Imagine walking with 40 lbs on your back for 5 or more hours in the sun while it's hot outside. Naturally, you're going to sweat. Now imagine doing this for 12 straight days without a decent shower. Then imagine having your loved one pick you up to drive you home. Only the strongest of marriages can survive such an ordeal.
Face it, on the trail, I'm going to stink. I'm sure I'll be sweating profusely, and deodorant is a no-no (the scent tends to attract bugs). I'm sure I'll be slathering on the sunblock, since anything less than SPF 30 will leave me lobsterlike. And then there's the DEET, which is used liberally by tree huggers and back to nature dwellers everywhere to keep the mosquitoes away. (Ironic, isn't it?)
Apparently, according to Rick and Allen, I'll get used to the "clean is a relative term" concept and won't mind it if my nasal cavities are scrubbed away by the stench. They say that a quick dip in a stream is probably the most effective way of cleaning yourself off. (The emphasis will be on the quick part, given that the stream started from a glacier a mile or two upstream.) If my experience with the pond is anything, I shouldn't feel any extremities in less than a minute. Hypothermia is your friend.
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