Date: 2010-01-19
To: Hikers best friend.
Miles today: 0.0

Strange as it is to first hoist 30 pounds onto our back and the posture it forces, it can become a feeling of comfort. Maybe that¢s more an editorial on our ability to adapt, I¢m not sure, I do know that strapping on a pack and cinching it tight to my spine is reassuring. There¢s nothing like a thousand miles for building a special bond with fabric, foam and straps ¢ And how odd that I feel more secure in myself while wearing it.So who or what is your hiker¢s best friend? Throughout most of our life stages, we¢ve blessed one thing or one someone with the heralded moniker of ¢best friend.¢ We men are told that women have a particular affinity with diamonds, whether they come to rest on the finger, earlobes or nape of the neck. When they take the form of tiara they may be considered something else? Senior citizens seem fond of their Clap-on-Clap-off light switch devices. They must also be fond of tour buses since they¢re almost always packed into them. My black Labrador, ¢Buddy,¢ is pretty partial to the kitchen since whenever I¢m in there he knows he can coax a morsel out of me. I hate being so predictable.My Dad used to love Velcro ¢ particularly the Velcro straps on his shoes that eliminate arthritic fingers from having to tie laces. My Mom has a great desire for learning about and eating exotic new health foods. My sister¢s favorite thing is anything indoors (my desire to be outdoors has her convinced one of us was adopted); I think my youngest niece Sharice¢s favorite thing is anything pink? Not the singer but the color.My foray into hiking has helped me to discover many new areas and items that might be called best friend. Hiking sticks with their countless benefits would be right up there ¢ I¢ve avoid a lot of face plants thanks to them, but even they aren¢t too effective against black ice which led to a broken wrist on my ¢06 thru-hike. The bite-valve water tube would also rate high on the list. Frankly I¢d be remiss in not mentioning Excedrin. Many a time it helped me with aches as well as acted as a turbo boost of caffeine when I was facing a particularly long steep climb (Which I freely admit is a totally abusive use.) Of course, what would we all be reduced to if it weren¢t for the hip-belt on our backpacks? Why we¢d all be hunched over looking like a relative of Igor. Other than the agony of the feet, chafing is one of the more dastardly occurrences that pain us. Whether between the legs up high, the buns, the nips, there¢s nothing like chafing to bring your miles to a halt, which is why Bodyglide may be everyone¢s best friend since most of us carry pre-hike suburban plumpness at the start, ¢ after the first month chafing becomes less of an issues. (Bag Balm is good for overnight chafe recovery and foot care, but doesn¢t prevent chafing by my experience.)If you¢ve ever spent time on the Appalachian Trail, you know that rain can be pain. Things that have flown below your radar suddenly emerge as being annoying or blissful. To that point, wet socks can be aggravating and dry socks get elevated to luxury status. One of my closing salutations on letter writing is to wish the other hikers a life time of dry socks ¢ is there any better wish for a hiking friend. Is it absurd to pick dry socks over man¢s best friend? Buddy here doesn¢t want to risk the comparison so he goes out of his way to make sure all my socks have a nice moist coating of Buddy on them. You gotta love it ¢ best pup in the world.