Tag backpacking

What’s on Your Mind While You Trek?

Reg Spittle Leave a comment

Whether I am doing a day hike or trekking to the top of Mount Whitney, there are times when I forget where I am for a time. My mind wanders to countless places, even if I am walking through some of the greatest scenery in the world.

What are three things I think (daydream) about when I am walking in my Altra Olympus trail runners?

  1. I replay places and events from previous distance treks.
  2. I take a musical journey with a favorite playlist on my AirPods (I only do this on day hikes.).
  3. I replay something else from my life, sometimes a regret. (I try not to do this.)

In an article on The Trek website, Emma Ramsey asked eight thru-hikers to list three things they think about on the trail.

Unwell (trail name), in photo, above, from Topeka, Kansas, listed these:

  1. Interesting things about the insects she sees on the trail. The ins and outs of butterfly lives.
  2. How crazy it is that trail angels are so willing to help when we are willingly homeless.
  3. Excitement for the future/replaying the past.

Click on the link to read the lists from the other seven trekkers.

What would be on your list?

John Muir Trail: ‘We Can’t Do That?’

Reg Spittle 11 Comments



“We can’t do that!”

Those were my words when Sue said we should walk across Spain on a famed pilgrimage.

The Camino de Santiago and distance trails in seven countries have taught me to question my first reaction to a backpacking challenge.

Two years ago, Sue and I tackled the John Muir Trail in California’s Sierra Nevada. Mules helped carry our stuff, but our legs carried us 246 miles from Horseshoe Meadow southeast of Mount Whitney to Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. One of the most memorable days was the trek to the Mount Whitney summit; the bottom photo shows me on the switchbacks above Guitar Lake during my climb to the highest point in the continental USA. The other photos show us at Muir Hut and near Cathedral Peak.

We slept in a small Nemo tent, filtered our water, and went without showers or toilets for 30 days. It was all part of the adventure that kept us above 10,000 feet much of the way on a trail through astounding scenery.

Sue and I are preparing for our seventh distance trek, which begins September 1. If we are able to complete the 42 days on the trail, it will be our longest trek yet. This time, we plan to carry everything we need, but our packs won’t contain a tent or sleeping bags.

Stay tuned.