Ask Darwin Q&A #25 (Answers)

Description

** Stuff/Gear I Mention in this Video **

Altra Lone Peak 3.5 Mid - http://amzn.to/2vFCM7F

Darn Tough Socks - http://amzn.to/2fIzzQZ

Ice Breaker Shirt - http://amzn.to/2uFHyoN

Early Riser's Channel -

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCKgxH-Ei-JA7fPn4Om3p8w

Appalachian Trail Tales Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa2m1NW8WO8w4_85IJPScRQ

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

*** WAYS TO SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL ***

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darwinonthetrail

(Help Support my 2018 PCT Thru with a pledge as low as a $1/month)

Visit our Etsy Shop! - https://www.etsy.com/shop/TravelandTrail

Get some Sweet Darwin Onthetrail Swag at : https://shop.spreadshirt.com/Darwinonthetrail

*** Gear Used to Shoot this Video! ***

- Camera -

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

- Lense -

Canon EFS 24mm - http://amzn.to/2mSAXSn

- Sound -

TakStar Shotgun Mic - http://amzn.to/2kMsAnM

- TriPod -

Targus 360 Trigger Tripod - http://amzn.to/2kMsU5Y

------Intro & Animation By: BlackStrap Media------

https://blackstrapmedia.com

------- Music By: Mike Boren --------

DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!

Contact information:

Website: www.darwinonthetrail.com

Instagram: Darwin_Onthetrail

facebook: www.facebook.com/darwinonthetrail

Tags: Appalachian Trail,AT,AT Thru-Hike,Thru-Hike,Hiking,Backpacking,Camping,Adventure,AZT,CDT,PCT,PCT Thru-Hike,Pacific Crest Trail,Hiker Trash,Long Distance Hiker

Video Transcription

hey guys it's Darwin here with my weekly Q&A to answer more of your questions 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 the 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 when you're not in bear country that requires a bear bag or canister do you keep food in the tent with you and if so have you ever had a rodent problem so no I do not no matter where I'm at whether it's bear country or not I always hang a bear bag and it's not for bears it's for exactly what you just asked it's for rodents so squirrels mice Chipmunks I've had more problems with rodents on the trail than I've ever had with a bear so it's always smart to hang your food bag no matter where you're at lighter or flint on the PCT a lot of water crossings and some snow so writer I've never used a flint on the trail aside from back when I was in Boy Scouts when I was a kid so I typically carry the little bic mini lighters and I usually carry about two of them keep one with my cook system and then I keep one in my ditty bag now my ditty bag is a Cuban fiber

waterproof roll-top bag so even if everything else gets wet I always had that lighter in there I know some people that use Flint and Flint school but it's just more convenient for me just to flick a lighter lots of bush crafters highly rate merino wool do you use a rate merino wool clothing and if so what items do you own so that's a good question and yeah I love merino wool I hike in Don tough socks which are a merino wool sock and that is absolutely my favorite sock in the world I like them over smart wool I like more right socks I like them over all the other brands and then actually the shirt that I'm wearing right now that I'm hiking in today and my t-shirt that I hike in most times is an icebreaker merino wool shirt so I love merino wool it's definitely a little bit more expensive especially when you're talking about garments like shirts and tights and hats and stuff totally worth it so merino wool has all kinds of benefits you know not only is it really great at wicking sweat it you cool when it's hot outside and somehow it also keeps you warm when it's cold outside and then probably one of my favorite things about it and why I now use merino wool shirts is most merino wool is antimicrobial so if you're doing something like a long distance hike or maybe an insanely long section hike and you're just stinking like hell and you have no hay to wash your clothes the shirts don't get that smelly so you can wear them days on in without just that awful hiker reeking stench coming out of them and on top of that they're super comfortable and they dry out quick so merino wool has a ton of benefits on the trail so in answer to your question merino wool is awesome I was wondering if you had any suggestions for a high-top trail shoe that isn't too heavy and breeze I have weak ankles and would like more support while out on the trail so that's a great question Gaby and actually these shoes that I use which is the ultra Lone Peak 3.5 ultra actually makes a mid version of this or a high top so it's the exact same shoe has that nice wide toe box it breathes really well and they're super light but it has that extra ankle support so I would definitely suggest checking those out and then Merrill also makes a handful of lighter trail runners do have a mid tool but if I were you I would definitely check out the ultra Lone Peak 3.5 mids I love these shoes I've been rocking them for a while now and they're going to be what I use for my PCT through hike I actually recently did a review on the shoe and if you want to check that out I'll put it up here in the corner and you go see some specs on the shoe and then you know just imagine it with a mitt on there so that would definitely be my recommendation I know you're planning a PCT through hike next year and was wondering if you are following other channels to get a heads up on what to expect I'm following homemade wonder lust as she does her through hike might be worth a look so Robert I actually follow Dixie as well been watching her for a couple years now and I try to follow as many of the youtubes through hiking vloggers as I possibly can you know not only do I follow up walkers of the trails and I'm about to go do but I also follow hikers still on the 80 like this year I followed early riser which made some amazing vlogs while he was out on his 80 through height Appalachian Trail tails which is chica and sunset a really cool couple that watched a lot of my videos asked a lot of questions in my Q&A s so we decided to follow them this year so yeah I always try to follow as many vloggers out on the trail as I possibly can and Dixie is really putting out some awesome media and hopefully next year I'll have some 2019 PCT thru-hikers watching me while I'm out on the trail so I have a squirrel trying to attack me right now that's hanging out in the tree alright I'll leave so we're going to take the queue and I somewhere else all right new spot now that we won't piss off any more squirrels let's continue with the Q&A have you ever had an encounter with wild animals like feral pigs feral dogs or bears and what to do to avoid them while camping so I've never really had any run-ins with like a feral pig or a feral dog we've seen bears on the trail but mostly it's been out on the 80 on the East Coast and all its really out there are black bears the thing with black bears are most of the time they are way more scared of you than what you are of them so they're super skittish and usually if they hear you they'll take off running so you don't really have to worry about them as long as you're hanging your food at night washing out your dishes not giving them a reason to come into your camp and you're usually pretty good now aside from bears I've seen deer moose tons of snakes but no no feral dogs or feral pigs be kind of crazy though and I've never seen any wild cats and I know a couple hikers a couple funds of mine in particular that have actually recently seen mountain lions while out hiking in Oregon so that would be really crazy I probably wouldn't run into one of those but in a total answer to your question the only thing that I've seen out on the trail in your list is a bear and like I said you usually don't have to worry about them on the 80 did you ever see any through hikers that shave every couple of days people that are just not big on the whole beard thing also what is your end of day hygiene routine you run across any people trying to bathe daily so number

one I only know a couple hikers that I've seen shaving and typically they would only shave when they got to a town so maybe every three or five days and they're stopping in town to resupply or take a shower stay at hostel they would shave then but most people out on the 80 just kinda let it all go and that's it that kind of way for most trails growing a beard during a thru-hike is just I don't know it's kind of like a thing to do now I had my beard before we hiked the 80 but whenever I was out there I definitely let it get a lot crazier and a lot less here and a lot bigger but most people with jobs and stuff never really get a chance to just grow a beard so if you're out there why not just do it and if you don't like it shave it off now as far as my hygiene routine goes on a trail typically at the end of the day when I get into camp right before bed I'll actually take my buff go find a water source get my buff wet and then just kind of wipe myself off not necessarily to really take a bath or anything but whenever you're hiking all day you tend to get really sticky with sweat when I'm sleeping at night I really don't want to stick to myself stick to my bag stick to my pad so I'll just take my buff and just kind of wipe my arms off wipe my knees off I'm a side sleeper so my knees always kind of stick together so I just kind of wipe myself down brush my teeth and that's about it that's about as much hygiene as you can do when you're out on trail and then obviously when I get to a town say we stop at a hostel hotel or maybe we're just coming through a town that has some sort of a shower source I'll take a shower clean up a little bit the only thing that sucks though is like right whenever you finally got comfortable with being gross and sticky and stinky out on the trail that's when you go in to take a shower and then it's kind of awful to country live getting nasty again so it's kind of this thing you're constantly battling with like well should I take a shower this time or should I not and then obviously there's always things like ponds and creeks especially further up north that you can jump in and kind of wash off and take a shower in those which is really really nice especially in Vermont and New Hampshire we did that a lot and I didn't really know anybody that tried to bathe daily like like take a shower or something or like have one of those hanging showers or use soap most people just kind of wipe themselves off and then take a shower when I get into town all right guys the last question of the week comes from Colton and Colton asked I recently had a less and fantastic day hike long story short I got lost hiked through thick briars for 30 minutes finally found a cornfield which I hiked through until I could get back to my car then ended up covered in poison ivy have you ever had a time where you were just ready to get the hell off the trail it happens a lot so not just with a day hike especially with a long-distance hike whether it's a section or whether it's a thru-hike you go through it all the time or you're cold you're wet you're hot you're sticky you're hungry you're thirsty all kinds of things that want to push you and push you and push you to get you off the trail so there's a lot of times I just want to get the hell off the trail I want to get into town maybe stay in the hostel for the night get some hot food like a burger you know sometimes you just get fed up eating the same trail food all the time take a hot shower something there are tons of times where I want to get off the trail and that can be a big problem of why a lot of people end there through hikes the thing I always like to try to tell myself are a bad day on the trail is way better than a good day at work so you know as long as you kind of keep telling yourself that and you're kind of reaching for that goal you know if you're doing it through hike it's all about finishing that trail you just kind of have to push yourself push yourself through those hard times because the really good times out on the trail when you come up onto a big peak and you get to see this awesome mountainscape or you find an awesome pond that you go swimming in or you make a really great connection with another through hiker out on the trail you get a deep conversation make a friend for life that is the stuff that's worth it to keep you on the trail so are there times that I want to get the hell off the trail yeah but I just keep telling myself it is just a little phase it'll pass and then there's always something waiting around that next mountain that's going to lift your spirits up and make it the best hike you've ever had 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 so in about three days I'll finally be flying out to Cascade Locks in Oregon to go to PC a Trail days so my thoughts are when I'm out there I'm going to be shooting my QA for next week and it will feature another through hiker guest so get your questions in for next week's QA and think of a little more general through hiking questions not just for me but for another hiker so I wanted to touch on another thing before we go and say that if I haven't answered one of your questions in my Q&A it's not because I'm ignoring you it's probably because I've answered it before so I've done 20 something QA so if I haven't answered your question

maybe scan through those and you'll find that answer in those q a's I always try to answer new things that I've never gotten before just so it doesn't sound repetitive to you guys you haven't had a chance yet go over and check me out on Instagram I've been posting a lot of new photos lately of some of the things numbers when I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures from some past types so go check those out if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already as always guys thanks for watching now I'm going to get the hell out of here before I get attacked by another squirrel [Music]

you