3 lessons learned that I’m going to take in The Wonderland Trail

With team, knowledge is power

The entire team I bought before my walk along the Colorado path in 2018 was Ultralight. This was the beginning of my ultralight obsession. The people would comment that I was starting to get a little crazy when I began to cut my toothbrushes in half or take 28 days of dental thread to leave the container. What I have learned is that there is a thin line between ultralight and not being prepared. I found myself leaving critical equipment at home because I wanted a lower base weight or a purchase team just because it was ultralight without really understanding its design, strengths or weaknesses before using it.

The real attention call was when I fired the Big Sur Sykes Hot Springs Extended Loop in Big Sur. The weather forecast, with which I did not pay enough attention to the persistent rain. I was always looking for a rain jacket that had a decent isolation so that I did not have to bring my jacket and the rain jacket separately and could save some ounces. I just packed my Parka de Montbell Storm for rain and warmth protection. In addition, I packed my plexamide zpacks for my refuge. I had walked with this refuge in the JMT and TRT without any problem and after watching the Zpacks video, I just followed the basic instructions on how to launch it. I did not immerse myself deeply in the technical design of the store or really took the time to understand their strengths and weaknesses, apart from knowing that it was a light refuge that I had used successfully on many trips and backpackers before. The difference this time was that he had never used this store in a severe rain storm, where a good tone would be crucial for the functionality of the store. He also did not know that the tents of a single -wall tended to have problems with condensation. A lot of research that should have happened before my purchase or immediately after it did not happen, so I found undesirable surprises. This was the textbook that was not prepared accordingly or fully understanding my team.

Anyway, I sweat through that storm jacket that makes the isolation useless and the rain had done a decent job to wet my sleeping bag on the first night with 2 days that remain to walk. With the rain without leaving from above, it was very close to hypothermia for the second night. The wind was howling and our camp for the second night was on a suction crest with so compacted land that I could not put my tent. I simply removed all my clothes and jumped to my sleeping bag inside my store, which was not even thrown. I spent the night, but it was miserable. To put it simple and simple, I learned the importance of conducting reflexive research on the team that I have chosen to take and trust so that this does not happen again. You do not have to say that before presenting the path of the wonders of wonders I will see many videos and I will read a multitude of forums to educate myself better to use my store at its maximum potential.

Big Sur Day 1 | Dry and fueled

Big Sur Night 1 | Calm before the storm

Big Sur Day 2 | The famous jacket that will soon be soaked

The Poptart are in the fruit group, right?

I love hiking because I exercise so much that I allow permission to eat what I would consider garbage in my daily routine. How as on the road and how as trail are two very different diets. Outside the path, I fell mainly with the vegan diet, eating comprehensive foods and I stay away from any animal product. When I’m on my way, I’m going to the city. Hiker Hunger is real and generally endless sugar and carbohydrates. I have had trouble making my diet unhealthy to a healthier, mainly due to the intense hunger for hikers. At the end of the day, I do not want a broccoli stew, but aging and making recent laboratories makes me rethink my trail diet.

Before walking through the TC in 2018, he had done some reference blood works. Now on the way, I hoped that the level of physical activity that I was doing daily would compensate for my unhealthy diet (Cebra Cakes, Poparts, Chocolate Bars). When I got home and remake my blood work, I discovered that my cholesterol had increased dramatically and had a much higher cardiovascular risk than before my walk. This took me through a burrow of reading articles and scientific articles that discuss the relationship between cotton, nutrition and performance. Although this issue seems to be in their childhood, all articles practically preached the same message … that hikers tended to be deficient in micronutrients (vitamins and minerals that can be acquired from fruits, vegetables or nuts, to name a few) and that the physical demands of the horizons were not compensated with their bad diets. In no way I am a researcher or doctor, but for me this was enough to at least start the conversation with myself that I should probably try to improve my path diet. To do this, I would have to be more involved with my food planning and preparation. I bought a dehydrator for dried fruits and vegetables, as well as I created lentil and rice meals. I also bought some plants -based backpack meals to try the path to give me ideas for future walks. Of course, I’m still packing my Lenny’s cookies … But this is the beginning of a new relationship with food on the path and I am excited to see how that affects my performance in this next walk.

Some new meals to try!

Home dehydrated vegetable rice!

Homemade peaches and bananas