It is now only two more days before I depart for the trail. Suddenly, there is much on the agenda. I need to take care of the final resupply packages, which include a bucket that I’ll mail on Monday as well as four boxes that Betsy will send later on. I have not gotten in a few last raining hikes, but still think I’m ready. The forecast suggests that my first few miles will be hotter than average, meaning that I will need to limit my hiking in the heat of the day. Thankfully, the weather is cooling off a bit as I write this.
I made my final review of all my equipment. I set up my tent out on the golf course late one night. I tried out the Sawyer squeeze and realized that it was old, didn’t work, and needed to be replaced. I played around with my stoves, decided to get a 750 ml titanium cup with handles to use with the MSR pocket rocket stove. The final weight (without the fuel canister) is now 7.2 oz compared to the 13.1 oz I used for the Jetboil Flash Lite stove that I was previously using. I blew up my air mattress to make sure there were no leaks. Everything packed nicely into my backpack, so I now feel ready to go.
Other chores involved taking care of odds and ends around the house with Betsy, mailing my final resupply, and assuring that my electronics were up to speed. Finally, I am doing this post on my iPhone as a warm-up to doing this every night on the trail. I think I’m ready, and tomorrow I catch busses to take me to Lake Isabella. You can follow me on this blog page as I will NOT be posting to Facebook. My public InReach breadcrumbs which will tell you exactly where I’m at at all times (if I’m on the trail) can be found at share.garmin.com/PuyallupPilgrim
I welcome your prayers. You are welcome to contact me but please don’t use Satellite messaging unless it’s an emergency. Also, it may take a week or two for me to get back to you.
This isn’t a backpacking checklist; it’s a pharmacy checklist! Ibuprofin? Vicodin? Valium? Triazolam?
You don’t insect repellant if you take vitamin B. The resultant skin odor is not detected by humans but insects don’t like it.
Dennis; you must be blind. Also, you remain completely uninformed as to the medical problems of long-distance hikers. Your quick comments often are relevant, but these are not. And yes, I’ve tried “vit B” (not sure what that is) but it also doesn’t work on real mosquitos. Mosquitos probably avoid you because you have bad blood, and not because of whatever mythical entity you consume to try to fight them off.
I don’t use vitamin B1 – the vitamin that repels insects – because we have few of them around here in the jungle.
According to Debbie Fuchs, B1 definitely works.