City Life versus Trail Life

I think everyone should walk at least part of the trail, or do some week or two-week or more long distance hike in which the bounties of excess of our daily lives are not so available. It will really serve to help each one of us appreciate a little bit more those things that we have.

On the trail, things are much simpler, our needs are much more basic and we tend to become more appreciative of the things we do have. I wanted to illustrate this a little bit and hopefully give folks some idea of what I'm talking about. Here are some comparisons of life in the city, versus life on the trail:

Stuff:

In civilization, we accumulate stuff for whatever reason, for decoration, because we like to collect, because it makes us feel better or maybe just because we got a good deal on it. We accumulate stuff and store it in closets, attics, storage sheds or sometimes we rent storage facilities and pay them monthly to hold our stuff. We may use it regularly or not, or may never use it until we dump it at a garage sale or thrift store.

On the trail, we have to carry everything, so we try to limit the things we carry to those things that serve at least two purposes and which we will use every day. A large mug will serve as a coffee cup, a bowl for oatmeal, a water-gatherer to collect water during the day. A small stuff sack will hold our clothes but will also serve as a pillow at night. Everything we have, we look at and evaluate carefully to see if we really need it, and if not, we give it away or send it home...to store in a closet, attic or shed :)

Food:

In civilization, we buy as much as we can in larger quantities so we can store the rest to eat later. The larger quantities we buy, often the better price we get on a particular item. We bring it home in multiple bags, store it in cabinets, the fridge, the freezer and eat it the same day or days, weeks or maybe months later.

On the trail, we try to only buy (or carry if mail drops are sent to us from home) quantities to last us for the duration of the next part of our hike. The food needs to represent a good balance of calories, protein and carbs to carry us for our long days of hiking. Ideally, when we are strolling into the next resupply point, we will have an empty or near empty food bag which means we've planned our food resupply properly. Sometimes we will carry an extra day of food for emergencies.

Water:

In civilization, we always know that a reliable water source is only feet away with clean, unpolluted (for the most part) fresh water. Or we may have purified spring or bottled water at a cool 40 degrees in our fridge or nearby water cooler. If we don't we can usually buy some wherever we are at a store, cafe or vending machine. We may flush our toilets often, let the hose run outside watering plants or maybe we'll leave it on accidentally or leave a faucet running inside a house. No big deal, just turn it off and hope that we didn't use too much and run up the water bill.

On the trail, our days or planned around where our next water source will be, which will either be a stream, a spring or maybe a stagnant pool of water teeming with mosquitoes, bugs or salamanders and a good amount of slime. We have to fill our water bottles or water bladders with this water and filter and/or purify it to make it safe to drink. In some cases, the water supply may be near non-existent requiring that we sit at a spot for a half hour or more scooping up drops at a time until we have enough to drink. In other places, especially during the hot summer months, there may be no water supply for many miles leaving us dehydrated. We may also have to carry a gallon of water or more a half mile or more back to camp before we can even purify and use it and sometimes, polluted water may carry diseases that we have not fully treated it against. Every drop is precious and we are careful to use all that we take.

Weather:

In civilization, we can watch the weather channel and get some idea of what the weather will be for the day. We can pick the apppropriate clothes out of our wardrobe and dress accordingly, taking an umbrella or suitable 'options.' We have our whole wardrobe to pick from and worse case scenario, we can just avoid the weather by careful walking outside, or by driving in our cars or staying under awnings or inside buildings until the weather becomes more suitable.

On the trail, we generally have a pair or shorts or two, a shirt or two, rain clothes and maybe a little clothing to provide warmth like gloves and a hat. But we have no weather channel and we must learn to read the clouds and temperature and the sun and try to anticipate the weather. Out in the woods we have no places to duck if a rainstorm starts. Sometimes we can hide under some large leafy trees or bushes but when those leaves become soaked, the rain falls. We are often caught by sudden storms, must traverse deep muddy paths of slush, dodge hail storms, lightning, freezing weather and whatever else mother nature throws at us. If we are not careful we could literally succumb to the temperatures as when our core body temperature becomes too hot or too cold, we start to lose touch with reality and can make some fatal decisions.

Friends:

In civilization we have a great deal of control over how we can interact or not interact with our friends. We have lots of people around us to choose from to be with. We can meet certain friends in certain places and other friends in other places. We can spend an hour or several days with our friends.

On the trail, you share a common bond with your fellow hikers and some of them do become close friends. In some cases your hiking styles might be similar to the point where you can spend a few days or even months walking together. In other cases those people with whom you might most want to walk, you won't be able to because of your hiking speed or schedules. And sometimes, those people who you least want to be around can 'glom' onto you for hundreds of miles and it's not like you can just go home to avoid them. But the toils of the everyday challenges make many hikers 'friends' by default.

Health:

In civilization, we can let ourselves 'go' and still function. We can live unhealthy lives for many years at a time and just cease activities that strain us until we are living quite sedentary lives. If something in our body breaks, we can get it fixed, hopefully, or make small changes to our routine to make that 'thing' stop hurting. Doctors can fix much of what's wrong with us and even if we can't walk 10 feet without being out of breath, we can still sit in a chair somewhere and make a living doing something.

On the trail, your getting from point "A" to point "B" requires your physical ability to not only traverse that distance, but to do so carrying 30-40 pounds on your back. And you must do this up and down hills, over rocks, roots, grassy terrain and the rare but occasional track beds of pine needles. You must do 12-15 miles a day and you must do this in a certain amount of time. This requires that you are eating a diet to support this acitivity every day and that you are hydrating yourself properly and that you do not have body parts that are hurting or broken. You must be extremely careful to ensure that your body is funtioning properly or it will just break down. If you have pains, you must address them, somehow, which many times just means taking Ibuprofin until the pain stops or use some other kind of 'band-aid" until you can get to a town and have it looked at.

And so...

These are just a few ways that civilization life differs from trail life. There are many others, but one thing I have experienced personally, is that living life on the trail has really given me a perspective and a greater appreciation for those things that I do have. I do fear a bit that when I am finished with my hike, I may succumb to the pure excess that civilized life has to offer and forget how thankful I am for these things. But I hope that each time I turn on a water faucet at home or in town, I will think about how important and valuable clean water is on the trail. I hope that when I open up a fridge to make a sandwich, that I will remember that on the trail, most of these things are not available. And mostly, I hope that I remember that when I am back in civilization, I should live each day as if I had to carry a heavy backpack up and down mountains and to keep my body healthy accordingly.

Muddyshoes