[at-l] Great Questions #7 & #8

[solophile@juno.com]

On Fri, 10 Jul 1998 15:02:10 -0400 Hank_McComas@celerius.com writes:
>7.  Concerning your trail attitude change near the end of the trip, 
>can you tell me what you think may have been the cause of it?  Was it a 
>nutrition problem?  Were your physically worn down?  Was your trip too
long
>(timewise)?  Was the weather too bad?  Had you simply had enough?  And
>special congratulations on adjusting your "purity" to finish your trip
>accordin to your own desires.

Your timing on this question is interesting.  I just returned from a week
long backpacking trip on the AT in VT.  It was my first time back on the
trail for some serious hiking since completing my thru-hike last October.
 What's most amazing is how I felt on this trip.  I thought that I had
lost a lot of physical conditioning since completing my thru-hike, let's
face it, it's hard to maintain a workout schedule that demands 7-10 hours
a day of activity like a thru-hike does.  And yet last week, over a
period of 6-1/2 days, I cranked out over 85 miles of trail with very
little discomfort.  My longest day was a 19 miler!

I was very surprised by my performance and how good it felt.  This leads
me to think that maybe I really was suffering from some type of long term
physical exhaustion during the last few months of my hike.........  So
maybe the physical exhaustion was a fairly large factor that I didn't
fully recognize at the time.  

Also, add in the fact that I had been on that trail over half a year and
I was really ready to have a home again.  I desperately wanted to sleep
in the same place more than one night in a row.   I fantasized about
smelling clean and washing my hands and my hair whenever I wanted to. 
Basically, I had spent a lot of time in the woods and I was ready for
some creature comforts again.  I think that yearning is fairly evident in
my journals.   The weather through New Hampshire didn't help much, but I
think if I had been able to maintain a more positive attitude overall and
had felt physically stronger, the weather wouldn't have affected me as
much as it did.

An interesting thing about coming off the trail.  When I finished the
trail I figured I was probably in the best shape of my life.  Well, I
don't think my body thought so.  Once I stopped hiking, my body seemed to
just shut down.  I think my body had been working up a huge grudge about
all the pains and injuries and indignities  I had inflicted upon it
during the trail and now it was my body's turn for revenge :-)  For weeks
afterwards it was painful just to go up and down a flight or two of
stairs.  I had very little energy and dreaded having to walk anywhere. 
How could this wreck of a body have walked across the country in the
previous months when now I hurt to just walk to the corner store??   From
a mental standpoint, I knew that walking was probably the best thing I
could do to maintain a positive outlook on my post trail adjustment, so I
forced myself to continue a walking/hiking regimen about three times a
week for just a few easy miles at a time. These post-trail hikes were
good for me, body and soul, and I very much savored those brief moments
spent in a nearby state park under the familiar canopy of trees that had
sheltered me for so long.


>8.  Other journals mention the mice problem in the shelters.  As one 
>who both tented and sheltered,  what advice would you give to someone 
>about the shelter versus tent issue?

I personally did not have any problems with mice the few times that I did
stay in shelters.  One of the biggest benefits about hiking with a dog
that not too many people know about is that mice stay away!!!  Micah
would sleep right beside me when we were in the shelters and I would lay
my food bag, my pack, etc right by him.  We never, ever had mice get into
our food or chew up our gear.  Other hikers that began to realize what I
was doing would ask to put their food bags by Micah as well.

If I didn't have Micah, I probably would have had a few run-ins with
mice.  This was another benefit to tenting.  I don't know if you've read
any of the recent discussions about the hanta virus, but after reading
some of the risks involved, it's just one more huge factor that makes me
love tenting.  The hanta virus can be transmitted through contact with
mouse droppings.  The most common form of transmission is through
breathing in infected particulate matter.  Sweeping out a shelter creates
quite a dust storm, but your alternative is to sleep in that dust and get
it all over your gear and yourself.  What can you do?   Don't sleep in
the shelter, especially some of the older ones that have large evidence
of mouse infestation.

Rachel (Solophile '97)
--------- End forwarded message ----------

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