Need Advice on Desert States - Very Impo rtant!

“Me and my friend are hiking accross the country, using the minimal amount of equipment (whoa, Deja Vu Grandma Gatewood!). We're going to have two pairs of clothing each; shorts and t-shirt made of nylon, and then sweat clothes for the colder periods. No underwear (learned that in the army), and no footwear. That's right, barefoot. We'll probably have a blanket and tarp and pancho, and then our food. So far we have a pretty solid plan up to the end of the Trail of Tears...

After that though, past Oklahoma, we start hitting hard desert land, with almost no water. And this worries me. A lot.

My question is this:
Should we stick to the main roads that pass through New Mexico and Arizona? If we do that, about how many days walk is it from population to population? How are we going to deal with the Mojave, which stands in the way of us and San Diego (our destination?)

Should we sleep during the day and walk at night?

I have so many doubts and questions about this. Please help put my mind at ease. We'd like to do this trip without ever using a vehicle.”

“Look at detailed maps and figure out your route, then contact the PO's along the way to find out if there are any services between point x and point y that might get you water. Some maps (not Delorme but one of the other map book companies) show water sources - but not always. Some ranches will be friendly and allow you to use their stock tanks. Some won't. Can you walk 40-50 miles a day, barefoot? Are you willing to beg water off passing cars? Can you rent a car and put out water caches? If not, you've got a problem. Ken and Marcia, who are hiking the ADT this year, put out water caches for the desert stretches in Nevada. When Peter Jenkins walked across Texas they begged water off passing cars and met some trail angels who helped them through some of the bad patches. Some places you will have 50-100 miles between gas stations -
Barefoot in the desert is difficult between cactus thorns and other burrs and the heat of the ground (if it's 100 outside, the ground temp is something like 140.) Night hiking means you don't see the cactus before you walk into them. In the desert, everything bites. Also, you don't see the rattlesnakes sunning themselves on the path. But it can be fun.”

“You are not going to have much skin left on your feet by the time you reach this area.

You could drink you pee in the desert. That will save you some trouble.”

“LOL@WK. U said what had to be said. LMAO

I have this link... http://www.primitiveways.com/
not sure how helpful it is...but hey..it's worth checking out.”

“Nice post Gem. In this website, it tells you to look out for these guys.



You may need some trailrunners to get by the arrows dipped in poison.”

“i just spent 6 month in new mexico, i hit a few day hikes, the hottest day was a little over 100 and i went throught over a gallon of water in 6 hours so good luck man. and i would highly recamend shoes.”

“Now this guy is a TTer putting us on, or a complete idiot. I have a brother-in-law who actually hiked coast to coast, so its not totally impossible, but barefoot? That is so idiotic as to be laughable. And WHY? What kind of point are you trying to prove, besides trying to see how many TTers are gullible enough to give you the benefit of the doubt. I call troll on this one. Begone!”

“Drink cactus juice as you troll your way along.

You'll need your underwear to flag down passing vehicles.
last edited: 1/18/05 5:24:56 PM”

“Abo Dude Junior!”

“"Me and my friend"

Start out with proper English & I'll at least read your lame request for help. If you can't do that, you're on your own. Good luck.”

“hmm...I maybe an ignorant fool, but WHY no underwear???”

“two sisters did practically the entire AT barefoot. but i believe they were a couple of country bumpkins who grew up going barefoot everywhere and were used to it. unless youre a hobbit, i wouldnt barefoot it, especially in the desert.

you sound like you really have no idea what a long distance trek involves. i hope youre not going this year.

oh, and one more thing:

troll”

“lmfao I've never been called a troll before. That's pretty funny considering nothing could be further from the truth.

Barefeet are natural. We were meant to go barefoot. If anyone has ever gone barefoot for a while (like when you were KIDS, didn't you guys run outside barefoot all over?) you notice your feet build up a callous and get very tough. Just look up barefootism or go to www.economads.com and look at the articles about it. I think it's funny how people think they need to "protect" themselves from nature by building elaborate houses and cooking their food and all these other absurd things. That's so funny, it makes me feel like laughing. And I would if I wasn't shaking my head instead.

Anyway, thanks for the replies. I've spoken to my friend and we've decided to head up through the forested areas into Idaho and down through Oregon. I told him I don't have any faith in our ability to survive a desert like that.”

“BTW you're not an ignorant fool. You don't wear underwear on long treks because they get funky, nasty, smelly, wet from sweat, and just getting generally uncomfortable.”

“ok, but have you been going barefoot your whole life? once you put it into practice, hiking 20 or 30 miles in a day, you may find your cute little theory isnt very practical. in theory, youre probably right, shoes havent been around for as long as the human species has, but are you mentally tough enough to do it. youve had 20 30 40 whatever years to get soft. remember, shoes were invented for a reason. you can get along without them, but youll get along better with them”

“shoes have been found on 5000 yr old remains of hunters....humans were not meant to meant to meander thru the arizona desert especially 100 degree days.By the way you will get very cold at night going thru the northerly forests.Your greatest danger tho is your lack of knowledge.Obviously you ve never been west or done any backpacking...If underwear get stinky what will prevent your outerwear from getting so?
Good luck...”

““ok, but have you been going barefoot your whole life? once you put it into practice, hiking 20 or 30 miles in a day, you may find your cute little theory isnt very practical. in theory, youre probably right, shoes havent been around for as long as the human species has, but are you mentally tough enough to do it. youve had 20 30 40 whatever years to get soft. remember, shoes were invented for a reason. you can get along without them, but youll get along better with them”

This isn't a theory, it's fact, and I am truly sorry that you can't see it that way. I have been walking barefoot much of my life. This summer I was running almost 3 and 1/2 miles barefoot every couple of days, and I hiked the trail through our woods (7 miles) barefoot. So yes, I am mentally tough enough for it. I appreciate your concern, but there is no need for it.

“shoes have been found on 5000 yr old remains of hunters....humans were not meant to meant to meander thru the arizona desert especially 100 degree days.By the way you will get very cold at night going thru the northerly forests.Your greatest danger tho is your lack of knowledge.Obviously you ve never been west or done any backpacking...If underwear get stinky what will prevent your outerwear from getting so?
Good luck...”

I fail to see what point you are making by pointing out the mistake of 5000 year old hunters.

Of course I'm lacking in knowledge. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here asking questions. But it seems I know a few things some other people don't. :)

Outwear won't get as sweaty and stinky because 1) You wear nylon 2) It's not right up against you like underwear is.

If you don't want to believe me on that, then I don't know what to tell you. Millions of marines, green barets, navy seals, and infantrymen know what I'm talking about.”

“Stop feeding it.”

“But I want to thank everyone for increasing my motivation even more. Thanks guys!”

“That graph that Phil posted just made me burp coffee up all over myself!

Thanks a lot :)”

“Thats some tough feat! Why though?”

“That's how trolls hike”

“u know...we should treat every post as it's a NON-TROLL post. I am sure if it's a real troll they will get tired of it. (no fun factor, ya know!)

my 2 1/2 cents.

dammit, i want to post one post without editing.
last edited: 1/19/05 11:15:50 AM”

“Gemini has a valid point. If I really was a troll you people would just be giving me exactly what I want. In which case I'd be laughing with glee and uttering soft "thank you"s while I smile. ;)

However, you people are trolling my thread. Why, I don't know.”

“"I fail to see what point you are making by pointing out the mistake of 5000 year old hunters."

A mistake is something that doesn't work. If shoes didn't work they wouldn't still be around after 5,000 years.”

“Dictionary.com:

1. An error or fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness.
2. A misconception or misunderstanding.

So again, how is the mistake of 5,000 year old hunters pertinent to today? Why do you want to be stuck living in the past?”

“Are you being delibertly obtuse or just stupid.”

“lmfao@Tango

Insults now? How mature. Concession accepted. :)”

“Quit feeding it.”

“Oh wait, this board is cool! You can actually ignore people's POSTS, not just PMs.

Cool. *ignores all the trolls* Awesome, maybe this topic will go somewhere now. ;)”

“Yea, quit feeding it, because the only reason I posted this thread was to troll. Yea. I came onto a HIKING FORUM to troll. Right. lmfao”

“Damn Nomad2K5 put your shoes on... Your feet stink!
last edited: 1/19/05 1:42:53 PM”

“Wow, it seems I've chanced upon a community of trolls! I would never expect that from trailsmen. Pretty sad state of affairs. :(

No wonder this board isn't very popular.”

“It's pretty damn popular with us!”

“message from Bison being ignored

They say if you ignore a troll it will go away.

message from Bison being ignored

But I guess not. LOL At least I can't see what he's saying. Or she.”

“okay...barefoot #&%!$ coming right up:

Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
http://www.barfusspark.info/en/nature.htm
http://barefoothikers.home.att.net/bfinfo.htm
http://www.unshod.org/ebbfhike/bfhikers.htm
http://www.barefooters.org/hikers/
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1662942”

“I hate to tell you but Idaho and eastern Oregon have significant deserts.”

“Yes they do, but if you look at a maps those states are mostly forest, and human population, as opposed to New Mexico or Arizona.”

“i guess your from the east coast...where the trasils are well worn(easier for barefooting) and you can see people everywhere.Montana,Colorado and mtn states are a little different.”

“This guy will never make it as far as Idaho, much less eastern Oregon. He'll be rat food before he hits western Wyoming. Make sure you leave a will. We here at TT will take care of your epitaph. Any takers?”

“Nomad2K5:

see the following link:
http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/19954,-1.php

Being called a troll when first logging into this site is a rite of passage... :-)

If you fill out your profile information, others might take you more seriously...

go to the top of the page and click on "edit account"... you don't need to post anything extremely personal, but letting others know where you are from and something about you might help get you some more serious responses... ;-)”

“Thanks for the help pink, and the suggestion, but this site has not proven itself useful to me and I would rather not take the time.

Not coincidentally this is also going to be my last post here. I don't deal with immature people if I can avoid it, and I do not cater to people who will only respect me over something superficial.

Good bye. :)”