Date: 2010-03-02
To: A Creature of Habit
Miles today: 0.0

In yesterday¢s journal entry I noted that I was a creature of habit. That¢s probably putting it mildly. I do fine, most days, as long as my routine isn¢t upset. If something distracts me from that routine, however, look out! It can get ugly. I¢m not sure why that is ¢ especially for someone as, ahem, young as me. In some ways, it¢s a substitute for having to think about every little thing I do. And it certainly helps to keep me organized. The downside, of course, is that I am not what you might call¢¦I don¢t know¢¦spontaneous. I¢m definitely not one of those impulsive, ¢spur of the moment¢ kinds of guys. It¢s not that I am totally set in my ways.   If I were, I¢d never have gotten into hiking in the first place, or the rescue squad, or the search and rescue business. And there are 101 other things I propose to get into before I¢m done, too. So it¢s not that. It¢s just that I like to think things through first, make sure I want to get into something, and THEN I take the plunge. That¢s one of the elements of my Trail Name: Whenever I have thought something through, and decide to do it, then I¢m usually in it for ¢the long haul¢. But I digress. Where I was going with that creature of habit thing was how useful it can be on the trail. You see, to stay safe, happy and well organized on the trail, it¢s very helpful to be able to keep track of all your myriad stuff. I counted once, and I had over 100 different items in or on my pack and/or my person. Over a hundred! And the thing is, you may NEED one of those items, and need it quickly, so it¢s really helpful if you know precisely WHERE in or on your pack or your person it may be living.   Say you¢ve got a ¢hot spot¢ going on one of your feet. You need to stop NOW and fix it.   So I keep my small ¢foot fixer¢ med kit readily accessible in the left side pocket of my pack belt.   I always know right where it is, ¢cause that¢s where I always keep it. Or say I need a light to see my way back to my tent from the campfire when I¢m ready to go to bed. Now I MAY have remembered to grab my headlamp from my pack before it got dark, but if not, I know I¢ve got that little tiny light thingee (I forget what it¢s called) in the right cargo pocket of my pants ¢ the pocket with a zipper so I won¢t lose either my light or my daily meds, both of which I want secure but also handy in case I need them. Such attention to detail, and such habits, also keeps me from leaving stuff behind when I pack up in the morning, or when I¢m repacking everything after a town stop. I know that my sleeping bag goes into my pack first, followed by my kitchen set, followed by¢¦well, you get the idea. The alternative is to start losing stuff, or to not be able to find things when I need them. There was one guy during my ¢05 hike, for example, who was constantly leaving stuff behind. Almost every day, he¢d leave out on his hike, and someone would discover something still sitting in the shelter with his name on it. Usually some kind soul would carry it down the trail for him, and return it when they caught up with him. One morning, a lady hiker, on finding another of his items, exclaimed: ¢I swear ¢ if we just collected everything that boy leaves behind, we could have us a yard sale!¢ Bingo. He had his trail name. Forever after, he was known as ¢Yard Sale.¢ Another hiker, who shall remain nameless, had much the same problem. In his case, it was more a matter of paying too much attention to what other people were doing rather focusing on what he should have been doing. I remember him coming out of a hostel once after talking to his wife on the phone, and looking kind of crestfallen. He said she had not been very happy about his request to send him a new hat, as he had lost his old one. Actually, it wasn¢t so old, since he¢s lost his original hat, too, and it was actually his replacement hat he¢d now lost. According to the hiker, his wife had said: ¢George (not his real name), if you would just stop talkin¢ all the time, and pay attention to what you¢re doin¢, you wouldn¢t keep losing all your sh*t!¢ So, like I say, being a creature of habit may cost me some in the ¢spontaneous¢ department, but it saves me a lot of time and trouble on the trail. Speaking of which, I am soooo ready to start my hike I can hardly stand it! Eleven more days¢¦