Hiking simulation while at home
Sunday, July 30, 2017
If you want to pretend to hike along, here is what you can do to simulate
doing this in the comfort of your own home.
-
First, turn off your cell phone, or if you need GPS, at least put
it in airplane mode. All day. No cheating.
-
Keep the door of your fridge tightly closed at all time. Forget about
accessing anything in it, and no longer put ice cubes in your water
bottle. Learn to live with everything at room temperature.
-
Assume that the water at your house is turned off, and keep an eye
out for water sources to refill your water bottle (after filtering
it). Maybe the San Lorenzo river is not too far from your house? Plan
ahead.
-
No showers, or at least no hot showers. Make do with a quick sponge
bath to keep you from smelling too strongly. Cut your hair short
(easier to keep clean). No shaving either.
-
Since this is a simulation, I'll let you use your toilet rather than
digging cat holes in your yard. But save your used TP in a plastic bag
so that you can dispose of them properly at your next resupply point
(this reminds me of my visit to Guatemala with their weak plumbing,
and there were buckets for this purpose next to every toilet).
-
Cook everything on the top of the range with a single burner, no
oven, no microwave. Remember that you carry your fuel, so you want
to keep its use to a minimum, mainly to boil water to re-hydrate
freeze-dried food, or have a cup of something hot to drink.
-
Have up to two hot meals a day (breakfast and dinner), the rest of the
time have protein dense snacks to keep you going. Never cook meals at
your campsite, so put your belongings in your pack when you get up,
and have your breakfast an hour later on the trail. Continue hiking
the rest of the day, stop for an early dinner, then continue for
another hour until you're ready to turn in for the day. Food attract
critters (big and small), so you want to minimize food smell at your
campsite. Store any food (even if doubled bagged) and anything else
smelling (e.g. toothpaste) 100 ft away from your tent. Hang it from
a tree or better yet get a bear proof canister.
-
Plan all your meals for 5-7 days at a time, no rushing to the store
to grab something you forgot. Mail yourself packages of food that
you can pick up at nearby post offices. Rely on the kindness of
strangers to take you from the trail to your resupply points.
-
Resupply points are often good places to find a shower and a
laundromat. Otherwise make do with a single change of clothes until
such times.
-
Go to bed shortly after sunset, and wake up as the sun rises (this
will be a tough one for me).
These are mostly the hurdles you face on the trail, but I hope to show
you the flip side of this if you keep reading.
