Hiking

Some Friends Wanted Addresses

HERE THEY ARE. Finally, I know.

CDT Spreadsheet Data

This is a link to a spreadsheet with my estimated mileage, days, date, and address data. If you’re going to send a package or letter, please look here to see how it should be addressed. All addresses are United States Postal Services (USPS) unless marked as United Parcel Service (UPS). The spread sheet will be updated with an ACTUAL DATE as I move along the trail. I will not be changing the estimated date column or anything to do with the daily mileage. Not messing with the formulas while on my phone.

Zero Days

When there’s no walking scheduled for the day, it’s called a ZERO. Usually, there’s a lot of walking around town involved, but no trail miles. I’ve only scheduled one zero at East Glacier at the end of the first week. I’ll take another 10 to 30 zeroes or nearos (close to zero trail miles) to rest and recuperate, but I’m waiting to decide on when while I’m walking. The days off could drastically affect the Estimated Arrival date, so watch the actual date for the best idea of how things are going.

Mail Drops

I’m so sick of boxes and maps. I’ve never put together as long a hike as this one, so I’m figuring it out as I go. Everything is boxed through south Colorado. I’m hoping Michelle will get me through the rest of the way. I’ve put together meals and have items laid out, but I don’t have a great idea of how much I’m going to be eating or how fast I’ll be able to move. She’ll be able to shove stuff in a box along with the next set of maps. Mistakes have been made I’m sure, but I’m just itching to get to the trail.

Walking

I haven’t been able to walk but a few quick 4 to 5 mile jaunts, so I’m not going to be hitting this in quite the shape I was hoping for. Regardless, the day approaches and I’ve gone so far down this path, there’s no looking or wishing for anything else now. It is what it is.

Kindness matters

Truckin’ on

Tree

Ask the Tree. Volume 3. Laundry and Underwear.

Underwear seems to be the question of the day. Or should I say 7 to 10 days? Simply put, you get dirty and stinky on any long haul hike. Some might even say vomit smelling worthy.

Layers: A backpacker is going to carry a number of layers to be prepared for weather. A base layer, what’s next to the skin. Mid layers to supplement the base layer while walking or sometimes in camp. Insulating layers to provide warmth when not walking. Outer layers to offer protection from wind, rain, hail, and snow.

I prefer wool base layers. Wool wicks sweat away and does a decent job providing protection while damp. Wool also does not absorb odors as much as synthetic materials which is important when traveling up to two weeks between washings. I’ll be wearing a long sleeve lightweight wool t-shirt and a pair of wool boxer briefs. The long sleeves provide some sun and insect protection. Going with a boxer brief adds chafing protection. A pair of nylon with a bit of spandex long pants is what I wear for cooler weather with a nylon running short for warmer weather.

Mid-layers: I carry a nylon windbreaker for insect and wind situations. It’s harder for insects to bite through nylon. A lightweight hooded fleece goes in my pack for mornings or cold days.

Outer layers: A heavier rain jacket for the times the hail is pounding down along with a light silnylon rain skirt that goes to my knees covers my temperate weather outerwear. When it starts getting cold in Colorado, I’ll make some adjustments.

Insulating layer: A mid-weight down jacket reserved for camp use only after I’ve walking.

Socks: Two wool pairs from Darn Tough. One on my feet, the other drying from having been rinsed the day before. I’ll add a third pair of sleeping socks when I hit Colorado.

Extras: I also carry a pair of wool gloves and two hats: A wide brimmed sun hat and a wool hat that covers my ears.

Laundry: Laundry is an interesting subject. On a walk like this, you don’t ever know for sure when you’re going to get the chance to wash clothes. I’ll rinse items in natural sources where it doesn’t cause a problem. By that I mean, if there’s flowing water or a larger lake, I’ll rinse socks, shorts, underwear, myself and carry on. If it’s a water tank or a spring, I’ll be going forward in the same smelly condition.

When a laundry mat opportunity presents, I’ll wear my rain jacket and my rain skirt and put everything else in the washer. Try not to imagine a 6’8 hairy guy in a bright green rain jacket and a brown semi-transparent skirt doing his laundry.

Sometimes I’ll land in a town where no laundry service is available. If I can get a shower, I’ll often start with all my clothes on to get as much grime out as I can. If there isn’t a shower, it’s sink washing time. Neither of these methods is satisfactory, but each gets most of the dirt and sweat out which helps alleviate chafing.

Most of the time it’s 7-14 days between these opportunities. Ha! Opportunities.

Kindness matters

Smellin’ on

Tree

T minus 16 days. Spreadsheet work and (still) Packing Boxes

Food, maps, shoes, and Aqua Mira

Planning my mail drops has been a chore. I finally got up in the dark and did some spreadsheet work with mileage and days to attempt to put some sort of sanity around the edges of the madness. Knowing at least approximately where I’m going to be and how long it’s going to take me to get there, let’s me figure out where to send food, maps, shoes, and Aqua Mira. I talked about food a couple of posts ago.

Shoes are being mailed out about every 500 miles. I’ll see how that goes. A trail runner is my preference. Right now I’m choosing to wear Cascadia 11s because they come in a size 15D. I’m also thrifty and was able to buy 3 pairs of last year’s model for around $90 a pair. I’m not sure what I’m going to do for the second half of the journey yet. Waiting on what’s going to happen to my feet. They tend to flatten out after you walk 20 miles a day repeatedly. I have a couple of options, but none I’m thrilled about. That’s what happens when you might need a 15EE.

MAPS are an important learning piece for me (LIFETIME LEARNER). I’m going a bit overboard because I don’t know what I’m doing. Maps from Jonathan Ley and Bear Creek Survey will be in my hands. Both sets are being sent to me because of lack of experience. I’m hoping to figure out quickly if I prefer one set to the other. Then I’ll be able to ditch one of them. Yogi’s Books is where I purchased printed maps along with a guidebook. I have all the electronic stuff to stay found, but one of my goals is to become proficient with a map and compass. I just don’t want to carry more maps than I have to at one time, so I have to determine where I’ll need the maps and if I have a mail drop set in that area.

Aqua Mira is what I use to treat my water. I’ll be drinking from streams, lakes, stock tanks, or puddles. I know how to be selective in water sources to minimize the chance of ingesting contaminated water, but often I’ll be drinking from the same sources as the “slow elk” as good old Ed Abbey called them. That water has to be treated. I prefer using chlorine dioxide to a filter. In my experience filters are heavier and they often clog or freeze. Just a personal choice. But Aqua Mira is not readily available on the trail, so I have to ship it. Which means I have to at least have a pretty good guess as to when I’m going to finish the previous supply.

I hope to have the mail drops finished tomorrow because next weekend needs to be a gear finalization. AND I need to post mail drop addresses, so I can pick up all that incredible stuff you people are going to shower me with.

A great next question came up for Ask the Tree. “How far off trail do you need to go to get to a post office/resupply? How long does it take? Does it add miles/days to your distance/time?” Thanks Bryan Young! I’ll be answering that question tomorrow in Volume 3.

Kindness matters

Truckin’ on

Tree

Ask the Tree. Vol. #2

I’m often asked, “How can I send you something on the trail?” Seeing as it’s come up a couple of times, I thought it would be a perfect question to answer for the second round of Ask the Tree.

How do I send you something on the trail?
What are good things to send? How will I know if you got it?

I’ll be picking up packages from post offices along the trail. A PO will hold a package for 15 days if it’s sent General Delivery.

Address all packages or letters like this:

Michael Sweet

General Delivery

Town, State, Zip Code

In the bottom left corner of any boxes or letters write:

Hold for CDT hiker

ETA: (date)

Okay, so now you’re asking where are these places and when are you going to get there? Those are really good questions for Vol. #3 of Ask the Tree.

What could I send?

Here’s an article from a website I occasionally contribute writing to titled Top 10 Items Thru-Hikers Want in a Mail drop. I’m way too lazy to not to take advantage of that already being written.

How will I know if you got it?

SEND IT PRIORITY MAIL. I realize it’s more expensive, but if you want to make sure I get it, it’s the only way to do it.
Let me know it’s coming, so I can ask for it.
Put candy canes on it. Seriously. General delivery mail can sometimes overwhelm a small PO. Making a letter or a box stand out helps it get into my hands. My daughter, Maggie, will be drawing candy canes on all my boxes. That way when I ask for my mail by name, I can add in that it has candy canes on it.
Make it freaking fantastic. Then I’ll write about how awesome it was, and if you’re following this blog like you’re supposed to be, you’ll then read about it. Seriously, I have a plan to track everyone that helps/contributes/comes in contact with me along the way, so I can communicate with them about how my trek ends up.

So that’s how to send it, what to send, and if I got it. My plan for the weekend is to finish up most of my own boxes, so I’ll be able to set-up a blog post soon with actual addresses and estimated dates of arrival along the trail.

Stay tuned for places named Sula, Leadore, Dubois, Encampment, South Pass City, Pinedale, and Rawlins.

And as always from now on, if you have some questions, SEND’EM TO ME.

Kindness matters

Truckin’ on

Tree

Ask the Tree-Volume #1

“Do you take a cell phone? Phone charger? How does all that work?”

A friend recently proposed I answer questions people have regarding my upcoming 3000 mile thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail. What a great idea! My trail name is Tree, so we’re going to roll with Ask the Tree for the time being.

Two questions for today:

Do you take a cell phone? Phone charger? How does all that work?
Are you taking a gun? Or a knife?

Electronic Devices

I’m going to tackle question number one by addressing all my electronic devices and how I plan to keep them powered during my walk. I’ll be carrying an iPhone 6s, a Garmin inReach Explorer with Satellite Communicator, an Anker PowerCore 10000, and an Anker 3 Port USB Charger.

The iPhone is my key device. It does my normal phone stuff. I protect it by having it in a Lifeproof case supplemented by a ziplock bag in wet weather. Lots of times up high in a mountain pass with a clear view, you can get cell reception. Otherwise, I’ll have it when I land in town to resupply. I also use my phone as a camera and recording device. I pay for an iCloud subscription to get those photos off the device when I get into town. I also have an app by Guthook’s Guides that has trail maps and satellite tracking capability. From what I’ve read from other hikers, the app is priceless in keeping yourself found. By placing the phone in airplane mode during the day and by powering it down at night, I should be able to make a full charge last three days or more.

The Explorer is a pricey little device, but it is a concession to my advancing age and new found wisdom. I wouldn’t have carried one in my early days of hiking, but it’s a requirement for me now. The device is programmable to send an email notification out every four hours with my current location. You can click on a link in the email and zoom right on in to where the device was when it sent out the notification. Michelle, my wife, will know right where I am without me doing anything other than carrying the unit. Pretty cool. It also has the capability to send out unlimited pre-set messages. Additionally, I can send or receive 20 text messages in a month with the subscription I’ve paid for. It’s a pain to send them because there isn’t a keyboard, but I could if I needed to. More importantly, Michelle could send me a text about any critical thing that might happen back home. Last but certainly not least, there’s an SOS button on the Garmin that is monitored 24/7. In an emergency, I could communicate my location and current conditions and help could find me. Obviously, it does all the other standard GPS things a GPS unit does.

The PowerCore 10000 is a battery unit about the size of a deck of cards. It will give me about four charges for the iPhone, and is the size of a deck of cards. Quite a bit heavier than a deck of cards, but exceedingly compact for the punch it delivers.

I bought an Anker three-port charger, so that anytime I find a single outlet, I can charge all three devices at the same time. Restaurants, stores, any place I can find to juice my devices up to speed.

“Are you taking a gun? Or a knife?”

Gun or Knife

Simply put, no. I don’t own a pistol and wouldn’t want to carry the weight even if somebody wanted to loan me one. Yes, there are grizzly and black bears around the Continental Divide, but my brains are my best weapon. I’ll be smart about not sleeping where I cook, so there’s not lingering scents. My food will be in a scent-lock bag to minimize smells. I’ll try to sleep off the trail by 200 feet or more because animals use it just as much if not more than humans. I will carry a can of bear spray to use if I get myself into an unfortunate situation where a bear decides to charge at me. The spray is a high powered pepper spray designed to put out blast 30 feet in front of the sprayer. I’m much more concerned about any negative confrontation occurring with a two-legged animal than one with four legs. But once again, even with humans, my best defense is using my head.

I do carry a knife, but it’s a Leatherman Squirt. It gives me a pair of pliers, a small blade, screwdrivers, a file, and a pair of scissors. It’s tiny, but it will do what I need.

Thanks for the questions! I’m looking forward to having a few more asked before I take off for Montana.

Truckin’ on.

Tree