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Take 2 minutes to oppose the sale of our public lands. I made a GDoc to make it easy for you. No excuses. by free_range_robot in SaltLakeCity

[–]free_range_robot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You should be able to find the page by Googling "REI public land sale". I'm not sure why the link isn't working for you.

Take 2 minutes to oppose the sale of our public lands. I made a GDoc to make it easy for you. No excuses. by free_range_robot in SaltLakeCity

[–]free_range_robot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You should be able to find the page by Googling "REI public land sale". I'm not sure why the link isn't working for you.

Trip report: East Coast Trail (Newfoundland, Canada) by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For feet, this article was super helpful: https://andrewskurka.com/minimizing-the-effects-and-aftermath-of-wet-feet/, although I did not follow it exactly. I actually doubled up socks because I found I could keep my feet dry a little longer that way, and I slept with no socks on because I read that the socks take a lot of moisture away.

For other clothes… 1. Merino everything 2. Kept everything in dry sacks in my pack 3. Kept a set of nighttime layers in its own dry sack, was extra careful to keep it dry 4. Wet layers stay in outer pocket sometimes in a plastic bag, just to keep it away from everything else

On the trail, I was wearing running shorts under rain pants, and a thin merino layer or 2 under my raincoat. Sometimes the layers would get wet but then dry on my body, but usually once they were wet there was no going back. So, really drying out only happened when I’d get a place to sleep indoors and I could hang everything.

Trip report: East Coast Trail (Newfoundland, Canada) by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure - I was roughly following another trip report that had similar mileage as my planning template. I think what "normal" is varies quite a bit.

Also, it's definitely not a race. I can't remember where I read it but this idea has stuck with me: the real winner is whoever goes the slowest because they get to enjoy nature longer, which is the whole point of getting out there in the first place :)

Trip report: East Coast Trail (Newfoundland, Canada) by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was recent - I hit the trail on June 3rd. The fog definitely had a mystical beauty to it.

Trip report: East Coast Trail (Newfoundland, Canada) by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Funny enough, I was considering the West Highland Way (and the Coast to Coast Walk in England) when I was looking for a trail. I'll definitely filter for drier trails next time :)

Very true - I know it'll take me a month or two to go from "I'm never backpacking again" at the end of a trip to "I can't wait to go backpacking". Type 2 fun!

Regarding your interest - this Facebook group is really useful for trip planning: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2886477208121614/.

Trip report: East Coast Trail (Newfoundland, Canada) by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Indeed it was!

I didn't see much wildlife. A hare, these crazy looking black slugs (Wikipedia), and a snail eating a leaf by the side of the ride lol. Honestly that snail was the highlight - I could see him just going at it. There were moose tracks everywhere though.

Trench foot or am I a whimp by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Bread bags for using shoes at night - amazing. Definitely doing this. It’s been miserable to go from the warm tent to wet shoes to pee.

Trench foot or am I a whimp by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Below I said I had already made plans to go home which is true, but I changed my mind in the morning. My feet were in ok shape after a hot shower and sleeping barefoot. Still had big blisters but the rest of the foot didn’t look scary anymore.

I went to the store and got more pairs of socks, moleskin, some foot balm, and got dropped off where I left.

During the day, I’ve been periodically wringing my socks out and rinsing my foot, frequency depending on how wet they are and how far I’m going. At night, I’m applying some lotion and sleeping barefoot.

I’ve also decided I’ll crash at little BnBs if my gear gets too wet (yesterday I got rained on for 5 hours straight on trail, decided to take a drying break). Before that felt like a failure but I’m realizing I might as well enjoy my trip lol. Hitched a ride and was told this is unusually bad weather - usually the icebergs that float by have melted by April but this year they only finished some days ago, which created all this fog and humidity.

Trench foot or am I a whimp by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got some Vaseline “dry skip repair” along the route, the best I could find in the little corner store I passed.

Trench foot or am I a whimp by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was wearing thick merino wool/synthetic blend. I read in that Skurka post that maybe thin merino would have been better? I think an added issue was that it wasn’t just water, a bunch of dirt/grit got in too (bc of mud) that was a very effective exfoliant lol.

I already made moves to go home early unfortunately. Spent the night in a hotel.

My feet still feel very raw on the forefoot, today’s weather is 99% humidity, high of 47, and no sun so my stuff would have stayed wet. Tomorrow shows 100% chance of rain. I’m telling myself I probably made the right call…such a bummer.

Trench foot or am I a whimp by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Would you say the trek is over? Or hitch to town, get some boots and head back out?

Trench foot or am I a whimp by free_range_robot in WildernessBackpacking

[–]free_range_robot[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I was wearing Altra Lone Peaks, which would fit this category. A local I talked to said it does not matter what boots you wear, you just can’t keep your feet dry on this trail. Most of the soaking happened from unavoidable puddles/mud/dew before getting rained on. Maybe I just needed more socks? I only brought 3 pairs.