How can I keep this one PG?

One element of personal hygiene is responding to "nature's call".  There's the Number 1 and the Number 2.  Given that I'm male, Number 1 is much easier than if I were female, but we all have to deal with Number 2.  Being away from civilization for 12 days, I'm not going to hold it that long. 

My sources indicate that there's a right way and a wrong way for Number 1.  Peeing on a tree, well that's not good for the tree.  Also, urine has many salts and chemicals that wildlife are attracted to, so they tend to tear up plant life for those random Number 1 spots.  Allan and Rick both say that the best thing to do is to wet a rock, and if possible, one that is in the sun.  That way, it dries quickly and the salts are easily available to any passing animal. 

As for Number 2, it's a bit more difficult, but phenomenally popular.  Kathleen Meyer wrote an entire book on the subject.  There is a Facebook page devoted to it.  There are videos on YouTube about it.  It seems like everyone's got a funny story about doing it when you have to no matter where you are. 

The prescription for a successful Number 2 in the woods is to dig a cathole (6-8 inches deep) and poop into it.  Of course, there's some squatting involved, but if you can find a log it may help you.  Toilet paper is not recommended, for if you use paper, you should pack it out with you.  Carrying around used TP doesn't sound like my idea of fun, but there are places where they make you carry out everything, not just the TP. 

The nice thing about the Wonderland Trail is that many of the wilderness camps have latrines.  If you can hold it, this is a good option. 

What's that smell?

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. 

Hand Washing

Every backpacking source that I've read have been emphatic about the importance of hand washing on the trail.  They point to the case that normal rules you use at home should be the same as on the trail (wash after using the toilet, before and after cooking, and before eating).  These are just much harder to do when there isn't a steady stream of sanitary water coming from a faucet. 

There are different ways to clean your hands, but the easiest are the hand sanitizers.  These are great for sanitizing hands before eating, for they are very effective at killing off germs and other nasties.  What they don't do is clean your hands of dirt and other crud.  For that, plain old soap and water are required.  However, soap can be unhealthy for the environment, particularly if the phosphates in the soap get into the water supply and create algae blooms.   So, I'll need to get some special soap that doesn't have any phosphates. 

When setting up a washing station in camp, the standard is to set it up 200 feet from camp, and 200 feet from a water source.  The objective is to let the water, soap and any dirt soak into the ground and allow the ground to use it as a filter.  Don't pour it on any vegetation, for it may kill it or animals may dig it up if there's something tasty in the water.  (Apparently, the animals on the mountain will find most anything tasty.) 

So, the rule seems to be, keep them clean to avoid the spread of disease.  Didn't we learn that in the 1700's? 

Keep your Stuff Dry.

When it begins to rain, and the rain begins to soak through your pack, the water in the rain starts to get everything in the pack wet.  Remember, water weighs a bit over 8 lbs per gallon, so your pack can quickly turn into a lead weight if you're not careful. 

One solution to this is to buy a raincoat for your pack.  Called pack covers, they usually have drawstrings to cover your pack so that it doesn't get wet.  Allen & Mike, however, have a better idea.  Use a heavy duty garbage bag and put it inside the pack.  It will save on weight and on the pocket book. 

The downside is that the pack itself will get wet in the face of a rainstorm.  The upside is that if needed, the bag can be used for many other things.  One rule of backpacking is to bring as many multi-use items as possible. 

God's Little Tricks, or Water.

Hiking up and down hills takes a lot of energy.  With that as well, the human body uses quite a bit of water via persperation, or old fashion sweat.  According to Allen & Mike, you will need 3-4 quarts of water per day.  That translates into 8.35 lbs of water that you'll either need to carry with you or find along the way.

Of course, you will need to carry the water in something.  We have a cute little stainless steel water bottle that we picked up at a store somewhere on sale.  It looks to hold about 16 fl oz. and weighs about 5 oz.  However, according to Allen & Mike, carrying the fancy water bottle is just a waste.  They suggest that you take an old plastic Coke bottle, clean it out, and use it for your water supply.  The plastic bottle weighs only about 1 oz. and you won't be using it long enough for nasty chemicals to leach out too much.

I'll probably end up with the Coke bottle method, since I regularly do what you're not supposed to do and refill plastic water bottles from the tap.  I also save quite a bit of money not buying a skid of water every week.

The unfortunate part about finding water on the trail, though, is that it's usually at the bottom of the hill.  The trail usually crosses a stream, then goes up to the top of a ridge, where it's barren.  I guess I'll just have to figure on carrying that 8.35 lbs of water up the hill with me on a daily basis.

Thanks, God.  Gravity is fine most of the time, but sometimes it's just a bit inconvenient.

My First Reference Book.

I've mentioned Bette Filley's Discovering the Wonders of the Wonderland Trail encircling Mount Rainer and Rick Curtis' Backpackers' Field Manual, but long before I got those books, I had another book that started it all.  It's hard to remember, but I believe that it started out when Gail and I were browsing some National Park bookstore, and I saw this book I couldn't resist:  Allen and Mike's Really Cook Backpackin' Book: Traveling and camping sklls for a wilderness environment! by Allen O'Bannon and illustrations by Mike Clelland.  I've had it so long, I've just found it again.  In the bookshelf, of all places! 

The name kind of gives you an idea of the flavor of this book.  Part tongue in cheek, part lessons learned, part redneck backpacking, this book is short and sweet and gives you a whole lot of info crammed into 155 pages.  Along with a few laughs.

For instance, the section about packing your backpack basically says to eschew the fancy packing sacks and compression bags, they just add weight.  Treat your backpack like a big bag and shove stuff into it.  No one cares about wrinkles on the trail.  So, my task is to compare all the different advice and figure out what I want to do for myself.