Ask Darwin Q&A #14 (Answers!)

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----- Gear/Stuff I mentioned in this video! -----

Snuggles' Mental Prep List - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2017/05/27/snuggles-mental-at-prep-list/

Nike Pro Combat - http://amzn.to/2shnoLW

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AT Gear List - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2016/05/03/darwins-2016-at-gear-list/

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Canon EOS T6i - http://amzn.to/2kACQOU

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Tags: Appalachian Trail,AT,Thru-Hike,AT Thru-Hike,Backpacking,Hiking,Camping,Adventure,CDT,PCT,Pacific Crest Trail,PCT Thru-Hike,Hiker Trash,Long Distance Hiking,AZT,Arizona Trail,Minimalist,Nike Pro combat,Section Hiking

Video Transcription

hey guys it's Darwin here with my weekly Q&A to answer more of your questions if you have a question for next week's Q&A you can either leave it in the comment box below or send me a video question over to Darwin on the trail at yahoo.com and then next week I'll answer as many as I possibly can all right so let's go ahead and get into this week's first question how did you meet snuggles on the trail so no I didn't meet her on the trail I actually met her when we were younger in preschool we've been going to school together since we were little kids and then in high school we were best friends and then eventually started dating we kind of fell out a couple years after high school and then eventually started talking again got back together and as of next week we've been married 10 years which is pretty amazing I've known snuggles my entire life we've been through everything together

schooling buying a house getting rid of a house traveling and hiking the 80 snuggles was my best friend my best companion and again next week we'll be celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary so another snow ghost question during your hikes did you and snuggles ever split or did you always stick together I imagine it's hard to always get along being together 24/7 for six months straight so most of the time we did hike together however there were times where I have a much faster hiking pace so I would actually hike quite a bit in front of her and then we would meet up different times during the day so to stop for water to get a snack to have lunch or some days whenever we just really wanted to push it through we would make a plan to meet at a certain shelter or a certain camp spot but most of the times we hike together sometimes it's really hard when you're a couple hiking because everybody has their own hiking pace so one person always has to either speed up or slow down we didn't really want to screw with each other's hiking pace so a lot of times we would just split up meet up throughout the day and it worked like that in 2016 on the 80 we hiked every single day together I actually slowed down my pace so I could hike with her more because there were some times in 15 where I wish we'd been together to see certain things so in 16 I made sure that we stayed together most the entire trail hey Darren what is the proper use of the term hiker trash who can say it and when is it offensive so that is a really good question I actually get that question a lot from people that I know like here in town because I have a big sticker on the back of the van that says hiker trash and people are always asking me what the hell that actually means pretty much hiker trash can be defined as anyone that's doing a long-distance hike it's what we call ourselves we are hiker trash I believe it started more as a slander against hikers coming into town so locals would call hikers hiker trash because they were dirty they stank they like to be loud and party I'm sure in some towns but over the years hikers kind of adapted it and calling each other hiker trash there's been a lot of cases where I've met people outside of the trail they've mentioned that they have hiked a trail and instantly I call them hiker trash and they get it so it's definitely a thing that is accepted between hikers but I think what would be offensive as if you were in a town and some local called you hiker trash in kind of a negative or derogatory way it's meant to be taken light and heartfelt not in a negative way so I would think that anytime anyone uses hiker trash in a negative way being like those damn hiker trash that's when it's offensive so yeah again if you like being out on the trail if you spend a lot of time that's all you think of you love being dirty love being stinky love eaten awful food pumping out big miles your hiker trash my friend when do you decide to change and get new shoes is that when they start falling apart or when they get uncomfortable for you do you use insoles and so what brands do you use so I don't necessarily change my shoes out when they start falling apart because if you're doing something like a thru-hike they fall apart pretty quick I've actually duct-taped my shoes back together just to make sure I can get some more miles at them the big telltale sign for me when a pair of shoes wears out is my feet start hurting my feet get numb they start getting tingly I really start feeling the trail I start filling rocks roots the entire trail I'm getting pressure points my feet that's when I know it's time to swap them out so that is the biggest tall tell sign for me is when my feet start hurting when it's taking more of a toll on my feet or my knees so as far as insoles in 2015 and 2016 I use the super feet flex really great insoles that super feet makes they're not your traditional green or yellow so they're not as hard a little bit flexor so they're really really good with like running shoes they're pretty affordable they last a long time that's what I liked hiking in off of the shelf but recently I've had somebody make me some custom insoles to my feet and those are phenomenal so I would either suggest checking out something like super feet which is really popular they make all different models and types for different arches or giving some custom insoles because those have really really helped me over the years I can't hike with regular insoles and cheese anymore I used to be able to do it I guess over the years with all the knee problems that I've had how your feet change

I just need insole so I definitely recommend using insoles and I love them I'm 15 years old and I plan on hiking the 80 straight out of high school in 2020 my question is regarding to how you mentally prepared for the trail or the best way to mentally prepare so awesome question Levi and awesome that you plan on doing it through hike good luck in that I have a video here on YouTube on how to train for a long-distance trail where I talk about the mental aspect of it I think the best way to get prepared for the mental aspect of it is tell yourself that you're going to be miserable you're going to be hot you're going to be cold you're going to be wet you're going to get eaten up by bugs it's going to happen you're going to be miserable you're going to be exhausted so that is the mental part and the best way to do that is to get out and experience that stuff hike in the elements when it's pouring down rain put your pack on and go out and hike in it when it's crazy cold and ice snow all over the ground put your pack on and go out and hike in it sleep outside in a rainstorm in your tent for a couple of days and be prepared to deal with that day in day out that's the best way to get mentally prepared so aside from that video

snuggles has actually put together a mental prepared list that's over on our website so I'll leave a link in the description box below and you can go check that out I'll also put a link over here in the corner of my video on how to train for a long-distance height so check that out as well like I said my main advice to give you to prepare is just get out and hike in those elements and become mentally tough on what you're going to have to deal with good luck on planning your hike men hey Darwin I had a question about clothes on the trail it seems like um it seems like you want to purchase some really good quality clothes for thru-hiking because you're going to be wearing it everyday and I was wondering if you had any insights on to how to purchase your through liking a tire or if you had a certain brand or style that you would recommend or just really any insights at all I'd love to know I'm looking to buy some really good quality stuff soon so thanks so much can't wait here so obviously everyone has their own personal preference for the clothes that they wear when I do hiking long distance hiking some people like shorts

some people like pants long-sleeve short-sleeve the main brand of clothes that I used in 2015 and 2016 on the 80 is actually the Nike Pro combat line I really really love that stuff the main reason I got into it was because I raced triathlon for eight years and that was the type of stuff that I trained in so a lot of that stuff I already had it was a little bit expensive but that stuff lasts a really long time it's meant to be sweat in every day it's meant to be active moving and all of the stuff that I have had for years I'm still using today so as far as a brand preference I would say check out some of that Nike Pro combat stuff but pretty much any type of active wear you don't want any type of cotton you want something that breathes good maybe something that has a UPF rating in case you're going to be out hiking in the Sun something that wicks away moisture and articles of clothing that are antimicrobial that's why a lot of people use things like wool if you're on a bit more of a budget snuggles actually pick up a handful of the Articles that she hiked in at a goodwill so you know a lot of times you can go to a good we'll look through the racks and find some donated activewear some stuff that maybe some people had for a season like some running shorts or some running shirts and then use that anything that seems pretty quality made that's going to last a long time that you can be as active as possible in you run into a lot of older hikers on the trail say 50 years old or older yeah Ron I actually do run into a lot of older hikers on the trail so on long distance trails like the 80 the PCT or the CDT you have two different types of people usually have some younger kids that are in between high school and college or a bunch of people that are retired so there are a lot of older cats out hiking long distance trails in 2015 I hiked the first 13 hundred miles of the trail a guy named rube rube was 60 years old when we started hiking and most days he kicked my ass on the climbs and I had to keep up with him so there are a lot of older cats and some pretty tough old cats at that that are out hiking the trail this year when I was out on the CDT

I met toasted toad who is also in his late fifties early 60s I've seen some people that are even older out hiking the trail I've heard tale of people in their late 70s or even early 80s so if you're thinking am I too old to go out and do something like that no age is nothing but a number man so get out on the trail and hike all right guys last question of the week how did you pick your trail name this is actually a topic I've been wanting to cover for a little bit max I did not pick my true name I believe that you should let the trail pick your name or other hikers pick your name I've noticed in the last year there are a lot of people that are setting off to do long distance trails that are picking their trail name now in 2013 and 2014 when I was researching hiking the Appalachian Trail one of the amazing things that I found out was that when you're out there the trail provides you with some sort of a name now whether that's a name because of somebody you resemble some action that you've done something that you said or some trait that another hiker picked up on that's how you're supposed to get your trail name

so my TRO name was given to me by a couple named Gruffalo and gigs in 2015 it was given to me for handful of reasons number one the second night we were out we had a huge discussion about different types of religions and what everyone believed in which is usually faux pas and you're not supposed to talk about religion but we just happen to get in this conversation about religion the other reason is I was talking about how I used to race triathlon and talking about being super fit so survival of the fittest and number three because of my beard the next day they caught up to me on the trail and gave me the name Darwin so I believe that you should let someone else give you a trail name that's kind of the magical thing about it right like the trail provides you with this new identity some people hike a really long time without even having a trail name but eventually the trail finds a way to provide it for them neither a hiker gives it to somebody in a town or some other way but I don't believe you should give yourself a trail name so that's everyone's own personal opinion of how they want to get there drowning again you know whenever I was researching the 80 I thought that was one of the amazing things about being out there was earning this new identity so to me it's kind of a sacred thing and I think you should earn your trail name alright guys so if you want to ask a question for next week's Q&A you can either leave it in the comment box below or send me a video question over to Darwin on the trail at yahoo.com and then next week I'll answer as many as I possibly can you haven't got to change it go over and check me out on Instagram I'm posting a lot of new photos throughout the week plus some photos of some past hikes so go check that out if you haven't already if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching [Music]

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