Don't let this distract you from the the fact that in 1966, Al Bundy scored four touchdowns in a single game while playing for the Polk High School Panthers in the 1966 city championship game versus Andrew Johnson High School, including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds against his old nemesis, "Spare Tire" Dixon.
A weird realization for me was the fact that no one cared about all my wonderful experiences of long hikes. I was so eager to share my hiking stories with them but they were so busy with their own every day lives that I could see that they were not interested in my stories. I finally realized that the only person I needed to satisfy was myself. That was enlightening and new for me.
Honestly, that's true of nearly everyone. It's just the way if things that people largely want to live their own lives and if something is completely outside of their experience, they aren't likely to be interested. I have similar when I bring up that I was a UN Peacekeeper in Africa. Even though very few in the US can say that, I just get blank looks.
Yeah this was one of the hardest parts of post thru hike life for me. My family didn’t give a shit. To be fair I have an exceptionally awful family but still. It was really sad and hard for me to realize no one cared about the life changing adventure I had just been through.
@@JazzFlop212 Epic adventure is always a means to measure oneself against the greatness of creation. The reward we get is internal. Only those old hands who weathered the trials with you will appreciate them in the same way that you do. But many kindred souls will listen to the recounting with a twinkle in their eye. Seek them out. They are your true friends.
Was hiking the CDT this year and dropped off the trail because of a ligament problem in my foot. But while hiking down Hope Pass I encountered several women wearing makeup. After thru hiking I do not find women as beautiful or attractive when they are "dolled" up, compared to their natural beauty.
Beautiful quote! “In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, - no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
The best change I felt in myself after hiking was how capable I am. I became more independent, I stood up for myself more, and I was more confident in my everyday life after long distance hiking.
totally! Don't you feel like you have super powers? (Although I'm always massively disappointed by how quickly that feeling can fade after coming home)
Your really on to something here. The longer you spend "isolated" on a long distance hike the more you realize how artificial the reality of our modern world is. Everything has an artificial flavor/smell/look in a crowded modern society.
There is also the "sweat out the toxins thing". Desert construction workers that drink two or more gallons/day after a few showers and a couple weeks don't develop much body odor. I slept in a tent (actually two or three due to wind) for a year and a half while building a house and when a close local house came up for rent I felt creepy inside and had an adjustment period. I've never done through hikes like Dixie but have hiked like a weekend warrior for a string of years. She really nailed it on so many topics, just for the record; Dixie's mom is younger than one of my daughters. Ha!
I was once on a short trip in the fall in the Sawtooths that was weirdly quiet. No leaves rustling, no birds chirping. I heard a wooshing sound and looked up to see a duck coming in to land on the lake next to me. I was hearing his wings in the wind before he even landed. It made me realize how loud the city can be all the time.
Yes! I've thought the same thing. I just do day hikes and am always outside, but when someone passes me and I can smell their fabric softener, etc, it's so jarring. To wild animals, we must reek.
@@MaterialWhirl When I walk my dog around the neighborhood, I can smell when someone is doing laundry. I can smell the fabric softeners. To me, it's very cloying.
@@MaterialWhirl I imagine that manufactured scents smell like food and something good to eat to an animal, especially bears. They tell you to hang your toiletries with your food. Bears will eat toothpaste, handcream, sunscreen, chapstick, and probably even soap. If it doesn't smell like something Mother Nature created then it has to be good !
The longest I've gone without a shower has been 29 days (climbing trip in Alaska). I eat food that falls in the dirt. But the thing I really notice is that when I do a long trip with a group of complete strangers at the end of the trip I'm really close to them. I see them at there best and at there worst and most vulnerable.I hear all their stories about their life back home. I learn all their quirks and mannerisms and they learn mine. When I talk to one of them a month or even a year latter it's like we're back there again and we have never been apart.
I mentioned to a day hiker, "I like your perfume". She said she was not wearing any. I was actually smelling the fabric softner from a good distance away. Amazing.
When she talked about “smelling your clothes after you’ve taken a shower” is the most spot-on thing I’ve ever heard! When we invaded Iraq, I went 53 days without a shower and the smell of my uniform after that first shower almost knocked me over...not to mention the other men that I was with! It explains every field exercise and combat tour I’ve ever been in! So civilian through-hikers...congrats...you now know what the soldiers and Marines smell like in Iraq and Afghanistan (sailors and airmen (other than SEALs and PJ/JTAC’s) get showers everyday so they don’t count)!
Perk always told me that a lot of thru-hiking experiences reminded him of being in the military. He said it was the closest thing he had experienced to it and seemed excited to have others be able to kinda sorta relate.
On a navy ship it’s rough- one cruise I went three whole days without clean sheets- same cruise they served hotdogs and Mac and cheese ! How vulgar! And the ships store ran out of Ben and Jerry’s chunky monkey ice cream- the bums
I find the calm of hiking clears my mind and I often have epiphanies or emotional experiences periodically. I remember events and people I haven’t thought about for years, or find myself crying about past losses or just the beauty of things.
Yes to all of this! I have a friend who walks her yard daily, and takes pictures of all things. On Sundays she posts pictures from “Morning services at Our Lady of the Yard”!!
I find the calm of hiking bores the crap out of me. That's why I wear a single earbud and listen to podcasts while I walk. The most frequent emotion it evokes in me is the anxiety of knowing I could be doing something useful rather than wasting my life in the woods. Then again I spent waaay too much of my adult professional life lying on my belly in the forest/jungle/desert/mountains watching grass grow.
I found when I would hike alone for long periods of time 3,4,5, weeks at a time that my mind would start reviewing all of my life experiences and processing things and connections. I would think of things that I had done and had regret so much so that I would catch myself, crying and feeling sad!! Other times you would think of happy events and catch myself laughing, bursting into laughter. I found that because we were not being bombarded with so much stimuli that your brain starts to process stuff, like it had been stored in waiting for a time when it could be processed. Anyways it seemed that I had reviewed my whole life one point. They also found myself vowing to make changes of things that I didn't like about myself. Eventually I exhausted this process and moved to a more spiritual plane, having conversations with a higher power. Other times I would get high, just observing nature and have an overwhelming sense of gratitude for being alive. Other days, I would catch myself, praying to something bigger!!! Some days, I would be so happy, that I would want to sing or whistle, in a way, I felt it was to express gratitude to this higher power. Anyways I like listening to your UA-cam video, but I find it interesting that no one ever wants to speak about the psychological and spiritual aspects of what happens to an individual when he hikes especially alone in nature for long periods of time. I just wanted to share that with you!!! You seem to be very sincere about your experience, not everybody is so giving!!! Sincerely, a through hiker, Normand Goupil
Some of those experiences of knowing or communicating with a “higher power” may have been veridical. Our senses scream into our consciousness but I have heard it said that those who experience what they consider the “voice” of God experience it as a still, small voice… if it is, it would seem hard to hear it in the midst of endless distraction, busyness, anxiety etc. but easier to hear it when our hearts and minds are quiet. Some noteworthy philosophers have opined that possibly we possess a sense of the divine that, under the right circumstances, we can experience that higher power. Thank you for sharing!
WIFE: "Honey...you're not looking at naked women on the computer are you?" HUBBY: "No dear, watching a girl talking about what her B.O. smells like." WIFE: . . .
I attempted the Long Path trail, a 350 mile trail from New York City to Albany which includes the Catskill Mountains. I never felt lonely while on the trail but a great wave of loneliness overcame me at every road crossing. It was as if the moment I stepped onto black concrete, even while in the middle of nowhere, the memory of the good things that civilization offers, I longed for. It was often difficult to cross that road and re-enter the wilderness.
I hiked 890 miles of the AT in 1984 and the flowing things were the most difficult to get used to/get over from when I was on and off trail: 1. Noise - my parents were living in a small town in Arkansas at the time in a very quiet neighborhood but I could not get used to how loud and raucous everything seemed to be when I came home. Every pipe gurgled, the TV and radio blared, even the refrigerator seemed to roar when it was running. It took me almost six months to get completely used to the racket. 2. Time and scheduling - feeling like I should be up and "doing" something early in the day but being put off by fixed clock bound schedules. I never used to get up before my mother, she was was a farm.raised Iowa girl, but when I got back I would wake up really early, even earlier than in trail, get up and make coffee before even she got around. I used to feel like I was wasting the best part of the day if I didn't rise before 5:30. 3. When I hiked there weren't the choices for water purification so I used iodide. I had a difficult time getting used to water without a slightly metallic- saltish flavor. That was one I got over pretty quickly. 4. The lack of physical activity. I had grown used to being slightly sore everyday and needing to address foot care, sock cleaning and the like. As a side note, I had gotten used to the smell of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap while on trail. I still keep a bottle and use it occasionally. 5. My hike occured befor cell phones or GPS so all navigation was by map and compass. The only books I carried were trail guides with the covers removed. I had my degree in History so the lack of reading material was torture. You know it's bad when you take your Dr. Bronners soap with you while taking a dump, just so you can read the crazy quotes plastered all over the label.
Enjoyable comment, Mr. Polk. Your 890 miles is an amazing accomplishment. A few years ago, I really longed to hike the AT. It never happened, unfortunately. However, for several years, I lived near the AT and at least got to walk on a few hundred feet of it. 😊 I'll take that over nothing. Wishing you well.
I use to backpack extensively back in the '60's , '70's and '80's so I;m familiar with what you are talking about. I was also, back in the 1960's in the Navy in submarines. On the older diesel powered, mostly WW II submarines, water was to a great extent rationed, (longer trips you used less water). So bathing was limited and people began acquiring an "aroma". We called it "eau du submarine". It was a combination of sweat, fuel oil, hydraulic oil, ozone, cooking odors, cigarette smoke and what ever else was around you. It permeated everything including clothing. Many women would not let their men into the house until they had removed all the clothes and they showered. Backpacking long distances is like that.
I must have been an animal before. If I go to the chippy it's a spam special all the way. (Deep fried battered spam, chips and chipshop curry sauce) It's the simple things in life.
As someone with sensory processing issues I live that overwhelmed life all the time. The noise, the smells, the lights and everything are just exhausting, guess that's why I love the woods so much.
The outdoors aren't a solution for me. Some people like the sound of waves or the sound of water flowing over rocks in a stream, but not me. Same with the roar of a breaze blowing through trees. It's too much constant noise. I have to get away from water sources and unsheltered places.
The plan for next week was to post a video of a 3-4 day backpacking trip. Unfortunately, after I started hiking my dog Hank had to be hospitalized. I decided to cut the trip short and go back home to be with him and see what was going on. So it looks like for the first time in about 4.5 years there likely won’t be a video next week. I will definitely give that hike another shot as soon as I can.
Wishing the best for your dog. I hike with a huge Maine Coon cat on shorter hikes and have had to depart early to get him seen. Who knew cats can get swimmers ear.
The way that you describe returning to civilization actually really reminds me of a lot of the way neurodivergent people (for instance my ADHD or descriptions of heard from people on the spectrum) will get overstimulated in grocery stores from our brains/bodies not being able to tune out all the smells and sounds regularly anyway. I'm super excited to actually have some peace out on trail!
It's amazing what even two or three days camping and hiking can do for your mental clarity. It doesn't cure ADHD, depression, anxiety or bipolarity, but it still helps you find balance within.
@Barry H being on the spectrum, I am only free to be my authentic self in the wild. It's the only place where I'm not overwhelmed but feel spiritually fed.
How to watch a video by Dixie 1. Press Play 2. Press Like as soon as she say's "Yeah, Dixie here" 3. Enjoy her voice, and let the happiness flow 4. Go on a virtual journey, and learn a lot in the process 5. Leave inspired
I live in the heart of Denver, Colorado. In December I spend three weeks living out of a tent, Daytona Beach, Florida. The first thing i noticed was how good the city smelt. But after a few days of hanging out at the beach, the smell of the exhaust was overwhelming. Now I was camping at a campsite that had indoor flushing toilets and indoor showers. So i wasn't truly ruffing it. After living out of a tent and my car, I quickly realized that I didn't need as much. The only things I missed were: reliable refrigeration, power and the ability to stand in my tent. I enjoyed sitting and cooking outside. I could definitely live like that again. (Except in Florida in June. NOPE!) As a day hiker in the Rockies I've noticed that I can hear a bike coming down the trail long before it gets there. When I walk in the city I need to listen to music or maybe a podcast, but when I'm on trail I'm content with the sound of nature.
the cravings are so true! i actually had the same craving for chocolatemilk as u and when i got back home... tbrh, i didn't just purge my belongings but also got rid of some people whom i didn't miss during the hike and felt kinda toxic when i returned back home.
Last autumn, I did 5 days in northern California by myself. On day 4 I got a craving for Welch's grapes soda-something I never really drank. Day 5 was even worse. I got back to the trailhead, drove to a little country store and they actually had a six pack in an ice cold old style refrigerator. I sat outside and downed the entire six pack. Freaking delicious. Haven't wanted one since.
@@dontbelievemebut7193 Nope. For sure the iron of the cacao, since as long you're no baby cow, there are no nutrients in a cows mother milk, that you need as a human. Most of you just don't even know, what you're craving really behind some products. But education on healthy food helps with that.
@@Lucky-nt7mg I'm usually not sure what it is I'm craving in any particular food, but I do know that if I'm craving it, it's because my body's lacking something and it associates that food with satisfying the lack. I think we all develop an unconscious database whereby - over the course of our lives - we associate foods/drinks with the effects they have on minor nutritional deficiencies and later, if we're *really* deficient in something, that unconscious knowledge manifests as "a strange craving for..."
Self-inflicted challenges or enduring the trials of life...especially the loss of a loved one which most definitely includes the passing of 'man's best friend', tends to bring clarity in defining priorities. A poet once penned the words "the darker the skies the brighter the stars". A college degree does not necessarily give you all the tools to succeed in life but it does let the future employer know that you've been tested by fire and come out on the other side. I'd give an arm and a leg to have compiled all the life-long memories you have but even more, you have more than earned respect and credence when sharing your life's lessons. If you ever find yourself going through some funky times please remember all the countless people you have inspired to set goals and embrace their dreams... of which I'm one of them. May God bless you in a mighty way and especially when you least expect it... just like you have blessed me and countless others.
The "have everything you need with you" feeling is the same when you live in a motorhome. I've gotten so used to having my house with me literally everywhere I go, that on the rare times I'm not close to my home I kind of freak out.
After about a month hiking on AT (2004), I started enjoy the nomad life style. No mal, telephone, PC, bills, house cleaning or maintenance, work worries, project, cut grass or etc... After six months, I feel like an athlete, I can do a marathon.
I believe that trail cravings are your body needing a certain mineral or ingredient in the thing and it's just the thing your body knows to associate with it :)
This actually has been researched. I don't have the references anymore, but that research e.g. did an experiment with yeast cells on a substrate that was nutritionally complete, except for one essential nutrient. The yeast cells kept "eating" and became "obese". The human brain and underlying system inform us that we are "hungry" in the same way. If our food is complete, except it lacks magnesium - building block in 350 different enzymes that are essential in our biochemical reaction chains ("life" is the reaction chains between some 50,000 substances) - then we will be hungry. We also tend to confuse hunger and thirst. A couple essential nutrients are stored in buffers or caches. Compared with other primates, we lost the ability to synthesize vitamin B12. In our evolution we must have had a long time where B12 was always available (it is essential in our energy processes). Migrating to regions in the world where those food sources would be seasonal, we developed an ability to store a reserve in our livers. Iodine is used in the deepest innards of our cells in energy related processes and we carry protein bound reserves of iodine in our blood (in the form of T3 and T4). For the majority of "essential" nutrients we do not have a reserve and each and every deficiency translates into "hunger". If you have seen some farmers, they have a bunch of minerals on offer and their cows and sheep instinctively know which one is deficient. @Diedert Spijkerboer - a couple fatty acids - aka fat - are essential to us. If only to maintain our brains. Brains have a very high fat content and this may explain why certain carnivorous mammals (like killer whales) or omnivorous mammals (like chimpanzee) may only eat liver and brain of their prey animals. Looking at obesity, we have to hypothesize nutritionally incomplete diets and consequent overeating because the hunger does not go away. Paired with the economic wealth and cognitive abilities of yeast cells. @Ashley Leahy - or she has a copper deficiency. Note that research with lab animals suggests that a copper deficiency (rather imbalance) relative to zinc intake may cause the insulin glands to change their mode of operation from insulin gland into liver mode. I.e. this can cause diabetes 1 (inability to produce insulin). And no, a temporary high dose of copper does not revert this - copper is a heavy metal and at higher concentrations toxic, so in that case liver cells deal with copper as toxins, if they survive. Cacao or chocolate are a good source of copper. Or Italian espresso (and I wonder if it comes from the beans or the innards of the espresso machine ...) As the Mediterranean diet has a high level of diversity, in Europe, in that region, we find a relatively high life expectancy and low obesity. It's the diversity that mitigates the risk of deficiencies. A hamburger (red meat) costs you half an hour of life expectancy but organ meat or fatty fish may add an hour. Adopting a MacDonald's lifestyle, forgetting the knowledge of the cuisine of Ma Tante Marie or the cucina of Pellegrino Artusi quickly turns the life expectancy around though. Note that there is no trail specific in here, except the message that you need to maintain the diversity.
@jpdj2715 Your comment on nutritional needs of the body is absolutely correct. Former farmer / world class authority / Natural pathic doctor / Certified Pathologist / Certified agriculturalist, Dr. Joel Wallach should be researched on the nutritional needs of the body. Much info on his work. Longevity and disease free life is a real science. Never listen to medical doctors that only push pharmaceutical demonic magic to kill you early in life. They have ZERO Interest in your long term well being / survival.
My wife and I spent 2 years living in a 1 room bungalow on a small island in Thailand. We had very little access to stores and never heard a radio or watched a tv or rode in a car the entire 2 years. We experienced exactly the same things as you did hiking. When we returned to civilization the most surprising thing was random people approaching us and saying that we gave off super mellow vibes. It was quite disconcerting.
GREAT STUFF!! Thank you, Dixie. Reminds me of 1969-72. Being able to just curl up and sleep practically anywhere. Even holed up in an old room in an old city for the Winter, sleeping on packing quilts for months at a time. Living out in the woods for the warmer months, so many women out in the wild start to look REALLY pretty. Talking and singing to oneself. Interpersonal communications more basic and a lot less bull. No TV or radio -- time seems to last a lot longer and a lot more seems to happen in the space of a day, of a week, of a year! And not being afraid of death.
I’m not a thru hiker-yet! I cannot wait until I can experience it! Several of the things you mentioned are so true! We’ve done a couple of four night backpacking trips, it’s so liberating and exciting to know you have everything you need right on your back! We’ve gone from tent camping, pop-ups, trailers, to a fifth wheel with a camp lot, such a hassle and expense. These days for a fraction of the cost, we buy a plane ticket or drive to amazingly beautiful places for great adventure! People you meet on the trail are fascinating to me, it’s such a diverse group of people that share a strong common bond. I’ll never forget the realization of how important water is and the first time we smelled some kind of shampoo or body spray forever after we passed a day hiker!!
After a long hike in the southeast mountains I find myself looking for the top of mountains when driving, looking through the trees for a glimpse of sky.
Yep! I have experienced every single one of those weird changes! People walk too slowly, but cars and planes go too fast! lol And, definitely too much stuff at home! I remember when I finished the PCT, and flew home. We went into the underground parking at the Toronto airport, approached my car my husband had driven in to pick me up, and it was all nice and shiny clean...and I exclaimed at first sight of it..."That's MINE?? It's so big and FANCY!! (This was 2019, and my car is a 2015 Buick Enclave - I had been driving it for all those years). My family thought that was hilarious!
I've found myself happier when I'm alone, cause so much drama in the world. The trails are of a lower, more peaceful frequency. I see others carry such invented stimulation (that they don't notice)...turns me off. So I keep continuing to venture with no return. I love how I can't get reception on my phone most times. I haven't met a more introverted person than me...hahaha. But seriously, hiking, fishing, travel is all my focus now. Raised my child on my own, worked hard my whole life(union). Whats tying me down??? Nothing. I'm over Babylon. At one point on the PCT, I literally thought... "OMG, I hope I die on this trail some day" lol.
What you presented is also true for those of us who worked extensively out in the woods, trail crew, timber beasts, surveyors, and fire fighters. Heading into town is a big deal with the noise and weird smells sometimes. The part that I really laughed at was the picking a spot to camp when so exhausted, you get fuzzy brain. One time in Colorado, after hiking 4000 vertical feet and 20 miles carrying shovels, soil test kits, and notebooks, my crew finally got back to the truck and to a campground way past dark. We didn't want to wake people, so we picked a spot that seemed away from others. Turned out we picked a rockpile. The next morning, the other campers looked at us funny like we were some kind of ascetics sleeping on a rockpile surrounded by plush meadow. We laughed, even though we all hurt like hell from the rocks.
I noticed on 2 week treks with Scouts we were hyper focused on trash compacting into the smallest bits we could, as we would not be able to throw or burn trash for days at a time. When we got back to civilization, particularly in fast food places, I would find myself nervously compacting the trash. Excess packaging made me crazy. Group hiking had different habits that had to be changed back into civilization, caught myself wanting to tell family back home, "saddle up" or "anyone not ready to hike, hike on", have ANY ailment?, "drink some Gatorade", "trade this food for your food", had to watch my eating manners, not drink or face lick from my bowl, or offer to to spatulate the cooking pot" (scrape out the last bit of food), and not announce to everyone that you are going to water a rock, or make a salt lick. Definitely identified with a lot of your experiences even on shorter 2 week hikes, Enjoy your videos, great information !
Dixie, you smacked the nail right on the head with this fun video! Back when my wife and I did the first 850 miles of the PCT, we got to Big Bear, and the PO was closed. So, we got a room at the local Motel 6. When we came in, the Manager took no time at all in telling us to wait outside, because our reek was offending all the other customers!! Truthfully, we didn't think we smelled that bad! The next day, we picked up our resupplies, and were back on the trail again. And, we both craved so many different foods whilst on the trail. Don't get me wrong, we had dehydrated 6 months of meals, using 140 lbs of buffalo meat that we bought from a local ranch, and our meals were excellent! But, we still craved other things that we did not have with us!! Fun video, thanks for sharing, and God Bless! - Doc and Lady C.
I really enjoyed this video! Thanks for making my day better! One thing I noticed for me is that people think waking 2 miles is far. I’ll say oh the bar is just 1.3 miles away! Let’s walk instead of Uber. It’s a nice night. There are 4 of us. It will be fun! But no. No no no. 1.3 miles one direction is just way too much to deal with. I get out ruled all the time.
davincent98 I’ll give that a try. Haha I have a feeling I’ll be walking alone a lot. Usually I trick them into it by saying it’s close and after half a mile or so people start asking questions. I’ll convert them eventually!
Henning Rech Yeah, no joke. It drives me nuts. It doesn’t help that I’m in the midwest in a city that isn’t considered to be very walkable and the public transportation isn’t very good either. Anytime I visit people in other countries or even some larger cities here in the US, people are usually more accepting of walking. I feel like driving isn’t only more expensive and bad for the environment, but you miss so much when you zoom by in a vehicle.
@@kellyd6224 Yes. And it's about your health. If it is half a mile, I walk. If it's up to 10 miles I prefer to ride the bicycle when the weather is good and I do not have to transport much stuff. In the summer 2 out of 3 shopping trips are by bicycle - last year about 1500 miles total, just for daily traffic. - The car for the rest.
I've noticed that after 2 days out my hearing and sense of smell really becomes sensitive. I can hear leaves falling on the ground. This is especially acute if I'm backpacking alone. I also find that the longer I'm out the less I want to come back.
One thing that fairly shocked me was a respose I got from an "experienced" hiker. He had arrived in a town (near the PCT) an hour or so prior and was at a table with me and others outside a store. He was relaying his many miles on an earlier AT trip etc. Well he really stunk, but I didn't want to be brutally blunt, so I told him how I liked to wash up every other day or so in the forest (Hair, body, feet, etc.). As if it was a totally alien concept, he turned to me and said, "You can do that?" 😯 In case there are others like him out there, yes folks, people actually did wash themselves before "everyone" had private showers and bathtubs, really really.
FYI - one big benefit of hiking (though I changed from cross country biking which is very similar) is realization of how we damage our life with trivial issues as being 5 minutes late to work, or obsessing about over planning. Once you hike and start to accept that you do not know where you are sleeping tonight, what if it rains? what if it thunderstorms?, what if it gets too hot, too cold?, what if you forget something.....…… once you have went through that 2-3 times you learn dealing with was easier than worrying about it
I always come back a super speed walker. I don't realize how much faster I go, then regular people just walk so slow... We tend to crave the nutrients we lack, I used to crave salad until I learned to eat plants on the trail for example. At home sitting on the ground almost hurts, I don't like it, but on the trail, a nice clean dirt patch with no tree sap is the most comfortable seat ever... I also get used to the cold baths, then when I get home it usually takes a couple of weeks before I can stand a hot shower. For deodorant I just hang my clothes in the campfire smoke. It works great on the trail, but once home I'm always shocked how badly they stink like smoke and a little BO too if I'm honest.
Reminds me of a trip in the Sahara desert in the 1980's, three weeks in deep heat, didn't realize my transpiration, or sweat, had accumulated in my clothes .... people literally jumped away from me as I stepped down from the train in Lyon France ...
I did some backpacking with friends in the late 70s around Yosemite and the taste of the water was the best I've ever tasted on any backpacking trip since then. I actually brought some home it was so good.
Coming back home after some extended time alone in the nature, I would have to remind myself to speak louder, as people could barely hear me. It was sometimes so exhausting to push enough air to be heard that I would simply not talk to anyone. I didn't mind staying quiet, on the contrary. I was enjoying their presence, without any need to utter a word - talking was not coming naturally anymore. Quite a change considering that I'm a language teacher.
I haven't gone on a through-hike yet, but live in the bush and can relate to every point made in this video! I can smell a human's shampoo and deodorant from a mile away! Trespassers be warned!
I have noticed that being on the trail makes chicks a lot more frisky. Same for being on a sailboat for a long time. I'd like to see a serious sexology study on this. This video reminds me of Ranger school. After a few weeks of being out there living in the woods on one (or fewer) meals a day your sense of smell becomes ferocious. The sadistic instructors would come into the field with a hot cheeseburger or pizza slice just to drive you wild. Sometimes they'd pass the wrapper around the patrol base just to torture the "candidates" even more...
So true! ALL OF IT. I have experienced serious restlessness being back in a house (and camping in my garden instead for 2 months until autumn rains were so severe that it was not longer healthy), the subsequent minimalism and the realization how much resources are wasted, realizing you cannot any longer pee or sleep anywhere (but you really don't care), the ugliness of cities, including the smells of other people's very smelly clean clothes and exhaust fumes of cars 😝. I thought I was the only one experiencing that.Thanks so much Dixie! I really enjoy your channel. Not only because of the really thorough and pleasant thematic compilations you make, but because of your nice down-to-earth character, and because it brings fond memories of trail experiences and nature when I am stuck at home and have to work. You rock.
The part about food tasting amazing after a long backpacking trip is so true! Years ago (mid 1970s) I backpacked for about 8 days solid in Colorado, and when we hiked out, we stopped and got Whoppers at Burger King to eat in the campground. I had never had a Whopper before, but it was so utterly amazing, I couldn't believe it. There was one leftover Whopper that no one wanted, so I ate that one cold, and it was just as amazing as the first. Eventually, we got a Burger King in the place I lived, but Whoppers, while tasty, have never been nearly as good as the night we had them in Colorado.
spot on ... its so life changing ..... after over 10 years living outside the system in Thailand, Bali, south east asia all over, and being forced back into it because international travel is pretty much destroyed at the moment, i am REALLY struggling with the feeling of isolation, which is really odd because i have mostly done my travels completely by myself. NOTHING seems 'right' in what most people consider to be the 'real' world anymore ... nothing makes sense ... ALL your value system has changed ... and for me personally i am really struggling to 'fit' back into the modern world of debt slavery and spending all your life working. Normal life is SO wrong on so many levels i dont even know where, or how, to start trying to explain. My life experience, context and understanding is so huge that i really dont have anything in common with 'normal' people anymore. Im stuck in the uk ... in london ... and going slowly crazy ... well ..more crazy than i was before?!?!?!?!
I have to agree with all you have said. "Re Entry" can be overwhelming some times. After 2 weeks of backpacking in the Southwest, I returned home VIA Las Vegas! The cacophony of Vegas was overwhelming and a big mistake on my part. I have not thru hiked the AT, but LOTS of section hiking. I see a big difference in the NOBO thru hikers in the South compared to the thru hikers in the White Mountains. In the Whites they definitely look leaner, stronger, more alert, and a bit more ferrel. However, the kinship and support of each other on the trail never changes. I LOVE long hikes. However, I find myself becoming sad when I start seeing people in makeup, jewelry, and trendy clothing. It reminds me that "Re Entry" is coming and I need to get back into the Hampster Wheel of life. :-( I also agree, the Sierra Nevada water is in a league unto itself.
I hope Hank is o.k. I really enjoy all your video’s. Will miss not seeing one next week but getting Hank well is more important. Take care and prayers for Hank.
I realized all of these things from long outdoor experiences while in the Army. I still remember pulling my sock off and throwing it against a wall and it stuck. That was after weeks of not having the opportunity to change clean etc.. I really appreciate your southern drawl. I’m from Louisiana originally. Living in Europe going on 26 years and don’t get the chance to listen to the singing of the southern girl. Amazing.
Combat veterans seem to have the same experiences, especially with the sense of smell. Some soldiers have talked openly about smelling the enemy (cigarette smoke, campfire smoke, soap, B.O. etc...) long before seeing the enemy.
I once read a book about what it was like in the Vietnamese tunnels during the war, and remember them saying that to them Americans smelt strongly of butter. (They wouldn't be eating any dairy, of course).
when i hiked alone for a longer time i often tried to reach some kind of building to camp. like a firetower or a ranger station.those things where always locked but i felt more secure and not so alone sleeping next to a man made structure.
I wish my friend would have been aware of this topic before doing the PCT. he went home and couldn’t handle day to day society, months later he applied to be a park ranger. I think being aware of these things would have helped a lot.
Very interesting video :D I like how people look at me sometimes on a hike... like why is this girl homeless or something 😂. Then I think to myself: the gear in my backpack is probably worth more than their car hahaha
When camping I eat 2-minute noodles as they're cheap and light to carry. Absolutely delicious after a day's hike up the mountain. Can't stand the bloody stuff when I'm at home, it's like chowing down on vaguely beef/chicken-flavoured cardboard.
I have been house-boating on Lake Powell since 1975. I'll never forget the year we ran out of fresh water. We still had various beverages to drink, but the lack of water to drink made a permanent mark in my mind. (It was ironic, being on such a huge body of "fresh" water, and not being able to drink it--we had no filters back then). It made me be a die-hard water conservationist and I have often passed my story on to others, to help them better appreciate and conserve water, too. To me, there is nothing more delicious to drink, than good, water--cold or not! Thanks for another GREAT video, Dixie! You always share good words of wisdom with us, which makes our lives better, and the world a better place to live!
This was great! It is amazing how you are putting together such good content while being in lockdown. I myself appreciate your effort. Thanks for keeping up the spirit of the great outdoors.
I can only comment on how I know you on YT. I have wanted to say this for some time. I have never known anyone who is more comfortable in their own skin than you are.
@@HomemadeWanderlust I'd be careful talkin' to that feller...'specially about how comfortable your skin is. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill_(character)
"A caterpillar sounds like a Gizzly when you're camping alone at night." Yup. One nearly ate me in the Wyoming mountains. Night hearing is *insane* and probably an evolutionary tactic to keep us alive. +1 on the taste and smell (and makeup, which is society's archaic and oppressive way of "dolling up" females). After getting into backpacking many years ago I can no longer stand *any* of the strong smells that civilized people cover themselves with; not only things like cologne and perfume, but also many absolutely eye-watering shampoos and deodorants. Yes, backpackers grow de-sensitized to body odor, but become much more sensitive to the tons of useless odors that regular folks slather themselves with. The same is true for air fresheners and fragrance misters, which today give me headaches and I cannot stay indoors with such things. I am *often* uncomfortable at family gatherings as it's normal to have some sort of fragrance being pumped into the air to make the home smell "nice". Even after years without backpacking, I cannot re-adjust to such fragrances. The average American, in particular, has seemed to de-sensitize their senses of smell and taste to a degree where basically nothing tastes or smells good anymore. It's all just noise. Which reminds me: I carry ear plugs in my pack and use them whenever I'm forced to be in a loud environment. Backpacking might not be the only factor here, but it was undoubtedly one of them. I literally take a day pack wherever I go, though I do leave it in the car if I'm just going into a store. This might be unwise in places where someone might try to steal your pack/bag, but I live in the country and normally only visit a small town. I also have a water bottle in the pack at all times; if I forget, I feel vulnerable without a small water supply. This has proven worthwhile on numerous occasions, especially with young nieces and nephews. I no longer like having things in my pants pockets, either; I want freedom of movement. I will still put tons of stuff in jacket or coat pockets, though, whatever that means. Coats are perhaps like small backpacks to me ;). Weird? Yes, but another thing that happens in the outdoors is that you may no longer care what all those other people think ;). I am still polite, but I don't care if carrying a small pack is strange or if I'm not dressed fashionably. Some of this is inherently part of getting older, but I credit much of it to spending time in the woods, mountains, and deserts. After some time on the trail, I can eat a half-gallon of ice cream for a snack. Whole pizzas are a starter meal :). Snickers are frustrating when it's not cold enough to keep them solid, but absolutely delicious regardless.
Rob, just got back from Europe where my brothers and sisters-in-law carry a small, mostly empty pack with them at all times. Because they walk everywhere, and pick up items at stores. No throw away bags needed. They're prepared. I loved it. Right on to everything else you brought up, too.
The most special experience for me after a long distance backpacking trip, was sitting in a train with a hot cup of coffee. After putting up a tent every day while being exhausted and hungry, the feeling of a real, strong roof over my head, that fully protected me from the rain and wind, while not having to give that any effort at all, and coffee that stayed warm for minutes on end was magical.
Your comment of singing Christmas and Disney songs resonates with me (add in songs from "Merry Melody" cartoons for us old guys). I spend all day working by myself on the farm and constantly am doing this. I don't have a lot of interaction with others and frankly no longer care if they think it strange that I'm whistling "jingle bells" in the middle of a July heat wave. While for many outdoor isolation may only occur on long hikes, in rural areas that is day in and day out reality. Ditto for walking. When there are chores to do I move along at a fair sustainable clip....like hiking, walking around the property is to get somewhere and time matters. When others are around I often find it close to painful to walk at what they think of as a normal pace.
Peace & thank you Dixie for giving affirmation to so much we experience on trail. Recently while I camped in the forest on a lunar eclipse, the animals really had a lot to say.. they started talkin loud at once all the way till bout 3am , coyotes, owls, the animals on a farm in the distance, bullfrogs extra loud.. then silence. It was overwhelming at first my adrenaline rushed and then everything settled. The silence was profound & sweet. I’m crying w gratitudes as I remember this. Thank you for this video so very much❤️
Dixie you make the experience soo astounding.It's not the ending to get there, It's the journey that makes it happen. Getting there ain't the problem, the adventures along the way....."Seeing"..... It's a Symphony.......
Your the whole reason I started planning a thru hike!! I started to watch.your channel at the end of 2019 and have decided to thru hike the Appalachian trail starting March 2021! Ive never backpacked or hiked but I'm super excited!!!!! Thank you and I love all your videos and your tips are amazing!!!!!!!!
Please go hike or camp before. Dixie is one of the rare ones that had never done so and finished her thru hike. Most end in the 75% who quit. You can do it! Enjoy!
Hey Dixie thanks for posting this video as I found it really interesting. I have never through-hiked one of the longer trails but I have done a lot of week-long camping/canoe trips. Years ago I worked as an exploration geologist and my day consisted of targeting an area for exploration, walking it, sampling anomalous rock, and returning to camp where I'd plot my findings and see the few other guys that I was with. I'd do this day in and day out for the spring, summer and fall months 7 days a week. Depending on the company, we'd always get home once possibly twice a summer for 3-4 days. Normally I'm a pretty sociable guy so when I'd return home, I'd meet up with my friends at a BBQ or some other get-together. On those R&R trips I always experienced this feeling that I can only describe as a "separateness" from everyone and everything felt surreal. It was almost as if there was an invisible barrier between me and my friends and that I was observing life from afar. I also noticed that I felt it was hard to relate to the topics of many conversations -- presumeably because when you're outdoors your needs are so much more basic (Am I warm? Am I dry? Am I hungry?) and the conversations just seemed too abstract and irrelevant. After a couple of days these feelings would wear off and I'd be back to myself again. Just wondering if you or anyone else have experienced this?
having a wife and daughters who get migraines from perfumes and having asthma that is triggered by some. my family uses all products that are fragrance free. So I get that smell thing everytime I walk into a crowded building.
Dixie, you’re absolutely right about everything you mentioned. I’m not a thru-hiker; but, I did spend some time in the Army going to multiple countries around the globe, staying long periods in the woods without bathing with other soldiers doing the same. The smell is a real thing, heh, heh...We were strong young men, doing mentally and physically challenging work in the field. Staying under a lot of stress, real and artificial, for long periods, sleep and food deprived, many times cold, wet, hungry and so physically tired one could sleep and walk, and still making serious decisions for many men, really does change things in a person. One learns to weed out the BS. Sleep is not the same. Eating and drinking is not the same. Talking is not the same. Small talk, being around normal people is not the same. Our feet grow. Our mental and physical endurance changes, grows. Our sense of what is important changes. Personally, I became infinitely more patient. Some guys go just the opposite way. My family enjoyed this change the most I think. On the one hand, I didn’t get angry, almost ever, with my family when I returned from the Iraq and Afghanistan. On the other hand, I didn’t care if the yard grew into a forest. I’d eventually get to it; but, it didn’t get first priority. When I was young and would come home from the field, I’d call ahead and tell my newlywed to get the mattress strapped to her back, ‘cause I was gonna hit her on the fly. Soon as I hit the front door...she’d hold her nose and yell, “SHOWER, MAN!” with a smile on her face...heh, heh, heh. It would take a couple of weeks for me to change from a fierce animal back into a human. My angel, my wife, always brought me back. Now, I can sleep anywhere, lights on or off, noise doesn’t matter. But my angel can’t. I can walk a long way. My angel won’t, heh, heh. Bugs? I smash with my thumb...not my angel. I pick up snakes with my hands...not her. There are a lot changes that result from being in the woods, experience with nature, without the convenience of civilization. Some are good. I never wear makeup to the grocery...heh, heh. I wonder if a scientist has ever written a paper about these changes? Good stuff, Dixie. Texas
The biggest change in myself while I’m doing a long distance pack is def the sense of smell. After a couple weeks I could sense nearby water by not only micro changes in the air temp but by its smell. Laundry detergent/soap became particularly pungent...I often could smell day hikers coming long before seeing them because I’d suddenly get a whiff of Tide on the breeze. I always knew when I was about 10-15 mins away from a parking lot (for example, Clingmans dome and the Shenandoah Natl Park Lodges) because I could smell the overpowering scent of soap. The other really retched place for me to be became the inside of a grocery store. As soon as I entered the smell of old food and raw meat was strong enough to make me gag. And even now, whenever I pass by a homeless person or use the subways, that rank odor is a sensory memory that takes me right back to the trail.
Everything. Here. Is. Gold. I'm just a primitive camper packing it in but did a nine month stint up to Maine from Florida. Gearing up to do it again (my state only) but I related to this on every level and you are the epitome of inspiration!
My biggest adjustment going back to civilization will always be the mental game. Going out to nature is most of the time straightforward minneal tasks that don't require much thought or adjustment after you figure them out... Unlike my civilian life that requires multi-parallel thought most of the time.
That was very interesting. I was raised near farm land and felt strange when I moved to the city for many of the observations you’ve cited. In my case wearing shoes was awkward...
Thank you! It so resonnates with my little experiences on trails, especially the feeling of having everything I need in my backpack and the minimalism effect. I must say this came to be a tremendous help when I had to move a year ago from a fully cluttered 2500 SqFt house down to a 600 SqFt flat. Senses of smell and hearing, oh yeah. Last year when I hiked the Skye Trail with an English friend, we both noticed how we developped our hearing to detect the smallest water stream 20-50 yards away
First, sending positive thoughts to Hank :( This was a great video (as usual lol) being In sync with the sun was your circadian rhythm, which in turn wakes up our senses, gets everything functioning the way we were meant too and thats why I love hiking! Funny story, one night on the AT in Pennsylvania, there was a bear or big foot outside my tent, could have even been a mountain lion, I was gonna surely be eaten, like a fool i decided to make a run for it, flew out of the tent and tripped on my boots, shined my flashlight from my back on the ground and there he was, staring me dead in my eyes, not 3 feet away, a baby opossum LOL I laughed so hard i was crying. That hearing you speak of, oh its real people lol
I hope all goes well with Hank! Also, I want to tell you that I have just completed rewatching your PCT thru hike videos. I enjoyed them just as much, if not more, than the first time. You are special person!
I fell in love with this channel right after had a bad accident. 3 months with no weight bearing. I told myself that I would go hiking and get after it... I have not done any thing that I thought I would. but I have been going on long walks and have lost 45 lbs in the last couple years. Ill probably never go hike around like I did when I was a boy scout. just glad Dixie was there for me when I was flat on my back for 3 months.
Whenever I'm camping and sleeping outdoors I've noticed that my dreams seem so much more vivid. I swear there have been times that I wake up and it takes a moment or two to realize that I was indeed just dreaming. I've never had that experience sleeping indoors. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced that as well.
I had such dreams when I was younger. Not anymore. Don't miss them. Some if my worst nightmares where waiting up in the dream, thinking all is good and then the monster gets you and you think it's real. When I woke up for real I was sweaty, heart racing and I had a ringing in my ears like from a very load scream. I was sure I screamed for real but no one ever woke up to it. Never again was I so scared and confused and helpless than in those few moments after waking up.
I've had similar things too but I tend to sometimes wake up and forget I'm camping and it's dark and I almost believe I'm In bed at home and takes me a while to remember I'm in the woods somewhere.
Don't let this distract you from the the fact that in 1966, Al Bundy scored four touchdowns in a single game while playing for the Polk High School Panthers in the 1966 city championship game versus Andrew Johnson High School, including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds against his old nemesis, "Spare Tire" Dixon.
This has been pinned.
That's awesome! But not as awesome as you are Dixie, thank you for taking us on your adventures. You're an inspiration
I remember that game. It was classic.
LMFAO
I don't get it. I am new to this channel; is it an inside joke? (I also know nothing about sports.)
A weird realization for me was the fact that no one cared about all my wonderful experiences of long hikes. I was so eager to share my hiking stories with them but they were so busy with their own every day lives that I could see that they were not interested in my stories. I finally realized that the only person I needed to satisfy was myself. That was enlightening and new for me.
Well, u need more friends. I’d love to hear your hiking stories, and I hope u wrote them up. (I miss being outside.)
Honestly, that's true of nearly everyone. It's just the way if things that people largely want to live their own lives and if something is completely outside of their experience, they aren't likely to be interested. I have similar when I bring up that I was a UN Peacekeeper in Africa. Even though very few in the US can say that, I just get blank looks.
Yeah this was one of the hardest parts of post thru hike life for me. My family didn’t give a shit. To be fair I have an exceptionally awful family but still. It was really sad and hard for me to realize no one cared about the life changing adventure I had just been through.
@@JazzFlop212 Epic adventure is always a means to measure oneself against the greatness of creation. The reward we get is internal. Only those old hands who weathered the trials with you will appreciate them in the same way that you do. But many kindred souls will listen to the recounting with a twinkle in their eye. Seek them out. They are your true friends.
They're too busy with their march
As to the “no makeup being beautiful” I remember the quote “in the woods we all return to reason”.
Since hiking on the AT I never wear makeup. It feels horrible on my face now. Like muck.
Appalachian Girl UK
What a girl. 😉
Was hiking the CDT this year and dropped off the trail because of a ligament problem in my foot. But while hiking down Hope Pass I encountered several women wearing makeup. After thru hiking I do not find women as beautiful or attractive when they are "dolled" up, compared to their natural beauty.
What a beautiful quote, thank you.
Beautiful quote!
“In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, - no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
It was on a long hike I first was told: "The best spice is hunger".
Love this!
Or there’s my method, when in doubt add more cayenne. 🤣
We coined it “seasoned with hunger”
Oh yeah, hunger is the best sauce!
Fully agree! The most humble meal tastes like a dish fit for a king.
The best change I felt in myself after hiking was how capable I am. I became more independent, I stood up for myself more, and I was more confident in my everyday life after long distance hiking.
So true!!!!
good for you! Hike more ;)
CL XK : That’s great... I have the opposite issue ...I’m too capable, can the woods fix it?
Great job ! More people should be on the trail, away from "civilization" so they can learn what freedom really means.
totally! Don't you feel like you have super powers? (Although I'm always massively disappointed by how quickly that feeling can fade after coming home)
Your really on to something here. The longer you spend "isolated" on a long distance hike the more you realize how artificial the reality of our modern world is. Everything has an artificial flavor/smell/look in a crowded modern society.
I came to the same conclusion while I was homeless.
There is also the "sweat out the toxins thing". Desert construction workers that drink two or more gallons/day after a few showers and a couple weeks don't develop much body odor. I slept in a tent (actually two or three due to wind) for a year and a half while building a house and when a close local house came up for rent I felt creepy inside and had an adjustment period. I've never done through hikes like Dixie but have hiked like a weekend warrior for a string of years. She really nailed it on so many topics, just for the record; Dixie's mom is younger than one of my daughters. Ha!
So tru
Peter McPherson even after a weekend camping my sense of smell heightens and I get headaches from the any scent
Exactly Peter!!
I was once on a short trip in the fall in the Sawtooths that was weirdly quiet. No leaves rustling, no birds chirping. I heard a wooshing sound and looked up to see a duck coming in to land on the lake next to me. I was hearing his wings in the wind before he even landed. It made me realize how loud the city can be all the time.
I’ve experienced this too! Blew my mind
imagine what those manufactured scents smell like to wild animals....No wonder they can smell us coming for "miles".
I thought the same thing. Now I know what all the bear smell.
Yes! I've thought the same thing. I just do day hikes and am always outside, but when someone passes me and I can smell their fabric softener, etc, it's so jarring. To wild animals, we must reek.
@@MaterialWhirl When I walk my dog around the neighborhood, I can smell when someone is doing laundry. I can smell the fabric softeners. To me, it's very cloying.
@@travisadams4470 Same here. I am soooo sensitive to artificial smells and it causes many headaches.
@@MaterialWhirl I imagine that manufactured scents smell like food and something good to eat to an animal, especially bears. They tell you to hang your toiletries with your food. Bears will eat toothpaste, handcream, sunscreen, chapstick, and probably even soap. If it doesn't smell like something Mother Nature created then it has to be good !
The longest I've gone without a shower has been 29 days (climbing trip in Alaska). I eat food that falls in the dirt. But the thing I really notice is that when I do a long trip with a group of complete strangers at the end of the trip I'm really close to them. I see them at there best and at there worst and most vulnerable.I hear all their stories about their life back home. I learn all their quirks and mannerisms and they learn mine. When I talk to one of them a month or even a year latter it's like we're back there again and we have never been apart.
"These are the ties that bind..."
🤘🙂
I mentioned to a day hiker, "I like your perfume". She said she was not wearing any. I was actually smelling the fabric softner from a good distance away. Amazing.
Day hikers am I right
yes that happens to me too
Jeff Martin .....Unfortunately, there are lots of chemicals in fabric softener.
When she talked about “smelling your clothes after you’ve taken a shower” is the most spot-on thing I’ve ever heard! When we invaded Iraq, I went 53 days without a shower and the smell of my uniform after that first shower almost knocked me over...not to mention the other men that I was with! It explains every field exercise and combat tour I’ve ever been in! So civilian through-hikers...congrats...you now know what the soldiers and Marines smell like in Iraq and Afghanistan (sailors and airmen (other than SEALs and PJ/JTAC’s) get showers everyday so they don’t count)!
Perk always told me that a lot of thru-hiking experiences reminded him of being in the military. He said it was the closest thing he had experienced to it and seemed excited to have others be able to kinda sorta relate.
Thank you for your service! ♥️
thank you for your service! Semper Fi. God bless!
@@boromirofmiddleearth557...Thank you and Semper Fi!
On a navy ship it’s rough- one cruise I went three whole days without clean sheets- same cruise they served hotdogs and Mac and cheese ! How vulgar! And the ships store ran out of Ben and Jerry’s chunky monkey ice cream- the bums
I find the calm of hiking clears my mind and I often have epiphanies or emotional experiences periodically. I remember events and people I haven’t thought about for years, or find myself crying about past losses or just the beauty of things.
Yes, the simplicity of hiking is just so good.
It's why I call it my therapy, wellness, and preventative medicine all in one.
I call it “going to church”
Yes to all of this! I have a friend who walks her yard daily, and takes pictures of all things. On Sundays she posts pictures from “Morning services at Our Lady of the Yard”!!
I find the calm of hiking bores the crap out of me. That's why I wear a single earbud and listen to podcasts while I walk. The most frequent emotion it evokes in me is the anxiety of knowing I could be doing something useful rather than wasting my life in the woods. Then again I spent waaay too much of my adult professional life lying on my belly in the forest/jungle/desert/mountains watching grass grow.
I found when I would hike alone for long periods of time 3,4,5, weeks at a time that my mind would start reviewing all of my life experiences and processing things and connections. I would think of things that I had done and had regret so much so that I would catch myself, crying and feeling sad!! Other times you would think of happy events and catch myself laughing, bursting into laughter.
I found that because we were not being bombarded with so much stimuli that your brain starts to process stuff, like it had been stored in waiting for a time when it could be processed. Anyways it seemed that I had reviewed my whole life one point. They also found myself vowing to make changes of things that I didn't like about myself.
Eventually I exhausted this process and moved to a more spiritual plane, having conversations with a higher power.
Other times I would get high, just observing nature and have an overwhelming sense of gratitude for being alive.
Other days, I would catch myself, praying to something bigger!!!
Some days, I would be so happy, that I would want to sing or whistle, in a way, I felt it was to express gratitude to this higher power.
Anyways I like listening to your UA-cam video, but I find it interesting that no one ever wants to speak about the psychological and spiritual aspects of what happens to an individual when he hikes especially alone in nature for long periods of time.
I just wanted to share that with you!!!
You seem to be very sincere about your experience, not everybody is so giving!!!
Sincerely,
a through hiker,
Normand Goupil
Some of those experiences of knowing or communicating with a “higher power” may have been veridical. Our senses scream into our consciousness but I have heard it said that those who experience what they consider the “voice” of God experience it as a still, small voice… if it is, it would seem hard to hear it in the midst of endless distraction, busyness, anxiety etc. but easier to hear it when our hearts and minds are quiet. Some noteworthy philosophers have opined that possibly we possess a sense of the divine that, under the right circumstances, we can experience that higher power. Thank you for sharing!
Thats why Christian monks have always gone out into the wilderness or remote places to seek God.
WIFE: "Honey...you're not looking at naked women on the computer are you?"
HUBBY: "No dear, watching a girl talking about what her B.O. smells like."
WIFE: . . .
😂
I attempted the Long Path trail, a 350 mile trail from New York City to Albany which includes the Catskill Mountains. I never felt lonely while on the trail but a great wave of loneliness overcame me at every road crossing. It was as if the moment I stepped onto black concrete, even while in the middle of nowhere, the memory of the good things that civilization offers, I longed for. It was often difficult to cross that road and re-enter the wilderness.
I hiked 890 miles of the AT in 1984 and the flowing things were the most difficult to get used to/get over from when I was on and off trail:
1. Noise - my parents were living in a small town in Arkansas at the time in a very quiet neighborhood but I could not get used to how loud and raucous everything seemed to be when I came home. Every pipe gurgled, the TV and radio blared, even the refrigerator seemed to roar when it was running. It took me almost six months to get completely used to the racket.
2. Time and scheduling - feeling like I should be up and "doing" something early in the day but being put off by fixed clock bound schedules. I never used to get up before my mother, she was was a farm.raised Iowa girl, but when I got back I would wake up really early, even earlier than in trail, get up and make coffee before even she got around. I used to feel like I was wasting the best part of the day if I didn't rise before 5:30.
3. When I hiked there weren't the choices for water purification so I used iodide. I had a difficult time getting used to water without a slightly metallic- saltish flavor. That was one I got over pretty quickly.
4. The lack of physical activity. I had grown used to being slightly sore everyday and needing to address foot care, sock cleaning and the like. As a side note, I had gotten used to the smell of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap while on trail. I still keep a bottle and use it occasionally.
5. My hike occured befor cell phones or GPS so all navigation was by map and compass. The only books I carried were trail guides with the covers removed. I had my degree in History so the lack of reading material was torture. You know it's bad when you take your Dr. Bronners soap with you while taking a dump, just so you can read the crazy quotes plastered all over the label.
Enjoyable comment, Mr. Polk. Your 890 miles is an amazing accomplishment. A few years ago, I really longed to hike the AT. It never happened, unfortunately. However, for several years, I lived near the AT and at least got to walk on a few hundred feet of it. 😊 I'll take that over nothing. Wishing you well.
I use to backpack extensively back in the '60's , '70's and '80's so I;m familiar with what you are talking about. I was also, back in the 1960's in the Navy in submarines. On the older diesel powered, mostly WW II submarines, water was to a great extent rationed, (longer trips you used less water). So bathing was limited and people began acquiring an "aroma". We called it "eau du submarine". It was a combination of sweat, fuel oil, hydraulic oil, ozone, cooking odors, cigarette smoke and what ever else was around you. It permeated everything including clothing. Many women would not let their men into the house until they had removed all the clothes and they showered. Backpacking long distances is like that.
The day I found myself craving spam was the day I knew I had turned into a wild beast.
🤣🤣🤣 relatable
😂
a wild beast fighting the processed food addiction
I must have been an animal before. If I go to the chippy it's a spam special all the way. (Deep fried battered spam, chips and chipshop curry sauce)
It's the simple things in life.
Yep. Nothing tastes better than Spam at the tree line!
As someone with sensory processing issues I live that overwhelmed life all the time. The noise, the smells, the lights and everything are just exhausting, guess that's why I love the woods so much.
Right there with you. I should sell everything and through hike for the rest of my life 🤣
I struggle with the same thing, I'm lucky enough to live out in the woods, but when I go to town I get very overwhelmed.
The outdoors aren't a solution for me. Some people like the sound of waves or the sound of water flowing over rocks in a stream, but not me. Same with the roar of a breaze blowing through trees. It's too much constant noise. I have to get away from water sources and unsheltered places.
The plan for next week was to post a video of a 3-4 day backpacking trip. Unfortunately, after I started hiking my dog Hank had to be hospitalized. I decided to cut the trip short and go back home to be with him and see what was going on. So it looks like for the first time in about 4.5 years there likely won’t be a video next week. I will definitely give that hike another shot as soon as I can.
I hope Hanks okay. Sorry ❤️
I hope Hank is okay! Please update us
That's too bad, hope it's not too serious.
Hope Hank is okay. I remember your heartbreak on your AT hike. Thoughts your way.
Wishing the best for your dog. I hike with a huge Maine Coon cat on shorter hikes and have had to depart early to get him seen. Who knew cats can get swimmers ear.
The way that you describe returning to civilization actually really reminds me of a lot of the way neurodivergent people (for instance my ADHD or descriptions of heard from people on the spectrum) will get overstimulated in grocery stores from our brains/bodies not being able to tune out all the smells and sounds regularly anyway. I'm super excited to actually have some peace out on trail!
It's amazing what even two or three days camping and hiking can do for your mental clarity. It doesn't cure ADHD, depression, anxiety or bipolarity, but it still helps you find balance within.
Amen to that, Lauren.
I was thinking the same. I would love to do a thru hike some day, but now I'm a little nervous that that my sensory sensitivities would get worse
@Barry H being on the spectrum, I am only free to be my authentic self in the wild. It's the only place where I'm not overwhelmed but feel spiritually fed.
How to watch a video by Dixie
1. Press Play
2. Press Like as soon as she say's "Yeah, Dixie here"
3. Enjoy her voice, and let the happiness flow
4. Go on a virtual journey, and learn a lot in the process
5. Leave inspired
#6. Enjoy her accent and they way she says HIGHkers and Raymon noodles
@@travisadams4470 Accent? I'm from Tennessee I aint heard no accent. :-)
Also how she says "night hike" and "ice axe".
@@travisadams4470 Yes, she has a very pronounced "i" like liiiight
I kind of think I am in love with her. But being old as the dirt, O well.
I live in the heart of Denver, Colorado. In December I spend three weeks living out of a tent, Daytona Beach, Florida. The first thing i noticed was how good the city smelt. But after a few days of hanging out at the beach, the smell of the exhaust was overwhelming.
Now I was camping at a campsite that had indoor flushing toilets and indoor showers. So i wasn't truly ruffing it. After living out of a tent and my car, I quickly realized that I didn't need as much. The only things I missed were: reliable refrigeration, power and the ability to stand in my tent. I enjoyed sitting and cooking outside. I could definitely live like that again. (Except in Florida in June. NOPE!)
As a day hiker in the Rockies I've noticed that I can hear a bike coming down the trail long before it gets there. When I walk in the city I need to listen to music or maybe a podcast, but when I'm on trail I'm content with the sound of nature.
the cravings are so true!
i actually had the same craving for chocolatemilk as u and when i got back home... tbrh, i didn't just purge my belongings but also got rid of some people whom i didn't miss during the hike and felt kinda toxic when i returned back home.
You crave it because of the iron in cacao.
Or maybe the nutrients in the milk 🥛
Last autumn, I did 5 days in northern California by myself. On day 4 I got a craving for Welch's grapes soda-something I never really drank. Day 5 was even worse. I got back to the trailhead, drove to a little country store and they actually had a six pack in an ice cold old style refrigerator. I sat outside and downed the entire six pack. Freaking delicious. Haven't wanted one since.
@@dontbelievemebut7193 Nope. For sure the iron of the cacao, since as long you're no baby cow, there are no nutrients in a cows mother milk, that you need as a human. Most of you just don't even know, what you're craving really behind some products. But education on healthy food helps with that.
@@Lucky-nt7mg I'm usually not sure what it is I'm craving in any particular food, but I do know that if I'm craving it, it's because my body's lacking something and it associates that food with satisfying the lack. I think we all develop an unconscious database whereby - over the course of our lives - we associate foods/drinks with the effects they have on minor nutritional deficiencies and later, if we're *really* deficient in something, that unconscious knowledge manifests as "a strange craving for..."
Self-inflicted challenges or enduring the trials of life...especially the loss of a loved one which most definitely includes the passing of 'man's best friend', tends to bring clarity in defining priorities. A poet once penned the words "the darker the skies the brighter the stars". A college degree does not necessarily give you all the tools to succeed in life but it does let the future employer know that you've been tested by fire and come out on the other side. I'd give an arm and a leg to have compiled all the life-long memories you have but even more, you have more than earned respect and credence when sharing your life's lessons. If you ever find yourself going through some funky times please remember all the countless people you have inspired to set goals and embrace their dreams... of which I'm one of them. May God bless you in a mighty way and especially when you least expect it... just like you have blessed me and countless others.
The "have everything you need with you" feeling is the same when you live in a motorhome. I've gotten so used to having my house with me literally everywhere I go, that on the rare times I'm not close to my home I kind of freak out.
EVERYTHING TASTES BETTER BACKPACKING! It’s inexplicable, but 100% true 💙
Dixie, you are priceless and no makeup needed. Go with what God gave ya Sister!!
After about a month hiking on AT (2004), I started enjoy the nomad life style. No mal, telephone, PC, bills, house cleaning or maintenance, work worries, project, cut grass or etc...
After six months, I feel like an athlete, I can do a marathon.
I believe that trail cravings are your body needing a certain mineral or ingredient in the thing and it's just the thing your body knows to associate with it :)
Yes and, sometimes, that ingredient is fat 😉
hey that would actually make sense, like if she was craving chocolate milk, maybe she needed magnesium??
This actually has been researched. I don't have the references anymore, but that research e.g. did an experiment with yeast cells on a substrate that was nutritionally complete, except for one essential nutrient. The yeast cells kept "eating" and became "obese". The human brain and underlying system inform us that we are "hungry" in the same way. If our food is complete, except it lacks magnesium - building block in 350 different enzymes that are essential in our biochemical reaction chains ("life" is the reaction chains between some 50,000 substances) - then we will be hungry. We also tend to confuse hunger and thirst. A couple essential nutrients are stored in buffers or caches. Compared with other primates, we lost the ability to synthesize vitamin B12. In our evolution we must have had a long time where B12 was always available (it is essential in our energy processes). Migrating to regions in the world where those food sources would be seasonal, we developed an ability to store a reserve in our livers. Iodine is used in the deepest innards of our cells in energy related processes and we carry protein bound reserves of iodine in our blood (in the form of T3 and T4). For the majority of "essential" nutrients we do not have a reserve and each and every deficiency translates into "hunger". If you have seen some farmers, they have a bunch of minerals on offer and their cows and sheep instinctively know which one is deficient.
@Diedert Spijkerboer - a couple fatty acids - aka fat - are essential to us. If only to maintain our brains. Brains have a very high fat content and this may explain why certain carnivorous mammals (like killer whales) or omnivorous mammals (like chimpanzee) may only eat liver and brain of their prey animals.
Looking at obesity, we have to hypothesize nutritionally incomplete diets and consequent overeating because the hunger does not go away. Paired with the economic wealth and cognitive abilities of yeast cells.
@Ashley Leahy - or she has a copper deficiency. Note that research with lab animals suggests that a copper deficiency (rather imbalance) relative to zinc intake may cause the insulin glands to change their mode of operation from insulin gland into liver mode. I.e. this can cause diabetes 1 (inability to produce insulin). And no, a temporary high dose of copper does not revert this - copper is a heavy metal and at higher concentrations toxic, so in that case liver cells deal with copper as toxins, if they survive. Cacao or chocolate are a good source of copper. Or Italian espresso (and I wonder if it comes from the beans or the innards of the espresso machine ...)
As the Mediterranean diet has a high level of diversity, in Europe, in that region, we find a relatively high life expectancy and low obesity. It's the diversity that mitigates the risk of deficiencies. A hamburger (red meat) costs you half an hour of life expectancy but organ meat or fatty fish may add an hour. Adopting a MacDonald's lifestyle, forgetting the knowledge of the cuisine of Ma Tante Marie or the cucina of Pellegrino Artusi quickly turns the life expectancy around though.
Note that there is no trail specific in here, except the message that you need to maintain the diversity.
@jpdj2715
Your comment on nutritional needs of the body is absolutely correct. Former farmer / world class authority / Natural pathic doctor / Certified Pathologist / Certified agriculturalist, Dr. Joel Wallach should be researched on the nutritional needs of the body. Much info on his work. Longevity and disease free life is a real science. Never listen to medical doctors that only push pharmaceutical demonic magic to kill you early in life. They have ZERO Interest in your long term well being / survival.
My wife and I spent 2 years living in a 1 room bungalow on a small island in Thailand. We had very little access to stores and never heard a radio or watched a tv or rode in a car the entire 2 years. We experienced exactly the same things as you did hiking. When we returned to civilization the most surprising thing was random people approaching us and saying that we gave off super mellow vibes. It was quite disconcerting.
GREAT STUFF!! Thank you, Dixie. Reminds me of 1969-72. Being able to just curl up and sleep practically anywhere. Even holed up in an old room in an old city for the Winter, sleeping on packing quilts for months at a time. Living out in the woods for the warmer months, so many women out in the wild start to look REALLY pretty. Talking and singing to oneself. Interpersonal communications more basic and a lot less bull. No TV or radio -- time seems to last a lot longer and a lot more seems to happen in the space of a day, of a week, of a year! And not being afraid of death.
I’m not a thru hiker-yet! I cannot wait until I can experience it! Several of the things you mentioned are so true! We’ve done a couple of four night backpacking trips, it’s so liberating and exciting to know you have everything you need right on your back! We’ve gone from tent camping, pop-ups, trailers, to a fifth wheel with a camp lot, such a hassle and expense. These days for a fraction of the cost, we buy a plane ticket or drive to amazingly beautiful places for great adventure! People you meet on the trail are fascinating to me, it’s such a diverse group of people that share a strong common bond. I’ll never forget the realization of how important water is and the first time we smelled some kind of shampoo or body spray forever after we passed a day hiker!!
After a long hike in the southeast mountains I find myself looking for the top of mountains when driving, looking through the trees for a glimpse of sky.
Yep! I have experienced every single one of those weird changes! People walk too slowly, but cars and planes go too fast! lol And, definitely too much stuff at home! I remember when I finished the PCT, and flew home. We went into the underground parking at the Toronto airport, approached my car my husband had driven in to pick me up, and it was all nice and shiny clean...and I exclaimed at first sight of it..."That's MINE?? It's so big and FANCY!! (This was 2019, and my car is a 2015 Buick Enclave - I had been driving it for all those years). My family thought that was hilarious!
I've found myself happier when I'm alone, cause so much drama in the world. The trails are of a lower, more peaceful frequency.
I see others carry such invented stimulation (that they don't notice)...turns me off.
So I keep continuing to venture with no return.
I love how I can't get reception on my phone most times.
I haven't met a more introverted person than me...hahaha.
But seriously, hiking, fishing, travel is all my focus now.
Raised my child on my own, worked hard my whole life(union).
Whats tying me down???
Nothing.
I'm over Babylon.
At one point on the PCT, I literally thought... "OMG, I hope I die on this trail some day" lol.
What you presented is also true for those of us who worked extensively out in the woods, trail crew, timber beasts, surveyors, and fire fighters. Heading into town is a big deal with the noise and weird smells sometimes. The part that I really laughed at was the picking a spot to camp when so exhausted, you get fuzzy brain. One time in Colorado, after hiking 4000 vertical feet and 20 miles carrying shovels, soil test kits, and notebooks, my crew finally got back to the truck and to a campground way past dark. We didn't want to wake people, so we picked a spot that seemed away from others. Turned out we picked a rockpile. The next morning, the other campers looked at us funny like we were some kind of ascetics sleeping on a rockpile surrounded by plush meadow. We laughed, even though we all hurt like hell from the rocks.
I noticed on 2 week treks with Scouts we were hyper focused on trash compacting into the smallest bits we could, as we would not be able to throw or burn trash for days at a time. When we got back to civilization, particularly in fast food places, I would find myself nervously compacting the trash. Excess packaging made me crazy. Group hiking had different habits that had to be changed back into civilization, caught myself wanting to tell family back home, "saddle up" or "anyone not ready to hike, hike on", have ANY ailment?, "drink some Gatorade", "trade this food for your food", had to watch my eating manners, not drink or face lick from my bowl, or offer to to spatulate the cooking pot" (scrape out the last bit of food), and not announce to everyone that you are going to water a rock, or make a salt lick. Definitely identified with a lot of your experiences even on shorter 2 week hikes, Enjoy your videos, great information !
Dixie, you smacked the nail right on the head with this fun video! Back when my wife and I did the first 850 miles of the PCT, we got to Big Bear, and the PO was closed. So, we got a room at the local Motel 6. When we came in, the Manager took no time at all in telling us to wait outside, because our reek was offending all the other customers!! Truthfully, we didn't think we smelled that bad! The next day, we picked up our resupplies, and were back on the trail again. And, we both craved so many different foods whilst on the trail. Don't get me wrong, we had dehydrated 6 months of meals, using 140 lbs of buffalo meat that we bought from a local ranch, and our meals were excellent! But, we still craved other things that we did not have with us!! Fun video, thanks for sharing, and God Bless!
- Doc and Lady C.
I really enjoyed this video! Thanks for making my day better!
One thing I noticed for me is that people think waking 2 miles is far. I’ll say oh the bar is just 1.3 miles away! Let’s walk instead of Uber. It’s a nice night. There are 4 of us. It will be fun! But no. No no no. 1.3 miles one direction is just way too much to deal with. I get out ruled all the time.
American habits. - In Europe you would walk.
As soon as they say they want to take an uber or Lyft, start walking.
davincent98 I’ll give that a try. Haha I have a feeling I’ll be walking alone a lot. Usually I trick them into it by saying it’s close and after half a mile or so people start asking questions. I’ll convert them eventually!
Henning Rech Yeah, no joke. It drives me nuts. It doesn’t help that I’m in the midwest in a city that isn’t considered to be very walkable and the public transportation isn’t very good either. Anytime I visit people in other countries or even some larger cities here in the US, people are usually more accepting of walking. I feel like driving isn’t only more expensive and bad for the environment, but you miss so much when you zoom by in a vehicle.
@@kellyd6224 Yes. And it's about your health. If it is half a mile, I walk. If it's up to 10 miles I prefer to ride the bicycle when the weather is good and I do not have to transport much stuff. In the summer 2 out of 3 shopping trips are by bicycle - last year about 1500 miles total, just for daily traffic. - The car for the rest.
I've noticed that after 2 days out my hearing and sense of smell really becomes sensitive. I can hear leaves falling on the ground. This is especially acute if I'm backpacking alone. I also find that the longer I'm out the less I want to come back.
it is relaxing and there are so many man made stresses we must deal with at home
One thing that fairly shocked me was a respose I got from an "experienced" hiker.
He had arrived in a town (near the PCT) an hour or so prior and was at a table with me and others outside a store. He was relaying his many miles on an earlier AT trip etc. Well he really stunk, but I didn't want to be brutally blunt, so I told him how I liked to wash up every other day or so in the forest (Hair, body, feet, etc.).
As if it was a totally alien concept, he turned to me and said, "You can do that?" 😯
In case there are others like him out there, yes folks, people actually did wash themselves before "everyone" had private showers and bathtubs, really really.
FYI - one big benefit of hiking (though I changed from cross country biking which is very similar) is realization of how we damage our life with trivial issues as being 5 minutes late to work, or obsessing about over planning. Once you hike and start to accept that you do not know where you are sleeping tonight, what if it rains? what if it thunderstorms?, what if it gets too hot, too cold?, what if you forget something.....…… once you have went through that 2-3 times you learn dealing with was easier than worrying about it
I always come back a super speed walker. I don't realize how much faster I go, then regular people just walk so slow...
We tend to crave the nutrients we lack, I used to crave salad until I learned to eat plants on the trail for example.
At home sitting on the ground almost hurts, I don't like it, but on the trail, a nice clean dirt patch with no tree sap is the most comfortable seat ever...
I also get used to the cold baths, then when I get home it usually takes a couple of weeks before I can stand a hot shower.
For deodorant I just hang my clothes in the campfire smoke. It works great on the trail, but once home I'm always shocked how badly they stink like smoke and a little BO too if I'm honest.
Reminds me of a trip in the Sahara desert in the 1980's, three weeks in deep heat, didn't realize my transpiration, or sweat, had accumulated in my clothes .... people literally jumped away from me as I stepped down from the train in Lyon France ...
After coming back from being away, the little things that upset people just don't seem to bother you. You become very grateful for life ❤️
I did some backpacking with friends in the late 70s around Yosemite and the taste of the water was the best I've ever tasted on any backpacking trip since then. I actually brought some home it was so good.
Coming back home after some extended time alone in the nature, I would have to remind myself to speak louder, as people could barely hear me. It was sometimes so exhausting to push enough air to be heard that I would simply not talk to anyone. I didn't mind staying quiet, on the contrary. I was enjoying their presence, without any need to utter a word - talking was not coming naturally anymore. Quite a change considering that I'm a language teacher.
I haven't gone on a through-hike yet, but live in the bush and can relate to every point made in this video! I can smell a human's shampoo and deodorant from a mile away! Trespassers be warned!
"On trail my standards drop".....😂 you're the best, Dixie.
I have noticed that being on the trail makes chicks a lot more frisky. Same for being on a sailboat for a long time. I'd like to see a serious sexology study on this. This video reminds me of Ranger school. After a few weeks of being out there living in the woods on one (or fewer) meals a day your sense of smell becomes ferocious. The sadistic instructors would come into the field with a hot cheeseburger or pizza slice just to drive you wild. Sometimes they'd pass the wrapper around the patrol base just to torture the "candidates" even more...
So true! ALL OF IT. I have experienced serious restlessness being back in a house (and camping in my garden instead for 2 months until autumn rains were so severe that it was not longer healthy), the subsequent minimalism and the realization how much resources are wasted, realizing you cannot any longer pee or sleep anywhere (but you really don't care), the ugliness of cities, including the smells of other people's very smelly clean clothes and exhaust fumes of cars 😝. I thought I was the only one experiencing that.Thanks so much Dixie! I really enjoy your channel. Not only because of the really thorough and pleasant thematic compilations you make, but because of your nice down-to-earth character, and because it brings fond memories of trail experiences and nature when I am stuck at home and have to work. You rock.
The part about food tasting amazing after a long backpacking trip is so true! Years ago (mid 1970s) I backpacked for about 8 days solid in Colorado, and when we hiked out, we stopped and got Whoppers at Burger King to eat in the campground. I had never had a Whopper before, but it was so utterly amazing, I couldn't believe it. There was one leftover Whopper that no one wanted, so I ate that one cold, and it was just as amazing as the first. Eventually, we got a Burger King in the place I lived, but Whoppers, while tasty, have never been nearly as good as the night we had them in Colorado.
After a month out to sea on the Kitty Hawk we hit the Burger King in Coronado,best Whopper ever!
spot on ... its so life changing ..... after over 10 years living outside the system in Thailand, Bali, south east asia all over, and being forced back into it because international travel is pretty much destroyed at the moment, i am REALLY struggling with the feeling of isolation, which is really odd because i have mostly done my travels completely by myself. NOTHING seems 'right' in what most people consider to be the 'real' world anymore ... nothing makes sense ... ALL your value system has changed ... and for me personally i am really struggling to 'fit' back into the modern world of debt slavery and spending all your life working. Normal life is SO wrong on so many levels i dont even know where, or how, to start trying to explain. My life experience, context and understanding is so huge that i really dont have anything in common with 'normal' people anymore.
Im stuck in the uk ... in london ... and going slowly crazy ... well ..more crazy than i was before?!?!?!?!
I have to agree with all you have said. "Re Entry" can be overwhelming some times. After 2 weeks of backpacking in the Southwest, I returned home VIA Las Vegas! The cacophony of Vegas was overwhelming and a big mistake on my part. I have not thru hiked the AT, but LOTS of section hiking. I see a big difference in the NOBO thru hikers in the South compared to the thru hikers in the White Mountains. In the Whites they definitely look leaner, stronger, more alert, and a bit more ferrel. However, the kinship and support of each other on the trail never changes. I LOVE long hikes. However, I find myself becoming sad when I start seeing people in makeup, jewelry, and trendy clothing. It reminds me that "Re Entry" is coming and I need to get back into the Hampster Wheel of life. :-( I also agree, the Sierra Nevada water is in a league unto itself.
Perhaps I’m watching this out of sequence but this shit just keeps getting better/funnier all the time. Who doesn’t love this girl. Bryan. KC
Weed and BO share something like 14 of the same aromatic chemicals. It’s a leading cause of needless car searches.
Lmfao
Whaaaaat
@Taylor Schiff Do you smoke weed? I wonder if that has something to do with it.
I'm 77and about to start backpacking . looking forward to the first time. I have learned a lot from your experience and videos thank you very much.
I hope Hank is o.k. I really enjoy all your video’s. Will miss not seeing one next week but getting Hank well is more important. Take care and prayers for Hank.
I realized all of these things from long outdoor experiences while in the Army. I still remember pulling my sock off and throwing it against a wall and it stuck. That was after weeks of not having the opportunity to change clean etc..
I really appreciate your southern drawl. I’m from Louisiana originally. Living in Europe going on 26 years and don’t get the chance to listen to the singing of the southern girl. Amazing.
Yup, I eventually gave up all my perfumy things. I wash now with sesame oil and smell like a nut most of the time. (which is kind of appropriate)
hahaha that is nutty but i like it
Sesame is a seed, you nut
@@Driftless_Wanderer Tis nutty so it is
Combat veterans seem to have the same experiences, especially with the sense of smell. Some soldiers have talked openly about smelling the enemy (cigarette smoke, campfire smoke, soap, B.O. etc...) long before seeing the enemy.
I smelled shampoo for miles lol
I once read a book about what it was like in the Vietnamese tunnels during the war, and remember them saying that to them Americans smelt strongly of butter. (They wouldn't be eating any dairy, of course).
I can see that being a thing
Hi, you can smell toothpaste breath for what seems to be a mile away.
I'm sorry to hear about Hank and will keep him, you and your family in our prayers. No worries about a new video. Family always comes first.
when i hiked alone for a longer time i often tried to reach some kind of building to camp. like a firetower or a ranger station.those things where always locked but i felt more secure and not so alone sleeping next to a man made structure.
I wish my friend would have been aware of this topic before doing the PCT. he went home and couldn’t handle day to day society, months later he applied to be a park ranger. I think being aware of these things would have helped a lot.
Very interesting video :D
I like how people look at me sometimes on a hike... like why is this girl homeless or something 😂. Then I think to myself: the gear in my backpack is probably worth more than their car hahaha
"Everything tastes better at camp" is usually what we say. If you try to cook it at home it's just not the same.
When camping I eat 2-minute noodles as they're cheap and light to carry. Absolutely delicious after a day's hike up the mountain. Can't stand the bloody stuff when I'm at home, it's like chowing down on vaguely beef/chicken-flavoured cardboard.
Thats why you make home a camp
so true
I have been house-boating on Lake Powell since 1975. I'll never forget the year we ran out of fresh water. We still had various beverages to drink, but the lack of water to drink made a permanent mark in my mind. (It was ironic, being on such a huge body of "fresh" water, and not being able to drink it--we had no filters back then). It made me be a die-hard water conservationist and I have often passed my story on to others, to help them better appreciate and conserve water, too. To me, there is nothing more delicious to drink, than good, water--cold or not! Thanks for another GREAT video, Dixie! You always share good words of wisdom with us, which makes our lives better, and the world a better place to live!
You’re such great story teller!
This was great! It is amazing how you are putting together such good content while being in lockdown. I myself appreciate your effort. Thanks for keeping up the spirit of the great outdoors.
agreed
Laughing here in Sept 2023 at the idea of “lockdown”!
I can only comment on how I know you on YT. I have wanted to say this for some time. I have never known anyone who is more comfortable in their own skin than you are.
Thank you ♥️
@@HomemadeWanderlust I'd be careful talkin' to that feller...'specially about how comfortable your skin is. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill_(character)
V. True. Nothing wrong with with getting rid of all the junk. Living in a cluttered environment can lead to a cluttered mind.
i started living in my merino clothes and fleeces back home. they’re just so practical!
"A caterpillar sounds like a Gizzly when you're camping alone at night." Yup. One nearly ate me in the Wyoming mountains. Night hearing is *insane* and probably an evolutionary tactic to keep us alive.
+1 on the taste and smell (and makeup, which is society's archaic and oppressive way of "dolling up" females). After getting into backpacking many years ago I can no longer stand *any* of the strong smells that civilized people cover themselves with; not only things like cologne and perfume, but also many absolutely eye-watering shampoos and deodorants.
Yes, backpackers grow de-sensitized to body odor, but become much more sensitive to the tons of useless odors that regular folks slather themselves with. The same is true for air fresheners and fragrance misters, which today give me headaches and I cannot stay indoors with such things. I am *often* uncomfortable at family gatherings as it's normal to have some sort of fragrance being pumped into the air to make the home smell "nice".
Even after years without backpacking, I cannot re-adjust to such fragrances. The average American, in particular, has seemed to de-sensitize their senses of smell and taste to a degree where basically nothing tastes or smells good anymore. It's all just noise.
Which reminds me: I carry ear plugs in my pack and use them whenever I'm forced to be in a loud environment. Backpacking might not be the only factor here, but it was undoubtedly one of them.
I literally take a day pack wherever I go, though I do leave it in the car if I'm just going into a store. This might be unwise in places where someone might try to steal your pack/bag, but I live in the country and normally only visit a small town. I also have a water bottle in the pack at all times; if I forget, I feel vulnerable without a small water supply. This has proven worthwhile on numerous occasions, especially with young nieces and nephews.
I no longer like having things in my pants pockets, either; I want freedom of movement. I will still put tons of stuff in jacket or coat pockets, though, whatever that means. Coats are perhaps like small backpacks to me ;).
Weird? Yes, but another thing that happens in the outdoors is that you may no longer care what all those other people think ;). I am still polite, but I don't care if carrying a small pack is strange or if I'm not dressed fashionably. Some of this is inherently part of getting older, but I credit much of it to spending time in the woods, mountains, and deserts.
After some time on the trail, I can eat a half-gallon of ice cream for a snack. Whole pizzas are a starter meal :). Snickers are frustrating when it's not cold enough to keep them solid, but absolutely delicious regardless.
Rob, just got back from Europe where my brothers and sisters-in-law carry a small, mostly empty pack with them at all times. Because they walk everywhere, and pick up items at stores. No throw away bags needed. They're prepared. I loved it. Right on to everything else you brought up, too.
The most special experience for me after a long distance backpacking trip, was sitting in a train with a hot cup of coffee. After putting up a tent every day while being exhausted and hungry, the feeling of a real, strong roof over my head, that fully protected me from the rain and wind, while not having to give that any effort at all, and coffee that stayed warm for minutes on end was magical.
You should read "The Nature Principle". Talks about this kinda stuff. :)
Yeah, I have a very sensitive sense of smell and I have trouble with many of those scents, and I'm not on a trail!
Your comment of singing Christmas and Disney songs resonates with me (add in songs from "Merry Melody" cartoons for us old guys). I spend all day working by myself on the farm and constantly am doing this. I don't have a lot of interaction with others and frankly no longer care if they think it strange that I'm whistling "jingle bells" in the middle of a July heat wave. While for many outdoor isolation may only occur on long hikes, in rural areas that is day in and day out reality. Ditto for walking. When there are chores to do I move along at a fair sustainable clip....like hiking, walking around the property is to get somewhere and time matters. When others are around I often find it close to painful to walk at what they think of as a normal pace.
You find profound things to say about dang near everything. Such an awesome channel, thank you.
Peace & thank you Dixie for giving affirmation to so much we experience on trail. Recently while I camped in the forest on a lunar eclipse, the animals really had a lot to say.. they started talkin loud at once all the way till bout 3am , coyotes, owls, the animals on a farm in the distance, bullfrogs extra loud.. then silence. It was overwhelming at first my adrenaline rushed and then everything settled. The silence was profound & sweet. I’m crying w gratitudes as I remember this. Thank you for this video so very much❤️
Always love your content, nothing to add but I'm thru-hiking "vicariously" through you
Me too.
Dixie you make the experience soo astounding.It's not the ending to get there, It's the journey that makes it happen.
Getting there ain't the problem, the adventures along the way....."Seeing".....
It's a Symphony.......
Your the whole reason I started planning a thru hike!! I started to watch.your channel at the end of 2019 and have decided to thru hike the Appalachian trail starting March 2021! Ive never backpacked or hiked but I'm super excited!!!!! Thank you and I love all your videos and your tips are amazing!!!!!!!!
Please go hike or camp before. Dixie is one of the rare ones that had never done so and finished her thru hike. Most end in the 75% who quit. You can do it! Enjoy!
Go backpacking at least one time before planning a long hike. That is my two cents but I encourage you to follow your dreams! Good luck.
My cousin and I are planning a couple weekend trips before I go! He goes all the time so hes a big help with everything and teaching me lots!!
Seirra Ray well there you go! Now I’m just jealous you’ll start it before me. Have a blast preparing from now until then!
so cool!!! i found her channel in late 2018 and felt the same way and havent really started anything yet except some day hikes.
Hey Dixie thanks for posting this video as I found it really interesting. I have never through-hiked one of the longer trails but I have done a lot of week-long camping/canoe trips. Years ago I worked as an exploration geologist and my day consisted of targeting an area for exploration, walking it, sampling anomalous rock, and returning to camp where I'd plot my findings and see the few other guys that I was with. I'd do this day in and day out for the spring, summer and fall months 7 days a week. Depending on the company, we'd always get home once possibly twice a summer for 3-4 days. Normally I'm a pretty sociable guy so when I'd return home, I'd meet up with my friends at a BBQ or some other get-together. On those R&R trips I always experienced this feeling that I can only describe as a "separateness" from everyone and everything felt surreal. It was almost as if there was an invisible barrier between me and my friends and that I was observing life from afar. I also noticed that I felt it was hard to relate to the topics of many conversations -- presumeably because when you're outdoors your needs are so much more basic (Am I warm? Am I dry? Am I hungry?) and the conversations just seemed too abstract and irrelevant. After a couple of days these feelings would wear off and I'd be back to myself again. Just wondering if you or anyone else have experienced this?
having a wife and daughters who get migraines from perfumes and having asthma that is triggered by some. my family uses all products that are fragrance free. So I get that smell thing everytime I walk into a crowded building.
Dixie, you’re absolutely right about everything you mentioned. I’m not a thru-hiker; but, I did spend some time in the Army going to multiple countries around the globe, staying long periods in the woods without bathing with other soldiers doing the same. The smell is a real thing, heh, heh...We were strong young men, doing mentally and physically challenging work in the field. Staying under a lot of stress, real and artificial, for long periods, sleep and food deprived, many times cold, wet, hungry and so physically tired one could sleep and walk, and still
making serious decisions for many men, really does change things in a person. One learns to weed out the BS. Sleep is not the same. Eating and drinking is not the same. Talking is not the same. Small talk, being around normal people is not the same. Our feet grow. Our mental and physical endurance changes, grows. Our sense of what is important changes. Personally, I became infinitely more patient. Some guys go just the opposite way. My family enjoyed this change the most I think. On the one hand, I didn’t get angry, almost ever, with my family when I returned from the Iraq and Afghanistan. On the other hand, I didn’t care if the yard grew into a forest. I’d eventually get to it; but, it didn’t get first priority. When I was young and would come home from the field, I’d call ahead and tell my newlywed to get the mattress strapped to her back, ‘cause I was gonna hit her on the fly. Soon as I hit the front door...she’d hold her nose and yell, “SHOWER, MAN!” with a smile on her face...heh, heh, heh. It would take a couple of weeks for me to change from a fierce animal back into a human. My angel, my wife, always brought me back. Now, I can sleep anywhere, lights on or off, noise doesn’t matter. But my angel can’t. I can walk a long way. My angel won’t, heh, heh. Bugs? I smash with my thumb...not my angel. I pick up snakes with my hands...not her. There are a lot changes that result from being in the woods, experience with nature, without the convenience of civilization. Some are good. I never wear makeup to the grocery...heh, heh. I wonder if a scientist has ever written a paper about these changes? Good stuff, Dixie. Texas
Thank you Dixie, great video insight. Nice shout out to Raymond noodles. The overhead shot at the end was awesome.
I hope dog is ok.
The biggest change in myself while I’m doing a long distance pack is def the sense of smell. After a couple weeks I could sense nearby water by not only micro changes in the air temp but by its smell. Laundry detergent/soap became particularly pungent...I often could smell day hikers coming long before seeing them because I’d suddenly get a whiff of Tide on the breeze. I always knew when I was about 10-15 mins away from a parking lot (for example, Clingmans dome and the Shenandoah Natl Park Lodges) because I could smell the overpowering scent of soap. The other really retched place for me to be became the inside of a grocery store. As soon as I entered the smell of old food and raw meat was strong enough to make me gag. And even now, whenever I pass by a homeless person or use the subways, that rank odor is a sensory memory that takes me right back to the trail.
Patiently waiting for the next hike. Finally got my wife and daughter watching, but we need another hike! Hope the doggo is well
Everything. Here. Is. Gold. I'm just a primitive camper packing it in but did a nine month stint up to Maine from Florida. Gearing up to do it again (my state only) but I related to this on every level and you are the epitome of inspiration!
My biggest adjustment going back to civilization will always be the mental game.
Going out to nature is most of the time straightforward minneal tasks that don't require much thought or adjustment after you figure them out... Unlike my civilian life that requires multi-parallel thought most of the time.
You deserve such praise! You are sane!
Lol. As a New England AT day hiker I can confirm you can smell an AT thru hiker.
I had that same realization about all of my stuff a few years ago and have been actively trying to minimize the amount of items I own since then!
That was very interesting. I was raised near farm land and felt strange when I moved to the city for many of the observations you’ve cited. In my case wearing shoes was awkward...
Thank you! It so resonnates with my little experiences on trails, especially the feeling of having everything I need in my backpack and the minimalism effect. I must say this came to be a tremendous help when I had to move a year ago from a fully cluttered 2500 SqFt house down to a 600 SqFt flat.
Senses of smell and hearing, oh yeah. Last year when I hiked the Skye Trail with an English friend, we both noticed how we developped our hearing to detect the smallest water stream 20-50 yards away
Keep up the great work Dixie! You always make me chuckle and I learn something, too!
All the best to you all! especially the puppers!
First, sending positive thoughts to Hank :(
This was a great video (as usual lol) being In sync with the sun was your circadian rhythm, which in turn wakes up our senses, gets everything functioning the way we were meant too and thats why I love hiking!
Funny story, one night on the AT in Pennsylvania, there was a bear or big foot outside my tent, could have even been a mountain lion, I was gonna surely be eaten, like a fool i decided to make a run for it, flew out of the tent and tripped on my boots, shined my flashlight from my back on the ground and there he was, staring me dead in my eyes, not 3 feet away, a baby opossum LOL I laughed so hard i was crying. That hearing you speak of, oh its real people lol
I hope all goes well with Hank! Also, I want to tell you that I have just completed rewatching your PCT thru hike videos. I enjoyed them just as much, if not more, than the first time. You are special person!
I fell in love with this channel right after had a bad accident. 3 months with no weight bearing. I told myself that I would go hiking and get after it... I have not done any thing that I thought I would. but I have been going on long walks and have lost 45 lbs in the last couple years. Ill probably never go hike around like I did when I was a boy scout. just glad Dixie was there for me when I was flat on my back for 3 months.
Whenever I'm camping and sleeping outdoors I've noticed that my dreams seem so much more vivid. I swear there have been times that I wake up and it takes a moment or two to realize that I was indeed just dreaming. I've never had that experience sleeping indoors. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced that as well.
I had such dreams when I was younger. Not anymore. Don't miss them. Some if my worst nightmares where waiting up in the dream, thinking all is good and then the monster gets you and you think it's real. When I woke up for real I was sweaty, heart racing and I had a ringing in my ears like from a very load scream. I was sure I screamed for real but no one ever woke up to it. Never again was I so scared and confused and helpless than in those few moments after waking up.
I've had similar things too but I tend to sometimes wake up and forget I'm camping and it's dark and I almost believe I'm In bed at home and takes me a while to remember I'm in the woods somewhere.
I find the exact opposite. I never remember what I dream on trail and my sleep time seems so short. 6hrs go by like lightning in my hammock.
Omg yes. Dreamed three times in one night that it was raining and I woke surprised to see that all was dry.
I keep hoping to find a hiker that talks about dreams. How the dreams may change due to the foods, temperature or altitude they were at.