Day 114: Zero Day

Staying Healthy

We’re back on our one zero day per week plan. As much as I want to get to Katahdin as fast as possible, I want to stay healthy enough to get there. Taking breaks is part of staying healthy.

Northstar & the Bard

Northstar timed this zero to squeeze in a visit with Greta, one of her favorite former students. Northstar taught High School English and Drama in Tucson when we first moved to Arizona and still keeps up with many of her students. Greta now lives in upstate New York and made the drive over to Massachusetts.

We all had lunch together and then Gus and I went back to our room to nap, write, play fetch, and eat more. Northstar and Greta went to see a summer theater production of Midsummer’s Night Dream. I don’t hear well enough to process Shakespearean English. I may also have a well-deserved reputation for falling asleep during live theater.

A New Itinerary

My main goal for the zero day was to revise my itinerary from here to Katahdin. If I can’t get through Vermont without any 25+ mile days, I’ll need to backpack. The real challenge was to not rely on any forest roads that might have been washed out in last month’s floods.

After a few hours on FarOut, Google Earth, and some AT websites, I worked out a slackpack plan for Vermont. I’ll have a few longer-than-usual days, but nothing too extreme.

New Hampshire and Maine, however, will require some overnight backpacking and then a six-day stint in the Hundred Mile Wilderness. In addition to their rugged terrain and steep climbs, both states have some long stretches between van-drivable roads. I tried to work out a stay in one of the New Hampshire Huts, but they weren’t really in the right places for my plan. Alas.

Wheels & Chopstix

I finally heard back from Wheels and Chopstix. They’d just climbed Mt. Moosilauke in New Hampshire. I didn’t hear whether Shamrock or Navigator are still with them. They’re weeks ahead of me and pulling away.

Alaska

I also heard from the Alaska crew, who apparently have been following my hike, which inspires me to keep going. Best of all, they haven’t fired me! Yet.

The Mosquitos Could Be Worse

The Alaska folks also reminded me of what bad mosquitos are really like. The bugs have been intermittently annoying along the AT since Pennsylvania, but nowhere close to Alaska-scale mosquito infestations.

On bad bug days on the AT, I debate about whether I should pull out my head net. I’ve put it on a half dozen times, but never for very long.

On some of our Alaska river trips, there’s no debate. Up there, we almost always wear head nets, long sleeves (several layers), long pants (tucked in to boots or socks), and gloves. Some of the crew have bug net coats. No skin is left uncovered. And then we spray ourselves with Deet. And we still get bit.

Sometimes, after getting frustrated with the constant buzzing in front of my face, I’d put down the oars, outline a one cubic foot zone in front of my face, and try to smack every bug that came into the kill zone. I’d put 200+ bugs on the floor of the boat in no time and not made the slightest dent in the population. They just keep landing on me, crawling over my head net, and trying to squeeze in between my clothes layers to find flesh.

Every time I climbed into my tent, no matter how quickly and efficiently I did it, I’d have to spend the next five minutes hunting down and killing all the mosquitos that came in with me. Anytime I’d hear one of the crew get back in their tent, I’d hear them go through the same routine.

Worst of all, after a few brutal trips to the bushes to do my business, I started wearing Deet on my butt and thighs under my pants. It’s hard to reach the required level of relaxation while dozens of mosquitos land in places you really, really don’t want them.

But it sure is pretty up there. I’d go back in a heartbeat. After I’m done here.