Some people need to drink more. This is my impression from reading online forums about planning to hike the Pacific Nortwest trail (PNT) a question was ” How many calories do people plan to eat a day?” Some nerd, answered with a 1,000 word essay on nutrition. I Just said “I plan to eat when I am hungry.” Then I elaborated about why I try not to overthink stuff and just enjoy the experience.
Sometimes I worry about how I come accross. I have a stereotype in my head of this questioner. Probably a young millenial, who is super smart, maybe working on a bio chemistry degree, or taking a break before he or she goes to graduate scool. I have seen many thru hikers like this, especially on the PCT. You can take a really anal, scientific approach to thru hiking. People do. Especially really extreme gear heads. They know to the ounce what all their gear weighs and the qualities of all the space age materials from whence it came. People plan these trips for months in advance, freeze drying each individual meal.
But then you see these same people in bars on a zero day getting smashed! And making slightly bad decisions, hooking up with people you didn’t quite expect them to, doing other crazy spontaneous things. I think subconsciously they are seeking a type of balance between choas and control.
We need both to have an adventure. You don’t want to be completely unprepared, but you also want to leave room for sponteneity. The fun for me is continually being surprised! You can’t factor in every variable. If you could would you want to?
In contrast on a similar forum I saw a hippy who started hiking the CDT with no map. He was widely castigated. Then he caught up with my buddy Itis, and used his maps, which was kind of funny, because I remenber Itis saying he doesn’t like to plan too much so he hikes with people who like to plan and then he lets them plan his hike. (egineer by the way)
My plan usually amounts to whatever gear I could scrape together and guide book most people consider too heavy to pack. I avoided looking at too many pictures of views from the trail online. I want to experience it in the moment! Everybody has their own point on a continuum of the tension between control and chaos.
FREE RANGE ORGANIC HUMAN 