I normally use the Steripen.  However, the Steripen sucks in cold weather.  The filter is fine as long as you don't let it freeze. (I stuck it in the bottom of my sleeping bag in a ziplock over night.)  Instead of carrying the "dirty" and "clean" bags, I used an old 2 liter Big Zip Platypus for the dirty bag, and an old 2 liter Platypus bag for my clean drinking water.  The standard kit comes with 4 liter bags, which is overkill for me.  I may switch to using a zipless bag for dirty water.  I think I can get away with using my cup to pour water into one, and it would save me a little weight over the zipper bag, which has a 2 oz handle.  However even with the zipper bag, the whole system is lightweight.  And it's faster and easier than using the Steripen (mostly because for the Steripen I need to strain the water for particulates prior to treating it with UV light.)  Definitely a win, even for solo hiking.


I *loved* the pasta pot.  It's just the right size for me.  I can heat enough water to make dinner (in dinner's ziplock bag) then use the rest for a hot drink for me. The pot is large mug sized so I can drink right out of it.  In theory I could also make pasta.


I ordered the Enertia Trail Foods stuff because it claimed to come in single servings.  And, in fact, it was a single serving.  Weird.  That's a first.  The mac and cheese was very good.  The Ham TVP was good.  I was less of a fan of the little onion bits or whatever that were packed in with the pasta, but they weren't dealbreakers.  I'm likely to order this again.  (FYI, I put it in my pasta pot's cozy to keep warm while it rehydrated.  I made mint tea with the extra water in the pasta pot while I waited.  Delightful.)  Given how good it was, I'm looking forward to trying some of their other meals.  I especially liked that it was cook-in-bag.  The bag wasn't so tall that I needed my long handled spoon (as one does for almost all the other manufacturers of cook-in-bag meals) and there were markings on the interior so I could tell when I had put in enough water.  Somebody with camping experience definitely had input.  Or they're just super considerate, yo.  I think it's worth putting up a direct link to their site:  http://trailfoods.com/  Thanks for making great stuff, guys!


The stove, like all alcohol stoves, was cranky about the cold weather.  For dinner I ended up adding alcohol to the starter ring after the stove went out.  After a restart it did its thing and boiled the water.  At breakfast time, I couldn't light the alcohol with a lighter - I had to use a match, and let the match heat the alcohol near it for a little while until it finally caught on fire.  I definitely need a winter alternative.  However, that is not the stove's fault.  It otherwise performed as expected.  And it was a pretty stable surface for the pot.  But at twice the weight of the Tin Man stove I can't think of a reason to use it regularly.  I might keep it on the shelf as a backup stove in case the flimsy Tin Man stove gets crushed.  (Flimsy sounds a little insulting but it's not meant to be.  It's made out of aluminum cans.  It will crush if stomped on.  However, it's a great stove.) 


The Chocolate Love was an "Enh" for me.  I'm not a huge dark chocolate person, but that wasn't the problem.  The various bits of fruit and nuts were just kind of tasteless.  I'd rather have Planter's Trail Mix.


And finally, the fleece hat.  I already had a fleece hat I love (my Rockdancer hat.)  But I wanted one in blaze orange for hunting season.  I actually have other blaze orange warm hats but they're not comfortable.  They're scratchy, or a little too tight so I get a headache.  This one was just right.  It's not *quite* as warm as the Rockdancer hat, which is double layered around the forehead.  But it's pretty nice, and I was fine with it.  I'll definitely be wearing it on future hunting season expeditions.


Sadly, I didn't take pictures of gear on this trip, so if you want to know what things look like you'll have to go to the commercial links.  What was I thinking?!

Things I saw this weekend

Horns!  I didn't know we had horned cows around here.

This little guy was so cute and skittish, and I think he has Italy on his butt.

A deer stand in a tree right next to the trail.  Hmph.  Is illegal to hunt there.

Merry Mary took a picture of me at High Rock before I got started.  It was too cold to stand around so I didn't actually go to the top for a view.

The moon as seen through the shelter's peak window

Mark and.. I forgot his trail name.  It was odd.  Bloisius?

The fire that I Tom Sawyered everybody into building.

So many leaves down.  Mid-sized rock wall ahead.

SO MANY branches down.  They were falling around me as I walked.  Winds were over 30 mph.

The only color left in the woods is yellow.  Pretty, though..

I forgot Maryland has these old stone walls.

The trail fell over!

The oddly Panera-like McDonald's I stopped at on the way home for fries and a mediocre sandwich.  

Most of Maryland is an easy ridge walk

Boyscouts.  I lost track of how many boy scouts I saw.  Sixty?  It was crazy.  Also, there was a view.

Looking east toward Myersville

.. And more easy ridge walking

Blaze orange and proud of it

I don't know what hill this is (Buzzard Knob?) but it was a nice climb and very pretty.  Met several hunters coming down it.

Do-not-eat berries

The new shelters are extremely swanky.

I could pretty much live here