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Walkin’ Jim’s suggestions are for those interested in doing a long wilderness trek, with the assumption that you’ve already got down a few of the backpacking basics.
• Walk with Respect
• Jim’s Gear
• Re-supply
• Suggested Reading
• Trail Food
Walk With Respect
The wilderness is more than just pretty country. It is the home of fellow creatures and often the last places these beings have to live. Treat their home as you would want your own home treated. Walk softly. Learn the philosophy of low impact camping and practice it. This is not party time central where you are heading, it is sacred ground. Treat it as such. No trace camping is very simple. Leave nothing behind but your tracks, pack out your trash, minimize your impact on the land and other wilderness travelers, and walk with respect for the area you traverse.
For Your First Long Trek, Try a Designated Trail
There are many long-distance trails which make planning and accomplishing your first long trek much easier than routing and planning it all out yourself. The Appalachian Trail, The Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail all have guidebooks available which make that first long walk much more user friendly. The PCT and AT are extremely well marked, and the CDT is becoming more so (I note this with mixed feelings) with each passing year. For your first long-distance trek, try one of the Big Three.
Try Out Your Gear
Before you start it is best to have some idea how everything works. The first night on the trail might not offer the best conditions to learn how to set up that new tent. Try out everything at home first and give it a test on a shorter weekend hike before starting out on the big one. Break in your boots or shoes well in advance of taking your first steps of the long journey. Your feet will love your for it.
What To Carry
First of all, I’m an anarchist when it comes to gear. I’m a firm believer that one of the nice things about backpacking is that anyone, with any kind of equipment, can do it. There are no rules. I once snowshoed across Upper Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota wearing blue jeans! Sure wool pants would have been better, that would be my choice today, but I made do with what I had at the time. It works. Humans are flexible critters and can get by with just about anything. Don’t let the gear snobs inhibit your enjoyment of the backcountry. Go at your own level and pace, but be prepared for anything.
Don’t scoff at folks carrying that 12 pound tent. Don’t glare at that guy not carrying a sleeping bag. Everyone has their own comfort level and that is going to determine what you end up carrying and wearing on your own long trek. Of course, where you’re heading is going to make a difference in your gear, too. Chances are you won’t need that four season tent and rain jacket out on the desert.
Here is a copy of my check list that I go over before I leave on any trek. I usually don’t always carry everything on this list, some things are more appropriate for certain treks than others, but the list can be a good start.
Jim's Gear - Check List For Extended Treks
1. Hiking Boots: I’ve worn Vasque products for over 30 years.
2. Socks: Usually three pair of liner socks and three pair of thicker rag wool socks but lately I've been trying to switch to just one pair without a liner sock.
3. Sandals: To wear around camp at the end of the day and for fording streams; the cheap ones you can find in K-mart or any department store are also the lightest
4, Underwear: 1 pair
5. Long underwear: 1 pair polypro
6. Hiking shorts
7. T-shirt
8. Long pants
9. Wind or rain pants
10. Rainjacket
11. Wool or fleece hat
12. Billed hat (I now wear a wide-brimmed hat that is better for sun protection
13. Belt
14. Bandanna
15. Raincover for pack
16. Long-sleeved shirt
17. Fleece snap-T
18. Down vest
19. Gloves: Lightweight liners if on the desert, fleece for the mountains)
20. Sunglasses: Glacier glasses for snow travel)
21. Rope: A lightweight parachute cord for a clothesline, or if I’m in bear country a stronger rope for hanging my food at night.
Walking stick
Water filter: I use the lightest and most convenient: The Hikers Friend
Water Bag: 2 gallon bag for those long stretches between springs)
Water bottles: 1.5 liter and a one liter
Backpack: Yes, I still use a JanSport frame pack after all those miles!
First Aid Kit: Besides Band-Aids, adhesive tape, butterfly bandages, pain killer, aspirin, neosporin, and a roll of gauze, it also includes a needle and thread, sunscreen and lip protector, and moleskin and second skin)
Duct tape: I usually wrap a pencil or pen with a good supply of it. Great for tent, pack, clothing repair.
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad
Camera & film
Tripod
Book: For those rainy days in camp
Maps
Journal, ink pens
Tent or bivy sac of tarp
Pocket knife
Bug palace: This is great when I don’t have the tent, or even when I do, for a place out of the mosquitoes. It’s a net canopy for a bed, but hangs easily from four trees. One of the most valued pieces of gear on the PCT)
Stove: I’ve been carrying the Sierra Zipstove on my last several treks. No worries about obtaining fuel or the extra weight of that fuel. Absolute best cooking of all the stoves!
Cooking pot
Cup
Bowl
Spoon
Pot scrubber
Matches
Food
Toilet paper: I keep an extra couple plastic bags to carry out my dirty paper. Don’t bury the paper; critters love to dig it up. Don’t try burning it on the site; it won’t burn totally up. Carry it with you. I sometimes use it for firestarter in my stove at the end of the day, and it will burn up totally in the zip stove if you put it in early on. Bury your waste, but carry out the paper!!
Vitamins
Flashlight with new batteries
Compass
Toothbrush, comb
Ground cloth
Sleeping bag liner
Ice Ax
Mosquito headnet
Start Out Slow
Often I’ve run into folks intent on jumping into 20+ mile days right from the start. Give yourself a break. You may be in good shape, and you should be in order to take on something like this, but by planning short days at the beginning, you will allow your body to adjust with ease (rather than by shock treatment) to the life of the trail.
Plan on several low mileage days at the beginning as break-in days. Even after you’ve hit your stride, try to schedule occasional short days and layover days when you can take it easy. It’s a real treat to have a layover day somewhere in the backcountry. A day off by a bubbling stream, or a high mountain lake, is much more inspiring than a day off in town.
Re-Supply
Along, or near, the established trails there are towns, resorts, and individuals which offer assistance in re-supplying. Most often the post office will be the most convenient link to your supplies. When planning a long trek, I usually determine where the closest PO’s are to where I’m walking and then write to the postmaster. I send a letter explaining what I’m doing and send a little self-addressed envelope with a survey they can fill out and return to me which will tell me the following things about their town:
PO hours?
Is it open on Saturdays? (In case you hit town on a weekend)
Is there a grocery store? (Don’t assume there will be a store just because there is post office there!)
Is there a laundromat?
Is there a motel or any lodging?
Is there a restaurant?
Is there a phone? (Believe it or not, there are still places that don’t have a public phone. This could be critical in your planning.)
Once I have this knowledge I can better plan my re-supply stop and what I will need to put in my food package which will be mailed to the town as follows:
My Name
General Delivery
Town, State, Zip
Please Hold For Long Distance Hiker
I package up all my food drops before I go, but I leave them unsealed in case I need something added at the last minute. My support person back home (wife, friend, or mailing service) is someone I try to call from each re-supply point. They have my rough schedule and will know when to mail each package, approximately two weeks prior to my arrival.
The post office is required to hold a general delivery package for at least ten days before returning any unclaimed mail. If I’m doing a long trek in an area where the post office doesn’t see a lot of hikers, I will drop the postmaster a postcard a couple weeks before I’m due (perhaps mail it from the previous mailstop?) asking them to hold my mail until I arrive, and that I am on my way.
Usually I try to get close to the re-supply town the night before. That way I can be into town bright and early, get my mail, food package, make some phone calls, mail things home I’m not using, do some laundry, and still get back to the trail and perhaps make some more miles before calling it a day.
Every month or so I plan on staying in town if there is a motel. It’s great to get a hot shower or bath and to reorganize things. If the weather has been wet, it’s a good chance to dry things out.
On some trips I’ve had a town box which I pick up at each town, then seal up and mail on to the next stop. The town box has boot oil, extra toilet paper, extra spices, clean clothes to wear around town if I’m spending the night, guitar strings, film, an extra clothes and things I think I might be needing.
Other ways to Re-supply:
I’ve also had friends meet me at trailheads or road crossings with food packages. Sometimes there are folks in the area who will do this for a fee. Write to the nearest chamber of commerce or postmaster closest to your route.
Another good way to re-supply is using a series of caches. This requires more thought, and definitely more energy on your part, but it works quite well. I use the big plastic pickle or ice-cream buckets. Seal them up well with duct tape and prior to your trek hide the buckets in trees near the places you plan on crossing the roads. You will need to return after your trek is over to pick these up, but I find the convenience during the trek itself is worth the return trip after it’s all over. If you’re in big bear country you will have to hang the buckets, or bury them, which could be a real chore. I’ve never had a cache bothered by animals by just leaving it propped in the fork of a tree.
Suggested Reading
Keeping in mind that you are going to develope your own methods, plans, gear preferences, etc. that will fit your own particular needs, here are a few good books that will put you on the right track for a long walk.
The Complete Walker
by Colin Fletcher
A Hiker’s Companion (12,000 Miles of Trail-Tested Wisdom)
by Cindy Ross and Todd Gladfelter
The PCT Hiker’s Handbook
by Ray Jardine
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