Sitting Is The New Smoking

I have been seeing more and more reports that sitting is bad for you. I don't have to worry about that for the next few months. I won't be doing much sitting. I'll be walking 10+ hours a day. Here is some helpful info on minimizing the effect of sitting for long periods of time. If you are reading this, you are probably sitting down. Maybe it is time to go for a walk (after you finish reading my blog of course). You don't have to hike 2,650 miles, just start with a walk around the block. Yes you can!

Inspire Me!

The Muir Project-Range of Light from The Muir Project

Need some hiking inspiration? This video does it for me! It's a clip from a documentary of John Muir Trail (JMT) in the High Sierra. The trail is 211 miles long stretching from Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mt. Whitney. The Pacific Crest trail follows the JMT through the High Sierra and is considered one of the highlights of the entire PCT. I have hiked the John Muir Trail many times and I look forward to the beauty and familiarity of this section of the trail. The Sierras feel like home. There are more videos from the movie on Vimeo. Just press the link below the video. Watch them in HD and full screen, but be careful not to drool on your computer keyboard. (Is that just my problem?)

This American Hike

One of my favorite radio programs is "This American Life" on NPR. You can find the program archive here. I listen to it when I work in the garage, on my computer, driving in the car, and working in the yards. Many of the programs are from a very liberal perspective but I still find them interesting and thought provoking. Here is a classic episode about summer camp.

I read someone's thru-hiking blog and they complained that their brain was turning to mush without some external stimulation. That's when I had the idea of capturing the entire "This American Life" program archive and put the episodes on my tiny mp3 player so I can enjoy them on the trail. I have to capture the audio in real time, which means that each one hour episode takes one hour to capture. So far I have 325 of the 500+ episodes and I hope to have them all by the time I leave. I have room for about 100 episodes at a time on my mp3 player, so each month, when Eva meets me on the trail; I'll update my mp3 player with new episodes. I'm thinking I might call my hike: "This American Hike," and when I return from Canada they can do a story about me!

Beside "This American Life" I also have all the episodes of "Radio Lab," an entire audio Bible, some favorite sermons, and about 50 hours of music. I think I will have plenty of stimulation to keep my brain from turning to mush! Keep calm and hike on!

Best Ideas

 

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” 

― Friedrich Nietzsche

I often joke with my wife that I get some of my best ideas while in the bathroom, but it's not true. (It is true however, that I enjoy reading the newspaper while sitting on the porcelain throne.) But new ideas, answers to problems, and moments of clarity often do occur when I am hiking. There is something about being outdoors, in motion, and free from distraction that awakens my mind. I was day hiking a few weeks ago on a Friday and was thinking about one of my favorite theological themes: atonement, and there was a moment of clarity when I got it! It was like I could see it clearly in my mind. I understood how it "worked" and the relationship to other themes like law, sin, grace and forgiveness. I tried to focus and make the most of my aha moment, but then I met another hiker on the trail and we spent a few minutes chatting about the weather, lack of rain, and the trail conditions. When I decided to push on, it was gone. I couldn't even remember what it was that I had discovered. Oh well, I will have plenty of time on the PCT to think deeply about the atonement and many other topics. Keep calm and hike on.

Hiker Hygiene...Or Not!

By this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. John 11:39 KJV

I'm not sure which smells worse: being dead four days or hiking a week without bathing. It's a fact that thru-hikers have a very distinctive look but the true sign of a long distance hiker is the overwhelming smell. Without the ability to wash your body or clothing on a daily basis there quickly forms what many call "thru-hiker stench." It permeates your body, clothing, and gear. My limited experience tells me that a good shower does wonders for the body, but after a few weeks, no matter how much you wash your clothes and clean your gear, the smell lingers and there is no way to get it out. I have shirts that smell like "hiking" no matter how many times Eva washes them. When they are freshly washed the hiker odor is not overpowering and there is something strangely familiar and comforting about it. But after wearing one of the shirts a full day on the trail, the smell returns with a vengeance and I wonder if it's time to burn or bury it.

I don't shave on the trail. I don't like having a beard, but it's too much trouble to shave and there is no point in looking good if you still stink! I never wash my hair while hiking unless you count swimming in a lake or pouring a liter of water over my head. Dental hygiene is a little easier on the trail, unless you lose your toothbrush, which I did...once. It doesn't take much water to brush your teeth on the trail, but I don't floss while hiking. It's too hard to keep my hands clean enough that I am willing to put them in my mouth.

I have a theory that there is a limit to how dirty and smelly I can get while hiking. I believe there is only so much dirt that can stick to my body and only so much bacteria that can feed on my sweat. It takes me a few days to get to this "saturation point," but once I am there and accept the fact that I am dirty and smell, I relax and quit worrying about it. The goal at that point becomes maintaining a level of hygiene that prevents rashes, chafing, infection, and food contamination. Even this is a challenge in the desert where water is limited and the heat promotes extra sweat. But I am not one to revel in my dirt and smell and always look forward to the next opportunity to shower and wash my clothes. When my children were little and I would return from backpacking for two weeks, they would say, "Look how tan daddy is." After I took a shower, they would say, "daddy isn't tan, he was just really dirty!" Keep calm and hike on!