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