Ask Darwin Q&A #39 (Answers)

Description

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

Hiker Trash Holiday Gift Guide - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2017/11/21/hiker-trash-holiday-gift-guide/

EE Torrid Apex Jacket Review - https://youtu.be/yhkHBXWBD2E

Training For a Thru Hike Video - https://youtu.be/ekP92ksyIP0

AZT Section Gear List - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2017/09/22/darwins-2017-azt-section-hike/

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

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

- Camera -

Canon EOS 77D - http://amzn.to/2zf5OQ9

- Lense -

Canon EF 24mm IS USM - http://amzn.to/2zeJuWU

- 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,PCT,Pacific Crest Trail,PCT Thru Hike,Backpacking,UL Hiking,UL Backpacking,UL Gear,Hiking,Hiker Trash,Camping,Adventure,Arizona Trail,AZT,CDT,Long Distance Hike,LNT,PCT Permit

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 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 alright so you guys know how this goes let's go ahead and get into this week's first question have you ever had any bear or mountain lion encounters went on the trail so I think that I've answered this in the past I've never seen a mountain lion out on the trail and from what I hear that's usually the case if you see a mountain lion it's like too late but bears I've seen a ton of especially on the 80 strangely enough we went all the way through the Smoky Mountains and the entire Blue Ridge Mountains and I never saw a bear a place where you think that you would see a bear we saw the most bears on the Appalachian Trail in new jersey and new york when we crossed into new jersey there were bears everywhere I think within like two days we saw like six of them and I've never really had like a dangerous encounter anything never had one come into my camp mess around my food bag or anything like that we've just seen him out on the trail and with black bears they're usually more scared of you than you are of them a lot of times when you're hiking through the woods you'll never actually see the bear you'll just hear it taking off and crashing through a bunch of trees and bush and stuff aside from that I've seen elk I've seen moose I've actually seen bison out on the trail just north of the Grand Canyon which was really cool but I've never seen a mountain lion well not yet hey Darwin Jeff here from Bend Oregon just wondering what your thoughts are on the down versus synthetic in either a sleeping bag or a quilt or jacket you know the plus and minuses things like weight price temperature rating

you know forget wet maintenance you know longevity of a product kind of what your thoughts are and maybe your experiences with both so that's actually a really good question and one that I've been dabbling with a little bit lately so I've always been more of a down person whether it's a down jacket at down quilt I use down socks when I sleep at night just to keep my feet warm but lately I've been messing or with some synthetic stuff if you saw my review of it I recently picked up an enlightened equipment toward Apex synthetic jacket and that has become my go-to jacket for the trail now right now I am wearing a mount Hardware down jacket and this is the jacket that I usually just wear like around town and every day out and about life but on the trail I use that synthetic jacket the reason for me is they are about the same weight and I don't have to worry about the synthetic jacket getting wet so I think that that is a massive plus that the synthetic jacket has over the down is if you happen to get caught in a bunch of condensation or a rainstorm or something you don't have to worry about it wetting out and they'll still keep you on the other reason something that's super surprising to me is that synthetic jacket is actually warmer than my Ghost Whisperer which kind of blew my mind now I have had a synthetic sleeping bag in the past and it didn't really keep me warm at all down has always kept me a lot warmer at night when I'm sleeping so that is a switch that I still haven't made yet and as far as price I don't know if there's really been much of a price difference lately they've gotten synthetic really really good so obviously the price has jacked up about to the same price as what down is so I don't think it's a price thing I think it really just comes down to what application you're going to be applying it to so if you're hiking in a really really damp place like the Pacific Northwest or maybe out on the Appalachian Trail like in the spring whenever there's a lot of rain synthetic might be a better choice for you so I totally think that it's a preference thing but right now I'm kind of both ways with it I like synthetic for some things and I like down for others how do you store your camping gear in your trailer or when you were living in a normal house so when we were in a normal house I kind of had what everybody had down in the basement I just kind of had a big rack a big shelf and that's where I kept all my gear on each shelf kind of had a specific section to it I had kind of a sleeping gear section

I had a cooking gear section and I just kind of threw it on the shelf now that we were living out of a 5x8 cargo trailer I actually keep all of our gear in our van now our van doesn't have any seats in it anymore in the back we've taken the bench seat out in the two middle seats so we have a big Rubbermaid container and that's where I keep about 80% of my gear we also have a top box on top of our van and then I store a lot of stuff in that to some bigger items like art packs I have no special way of storing anything the only thing that I take a little bit of extra care with are my down quilts I will take those out of the stuff sack put them in the bigger kind of breathable sack and then put those in that Rubbermaid box and that's it that's the only place I really store gear it's either in my Rubbermaid box in the back of the van or it's in my top box do you or have you ever carried a firearm with you while on the trail no I've never carried a gun with me I've said it in a previous video I personally don't think a gun is necessary when doing something like a long distance hike on the Appalachian Trail the cotton provide trail the Pacific Crest Trail a ziti any of like the lower 48 long distance trails I don't think that you need a gun I've never been in a situation and I don't personally know anyone else that's ever been in a situation where they've ever needed a gun on the trail however if I was gonna go up into the Canadian bush and do some hardcore camping where I know that there's a ton of grizzly bears and stuff I might consider carrying a gun but I honestly don't think in the lower 48 you need something like a firearm to protect yourself on the trail did you need a lot of ibuprofen during your 80 through hike what do you think it which point is it better to take a rest than to push miles on vitamin I that's a pretty debatable question I personally did take quite a bit of ibuprofen during my through hike of the 80 in 2015 for me I've always had a little bit of a knee problem I've messed up my knees in the past so yeah I took ibuprofen is it a good thing to mask pain while on the trail no just because I did take a lot of ibuprofen

I wouldn't necessarily suggest people taking a lot of ibuprofen it does help but in the long run it can hurt you quite a bit it can definitely mess up the lining of your stomach and then obviously eventually you just become immune to it so you just keep taking more and more and messes you up more and more now what I'd like to do when I'm out on the trail and if I am taking it as I cycle on and off of it so I might take a few days and take ibuprofen if I'm having a little bit of pain in my knee or something and then after that I won't use it because I don't want to take too much of it and overload my system and mess up my stomach or something hey Darwyn my name is Brian from Mesa Arizona and glad to hear that you hit some of our Arizona trails recently my question is for those of us who are not able to get out and hike as often as we would like but still have access to a gym what kind of exercises should we be concentrating on to prepare ourselves for that through hike so I actually get that question quite a bit when it's coming too through hiking season especially now in the winter when a lot of people don't really want to get outside because the weather might be nasty and I to go to the gym quite a bit now first off let me say the best hiking exercise that you can do is hiking put a pack on get out on the trail and get as many miles as you can get in but in that occasion where you can't really get outside and hike and you got to go to the gym what I personally do is I spend a lot of time on the treadmill I'll get on a treadmill with my hikers and I will put the incline as high as I possibly can put it to my normal pace and just walk or hike and then I'll just kind of change it up and down mixing up the terrain a little bit you can also use something like a stair climber but you know even working out in a gym it keeps those muscles in shape but it doesn't really give you the workout that you need for training for a thru-hike again the best way to train for a thru-hike is just to hike especially when the conditions are bad I've set it in a previous video but if it's rainy if it's cold if it's snowy if it's hot outside those are the best times to train for a thru-hike those are the best times to put your pack on get out in the elements and put yourself through that so you know that you're gonna be physically and mentally prepared for that through hike I know that's probably not the answer that you are looking for but yeah man it's a hard one like I said I like going to the gym I like staying in shape and I do a few small things that I keep in mind when I'm going to the gym but if I really want to train for a hike I just get outside what is advice for air traveling with an ultralight pack do you register it as a carry-on or do you still check them in I'm concerned if I could hand carry certain items such as a stove trekking poles or a small camp knife so I've never personally flown to a trail I've always been lucky enough to where I could drive to it or get a ride to a trailhead but I did fly out to Cascade Locks for PCT Trail days in August and I did take my pack just because I knew that I would be doing a little bit of hiking and some camping while I was there and I personally took it as a carry-on now that was my Z packs Ark blast I just put everything in there and I took it on the plane with me as far as trekking poles a stove stakes or a knife I actually mailed that stuff to myself now from what I've heard it all depends on where you are trying to fly and pretty much what TSA agents that you mess with that will allow you to bring on trekking poles or something like that I know some people don't have a problem with it and they'll just put their trekking poles in their bag check them in or I've heard some people even taking them as a carry-on and I know other hikers that I've went to an airport and had them taken away there's someone all up I don't think that it is a good idea to fly with a knife or trekking poles or steaks just make it easier on yourself put them in a box and send them ahead so that way you have no problems when you're trying to go through security to get onto the plane at the airport do you use a solar system a generator or power from campgrounds and business to power your devices daily is your trailer wired for electricity or do you use backup battery banks so the 5x8 cargo trailer that snuggles and I live in full time is actually hooked up for solar we have solar panels on the top and then we have a battery bank where we store everything we actually bought a generator for a really small time but it was way too loud and annoying and I couldn't stand it so we actually returned it and now we just use solar and propane so we do have a small propane heater that we use inside of our trailer at night when it gets really cold but aside from that we use solar on everything all right guys last questions of the week you mentioned getting a permit for the PCT the thought never

occurred to me how many of the major trails require permits does the 80 require them anywhere I have hiked everything on the 80 from Delaware Water Gap to the foot of Mount Washington Plus about a hundred miles in Maine and never needed any and can you elaborate on how the permit system is enforced on the PCT and specifically the JMT ie how do they prevent anyone from just walking on to the trail so a lot of questions about permits on trails number one yes you do have to have a permit for the PCT now the reason they did a permit system is they wanted to help with Leave No Trace there are so many hikers every year that want to do the major trails and the PCT Association was one of the first that decided to step in and start a permit system to lower the effect that hikers have on the trail at one time so on the PCT they only issue 50 permits per day for the hiking season now what this does is it says that there's only gonna be 50 hiker starting in one day at one time so you don't have a day where there's like a hundred people trying to start from the same point at the same time imagine being out on a trail and a hundred hikers in a single-file line walking down the trail at one time not only would it be annoying and just awful but it would also put a huge impact on the environment and that is what they're trying to eliminate now to me 50 people is still a ton of people to think about starting the trail at one time but it's definitely better than a hundred people now they also do this on the John Muir Trail or the JMT for the exact same reason they don't want a ton of people out hiking the trail at one time and it's always been a ton of controversy that it's our Trail and we should be able to go out and do it whenever we want to but you got to think about the effect that it puts on nature now as far as the major trails go the PCT and the JMT as far as I know are the only required permit system trails in 2015 the Appalachian Trail started a voluntary

permit system where you could choose to sign up or not but it is not required on the trail and again the reason they did it is because there were so many people hiking the trail at one time it's just become overcrowded a good example is in 2015 snuggles and I stopped at the first shelter on the trail and the shelter was built for eight people there were like 35 people at that shelter that night crowded into the shelter camped outside there was a ton of people and that was the first year that they started the voluntary permit system now I personally think that eventually they will start a mandatory permit system for the eighty and I hope that they do again I know that's huge controversy and there's a lot of people that that really makes mad and gets upset about but it's just fair to the environment and it's fair to other hikers now to the second question how do they regulate that that's kind of the gray area they put those permit systems in effect but obviously there's not gonna be someone out on the trail at all hours checking to make sure that you have a permit however there are Ridge runners out on the PCT and the JMT especially in the national parks that will ask you for your permit and if you're caught without having a permit to through hike the trail you get a pretty hefty fine now on the PCT A's website they've never really said what that fine is but I've heard hikers say upwards to $1,000 to $2,000 if you get caught hiking that trail without a permit unfortunately there's gonna be a ton of hikers that are just gonna go out there regardless and hike whenever they want to and start whenever they want to but I think that's a totally lousy and crappy thing to do if you care that much about the trail and you want to be out there and you want to enjoy it you should also care about protecting it preserving it and making it a trail that everyone can use and respecting everybody else while you're out there it's all about Leave No Trace we don't take care of the trails if we don't help lessen the hardcore impact on it we don't watch our trash we're not gonna have the trails anymore we're not gonna have them there to hike go out and enjoy so that is why the permit system is in effect alright guys so last week I talked about as not being in California anymore and a couple of you guessed it we are back in Arizona in Flagstaff right now we are just north of Flagstaff and just south of the Grand Canyon in the National Forest we'll be here until about the middle of December and then we're gonna head back out to California the reason we came back is number one it was still pretty hot out in California in the Death Valley area that we were in and I have some unfinished business with the Grand Canyon and I'll fill you guys in with some more information on that soon I did want to let you guys know that snuggles and I have just put together a holiday hiker trash gift guide if you guys want to go check that out I'll leave a link in the description box below we've put together a list of some awesome gifts that you can get the hiker trash in your life for the holidays so go check that out if you haven't already if you haven't had a chance yet go over and check me out on Instagram I'm posting a lot of new photos of some of the things that snuggles and I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures from some past hikes 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 you