Warming up cold hands, armpit technique
Hands usually have a problem when working in sustained cold and wet conditions. Mine surely do. I say “working”: it should be fine if you can keep the expected activity level with hands in pockets but this is often not the case.
The last time I met Shaun “Shooter” Carrigan was in September 2006. We had been meeting regularly on the trail for the last couple months, shooting footage, sharing trail time, talking about life. He told me he wanted to have a film ready for December. I didn’t believe he could.
It’s been almost 7 years but it doesn’t matter: the document is still applying and the result is fantastic. I just watched it myself for the first time and I can say I loved it.
The Alps don’t stand out for the wildness and there are no big mammals to worry about. The goat-like chamois and bouquetin seem the most ubiquitous among the sizeable ones, relatively easy to spot and I never seem to remember which one is each.
Another common trail companion is the shy marmot, bound to be the main character in this comment.
The GR 5 is well documented. As any GR trail in France, it’s got its own set of guidebooks, consistently edited by the FFRP (Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre which approximately stands for French Hiking Federation). These books are in French and due to the popularity of this route among English speaking (or, in general, non-French speaking) people, UK publisher Cicerone released a guidebook that covers just the Alpine Traverse.
Most of the stuff is just as usual. I’ll comment on those new or somehow relevant items.
Inov8 Terroc 330
Maybe the most comfortable shoes I’ve worn on the trail, surely the lightest and probably the less durable. The Terrocs performed well and were very gentle on my feet but barely made it to trip end. The shoe body was still ok but the soles suffered; one of them got a crack under the ball of the foot that turned into an alpine glacier crevasse exposing the midsole which eventually also cracked.
Going through villages is something that happens almost everyday on the GR 5; usually, more than once a day so it’s a key part of the experience. With recreation being such a big part of the scene in the Alps, it’s taken over a lot of the rural environment and some locations have more lodges and restaurants than farms and sheds. I tried to not spend much time in the urban but still feel a quick overview of what can be expected might be of interest. North to south:
Is there anything I can write about the Alps that’s not already been said? Probably not except my own take at one of the most spectacular, long distance traverses along the western arm of one the most spectacular mountain ranges. A bit of blah, blah, blah too…
The word alpine comes obviously from the Alps even though it’s evolved into a kind of generic term for everything alpine. But strictly speaking an alpine something should take place in some alps. There are actually a few mountain groups in the world named alps but it all began where the European plains rise several thousand meters to become a world of rocky, ice-covered big walls that define the line between north and south; east and west, too.
The original Rainskirt was a good idea and it actually worked very well… depending on conditions. When it was not only rainy but also cold and, all the worse, windy, I wouldn’t even consider using it. When travelling to places where such conditions were expected, I wouldn’t even take it with me.
As this is no fashion show, there’s not new gear every season and many items are the same as those for previous trips. Most key items are. I won’t be commenting again on those that already were in 2007 or 06 and I’ll focus on the new items or the new life from old ones. As usual, there’ll be a few lessons learned.
The Colorado Trail Foundation is the obvious and basic starting point for any prospect CT traveler. They take care of anything trail related and their website is full of all that information one needs one one knows nothing. Plus the e-shop gives access to the paperwork, plain or e-
This is the west and the Rockies are the great barrier that defines what’s beyond as the Far West: the Colorado Trail traverses the Front Ranges of the Rockies and then travels along the main divide of North America.
The big mountain ranges usually make a difference as to the climate that can be found on either side. Not so much with the Colorado Rockies: big mountains but too far from the oceans, the Rockies don’t trap the weather; rather, they create their own weather.
Weminuche Wilderness, CDT & CT share the trail
I’m used (with a reason) to think of America as the place of the big, open spaces where one can be well away from the human things. I appreciate that as much as I miss it in over-stuffed Europe and that’s basically why I keep coming back.
The Sawatch Range
Ever since I started doing multi-week hiking trips, a few years back, I felt I was going one step forward every time. Maybe several steps forward: longer, more difficult, more remote… in 2008, though, the Colorado Trail left me with this Deja Vu impression and the feeling that I had already done this before. But maybe I shouldn’t be starting here with a seemingly negative comment on an otherwise wonderful trip that basically reaffirmed my faith on backpacking as my best battery charger and necessary break from the modern. And the Colorado Rockies are a great place to feel the noise.
The north american wilderness has this certain attractive: it may be easy, smooth going but also remote and solitary. Miles and miles of uninhabitted land not because conditions were consistently too tough but because there were better places and yet huge chunks of terrain were spared from human occupation. Now they may be visited by hikers and I enfasise the fact that we are visitors in some other’s home. We’ll try to be respectful and enjoy.
Pic from the Colorado Trail Foundation
Silnylon mittens
The wet & cold is hard on your hands. They’re exposed (particularly if you’re carrying hiking poles) and so they’re difficult to protect. Waterproofing them doesn’t seem to work in the long term as water seems to always find a way through by overwhelming the waterproof layer, through seams, openings or all of them. Traditional waterproof-breathables additionally are relatively heavy for an item that is usually on your pack most of the time for the summer season.
My new disguise
Note: “porche” is spanish for “porch”. We can’t seem to stand the consonants on their own…
Handy scale in Alesjaure
At nearly max weight for the trip with 11 days worth of food
One of the issues with ultralight or lightweight hiking is overcoming the fear of being unprepared for the conditions. It’s something you learn with practice but that fear comes back when you face a new set of conditions. This is particularly true when you’re about to travel to an isolated place with potentially severe weather.
Shelter / Pack / Sleep system / Clothing / Shoes
Nordkalottleden was a bit off the typical 3 season conditions of a temperate climate and I had to make a few adjustments to my gear list to reflect that. There was also quite a bit of uncertainty as I was not so sure about what to expect so it was a bit of a challenge to gather a gear list I could trust and was still reasonably lightweight.
As usual, gear and technique are one in this discussion. It’s not possible to understand one without the other so this will not be a fancy presentation of cool looking equipment but a hands-on essay on how my gear and me got together in the arctic fells.
Access / Ressuply / Huts / Maps / Transport
Planning for this route wasn’t easy. There’s little information, either on the net or in print, and only little bits can be found in english. In the following lines, I’ll try to fill that gap from the (necessaryly limited) perspective of a one time hiker. Don’t expect a deep knowledge from the area. I’ll just try to provide all that info I couldn’t find easily, if at all, and I know now.
Terrain / Hiking / Trails / Signalling / Infrastructures / Weather / Obstacles / Season
The Lapland highlands
The northernmost tip of the route goes through the arctic tundra. Actually, I think it is not yet technically tundra as the terrain Nordkalottleden goes through is still forested and as far as I know the tundra is tree-less by definition but on this rolling hill landscape trees are small and the route often takes the high areas on the hills where trees are absent.
Expectations vs. Reality / About hiking in Lapland / People / Pace / Would I do it again?
Beyond the gear, the terrain or resupply logistics, there are memories not so straightforward to talk about which are yet a good part of the experience.
Tornetrask with a low “roof”
The blurred letters say “Nordkalottleden”
“What the hell am I doing here?… I want to go home…”
It eventually happens in most trips. There comes a moment when your morale weakens and you start wondering if it’s worth it. Usually, you soon decide it is, after all.
The PCT is getting increasing media attention. In 2006, two proffessional, independent producers took their cameras out and tried to show the world how it feels to spend a few months of your life on this wonderful trail:
Chaotically updated from day 0, April 27th 2006
September 22nd 2006, 10.30 h
Currently waiting not for the snow to melt but to stop falling. Record breaking March snow fall has changed everything but one thing: I’m going. Adding stuff to the seasonal list: crampons, VB socks, WP gaiters, GPS… ¿snowshoes?
I’ve been a very gear conscious hiker for years, always looking for that perfect balance between weight and function. This trip was, among other things, a test for the viability of my 3 season system from a versatility and durability point of view, hence it was important for me to keep the gear kit consistent throughout the whole trip: no gear swapping or even replacing
Gear is important. It shouldn’t be more important than the trip itself but it’s so fun to play with gear, to try things, to see what works and what doesn’t, to add weight to the equation and play again…
I keep thinking of my expectations matching, or not, what I found on the trail, of others’ views on the hike, the come back home, what it all meant… the good and bad things, the difficulties, the feelings along the way… and all I can think of is how different we all are! which is something I already knew, we all know that but it’s still striking to find out with such clarity.
The PCT is not a particularly difficult route but it’s probably true that one needs some know-how and experience to do it. Just wanting to do it is not enough, this is not a long stroll in the park.
I’d hiked on the PCT before. The first time, I just didn’t even knew, I just wanted to hike in Yosemite because I was on holidays and I wanted to hike and Yosemite was famous and it had to be so for a reason. I then knew about this John Muir Trail and thought it’d be great for the scheduled week I had. Then I knew the JMT shared the tread with something much longer.
The Pyrenees stretch between Atlantic and Mediterranean. While the mountains create quite a weather of their own, the influence of the two seas clearly shows. The western Pyrenees are wetter and greener and since the atlantic weather systems usually approach from the northwest, the northern side is also damper than the south.
If you don’t know about the Pyrenees but you do about the Alps, I can use that for an intro into the former. Compared to the Alps, the Pyrenees are not as high, not as wide, not that much in the middle of urban Europe but still high, rugged and, in a way, still wild. The Pyrenees are usually the destination of choice for those visitors who want to try something different from the Alps, who are tired of the overcrowded, overurbanised world of the Alps or who simply want to backpack without having to worry about crossing glaciers.
When I finished the Siltrapo I thought I’d had enough. The results were satisfying but the process was long and painful, time and effort consuming, partly due to my own fear of doing things wrong, I know (and that’s something I’ve quite learnt to amend) but I was not that eager for a second try. Then I started using the Siltrapo and checking its pros and cons as well as wishing I also had a smaller version for solo use… I just let time go till I kind of forgot about the difficult part and when I found the motivation, I didn’t let it go. I’ve called it Siltoldo
After four years in a row visiting North America, this summer the hiking’s coming home. It’ll be not a little bit less exciting while I’ll be tackling a solo traverse of the Pyrenees, sea to sea over the Haute Randonnée Pyrenéenne, the wildest and most rugged of the three routes that cover the distance from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. 4 weeks and a strong will to finish but above all a stronger will to have a good time so no marathons here… I’ll try my best but the goal is in the trip itself, not on the finish line.
Siltrapo
I knew it was easy and from a certain point in time I even knew I could do it. Still I felt overwhelmed by the task, by the amount of time it was taking from me and by the feeling I might as well be using it in better ways… I’m always time starved. But then it’d be such a meaningful achievement… it’d be worth every minute if I’d eventually get it working.
Tired of hearing you can’t use a windscreen with a canister stove? I surely was, particularly when the reason seems to be just the canister over-heating. And who wants a windscreen for the canister? I need a windscreen for the burner. It’s only the flame that matters. Then, what’s the engineering problem to build a screen for just the burner?
This is a strictly no photos article 🙂
I don’t like rain pants: they’re odd to put on and take off, weight too much for an item that stays on the pack for a long time and don’t breathe enough. Sometimes, I found I wouldn’t be using them even if I was carrying them, letting my regular pants get wet and trusting my leg muscles to keep legs warm while moving. A quick drying, comfy when wet pant fabric is a must too. The net effect is I quit carrying rain pants.
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