Pissing into the Wind with Varying Degrees of Success

The Mojave Desert is dry, God forsaken place. However, it's actually quite beautiful once you get past the 17-35 mile water resupply. Our hike is not going as planned but I actually think this is a good thing. Our initial plan was to travel slowly in order to conservatively approach this first section. We quickly discovered this strategy was bullshit and abandoned 20 pounds of food in the desert and walk at about double the speed we were previously. Right now I am in Tehachapi, CA and we've walked 55 miles in 3.5 days. Abby walks faster than me most of the time.

The desert is a very windy place. These windmills you see in these photos and stuff are actually the same one's they used for Hangover 3! The police officer who we hitched a ride with on the way to Tehachapi informed me of that, confirming my suspicions. The wind was blowing at about 70 mph at times. Especially at night. And when don't set up your tent right you may end up half naked outside in 50 mph winds at 2 am, trying to reassemble your shelter as your nose drips copious amounts of blood.

Oh yeah. My trail name is Rudolph for now. My friend Thor calls me that because I have nose bleeds like clockwork 3-4 times a day.

This is a photo of me after I peed into a gulch created by a down cutting stream. I wanted Abby to take a (tasteful) picture of me urinating, post it to Instagram, and #downcuttingstream. It's a bad geology joke.





In the desert we do a lot of night hiking. The first night there was a beautiful red moon on the horizon. Abby and I tried to take a low shutter speed photo to capture the majesty of the moment. It ended up coming out like a giant, flaming space dick. Enjoy.

Catch y'all in Lake Isabella. It's 90 miles away and we're trying to make it there in 4 days.
Until then,
Daniel Babin

A Gear List for the PCT from a College Student

I have spent most of a year investigating what gear works best for my needs, body, and budget. I am pretty proud of what I have collected!

Z-Packs Arc Blast

Weight: 16.5 Oz
My baby, my love. I would argue this is the best pack on the market. A pack that could comfortably hold 30 pounds that weighs this much would have been impossible a few years ago but Z-packs delivers with their killer design. It's a little pricey but I'm confident my money was well spent




Tarptent Double Rainbow

Weight: 41 oz
This is definitely Abby and I's most heavy and most luxurious item. If I was hiking by myself I would definitely carry a more minimal, lightweight shelter. However, when I complain about carrying it, I will simply remind myself of my horrible aversion to mosquitoes. I will thank myself in Oregon. All things considered, this thing kicks butt. I once woke up in Montana with 1.5 foot high snow drifts on either side of it. I guess the story in that is that I didn't die. Thanks Tarptent!!

HOMEMADE 20 Degree Down Quilt

Weight: 20 oz
Abby and I each probably put in about 40 hours each of cutting ripstop nylon with soldering iron, sewing mosquito netting onto ripstop nylon, wrangling down feathers, and wrapping painters tape around cobs of corn but I think it was worth it. The funny thing is we don't know if they work because we have no way to test them. I don't even think freezers get below 30 degrees in South Louisiana. We will surely find out the quality of our workmanship on our first sub freezing night on the trail.

Thermarest Prolite Small

Weight: 11 oz
The thermarest prolite is neither the lightest, warmest, most durable, nor cheapest sleeping pad on the market. I figured if no sleeping pad could win all categories, why not get one that performs perfunctorily in all of them? My decision to get a 3/4 length pad is also questionable but I'm assuming I'll get used to it. Jokes aside, I think this is a great pad for the money! It seems like the only inflatable pad that's not 100% likely to pop on you.

 

 

Altra Lone Peaks

As ugly as these shoes might be I love them. Zero drop footwear is the way to go, and the wide toe box should really help with blisters. My plan is to combine them with cheap nylon dress socks. In the hiking community boots are a little out of vogue! Too heavy and too irritating to the feet. Apparently, 1 oz on your foot takes as much energy to transport as 5 on your back

Sawyer Squeeze

Weight: 3 oz
A super awesome and very lightweight water treatment option. No wait time, no nasty chemical taste. Just fill up your bag and bottle and go! Me and Abby did catch a sweet little stomach virus using it on a trip in Louisiana. Look out for cows folks. And double treat your water in Louisiana!

 

 

Clothes

This a picture of me and Abby doing the Titanic in Big Bend. I'm wearing my hiking get up which consists of a lightweight long sleeve Columbia shirt and some black short shorts. The long sleeve shirt will be great for sun protection. The shorts won't be.

These are my rain pants. Just something water proof in my closet! At 7 oz, I am not complaining. I am a little worried about chafing.

This is my rain jacket. Frogg Toggs UL is cheap and pretty awesome. I think the jacket is only like 6 oz.

Weight: 9 oz
I think the Uniqlo Down Park was a pretty good find. It's about 1/3 of the cost of one of the 200 dollar Montebell Down Jackets and hopefully at least half as functional. My hair won't look as good as this guy's though.

I also have a merino wool base layer for life and death situations/sleeping, a beanie, and pair of really cool "possum down" gloves i found online. It's a possum + polyester mix that was only $15-20 online and come really highly recommended. All of this gear together might weigh a pound.




I put all of my clothes in these awesome water-proof stuff sacks I found at good ole walmart for 15 dollars.

Raven Pro Ice Axe

Length: 75 cm Weight: 16 oz
Yes, I will need an ice axe for this trail. Though I may not feel qualified to use it until I have a thick, scruffy beard. We will be getting to the Sierras a few weeks earlier than the average hiker, and I think we'd rather play it safe than be sorry or dead. It is regrettable though that this thing weighs as much as my pack.

 

 

 

Platypus Hydration

Weight: 5. 6 oz

For two 2L bags and a drinking tube this is a very lightweight system. 

 

 

Bearvault Bear Canister 

  Weight: 2.5 goddam pounds

We will have to pick up these suckers in Kennedy Meadows before the High Sierras in order to comply with park regulations and not get eaten by bears. I will also be carrying UDAP bear spray. It will more likely be used as perfume than self defense, given the general lack of showers to be had.

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous

I'll also be carrying a headlamp, a swiss army mini, a compass, a pair of Dirty Girl Gaiters (incredibly awesome and useful), REI Traverse Trekking Poles, a harmonica, a pair of sunglasses, a watch, and a sleeping pad repair kit.

First Aid

It will include Desitin, Vaseline, Sunscreen, Deet, Neosporin, Dental Floss, Duct Tape, Baby Wipes, Ibuprofen, Benedryl, Anti-biotics, Immodium, Stool Softener, and more ibuprofen.


I think if it hadn't been for changing my mind countless times, this setup would only be a $1300-$1500 dollars. That's not so bad for a high quality set of equipment that will last you ages. My base weight (pack weight minus consumables like water, fuel, and food) will be about 10 pounds! It makes walking 20 miles a day far easier.

Stay tuned folks! The next update you'll get from me may very well be from the middle of the Mojave Desert. Thanks for reading!

A Walmart Cowboy hat

A Walmart Cowboy Hat

My name is Daniel Babin and I am about to hike a 1300 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail. The Pacific Crest Trail is one of three American Long Trails that makes up what hikers call the Triple Crown. It stretches 2650 miles from Mexico to Canada through the San Jacinto, Sierra Nevada, and Cascade Mountain Ranges (hence "Crest") in California, Oregon, and Washington.

I believe this cowboy hat that I purchased at Walmart is properly symbolic of this trip. Grossly underfunded, probably poorly planned, but it has the right feel to it. Despite the impracticality of this piece of gear and its likely lack of functionality as sun protection, its $12.97 price tag and Lonesome Dove level nostalgia captured my heart at first sight. Hopefully I fare better that the cowboys and pioneers who first ventured west touting these bad boys. My water treatment system filters giardia cysts and the United States massacred most of America's native population, so I should be okay.

While I will mostly likely survive, I fully expect this hat to blow off of my head into the abyss of some crevasse or canyon within the first two weeks of this trip.

Wish my girlfriend Abigail Lallande and I luck as we hike from the middle of the Mojave Desert to Crater Lake in Oregon! We will certainly need it.