I’m getting overwhelmed with all I have to do for this trip, but I will keep persevering as my list grows longer!
My focus this week has been on building my mental resilience and also studying altitude and dehydration.
Last weekend I took a group up to the Peak District. I was camping at the same place for two nights, but I knew I needed to practice breaking down camp in the freezing cold (-3 celsius / 26 Fahrenheit). I camped on Friday night and Saturday morning I broke down camp, walked 10 miles with the group, and then pitched my tent again (even though it was still frozen!) that evening. Repeat for day Sat/Sun.
LEARNINGS:
🏕 – Always check the pockets of your tent before packing it away as your keys or other valuables may be inside! (learned that one the hard way!).
👩🍳 – Cooking – make sure you put your gas canister inside your sleeping bag when it’s cold otherwise it will not fire up when its cold. You will not have a friend in a warm campervan who will make you a hot coffee on the PCT! (Thanks Kev).
⏩ – I need to speed up breaking down camp as I really do not enjoy this process in the cold weather. I also need to practice packing my rucksack!
🥾 – Walking 10+ miles with a full pack was no problem, and I even got to test out my new micro spikes which are fabulous!
👍 – The Tyvek bivvy worked brilliantly inside my tent and kept my quilt dry. This time I had no condensation as the vents were open on the tent and the bivvy was not zipped up. Result! I’m glad I’ve got this mastered now.
❄️ – If the ground is frozen then rocks are a fantastic replacement. But… the rocks still freeze to the floor and the guy ropes freeze onto the rocks. um…
👍 – I really had to battle internally to pack up on that first day as it was so easy to just leave my tent there for day two. I’m so glad that I pushed myself and battled on, building that mental resilience.
💤 – I learned that I need to let the air out of my sleeping pad while I am still in bed otherwise I procrastinate about getting out of a warm sleeping quilt. When the pad is deflated on the cold ground it is much easier to get up!
STUDY 📚
My focus this week has been on altitude, dehydration and heat exhaustion. I listened to a zoom session which really opened my eyes with regard to altitude. I didn’t know that you acclimate during sleep and it is irrelevant how to fit you are, anyone can suffer from AMS. I also learned that there are two types of altitude sickness. HAPE & HACE. One affects the lungs (fluid) and the other affects the brain (swelling). Luckily, it is a low risk for PCT hikers as we are usually acclimatised by the time we reach high elevation.
🥶️ Hypothermia – I now know and understand the signs and deal with anyone who is suffering from moderate hypothermia. I also discovered that there are some myths out there that are just not true. For example, we shouldn’t take off wet clothes as the movement of the body uses up more energy that is needed for organs and body-to-body contact is not necessarily the right thing to do either. There is a technique called The Burrito Effect which we should implement for someone who is hypothermic.
I won’t go into dehydration and heat exhaustion here, but I now know the signs and what to do if I or someone in my proximity is suffering from dehydration or from excess heat.
GEAR ⚙️
* I’m loving the new smock that I purchased last week. This is 100% coming on my hike.
* Bought some small items that I can tick off my list. ie: sticky heat pads, fire starters, waterproof matches.
My physical training is going well. Rachel is keeping me motivated at the gym as we work different parts of the body (even when I don’t want to go she has a way of persuading me that it’s the best thing to do, and she is right). I am going 3-4 times a week and walking most days with a full pack. I hope to give myself the best chance that I can to complete this hike, both mentally and physically.
Thanks for listening to my rambles! See you next week.
78 DAYS TO GO!
I’m getting overwhelmed with all I have to do for this trip, but I will keep persevering as my list grows longer!
My focus this week has been on building my mental resilience and also studying altitude and dehydration.
Last weekend I took a group up to the Peak District. I was camping at the same place for two nights, but I knew I needed to practice breaking down camp in the freezing cold (-3 celsius / 26 Fahrenheit). I camped on Friday night and Saturday morning I broke down camp, walked 10 miles with the group, and then pitched my tent again (even though it was still frozen!) that evening. Repeat for day Sat/Sun.
LEARNINGS:
🏕 – Always check the pockets of your tent before packing it away as your keys or other valuables may be inside! (learned that one the hard way!).
👩🍳 – Cooking – make sure you put your gas canister inside your sleeping bag when it’s cold otherwise it will not fire up when its cold. You will not have a friend in a warm campervan who will make you a hot coffee on the PCT! (Thanks Kev).
⏩ – I need to speed up breaking down camp as I really do not enjoy this process in the cold weather. I also need to practice packing my rucksack!
🥾 – Walking 10+ miles with a full pack was no problem, and I even got to test out my new micro spikes which are fabulous!
👍 – The Tyvek bivvy worked brilliantly inside my tent and kept my quilt dry. This time I had no condensation as the vents were open on the tent and the bivvy was not zipped up. Result! I’m glad I’ve got this mastered now.
❄️ – If the ground is frozen then rocks are a fantastic replacement. But… the rocks still freeze to the floor and the guy ropes freeze onto the rocks. um…
👍 – I really had to battle internally to pack up on that first day as it was so easy to just leave my tent there for day two. I’m so glad that I pushed myself and battled on, building that mental resilience.
💤 – I learned that I need to let the air out of my sleeping pad while I am still in bed otherwise I procrastinate about getting out of a warm sleeping quilt. When the pad is deflated on the cold ground it is much easier to get up!
STUDY 📚
My focus this week has been on altitude, dehydration and heat exhaustion. I listened to a zoom session which really opened my eyes with regard to altitude. I didn’t know that you acclimate during sleep and it is irrelevant how to fit you are, anyone can suffer from AMS. I also learned that there are two types of altitude sickness. HAPE & HACE. One affects the lungs (fluid) and the other affects the brain (swelling). Luckily, it is a low risk for PCT hikers as we are usually acclimatised by the time we reach high elevation.
🥶️ Hypothermia – I now know and understand the signs and deal with anyone who is suffering from moderate hypothermia. I also discovered that there are some myths out there that are just not true. For example, we shouldn’t take off wet clothes as the movement of the body uses up more energy that is needed for organs and body-to-body contact is not necessarily the right thing to do either. There is a technique called The Burrito Effect which we should implement for someone who is hypothermic.
I won’t go into dehydration and heat exhaustion here, but I now know the signs and what to do if I or someone in my proximity is suffering from dehydration or from excess heat.
GEAR ⚙️
* I’m loving the new smock that I purchased last week. This is 100% coming on my hike.
* Bought some small items that I can tick off my list. ie: sticky heat pads, fire starters, waterproof matches.
My physical training is going well. Rachel is keeping me motivated at the gym as we work different parts of the body (even when I don’t want to go she has a way of persuading me that it’s the best thing to do, and she is right). I am going 3-4 times a week and walking most days with a full pack. I hope to give myself the best chance that I can to complete this hike, both mentally and physically.
Thanks for listening to my rambles! See you next week.
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