Ask Darwin Q&A #26 (Special Edition!)

Description

This Q&A was shot on the PCT in Cascade Locks, OR with Special Thru-Hiker guest: MassHole & Geared Up (both AT & PCT Hiker Trash)

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

Geared Up Adventures - https://www.facebook.com/gearedupadventures/

Tips for Hiking in the Desert - https://youtu.be/F2viVkmnI7I

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

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

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

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Tags: Appalachian Trail,AT,AT Thru-Hike,Thru-Hike,Hiking,Backapcking,Camping,Adventure,Hiker Trash,AZT,PCT,CDT,PCT Thru-Hike,Pacific Crest Trail,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 then next week I'll answer as many as I possibly can so as I told you last week I'm out here at PCT Trail days or PCT days and Cascade Locks Oregon and I have a couple special guests with me these are two passed PCT through hikers introduce yourself concer Masshole mister Masshole and i'm geared up geared up so we're gonna answer your questions kind of a throw it around and see kind of everybody's opinion on there if you start the 80 and early february going no both do you need crampons or an ice axe so I'm just going to have one of you guys answer it gear it up you start in February do you need crampons and an ice axe I am going to say no reason reason I am on the 80 you're talking that would be like Mount Katahdin the white those are is the Jeff Wendy Snowden technical gear when you're starting at Springer I mean there might be some snow but it's not really known for that area Blood Mountain would be your closest hurdle right yeah I think Huggies will be slipping yeah flippy I don't think they would be by the time you made it to it it should be good enough like you're going to be there in March which is snowy and not great conditions I've been there twice during that period but nothing I would ever need crampons or nice axe more I would I would not say I think maybe if you're going to be going through the Smokies and you know there's a lot of I it's like maybe some micro spikes or not even micro specs like yak tracks yeah something to get a little bit of traction on the bottom of your shoe that's probably be the best yeah maybe just for the Smokies yeah just the Smokies it's our time you're not going to need that enough until you're way up north and by that time it's it's going to be melted off anyway is it worth waiting an additional year for a thru-hike to save extra money to buy the nicer / more expensive gear so um I'm going to let you take this one first no I don't think it's worth saving for a whole nother year I think it's worth doing a lot more research and you know coming up with stuff that trying out stuff that works for you and you know yeah I don't think you need to save her another year no not another year yeah hold on yeah I mean I think that you know as I tell you guys all the time I'm a buy one try once kind of person so I'm always willing to buy the nicer gear if I know that in the long run going to last longer be lighter be more comfortable geared up oh that's a tough one uh he's a cheap hiker I am a cheap hiker a budget hiker yeah I think you can make it work so if you really there's gear that you want you're dead set on that's going to make your hike and yes you should but there are a lot of resources out there that you can find similar quality esque things weight wise and budget wise so if you really wanted to hike this year and like your prep for it your life presents the opportunity I'm going to say go for it

yeah if you have the opportunity to do it next year and it's not a problem times on your sides and then save up and go do it next year yeah I'd agree yeah yeah that's decent advice hi Darwin I'm set to retired from the military this time next year and love to do section hiked the Appalachian Trail well what section would you recommend thank you and have a great day so that's an awesome question and actually you have a few different perspectives on it so I think if I was going to rehire a of the trail and it's because I've hiked it already it would be the White Mountains they're insanely hard so it's a really hard section trail so if you have a lot of trail experience you're used to hard hiking conditions do the whites biggest payoff on the trail the views are amazing but probably not the best choice for like a beginner section ma'am yeah I agree originally I was going to say the white but I think that's a little too ass-kicker baby to just get out there for your first time I think maybe something like the Smokies which is ass-kicker but it's a little more gradual and you get a real taste of the eighty and it want to make you come out yeah yeah you had to hike another section I wasn't going to say Grayson Highlands and so they're known for the wild pony oh they have some beautiful shelters out there and you do come up on some balls and some great views and vistas out there so personally if I were going to do a section assertion beginner area stage I recommend the Grayson islands yeah so yeah all three of those would be awesome sections just kinda depending on your timeline where you're located

I mean it's fourteen states so you know a lot of times people will pick a section that's close to them but if you're willing to travel all three of those sections would be awesome do hikers ever use any entertainment devices other than their phone like tablets or portable game consoles have you know not an iPod I've taken an iPod known quite tablet or now e-reader now that's too much extra to carry it easily to get broken so I wouldn't count it out I actually do carry a Kindle Fire HDX one it connects to my GoPro so I can download my videos and pictures I can get them to the Internet to you guys and then of course I have like candy crush on there some other just like cheesy I can watch part of a movie here and there you know between charges but the other entertainment thing is like an mp3 player I love music I can have music bag and then as most of you guys know all I ever really carry aside from camera equipment and my phone is going to be a little iPod shuffle just because I can load more music on that and just like kill that battery it's small I can clip it to my pack but yeah that's um that I've never carried any type of entertainment devices you got to have you to gotta have your tunes what's your advice for sun protection while hiking I always bring a spray bottle of sunblock what do you think I use the stick it's like a chapstick kind of stick and just rub it on my ears and whatever instead of dealing with the cream and stuff like that if it's a really small fits in my little hip pocket use any other type of sun protection hat no I actually don't have a bandana sometimes I'll throw that on another buy hat but just a sunblock run on and then actually I'm going to ask all three of us um did you carry a number on any year social no no I actually were a trucker hat backwards in the desert so a lot of cat on the channel always ask about umbrellas some hikers love them some hate them so you did not use no I mean I would never carry an umbrella I don't think it's a waste I think you could just throw bandanna on or sunblock but somehow I swear by them you know hiking in the rain also they use them I could see some pros to that somebody would carry for sure

G whoo man let's see I wear a hat Sun blocking don't use if I'm in a super sunny area the desert or like long stretches on Florida Trail your road walking I have pants on I have long sleeve shirt on at my Sun Hat I've either a buff or bandana hanging down and that's what I use for mine as far as using an umbrella I've definitely played around with the idea and I'd like to go out and do some sections like week-long stuff and test it out because I like the idea of it but as far as I have I ever carried one and most of you guys probably know my setup if not I actually did a video not too long ago called hiking in the desert a gear to use whenever you're hiking the desert I'll put a link up here if you guys want to check that out I've answered this question a lot but I deterred I get a couple more prepa sona can you talk about air travel with your gear best practices etc so actually as most of you might not know to come out here was my first time ever flying so most of the time any trail I've ever went to I just gotten a ride and gotten dropped off so I actually flew out here and I did fly out here with my full set up my full pack and everything so in my experience I sent ahead my trekking poles and my stakes in a box

I sent him two geared up just so I didn't have to screw with TSA so I didn't have to check anything as I carried my pack as a carry-on so that's what I personally didn't that's so far that's been my only experience of it about you I carry I had my setup without food and just carry on as carry-on I don't believe I took my steaks out I don't use trekking poles so maybe I didn't have my steaks but yeah I was just carry on so that was no problem oh this is good one he flies a lot I have known all over the world with my pack I've done lots of trekking backpacking and I've taken this thing everywhere so what I like to do is I buckle my hip belt straps my chest strap I tighten everything down

I do have trekking poles I put them in the water bottle side pocket and make sure the side the side straps are pulled super tight everything's tucked in zip closed zipped up nice and the only problem I've ever had was when I flew to Nepal that they made me put my trekking poles in a separate bag because they said they would get lost otherwise and then I arrived in Nepal and that was the only thing that so yeah at your own discretion there's tons of great resources out there a lot of different people flying different places and I think it all depends on what airport you're flying out of what airline you're using and where you're going depending on what you're going to have to do to carry or not carry or leave at home or ship ahead so check out white boys got net a lot of other ones and you can get good resources on that alright guys last question of week on the PCT I hear you'll encounter many stream crossings what's your take on a hiking sandal to Ford the streams that you'll need to cross you have said in your previous videos to be comfortable stomping around in wet socks and shoes doesn't sound too comfortable what's your take on this okay so if you get trail runners they're going to dry out quick you don't want to get gore-tex you just walk in streams you just go right for it and then as you walk your body he's going to drive that chute faster than you think and your socks because you just you're using that type of gear I would not use sandals I have used flip-flops boarding rivers and never see them again yeah gee uh I agreed to I'm a big trail runner fan lots of mesh they dry out quick I have synthetic sucks I wring them out if I have to I just hang those up put on the next pair they'll dry out super soon not a big fan of carrying around sandals many reasons and you guys know my thoughts I always just make sure that I have a dry pair of socks in my pack embrace the suck deal with it whenever you get to camp you can take them off put some dry socks on because if your feet are wet chances are they're going to get wet again so you just deal with it it's not comfortable but through liking is not not comfortable oh yeah and we'll get usual to be in that compost yeah for sure embrace the suck alright guys so if you want to ask a question for next week's Q&A 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 will answer as many questions as I possibly can these guys won't be there 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 that snuggles and I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures from some past Heights thank you guys so much for being here for this I've been wanting to do this for a while to give everybody different perspectives from hikers so thanks Masshole thanks cleared up if you guys 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

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