Photo Album #1 | Photo Album #2
Tues 18 (cont.)
⁃ Stay at Old Colony Ski Club (N Woodstock/Lincoln) (from Kinsman Notch/389.6)
“It’s like Christmas in here!” a fellow hiker at the ski club remarked while seeing me open one of many packages in my room. As I’d briefly mentioned previously, I was planning to swap out a lot of gear as soon as I got the chance. Many of those boxes I was opening were those pieces of gear.
The first box were replacement trekking poles. I started out with a cheap pair of carbon fiber poles on Amazon (Cascade Mountain Tech 3K Carbon for those curious). As I’d discovered, though, you get what you pay for—and I didn’t pay that much for these. The replacements are on the other end of that spectrum, though, with exceedingly high reviews—and an exceedingly high price to match. The next victims are a pair of Gossamer Gear LT5’s. After unwrapping and extending them, I immediately noticed just how wicked light they are. And for the most part, the quality of the poles are exceptional. Though if I’m being nitpicky, the kinda hybrid mud-snow cups don’t screw on securely. As a result, I’m a bit afraid of losing one after sticking it in sticky mud or from it twisting off over time. Additionally, the foam handles feel cheap on an otherwise beautiful pair of poles.
Next, was a small box from home with new ultra-sil dry bags, a reusable desiccant packet, a lighter poop shovel, a tick remover tool, an old tyvek envelope, two prepaid postage labels and mailing envelopes, and some packing tape.
The dry bags and desiccant are to hopefully keep my camera dry and condensation free, by separating them from sleeping bag and extra clothes and absorbing any collected moisture after rainy days. The system is essentially equivalent to the desiccant capsules Pelican offers for use with their cases, but since the packet is not metal, I can dry it in the microwave instead of the oven, making it easier to refresh at any given hostel along the way.
The trowel (a BoglerCo UL Trowel) is replacing a relatively heavy polycarbonate one that I’d been carrying thus far (I’d picked it up on clearance for like $3, so it’s not a huge waste). However, because of how maddeningly lightweight the trowel is (it flexes like the walls of an empty soda can), I plan to carry both for a bit to give it a trial run before hopefully chucking the PC one in a hiker box down the trail.
The tick remover was an impulse buy while browsing Garage Grown Gear, and it’s so light it can’t possibly hurt to carry it.
The old tyvek envelope is going to be turned into a small doormat for my tent. I might use the other half as a place to set my pack if I’m on an especially muddy or wet patch of ground.
The labels and envelopes are to (1) send my old raincoat and dry bag home and (2) return one of two raincoats to Montbell. We did this since I didn’t know if I’d have a printer, while also being able to avoid paying the outrageous USPS retail rates at the post office, and instead pay comercial (or below) prices (the labels are printed using pirate ship, which I’d highly recommend using for printing any postage ).
The next package was the raincoats. Because I was somewhat in between sizes, and I was concerned about layerability, I ordered a S and a M of the Montbell Versalite, with plans to return the ill fitting jacket. Apparently, while placing the order, I accidentally ordered light blue instead of Navy for the M (to match the S), which was initially not my first color choice, but after seeing it in person, it’s actually a much better color than I expected. However, the S was a better, tighter fit, while still having room for two mid layers—or maybe a light mid layer and a light puffy.
The next box was new shoes. While my Lone Peak 7’s held on for a long time, even after ripping the uppers over 150 miles ago, they were definitely were due for a replacement, as the tears in the upper was about ready to connect together—leaving my toes way more exposed than I’d like them to be. Additionally, the treads were just about worn down enough to be level with the rest of the sole—equating to zero traction on the numerous wet, slanted rock slabs. Needless to say, I’m not going to bother sending shoes home that have at most 50 miles left on them—especially since I already have another pair sitting at home that has about 100 miles left on them. While it sounds like I’m dogging on the Lone Peaks, I have been pretty impressed with the durability, especially since they’re still on their original shoelaces and insoles. For the new pair, I’m trying out the Altras Mont Blancs, well ahead of the eventual traverse through the rocks of Painsylvania. In addition to the extra 5 mm of padding, they also have Vibram treads, which should hopefully help on the grippy-ness of them on the rock slabs. After try them on, I probably should have sized up to a 10.5 or 11, since my toes have flattened out or my feet have swollen since I bought the Lone Peaks. And looking at how my foot now spills over the sides of the soles (and out the tears in the uppers), it definitely seems like they’re bigger than when I started out (and possibly this is some of the reason they’re tearing). I’m still deciding whether to order the larger size and then return the 10’s, or if my feet will be ok with the smaller size.
The final box was a typical food resupply box, though there were a few special items included.
First, a few safety pins to temporarily repair torn fabric until I can stitch it up (which, while still amateur, my sewing skills were good enough to stitch the sleeve on the top of the pride flag back on when it started pulling off a while back). I may also use the safety pins to help keep my sleeves rolled up when I have them up while hiking, as I’ve found the tab and loop system that’s built in to be ineffective at keeping them up, at least on my right arm (maybe my left bicep/tricep is bigger, so that sleeve remains tight, idk).
Second, a tiny piece of sandpaper to roughen up the Delrin hoop section of my bag’s frame, which should stop the frame from making an obnoxious squeaking noise while I’m moving (as overheard from another hiker talking about a message from Peter at ULA).
The last piece of gear I’m replacing is my worn pair of socks, which I’ll have to go across town to swap them out in-store in Lincoln (Darn Tough socks are great: buy them, wear them to death, get them replaced, repeat ad infinium).
I finally got around to creating an updated lighterpack list for these recent changes and the changes I made in Monson (after getting “permission” from Poet to ditch some of the nonessentials), which is available here: https://lighterpack.com/r/dgzotu . For comparison, the old list is here: https://lighterpack.com/r/k6gcj1 . Even with adding wind pants and a desiccant packet, I managed to end up 1.25 lbs lighter, for a base weight of 15.75 lbs. While that may not sound like a lot, it’s quite noticeable when you’re no longer carrying that weight. And while I think there’s still room to shed some weight, I’m not sure I really feel the need to at this point. First, switching to a cooler quilt and a shorter sleeping pad, which would save 1-2 lbs, depending on how aggressive I am. Second, going stoveless, which would save a little over 1 lb. Third, switching to a lighter, smaller bag, which could save 4-6 oz.
After fighting to understand the ultralight mentality initially, I’ve finally started to understand the core ethos behind it. Essentially there’s two equally important facets to successfully embracing ultralight. First, bringing only the gear that is strictly necessary for what you’re doing (the “minimalist” side). And secondly, relentlessly minimizing weight of every piece of your gear (the “optimizer” side).
Wed 19
⁃ Stay at Old Colony Ski Club
It’s pretty interesting what cravings you get when you’re on-trail and when you’re in town. For example, a recent treat I’ve been having while on-trail has been peanut-butter-dipped Nutella. And while stopping for lunch, I had the gourmet desert of my leftover crushed Oreos, leftover peanut butter, and leftover Nutella, all mixed together to form a delectably salty, sweet, and crunchy dessert—or at least I thought so.
Yesterday while in town, I was
craving Root Beer and ice cream. So of course I had to try a root beer float with the ice cream I’d chosen, Ben and Jerry’s “The Tonight Dough”, which can be best described as the ice cream equivalent of a kitchen sink bagel, with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, two kinds of cookie dough, peanut butter and chocolate swirls, and more. And, at least to my deprived taste buds, the float turned out great.
Returning to the land of normal food though, cheese, Greek yogurt, and French toast are the other things I’ve been craving, so I picked up some VT extra sharp cheddar yesterday, then today picked up some fresh mozzarella, crackers, Greek yogurt, and French toast Ingredients, along with some ham for making sandwiches while I’m in town for the next few days. I was also wanting some good Asian food, so I stopped at a Thai place on the way back from doing the sock exchange today.
While the portions weren’t huge (I could probably have easily finished two dishes if I wanted to), what I had (Pad Zee Ew and Thai Ice Tea Boba) was excellent, and was pretty reasonably priced. So if you find yourself in Lincoln, NH, Thai 9 is a solid option for food in town.
—
Oh, yeah, like I hinted at above, I’m going to be staying in town for a few days.
Remember how I said I got a fever and I was itchy everywhere? Well, it didn’t go away. I also had a slightly sore throat, which has since gotten a bit worse over the last few days. The itchiness though, got way worse and has turned into a full-on rash (primarily around the top of my leggings and going down about 12”, but it’s also on my back, feet, and hands as well). There might be some on my face underneath my facial hair, but that might just be normal dry, cracked skin and acne. It’s bad enough that it seems to make it difficult to fall asleep since I’m shifting positions to avoid constantly applying pressure to it.
The internet thinks it could be any number of things, ranging in severity from a heat rash to chickenpox or numerous other things. Based on where it was and having had what I can best describe as a pain I can best describe as “hurting to sweat” occasionally appear a few weeks ago, my guess was a heat rash, and I tried some suggestions of icing it or taking a cold shower and gently exfoliating the skin. Icing it last night seemed to help with the itchiness and warmth, but it didn’t help reduce the irritation once the icing was removed. And a cold shower (with some light exfoliation) felt amazing in the moment—but resulted in dramatically increasing the affected area, and made it much more itchy and sensitive afterwards.
So, after exhausting the usefulness of the internet, I turned to a different form of the internet: a virtual care visit through CVS MinuteClinic. For the most part, it went well, but if given the option, I’d rather see a provider in-person, where they can directly investigate the rash it rather than me attempting to self describe it to them and use a phone camera show it to them. Their best guess was hand, foot, and mouth disease, but that didn’t effectively explain the rash being primarily around my waist. In any case, though, they gave me a prescription for oral steroids (a corticosteroid (prednisone), not an anabolic steroid (ie, the get jacked kind)) and an antibiotic (initially, they were going to do doxycycline, which is the first-line treatment for tick bites, but we decided to switch to a different one since doxycycline significantly increases sun sensitivity, which would not be ideal while hiking). The steroids should help reduce the inflammation and irritation no matter what the cause is, while the antibiotic is to kill any bacteria, should it be from a tick bite (doubtful since I’ve only seen one tick thus far (and I didn’t even get a good look at it, so it might’ve been something else)).
She also recommended I stay in town for the next day or two to ensure the condition improves, and said to probably just go to the nearby urgent care if it’s still an issue, since they could do testing and see it in-person.
So, I guess I get to hang out, listen to a few more podcasts, watch a few more movies, post these blog updates, upload photos, and return to the land of real food and solid poops.
By the time I get back on trail, the tramily (trail family) I’d been around for the past month or so will be way ahead, so I’m there’ll be a new tramily I get to know when I get back on trail. And I’m sure I’ll see some of the old tramily (Sundial, Bucko, Andrew, and Mimosa) along the way or at least occasionally hear how they’re doing from NOBOs we both meet along the way.
—
It’d be really nice if my feet weren’t itchy and everything so I could actually feel how the new shoes feel while walking around town.
Oh, I also decided to go to the smaller size darn tough socks since I constantly found the L size to be a bit too loose on my feet (they’re supposed to be for shoe sizes 10-12, but my feet are anywhere between a 9 and 12.5, depending on the style of shoe).
Thurs 20
⁃ Stay at Old Colony Ski Club
The rash doesn’t seem to be getting better, so I may need to go to urgent care tmrw if it’s still not getting any better.
If I’m being honest, today was a bit of a blur, but in a good, relaxing, “I have nothing I need to do” kind of way. Brunch was homemade French Toast with Greek yogurt and the last of some community-fridge blueberries. I can’t even remember what I made myself for dinner anymore. I had a six-hour long nap midday, which felt amazing. And was probably my body catching up on sleep I’d been missing from the past few nights. The night ended with sitting and chatting around the fire with others at the ski club, under one of their first dry nights in weeks.
Fri 21
⁃ Stay at Old Colony Ski Club
The rash appears mostly the same, but it’s no longer really itching, and might be starting to scab over and recede. Not to mention, the fever and sore throat have been gone for a while and I’m generally feeling a lot better today. So I plan on going out tomorrow. And I don’t need to see urgent care (woot!).
While picking up the rest of my prescription, I decided to also grab some Claritin, which may help reduce the itchiness further. I also mulled over getting Calamine lotion, but couldn’t really justify carrying it, nor risking getting it on everything (especially on my sleeping bag). Though I did grab a travel size bottle of a good face wash, since I’m a bit tired of the lack of sulfate-free options at most hostels (I know, I’m picky) (and since I learned camp suds has Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in it yesterday 😐 ).
Sat 22
Woke up at 11 am today. What if I just…didn’t hike today? And instead relaxed for another day, ate real food, and watched another movie or two?
Yeah. Let’s do that.
—
Merland’s Tap & Table was pretty underwhelming for dinner. I had the Mushroom Onion Smashburger. The meat was devoid of flavor, the dijonnase was overpowering, and the onions and mushrooms were barely noticeable. Also the onion rings were nothing special.
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