High Sierra Topix

I respect TehipiteTom's choice. If i meet him up there, I also respect him picking his camping spot first, so i can pick a spot up wind.

On our last meet, he didn't smell even though it was almost unbearably hot, and he was a great skeeter magnet, so we had all that going for us. The rest of us probably smelled worse, covered in DEET.

The hand sanitizer is probably the best recommendation out of this thread. On bathing, to each their own.

i smell like fish the entire time. My wife won't touch me until i shower. i enjoy every moment. Clean, dirty, whatever. The only thing i try to avoid is Lighting. Exposing my fear? No. Too close every year. It follows me where ever i may roam.

2 & 3.

when I backpacked, I washed off everyday incl my hair. I used a 2 ltr platypus bag, campsuds and a cooking pot to pour water over me, away from water source. I had my fleece for after washing off so that stayed kinda clean for sleeping. I also rinsed (no soap) hiking clothes off everyday (2 prs of shorts, tank top, socks and underwear in case it didn't dry) On our 30 day backpack there was only 4 days we didn't wash up, due to getting to camp late (after bagging Tyndall, Williamson, Split, and one other night that I can't remember right now). I also don't like getting in my sleeping bag dirty. I'm a clean freak, but I also loved backpacking then so I made it work for me. Scott always washed up too cuz we had to sleep together. He also has long hair.

A solid 2, maybe 2.1

Toward the end of the day I'll jump into most any lake, or creek pool and give my clothes a rinse. I sleep better when free of salt and grime.

I'm a 2 plus. I dunk, and do a few laps, everyday before dinner and sometimes dunk in the morning just before starting out on the day's hike - better than coffee. I don't get my hair wet, though. It doesn't dry. And a wet head in low 30's at night makes me too cold. The only time I ever multi-tasked (washed me and my clothes at the same time) was during a heat wave at 6,000 ft in Kendrick Canyon. Tossed the pack and boots and walked right in.

2.

If I get into a good camp site early enough to have enough sun to dry off, I'll take a swim and clean off the worst of the sweat and grime. I also bring a backpackers' sink and take it off and away from the water source and use a few drops of Dr Bronners to scrub the 'pits and crotch.

If I'm late into a campsite and it's already getting cold, I'll try to do the bit with the backpackers' sink at the very least. Using a bandanna to scrub my face with water is very refreshing after a hot,sweaty day of carrying the pack around on my back.

I floss after dinner and brush my teeth with a little toothpaste.


Even so, after a week on the trail, I feel pretty grubby at the end of a trip. One, I drove home right after getting off the trail. I had to leave the window cracked open on the drive, because I was too "pungent" to be in a sealed space.

I have two different styles of trips.

On my "bring the kitchen sink" basecamp trips I load up my old Kelty Tioga external frame with 60 pounds of goodies, including a 2 1/2 gallon SunShower, and pack in one day and set up a basecamp. The SunShower gets filled and goes on top of a tall isolated rock with the nozzle hanging down. Each day from the basecamp I will take a light dayhike and return to camp by late afternoon--just in time for a hot shower. So on those trips I'm a 3 or 4.

On my "through hike" trips I cut the labels off of tea bags and take 35 pounds in my GoLite Odyssey. The SunShower does not come along. I don't wash my face because I am carrying a limited supply of sunblock and I want it to build up layer by layer! I wash my hands before meals and that is it. I am less than a 1.

I have not gone swimming in the high country since I was a teenager 35 years ago. I've heard the old saw about pollution and dilution, but I also remember the oily sheen on the water that was left after a troop of boy scouts went swimming in my water collection spot. If we need to be very careful about not letting soap get into a stream or lake, why on earth would we introduce Deet and sunscreen? After five days, I probably have half a tube of sunblock caked on me, and I've always thought that sticking it into the lake would be a bad idea.

Interesting that a bathing thread becomes the most active thread currently on the board. We backpackers must be boring people in the off season

Jimr

Duh! But for every 20 or so posts that I scratch my head over there is one that I learn something that I want to incorporate into my bp practice. That is pretty good for a crotchety old fart that has been backpacking in the Sierra for over 50 years. As I sit here in Bend and look out the window the snow is falling again! Snow in the Sierra, not backcountry hygiene, is at the top of my interests right now, ah plus maybe a new tent or two. The longer the delay of the high country opening up the more I am likely to buy. That is not good if you are on a somewhat fixed income.

Mike