My daily routine (D-103: 2282.1 - 2308.3, D-104: 2308.3 - 2338.0, D-105: 2338.0 - 2368.0, D-106: 2368.2 - 2394.1, D-107: 2394.1 - 2418.7, D-108: 2418.7 - 2447.5, D-109: 2447.5 - 2468.7, D-110: 2468.7 - 2494.5)

After 100+ days on the trail, my daily on-trail routine has become quite set.  I figured at least a couple of you might be interested in it.  Or you could just skip this post 🙂.

I wake up around 4:30-4:45 am daily and immediately get to packing up the stuff.  These past few weeks, the first thing I do as soon as I wake up is to apply mosquito repellent all over.  I can't get out of the tent, even to pee, without this protection 😏. Since all my stuff is within the 20-odd sq  ft area of the tent and within arm's reach, it is easy enough to pack.  The sleeping bag & liner goes into it's sack first & then a plastic bag over the sack as extra protection from getting wet if it rains.  Then the sleeping pad get deflated and rolled up. All other ditty bags are already packed from the night before.  So, all that remains is to put everything, in the right order, inside the backpack. Finally, I take down the tent and once that's put in the backpack side-pocket, I am ready to go.  Just before I head out, I start the GPS tracker and my watch.  All this typically takes about 35-45 mins and  I start walking by 5:15 - 5:30 am.

Sofie & I usually start together but very quickly we spread out on the trail as she tends to be faster.  We might meet once or twice on the trail, maybe during breakfast or lunch or a water stop.  We decide on the final campsite location for the night in advance depending on how many miles we intend to cover that day, and we reach there within 15-30 mins of each other. I only take short breaks for breakfast (15 mins) & lunch (20-30 mins), but otherwise keep walking.  And that's how I got my trail name - Cruise Control 😀.

The first 3-4 hours of the day are crucial as one is well-rested and can quickly cover more miles as well as uphills. I eat a protein bar or cookie (The Complete Cookie, shown below, is quite popular with hikers) after about 1-2 hours.

I might also have a baked goodie like a donut, muffin or Honey Bun, if I am still hungry.  That's rare though.

Look at the amount of calories this has! And the other percentages 😱.  I don't think I would/could eat this in normal life.

As you know, thru-hikers like calorie dense foods. My rule of thumb is that the number of calories should be at least 3.5-5x the weight in grams for almost  all food that I carry.

After about 10-12 miles of walking, which takes anywhere between 3 to 4 hours, I will stop for my "breakfast", which is instant oatmeal with full-fat powdered milk in a 250 ml Nalgene (thanks, Mark!) cup.  BTW, I still don't understand why even the stores in the towns along the trail which cater to thru-hikers don't carry full-fat powdered milk. They only have non-fat versions, which no thru-hiker wants. So, everybody who needs it buys it online. I get it from Amazon or from India 🙂.

Then it is back to walking.  Lunch stop is after 20-22 miles, around 1:30 - 2:30 pm.  For lunch, I have 2 tortillas - one with Biscoff butter/Nutella/jelly/jam spread and other with some sort of tuna/chicken spread.  I had never eaten tuna in this form before this hike, but have had it daily for 60-70% of the past 100+ days. All I can say it is easy to carry and eat.

I will also stop at least once a day for filling up water. I carry at least 2-2.5 liters of water most times (except in the Seirras where there was plenty of water sources & 1 liter was plenty). Flowing streams & creeks are best for water fills. If the flow volume is high and/or the creek is at high elevation, I don't bother to filter the water.  Filtering is a pain 😋.  One good thing... invariably all sources - incl in the desert section - have had cold to ice-cold water which is great for quenching thirst and feels so good, especially on hot days!

By the time, I reach the final campsite, it is around 6-6:30 pm.  First order of business is to setup the tent and empty the backpack contents into the tent.  This takes about 15 mins, with extra motivation provided by mosquitoes & flies in the past few weeks.  Once the tent is setup, I can go inside and get stuff done like inflating the sleeping pad, setting up the sleeping bag and pillow etc.  I usually prepare and have my dinner inside the tent, since that's most convenient. I don't have a stove anymore, but even when I had it, I would use it in the vestibule of the tent while carefully monitoring it. Never ever have I cooked inside the tent - don't want to even take the slightest chance of the tent going up in flames 🔥😀.  Dinner is once again 1-2 tortillas with either ready-to-eat curries or pepperoni/cheese or some other spread. I recently started having protein shake just before dinner to help with recovery. During the day, I might have some electrolytes too, as well as trail mix, toffees etc.

Every other day or so, I will have "hot" chocolate or 3-in-1 coffee along with dinner.

I also prepare my oatmeal for the next day as well as lunch tortillas while having dinner.

Finally, before going to bed, I use wet wipes to clean up.  This is the easiest option on the trail.  Some hikers clean up in a creek or a lake, but I have only done that a handful of times.  Water is too cold for me!

Bedtime is typically between 8-8:30 pm and if I am not too tired and it is not too late, I will update this blog before going to bed. 

So that's what I do on the trail!

I will give an update on the hike itself in the next blog.  BTW, this post as well as the next couple of posts will go online only at the next town stop after 4-5 days from now as there is zero cell signal in the Washington mountains, as expected.

Data:

D-103:

D-104: 

D-105: 

D-106: 

D-107: 

D-108:

D-109: 

D-110: