PCT Thru-hiker Breaks Down The Movie WILD

oh I do know that feeling of pulling out the stock and then during what the toes look like Oh yep oh well she's more of a woman than I am because I didn't pull them off I slowly clip them back but yes Hawking and in back packing and toenails don't necessarily go together hey you old dick see here if you're like me you've probably spent too much time lately on Netflix and a TV in general I'm not really a TV person but during the quarantine it's nice to watch some outdoor related things and go there in my mind now that I've hacked close to 8,000 miles I have a pretty good grasp on what a long-distance backpacking trip actually looks like so I wanted to go over the movie wild and see how my thoughts have changed now that I am a through hacker I'm not gonna be judging the quality of the film as in if it's entertaining or not or Cheryl Strayed and her journey but what I want to look into is whether this is a good representation of a long-distance backpacking trip and what can be expected on a journey like that for folks who haven't yet gone out there so without further delay let's rewatch wild five years later after actually doing some through hikes oh yeah looks like some of the nice places we stayed at along the trail it's always an adventure wondering what kind of motel hostel whatever you're gonna end up in town I don't I don't really think of things like that when I am thinking what's on my back but for the most part now whistles are included on the chest straps of packs but it is good to have a safety whistle I know a lot of people felt like wild was more about her personal journey or personal experience in life and not so much the trail so some folks that are backpacking enthusiasts were kind of turned off by that but if we're being fair here a lot of folks who go out on these long-distance backpacking trips have some sort of demons I mean really what human doesn't that they're trying to work through and I certainly think that the memories that hurt the most can often resurface while we're out there because we haven't thoroughly worked through them yet and then once you do work through them I think that the mind kind of puts them at rest more but you know everyday activities people distract themselves from things that were emotional that they're trying to work through so you've got folks out on the trail going out there after a divorce after being released from the military just because there's a transition in life but I'm pretty sure that everybody out there even if they're not going because of some emotional trauma there they end up working through something while they're out there the feeling of butterflies for me when I'm packing up all my stuff the night before or the morning of honestly every time I begin a thru-hike I feel like I want to puke it's so watching this here I'm like oh I know that feeling of I'm about to start this long journey and these are the things that have to get me by and am I forgetting something and just the the amount of stress in the moment of the final pack-up to me is just like it makes me a little knotted watching this honestly and specifically for me when I started the 80 because I hadn't tested any of my gear and just like she apparently hasn't either water is heavy one liter equals 2.2 pounds and in the desert it's it's rough the struggle with water is real probably didn't have as many caches back in the 90s either all right hold up so it looks like her sleeping bag is attached to the top of her pack and this is an external frame pack which was common back probably when this is set in the 90s I'm not sure when internal frames kind of took over the market but yeah the the sleeping bag on the outside of the pack is a terrible idea I can say that I have actually seen people do this it it's not uncommon for beginners to really not be familiar with how to pack a pack and but this one doesn't look like it's even in a waterproof bag but for myself I like to have redundancy so definitely safer to keep the sleeping bag down inside of the pack in some sort of waterproof liner and some folks might think well in the desert it doesn't even rain but I did get some bad weather while I was in the southern part of California so never trust that not a good idea okay mine's never been in that heavy but but I admit the first the first few days for me because I normally come right off the couch it's never fun lifting the sack until get my strength up but there there is a better way to do with the technology these days your packs should definitely not be as big as you even if you've got you know a pretty tight budget there are there are options out there those trees I'm just I miss those trees the trail registers are accurate the blaze on the post is accurate I liked how they showed the log books and often on the PCT they are in those little metal boxes that have the flip lid but yeah this scene looks pretty real that looks like Southern California that stuff smells good the PCT actually starts in Campo California but Cheryl Strayed started her journey in the Mojave and went to the bridge of the gods the Mojave would be a rough place to start before this south of this you still have tree patches and but when you get to the Mojave you're like okay I'm in the desert now so it looks like this first day she's gone about five miles that's not unreasonable my first day on the PCT I did 15 miles but I pushed myself way way too much about mile eight or so is good for me start out a thru-hike I usually hop off the couch though and start my through hacks so really depends on your conditioning but five miles when your pack is as heavy as hers looks and it seems like you're probably not really into the backpack and thing it's really not too bad talking yourself into being brave for probably a grasshopper crawling through the grass done like a bear please ensure that you only use white gas compatible with other fuels may harm the equipment and render it inoperable wrong fuel so there is a lesson to be learned here you probably want to be familiar with your gear before you start the trail I can't really say that I've practiced what I'm preaching right now though because my first day on the 80 I had never lit my stove I had never used it so she messed up and now is having to eat jerkier and can't cook a meal so yeah definitely better to practice with your gear before you throw yourself into it but it's not always the end of the world as long as you have your basics covered you've got some kind of food you can eat you can always cold soak and water I love definitely against Leave No Trace principles do better than that six inches deep but not uncommon to find piles where people think that rocks are sufficient to cover their turns here she talks about missing people it's actually pretty common to run across people while through hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in a normal year so that's not really a thing to be concerned now with the PCT on the Continental Divide Trail however it's still like it seems like in this movie so if you choose to do the CDT you're probably gonna be missing folks even if you're not really a people person you'll probably find yourself kind of wishing for some conversation so it looks like she's ditched out trying to find a ride into town nowadays it doesn't really happen like this often times on these longer trails you come to a busy road crossing to go into town you don't have to like walk down a deserted dirt road in hopes of finding a ride somewhere but I guess if you are itching to get to town sooner than that busy road then yeah it is one option I just think it's a terrible idea to cut out in the desert where you're not sure where water sources might be you must be starving I brought all these dehydrated meals in I brought a stove but I brought the wrong fuel yeah I got a little bit more work to do but you can wait in my truck how come she didn't build a fire or cold soak if she's got dehydrated meals I understand in the desert sometimes there are fire restrictions but if it's that or starve come on or you can always cold soak so don't have dehydrated food and go hungry you can come back to my place for a hot dinner a shower so what kind of woman are you okay that would freak me out okay yeah you like it Jane you know Tarzan's Jane Jane if you partake ladies first bring back brings back memories oh that's good a bad hitch on the PCT see I'm gonna call you Jane my husband's hiking the PCT with me he's just a little bit further ahead on the trail we're gonna meet up really soon probably around Kennedy meadows all right so not a bad idea if you're in an already sketchy situation you know it's good to think about these things ahead of time if I find myself in a sketchy situation what am I gonna tell somebody to try to let them know like hey somebody is looking for me and is kind of aware of my existence out here so definitely not a bad thing to do hey I got a friend or I got my husband or I got somebody that's waiting on me so pretty smart in an already bad situation I will say 99.9% of the hitches I have had have been absolutely fun I was not creeped out but there are some people who will give you the heebie-jeebies don't be afraid to bail out of a sketchy hitch but if you're in an already sketchy situation then have some good excuse or some thing to let people know somebody does know that I actually exist oh the feeling of a shower they should show the dirt in the drain because that that's the part where you know you've really earned a shower up there they go oh those blisters - oh the red marks from the straps on her pack common if your pack does not fit properly and on the hips also it's common for a pack to rub skin off of you I've had that happen also and that is not normal but that shouldn't be a thing and if your pack is doing that and you probably need to look into getting a new pack or need to see if you're just not fitting it properly and adjusting the straps properly but when I've had a pack that's to that point no matter how I adjusted it or no matter how I padded it back there it didn't didn't fix it had to get anyone oh yeah like what do you do or they're more in the grass around it if I try to go around we're in the brush and then after that every stick is a snake so how many miles a day are you doing hydrogen 22 at the moment you're being Kennedy Meadows by tomorrow hope so I'm on managing about 11 or 12 couple of weeks are always hard cuz her pack weighs a million pounds backpacking enthusiasts were probably screaming at this point saying you're supposed to undo your hip belt and chest strap there are some different talking points on both sides of that argument the old-school way of thinking is that you should always include your self from your pack when you're crossing over a body of water on something that you could fall off of and end up in the water that way you can separate from your pack and you don't have your pack dragging you down into the water drowning you but some people will tell you that they don't unclip their pack and I've not unclipped mine before because the other side of the argument is you are so used to the way that you balance under your pack especially if it's a pretty heavy pack that when you unclip yourself you throw your balance off because now the pack feels differently than it normally does so take from that what you will certainly if you end up in the water the safest thing is to not be attached to your pack and monster monster and that's how you end up with the trail name not gonna lie walking into Kennedy Meadows is a pretty surreal experience because for me I'd heard about Kennedy Meadows for several hundred miles and how it was this big milestone in the hike because now you're transitioning into the Sierra and so in this you know they seem all excited and they're clapping for her and in real life on the Pacific Crest Trail it is tradition that when a hiker walks up to Kennedy Meadows everybody claps for them but nowadays there are a lot more folks sitting outside the general store there at Kennedy Meadows so it's like a large round of applause and it's actually a really exciting moment not like you there's really no summer to hang out with the real hikers you fascinate me I'm not a real hiker you just hiked 100 miles through the desert heat and it nearly killed me do you want some help do I look like somebody who needs help they're too small that's why you're losing toenails ding ding ding not having proper fitting Footwear is absolutely a reason that you will lose toenails and more often than not these days long distance hackers wear trail runners versus boots because they're more breathable and lightweight and your pack it's insane we need to do a little pruning okay so I'm gonna pick out the stuff that's useless to you and you can leave it in the free box unless you can give me a good reason why you need it with you ok ok the free box aka there's no nowadays as a hiker box how's this work I stink I stink all the time and my armpits are the least of it exactly are you having much fun with these I've never used the ones this is great it's a great shakedown for folks to see I don't know I can't say that a saw would have never come in handy for me especially if I wouldn't have a fire but if I need a fire to cook food or something like that I've always been able to find little twigs little kindling enough to build a fire to get some water boiling so I saw on these well-traveled trails is just really not necessary the only time I've actually seen a saw that was necessary for travel is when I was on the Continental Divide Trail and there was a girl who was going from Mexico to Canada on horseback so she actually did need to cut some fallen trees to get through with her horses it is common in town to have trail angels or people who work at Outfitters willing to go through your pack with you go over your gear make sure that you're actually you know using all of the things that you have in there it's easy to talk yourself into yeah I really need this when you have somebody sitting down looking at you in the face saying have you used this the whole time you know it's it's easier to come to terms with the idea that you probably don't really need that thank you so much you will be my favorite company forever and ever okay arias saves the day and they do have a payphone at Kennedy Meadows still to this day definitely good to have versatility in your clothing not to go overboard with it but to have layers to put on and take off as the weather changes layering with center layers is definitely more important than just having one bulky outfit so I like that they show that here she's got one layer on already it's getting cold she's in an area with snow time to put on the other layer testin how deep the water is Oh [Music] and there's where it would be good to have your packin clip but thankfully she didn't lose it so all's well cousins well I reckon so on this water Crossin it shows it's kind of hard to see but it looks like the water is breaking after certain rocks that are sticking up and typically you want to cross on the side of the broken water not as the water is building up against this rock because you don't want to end up pinned up under the rocks so technically she should have crossed where something is breaking the water because it doesn't have as much force on the other side as on the side that's getting hit with water it is common to have water crossings like this on the long distance trails in the US so it is best to learn how to safely execute one of these water crossings before you get out there with all this weight on your back hey you should have something for Stacey Johnson an internal transect hey are you hiking the PCT yeah are you you're a woman I would say that trails are still male-dominated but it's not writer to come across a female and make female friends if you're a solo female hiker and on two of the three trails I've had pretty close chick friends that I've made and we still keep in touch at this point I'd be waiting until dark looking to do off the tent think about that but I'd be waiting until dark and then not hiking I mean can't continue on in that desert heat for sure I can't really tell if she just slept through the night and then woke up in the morning I seemed so since she was licking the dew off the tent which I didn't think about but if I was in the situation where I ran out of water and I certainly have been in a situation where I was very low on water what I would have done is just waited until it got late in the afternoon and was cool and then continued walking then because trying to wait until the morning and allowing the desert to heat up again it's just kind of not a good idea but I guess it would depend on if you're hoping to be able to see some sort of other tank or cattle trough in line of sight of course at night and then you'd have troubles but I was gonna continue walking a stretch and wasn't expecting to find water in the near future then I'd be waiting until dark when it cools down seahorse I've drink from cattle troughs I've drink from cattle ponds where there is a cow in the water you know do do in and so it's just important to make sure you have some sort of water treatment in this instance it shows you the limitations of using tablets or chemical treatment because you're supposed to wait a certain amount of time until it's safe to drink whereas a filter you can just go ahead and drink it at this point I probably would have pulled my stove out and pumped it through the filter and then also boiled it all in all I would say that the back packing parts of wild are pretty spot-on for what it is like to through hike and specifically the Pacific Crest Trail with the exception of the outdated gear but that would be probably pretty accurate for what it was like in the 90s and then also I feel like she encounters more creepos than what is normal or at least what has been normal from my experiences and finally how I've mentioned that the Pacific Crest Trail definitely has more foot traffic on it now so you're likely to see more people but I really like how they focus on some of the aspects of long-distance backpacking like having the hiker box that they talk about and showing Kennedy meadows and the actual bridge of the gods and the blazes on the trees and and how they aren't all beautiful and shiny some of them are kind of being overtaken by the trees and so some of the things that I certainly didn't pick up before my hike but then now watching later it kind of shows the the growth of the individual during the hike which I think even if you don't go out there because your intention is to grow or overcome some hurdles in the mind I think that's naturally just something that happens for people while they're out there and often times you don't notice that except for retrospectively if you'll notice anything else that seemed pretty spot-on for a through hike or long distance backpacking trip or that seemed completely off that I missed be sure to leave that in the comments below if you all enjoyed this video let me know we'll do another one maybe a walk in the woods or the way thanks for watching y'all don't forget to subscribe before you go and we will see y'all next time

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Views: 417,088

Rating: 4.9154205 out of 5

Keywords: travel, hiking, backpacking, hike, gear, adventure, fun, story, Appalachian, Trail, PCT, CDT, thru-hike, Auburn, Alabama, epic, climbing, canyon, national, nature, mountains, update, park, lake, trail, tents, camping, summer, University, Aubie, River, stream, Mountains, National, Scenic, Dixie, Camino, wild, reese witherspoon, cheryl strayed

Id: g2egGceMxyY

Length: 28min 37sec (1717 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 22 2020