Ep207 - Thinking About Hiking the Larapinta? Here's Where to Start

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Transcript

Ben 0:05

Howdy folks, welcome to the next episode of the Snowy's Camping Show, episode 200 and something. Over 200 now. Um, five years we've been doing this. I saw something the other day, it's been five years ago. I thought I looked really young. I thought changed a lot in a few years ago. I thought that was five years ago.

Lauren 0:20

You're definitely more grey in your beard.

Ben 0:22

Getting there. Older and wiser.

Lauren 0:24

Yeah.

Ben 0:24

Both of us, I think. Um joined as usual by myself and Lauren. You can uh jump in on the conversation on Nice Noah's camping show, camping banter, sorry, Facebook group and the conversation on this video. I've lost my train of thought here. And you can also tune in just by audio on your favourite podcast app. Now, today Lauren's in the spotlight because she's got a trip coming up and I wanted to interview you about your preparation for this trip for people who um kind of two-angled approach, I suppose. People who are prepare want to prepare for a longer trek, because this is a longer trek that you're doing with some other uh females from uh Snowy Scent from your team. Yeah. So it's a girls' trip preparing for uh the trip. So I kind of thought there's two angles to this. Firstly, people who are going, I want to do this, I don't know where to start, yeah. Um, and feeling intimidated about it. But also uh being a male, um, I'm assuming there are probably considerations as as females that that you make along the way. And I guess I'm just interested to know if there is anything different there that you would do.

Lauren 1:35

Mostly around P.

Ben 1:36

Well, I've covered that. I thought, should I cover toilet thing? I think, nah, I throw it in there. Let's be happy to talk about it.

Lauren 1:43

Yeah, I mean, it's it's it's it's definitely interesting because you when you first asked me, I was like, why would anyone be interested in that? Like it's not surely it's not that interesting, but I guess we'll see.

Ben 1:53

Well, it's un this is unfiltered to to a degree. Yeah. Um, but I mean safety and that sort of thing. I know I I'm always conscious of um like I think females. I mean, everyone should feel safe when they're walking anywhere, for example, right? But I know my wife, for example, will be walking home from the train and she's just always wary of who's around her. And I don't have that. I'm not a little bit, but not nearly as much as as uh as my my wife does. And in many ways, I'm quite often walking, and I think there's a female in front of me, and I'll be walking home from the train or something. And I think I'm gonna, I just want to cross out of what might I feel she might be uncomfortable or take the next street or something. So she, because I have this thing of I does she feel like she's being followed. I don't want her to feel nervous, I just want to have you relax and walk home. Um, and I don't know if I'm overthinking that or not. So uh I don't know.

Lauren 2:48

I think it's a good point. Like, I definitely don't obviously I don't want to go political here. And it's like I I obviously I'm a woman. I wouldn't wouldn't classify myself as a as a feminist in any in any way. Um, and I genuinely love men. Like I I really do love men very much. Um and but I do think they're sometimes lost in a lot of the discussion that we get, especially online and social media, which is actually a trash hole to have these conversations in because it's so dumb with people sitting behind their keyboards and just not actually being face to face and listening and whatever. But I think at the end of the day, the only thing that I think really matters is for there to just be an awareness and a consideration. And I think at the end of the day, if you've got that, then that's all you need to do. Um, it's it's not, I don't really think there needs to be much else there. Um you know, maybe as a man, like it just consideration, you know, you've got a wife, you've got daughters, you've got sisters, you've got a mum. Just oh yeah, like that that whole thing like you said about Taryn walking home and having an awareness. That's just that's just the reality. And to say that walking home and having an awareness, that's not saying, oh, you know, all men are predators and men are dangerous or whatever. It's just that, hey, we have we have an awareness walking home from the train that maybe a lot of guys don't have, you know, there's also a lot of guys that do have an awareness walking home from the train, like we all have different life experiences. I thought I think like I don't, I don't think that gender in and of itself should be a disqualifier because we all have a life experience. But I think if we all just generally have awareness of one another and the things that people do or don't may or may not need or or like to feel safe, that's all we really need to care about, right? And it's like thinking about the trail.

Ben 4:56

Um there's a few- I've covered up we we can get to a few, because I have got safety as a point here that I just wanted to bring that up as what, because I'm sure there would be some males and females maybe out there going, I want to do this, but like well, yeah, am I am I safe?

Lauren 5:13

And and I mean, to that point, is that from my perspective, yes, I have an awareness, but I also have a feeling of trying me, oh god, fucking oh, you know what I mean? Like that sort of thing. Whereas some people might have an awareness that's more of a I'm potentially in danger. Whereas I'm like, I'm not in danger, you're in danger. Do you know that's that so I think it's it's not just this singular thing where you where you could say everybody would have the same mind frame. Yeah, fair enough. So yeah, there are considerations.

Ben 5:48

We we touch on safety a little bit later, but um that that's one thing that came came to mind here. Um, but I wanted to touch on your whole preparation and people going, I want to do that. How do we even get started? Like, how was it gonna cost me? So I just wanted to start it off with um, you've got a heap of gear. We know over the years of talking to the podcast, we've both got gear in the shed. Yeah. Um, but I've seen you've been buying new gear. Have you? So um have you had to buy to buy a lot of new gear, or have you could could you really have just gotten by on what you've already got?

Lauren 6:21

Look, I could uh 100% got have gotten by with what I've already got. Um this particular trip, have we even talked about what the trip is?

Ben 6:32

No, that's a good point. Rewind.

Lauren 6:34

So rewind, just a little bit.

Ben 6:35

We won't tell people when you're going and uh yeah, where are you going?

Lauren 6:39

So it it's the Laropinter, which is um a pretty well-known trip or a pretty well-known trek, I guess, in Australia. Um you start out at Alice Springs, um, basically, and you head west along the West McDonald Ranges, um, or the caterpillars, I think they're called.

Ben 6:58

I think the um the the next range is over at I don't know if they call it the caterpillars. The next one, um, I can't think of the name of it, Chewings Range looks a bit like a caterpillar.

Lauren 7:07

Yeah, well, you lived in Al Springs for a fair while, so I did, yeah. You know, it's not um completely foreign to you.

Ben 7:13

I think it's still 223 Ks.

Lauren 7:15

Something like that.

Ben 7:16

Uh pretty much directly west from Allah Springs, ending on uh Mount Sonder.

Lauren 7:20

Yep, yep. And so that will, as you mentioned, I'm going with um two other women from my team, um, which purely just turned out, right? I was gonna originally gonna go with another friend, and then anyway, that that whole thing doesn't, but it's just coincidental and it turned out this way, which is sort of cool. Um, someone's like, Oh, you're going on a holiday with your colleagues, that's fun. Um, but yeah, it'll be fun. Um and so the aim for us is 14 days, so I think on average it can be 16. Like Cam Bostock on YouTube, who's like a fast packer, he's done it in nine, which is absolutely like diabolical, um, but awesome. So it it is a long time, so it'll be just over two weeks of actual walking. Um so yeah, in the desert.

Ben 8:14

Such a great I'm jealous. I love that hike. I've done it before one and a half times. I did half of it with a mate and then did it all with Tarant. Yeah. Um, yeah, such a special part of the world. Um, so to our first question then, could you have gotten by like for for a new starter, uh, someone starting out, yeah. Um what how much are they gonna you need a bit of gear if you've got nothing? You can borrow. I know you want to borrow like my PLB, for example. That's which which makes perfect sense. Like, why buy another one when I've just got it sitting at home and not doing nothing? Doing nothing.

Lauren 8:48

Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, I think so. I mean, if you're starting out and you have no gear, then a trip like this is probably not going to be the right trip for you. Do you know what I mean? Well, if you've never done it before. If you've never done it before. But if you're somebody who's done occasional weekenders or a little bit longer than that, um then I think it's achievable with the gear that you have. The things that I'm getting is what I didn't have a one-person tent. All of my tents are too hiking tent specifically, a two-person tent. So I did buy a one-person tent because I just didn't want to carry a two-person tent for just me. Um but pretty much everything I've got is the only thing that I need. I did need to get some new shoes. Um because obviously the Larapinter is pretty heavy on shoes. But in terms of the gear that I had, um, in a lot of ways, as funny as this might sound, this trip's actually easier because there's uh companies that do drop box food drop boxes for you. So you don't have to carry all your food for that whole two and a half weeks or whatever yourself. Um, and so we've opted to have three drop boxes. So we'll be, I think the longest day we carry food for is five days. Um and whereas, for example, when I did the Overland track last year, in a lot of ways that was harder to prepare for because I had to carry nine days worth of food. And um yeah, and I and so I think in this sense it's a little bit easier because the things that I didn't take on the overland track that were more luxury items, I'm gonna take on this trip because I I'll be able to do that. So the things that I'm buying is more so just extra bits and pieces to make uh it be just a bit more homey.

Ben 10:49

Yeah, okay. We're not gonna dig into all the stuff that you need here, but I think if you are starting out, ask some friends um if you can borrow a tent, borrow a stove. Um, I mean, you you'll need your I mean you can borrow a lot of things, really, sleeping bags and that sort of thing. You definitely could. So don't don't necessarily need to get everything to start with. Just um ask around first. Um if you've already done some shorter hikes, then a lot of that gear. If you're doing two or three night hikes and it's kind of the same thing, you're just doing it for longer. It's the amount of food and water that you have.

Lauren 11:20

100%. Like if you're someone who's already doing one night over or two night hikes, um, you've got everything you need.

Ben 11:28

Yeah.

Lauren 11:29

Literally.

Ben 11:31

Um, water would be I I guess winter's a good time to do it, but water, you generally, yeah, in winter, do you know what the temperatures are? Because you can get pretty cold nights, so you're gonna need something warmer overnight.

Lauren 11:43

At the at them, at them, hang on, you started off with water and now we're talking about temperatures. Yeah, what are you going to do?

Ben 11:48

I did a very I was all over the place there, didn't I? I'm trying to think about um uh when I hiked uh in the warmer weather, you needed minimal stuff, like literally shorts and a t-shirt and some shoes. Yeah. Heaps of water, food, a a shelter and a and a lightweight sleeping bag, um, obviously cooking stuff and that sort of thing as well. Uh I took a second set of clothes to put in it on at camp. Yeah. So very minimal clothing and stuff that I'll just take. But during the winter, you're gonna need some warmer stuff in the evening.

Lauren 12:20

A little bit sort of sim similar is that I don't need a huge amount of clothing, but the thing that sort of I guess makes it tricky is that, like you say, it's gonna be quite cold. And we'll stay at the top of Brinkley's Bluff, and there's a couple of summits that we'll actually sleep on the top of. And the thing that's um that that I've been thinking about a lot is also like wind chill. So, you know, it's not reasonable to take a soft shell, so you know, in in your hiking kit, like because they can be quite big and bulky and chunky and things. It's like, okay, well, I'll take my down jacket and then obviously, but then wind chills, not you know, down jackets don't really fight off wind chills. So then I'm like, oh, well, I'll just take my raincoat. I'm not experiencing rain, but do you know? So it's just that sort of thing is working out, and you and I both subscribe to the idea of things have to have a multiple purpose, right? Can't just be one thing for one purpose. So the camp clothes side of things, um, but for me, I just hike in in basically in bike shirt shorts and a t-shirt, and I hike in trail runners, and I don't think that's gonna be any different for the Larrapinter, weather-wise in the day, sort of looking like 19, 20, 21, too. So it's not gonna be crazy warm, which will be good. Um, but yes, it is expected to be very cold overnight.

Ben 13:42

So for those new, you used to work on the premise of you've got a set of hiking clothes for during the day.

Lauren 13:46

Yeah.

Ben 13:47

And something for the evening. Yeah. So you don't need to go over the top.

Lauren 13:50

No, definitely not. And like, for example, when I did the overland track, this is gonna probably gross people out. Um I took two shorts and two shirts, expecting that I would interchange them each day. Um, I also took two undies and two sort of bralett crop top sport crop top things. Um, I actually just hiked in the same shorts and t-shirt the whole time. It was like a merino blended shorts, merino shirt. Didn't smell like nine days wearing the same thing every day, um, which ended up being really nice because that meant that I had something to change into at the end of the hike after a shower. Um, and then we just sort of essentially went straight and got on a plane. But so similar thing for Lara Pinter. I I'm the middle drop, um, which I think is on day eight, we have the option to put some spare clothes into because they'll take whatever we leave in there back to the hotel for us. Um, whereas the other two boxes, the only thing they take is rubbish. So, halfway point, I'll put in some fresh socks and and fresh undies and that sort of stuff for the back half of the walk. But I'm pretty much just going to walk in the same thing every single day, rotate um, like I've got two pairs of undies, two crop tops. I'll wear one set and I'll wash and hang off the pack off my pack to dry the other set, one and just interchange those. Um, I won't change my camp clothes at all because I'm intending to just get into camp, have a bit of a palm wash, um, you know, some wilderness wipes or, you know, just like a face cloth, chuck your camp clothes on.

Ben 15:32

Yep, you know. Yeah, that don't get as bad as well I uh I'm gonna ask a little bit about hygiene um further on as well, because uh the perception I think, particularly for new people, might be go, that's gross saying clothes every day, but it it's you can still remain hygienic.

Lauren 15:47

100%.

Ben 15:48

The clothes are just a bit smelly, but so is everyone else around you. So yeah. Um, so shoes, uh, I think you mentioned you're just going for basic runners.

Lauren 15:57

Yeah, I I I only wear trail runners, I don't wear boots. Um, it's interesting that it it that it's a massive topic that seems to come up often in uh especially hiking groups and forums on Facebook and things like that. Some people want and need to walk in massive big boots. I don't, I can't, I never have been able to. I've got like quite wide feet and also um my feet sort of I don't know how to describe it, but you know, they sort of not swell, but do you know what I mean? Like they're just they're just feet and you're walking, and maybe if you've been doing 20Ks and they're a little bit inflamed or you know, whatever, or like um my feet like to move, my ankle likes to move, my toes like to move. Uh, and so I find walking in boots actually causes me a lot of irritation and pain and niggles and problems in my hips and my knees and the rest of my legs.

Ben 17:00

Yep.

Lauren 17:00

So um, you know, if if you're walking through a rocky creek bed and you have feet that like to move, then your ankles and everything does the work. Whereas your whole life, anyway, yeah. Um, so I've only ever hiked in trail runners and um lots of people also do the same on the Lara Pinter, but some people also like boots. Um, Sam, who I'm hiking with, I've converted her to the same sort of outra trail runners that I wear. Um, and she's gone from sort of small salamon mid boots, and she's a convert now, which is awesome, and they work really work well for her feet. So um the only downside, I guess, is that you hear people who have hiking boots and you know, I've got an old pair of keens that I've had for nearly 14 years that are now like more of a gardening boot. Whereas I buy replacement outras every 18 months. Yeah, I was gonna say you wear them out quicker, don't you? You definitely wear them out quicker. But for me, the um the experience of wearing trail runners in all of my ventures far outweighs the fact that I replace them quicker.

Ben 18:11

I reckon one thing I'll add there is if you are going for low-cut, um, probably even if you're doing for boots as well, um, do a bit of ankle strengthening before you go. Just basic exercises. You don't have to hit the gym, um, speak to your physio or whatever, but you could do some basic ankle uh strengthening exercises.

Lauren 18:28

Yeah, like at night I've got like um like a thoroughband type stretchy thing. So just at night watching TV with the kids or whatever, I just sit on the rug and do exercise with my ankle just because I've got this the trip coming up. So I don't do that every night, but it's just a month or two to prepare in advance, yeah, along with training hikes. It's really good.

Ben 18:48

So it's not necessarily the right thing, but you can save a lot of weight and yeah, yeah, but you you're lugging less weight every time you lift your foot if you're going for lighter weight boots. Yeah, I've still got a pair of scarpa SLs that are probably going to outlast me. Um, I did do a walk last year just an overnighter with a colleague from work once again. And I hadn't worn heavy boots, I've got big boots on today. These are work boots, these ones, but they're quite flexible. The SLs are quite stiff, and I had a really sore Achilles afterwards just because I wasn't used to it. Yeah. Um, so we've got another walk coming up uh soon, just a shorter one, and I'm just wearing lower cut, like they're not trail runners, they're hiking shoes.

Lauren 19:24

Yeah, yeah.

Ben 19:25

I suppose like Merrill Moab shoes. Yeah. Um, but uh I'm conscious of keeping my ankles strong. But if you wear boots all the time, you don't strengthen your ankles as much as well.

Lauren 19:34

So yeah. Um and I mean I don't wear gaiters either. Um, lots of people wear gaiters, and you know, and the thing that I find really interesting is especially if we're sort of talking about if someone hasn't hiked before and the things that they need. There are people who do the Lara Pinter in massive broad brim hats, collared button-up hiking shirts, full-length hiking pants, knee-length canvas gaiters, leather scarper boots. Um, and they love it, and that's what they need to enjoy their trip. Meanwhile, I'll be just jogging along in a singlet and my bike shorts and my trail runners, yeah, and maybe a visor, like because you know, wearing hats, I don't know, sensory, just not a fan. Yep. Um still doing the same, doing the same thing, having a great time. So there's such a spectrum.

Ben 20:29

I think the gators to stop things getting in your shoes, if that bugs you.

Lauren 20:32

Yeah, well, I actually have, you know, there's brown like dirty girl gators Sam has. Um, trail gators are made in Australia. Small ones. Yeah, like really short spandex ones and hook onto your laces and velcro to the back of your shoe. I think that's true. And it just stops dirt and stones getting in.

Ben 20:48

Yeah, the the bigger ones, if you're on a trail like this, it's probably all you need. If you're going off trail, bush bashing, then yeah, I can talk from experience that that is uh certainly useful there because you stamp some.

Lauren 21:00

I I have them, I just don't really wear them.

Ben 21:02

Yeah, okay. Um pack size. Now, people who are doing this have probably already got a pack, but how big is it? How much does it weigh? And also just want to throw in there, do you need to get a women's specific one?

Lauren 21:14

Do you think um no? I don't I don't necessarily think you do. Potentially, if a women's specific one tends to have a narrower, narrower sort of shoulder width and and torso width. Um obviously I'm not a a narrow person. I do have a women's specific pack though, just because um the men's version of my pack was just a little bit heavier because it had like a much larger, I guess, harness thing system that I that I just didn't need. Um my pack's about 55 litres. It is a lightweight pack. It's not an ultra light pack that has no harness system in it at all. It But it doesn't have a frame. Um, and it's just got a little bit of very like minimal padding, but I can like adjust the back length and things like that. Um the 55 liter, I would say, is probably on the smaller end of a pack size that people would use for hiking. I subscribe to the opinion of that the bigger the pack, the m you'll feel it. So if you have a smaller pack, then you have to be more conscious of what you're taking. And so um, you know, when I did the overland track with my brother, I think his pack was something like 70 litres. He had bloody binoculars, all sorts of stuff in there. And it's like that's just not the the I guess the other element to that for me is I really love hiking. I love multi-day hiking, I love being out in nature. But what's also really important for me to enjoy it is not lugging 20 kilos um because that just yeah, I'm not gonna enjoy it and I don't need to take binoculars to enjoy it. Um so for me, I reckon I would usually like I think my base weight, which doesn't include food and water, is sort of around six kilos, six to seven kilos. Um and then obviously I can add extra stuff into that if I wanted to have a more bougie sort of experience, I guess. And more luxury items and things. Um but I would say on average, like Crystal, for example, uh, this is gonna be her first major hiking trip. Um, she's done like overnighters and things like that before. Um and she's lucky because I guess Sam and I are both a bit more quite a lot more experienced. So she's able to have this as like her first major trip with us. I think she's carrying around about 14 to 16 kilos with food and water. I'll be probably more around the 12 to 13 kilos with food and water. Um, Sam's probably a bit more similar to me, but I would say they they you they do say you shouldn't carry more than 20% of your body weight, I think, is is the standard.

Ben 24:17

Yeah, 20 to 30 or something. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Lauren 24:20

20, yeah, I think. I think it's 20. And that and that's a really good starting point, I think. Um yeah.

Ben 24:30

I'm uh yeah, I think pack is something that you go to a shop, try it on, yeah, walk with it before you go because uh you've got a frameless pack. I don't think I could sit here and say that's necessarily the right thing for everyone. Yep. Um I've used a frameless pack before and it's okay, but I what I prefer is uh I've got a pack that's got like a full harness, a nice big hit belt on it, because I don't have much hips or much on me. I need a big hit belt to uh support it all. But then it's just a canvas sack on the back, so it's durable. Um, would weigh more than your pack.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Yeah.

Ben 25:07

Um, but uh I think it comes in about one and a half kilos. Yours is probably sub one one kilo, I would think, by the sounds of it.

Lauren 25:14

Uh I think it's a ninety, eight ninety.

Ben 25:17

Yeah, yep. Um, but I prefer the chunkier harness. So no right or wrong there, but uh interesting to see where you're you're going.

Lauren 25:24

Yeah, well, we've got we've the three packs that we're taking are actually really different. Sam's pack is a very, very ultralight Z packs backpack, which is I think hers is only something like 400 grams. It's ridiculous. Um, she doesn't really her waist belt doesn't have any padding on it. It's got a couple of pockets and it's just like a day pack sort of very basic strap. Um, and then Crystal's other opposite end, she's got an osprey pack that's got like a big um brain, she calls it, on the top, which has got a big storage thing on the top, and it's heavily padded, it's got a frame in it, yeah, fully adjustable. Mine's sort of a little bit in the middle. I've got a bit of padding on the on the hip belt, a little bit of padding on the lower back, um, and a little very thin minor padding on on the shoulder straps. But that's it. Like it's it's um, yeah, it's sort of very much in between those two. And I think that's the way that that I wouldn't want to go lighter than that. Like Sam's pack is amazing, but I it's just for me, it's just not I don't I just don't think it's worth it. And there's lots of chat around of ultralight and hiking and things and fast packing, and I think that that's amazing. Um, and the stuff that people that like the weights that people get down to is out of control, yeah. But I think in a lot of ways being interested in ultralight and fast packing is as much about the experimentation and the excitement of how much can you cut and how much can you get away with. And it's it's a very yeah, it's a very much challenge-driven type thing, which is quite different, quite a different sort of mindset and and headspace.

Ben 27:14

Um I quite like the uh, as you know, I like the lightweight avenue, but I'm not an ultra-lightweight hiker. I'm a lightweight hiker. I kind of do everything I can to save weight, and then I take a step back and get a slightly heavier pack with a better harness and haven't necessarily got the lightest um sleep set up because I don't want to sacrifice a good sleep. So yeah, kind of go all that way and strip as everything I can, but then add a little bit back in.

Lauren 27:38

Yeah, and I think that's probably the same mentality that I've got in the sense that like for this trip, for example. I've got a bit of a hiccup, sorry. Um this trip, for example, like my my cooking set is usually I just have like a an a GSI pot that I think is about 750, 800 mil. I've got a small Soto stove and I have that fits in there with a gas canister and um and I have a a Cedar Summit collapsible X cup and I don't take anything else.

Ben 28:17

Yep.

Lauren 28:18

Um, because obviously I eat dehydrated food. If I want to drink a hot beverage, if I'm gonna do my porridge, I can just have my porridge out of the cup in the morning and then I just wait and give it a rinse and have my hot beverage after that or whatever. For this trip, I'm taking an extra cup, so I can use that cup as like a little bowl. Because, and the reason why I'm going for the cup, not the bowl, is because it nests inside my pot, and that's really important to me. But there are things like I'm gonna add in the GSI um silicon scraper, and I'm gonna add in a little like tea towel, and there's just that stuff that I wouldn't normally take, I'm gonna take on this trip because just that little bit of extra um is something that I'm gonna want for two and a half weeks in the desert.

SPEAKER_02 29:01

Yeah.

Lauren 29:01

Um, I'm taking like a Z fold mat with me that I've never that's a purchase that I'm making for this trip, just because I'm like, you know, if we're gonna stop for lunch and there's not a shelter around, I'd I might just want to lay down under the under the sky. And you know what I mean?

Ben 29:20

Like this as well as a sleeping mat.

Lauren 29:22

Yes, I'm gonna have a sleeping mat, but I'm gonna get a little, a small thin Z-fold mat on as well as that. But that's purely for the times where it's like, you know, if I want to have a stretch, because it's two and a half weeks of walking, right? And it's pretty strenuous. We're doing, you know, it's not like it's an easy walk. It's like, so if I want to stretch and lay down and stretch my hamstrings, or I want to just put my feet up, or I don't want to have to stress that I'm gonna need to find a rock or a log, or I've decided not to take my Hellinox chair because I, you know, it's like that functionality of I can take a chair, but then if I want to lay down on the ground while I eat a sandwich, or you know, just so I'm like, nah, I'll just take that and I'll sit on the ground and that'll be where I can sit, but I can also it'll, you know what I mean?

Ben 30:07

So it's also adds um bit of a laying system to your to your mat, like you could put that down and then you add a mat on top of it and you've got extra thickness. Yep, it's plus a bit of protection for your inflatable mats.

Lauren 30:17

Yeah. So, you know, there's lots of different reasons why I've decided to go with that because it's a multi-use and it's something that I think I don't want to be on the trail and think, I wish that I had, I wish that I could just lay down right now.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

Yeah.

Lauren 30:32

And the difference, I guess, with the overnight, uh, the overland track in in, you know, come by comparison is you've got those massive huts and like bunkers, and there's just yeah, there's none of that. It's like you get a lean to, and other than that, you're just sleeping amongst the spin effects.

Ben 30:55

All right, moving on, you've covered on what you're gonna be wearing. Yes. Uh toileting. Obviously, easy for blokes. I saw a uh um must have been on Instagram or something, uh, female cyclist showing when she rides to go to the toilet, she's gonna stop, get off her bike, take all her layers off, go behind a bush, and then they showed a bloke who's still on his bike, just kind of behind, taking a leap while his legs are still over his bike. So it's so much easier for a for a bloke, but 100% uh yeah, toileting to remove that. Because that will be someone who's new will be going, how does that work?

Lauren 31:35

Yeah, I think that um a really good thing obviously is planning where you have your toilets and and whether or not trails that you're on do have long drops. A lot of them do. I was actually really surprised to find this morning, I didn't know, but on top of one of the mountains, on top of Brinkley's bluff, there is an eco-composable toilet.

Ben 31:58

Oh wow, that's wasn't there when I came.

Lauren 32:00

I know, right? And it's like it's an eco-compostable toilet for arid zone, so it's specifically designed for that. But I was like, what the would never have even imagined that.

Ben 32:10

But um so is getting messy with the amount of people camping up there and no toilet.

Lauren 32:16

Yeah, I can imagine. And considering it's just a rocky outcrop, like how much opportunity is there to dig a hole? Yeah, it was yeah. Yeah. Um, so no, that's fine. So uh uh taking a small trout, taking a lighter, obviously, taking some toilet paper, um, digging a hole if you need to go to the toilet off the trail. Um, but yeah, it is a little bit tricky because uh I think also even for squat, like you know, going off the track and squatting, even if you've got pants or shorts on, sometimes that can just be messy. Like it doesn't matter how well you squat and how well you try to aim, sometimes you get like splash back and then it can get on your pants. It's like you know, if you're a woman and you're listening to this, you know exactly what you're talking, what I'm talking about. So then, you know, you've got to do like your super wide sumo squat and make sure you don't have your pants in the way and things like that. Um, so it's always good to just, you know, go to the toilet before you leave in the long drop and have a nice big wee.

Ben 33:13

Yep.

Lauren 33:14

Um I find also if I'm just drinking plain water, I we a lot more than if I'm drinking electrolytes. And I don't know if that's just me, but um, that can sometimes really help. But um the other thing, which is I don't know if you were here when we got it, but there are these really cool things for it's really good for women, men too, I suppose, but they're called cooler cloths and they're made in America and they're like a reusable pea cloth. Um, and it's like a waterproof on one side and it's like a soft sort of fleece, but it's got silver ions woven into it, so it's antibacterial. Um, and it just so if you need to just all you need to do is stop and pee. You don't have to get your toilet paper out and worry, you can just give yourself a quick little pat off.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

Yeah, okay.

Lauren 33:58

Um, I also have these things that are they attach onto the end of a drink bottle and they're like a little portable bidet. So I've got a drink bottle, I can just squeeze some water and have a bit of a rinse off, use your cooler cloth. Okay. Um so I got a new cooler cloth for this trip, which I didn't need, but new pattern and print, which is fun. And the other girls got one as well. Um so you know, and and you can you can get those with like a quick draw, like a key fob, like a quick draw key fob thing. And it's like that is not for me, man. Like if I'm going to do a wee, I'm taking my pack off. Like I'm not gonna we with my pack on. Um so yeah. And I think the other thing, which probably is a little bit TMI, but I I know that I'm not the only person who thinks or feels this way. But when you're on the trail, a lot of the food that you're eating, especially the dehydrated food and things like that, you're not going, yeah, you're not going regularly. Like you're not running off into the bush three times a day to try and do a poo.

Ben 35:02

Like it's just you're also you're also exercising eight hours a day or something, ain't it? Totally. It all changes.

Lauren 35:09

It all changes. It's not you don't have the same because just thinking back on some of my last big trips, it's like I just actually don't think I really went to the toilet other than in the morning and in the night when I was at at camp. So it's not like this, whereas here I don't go to the toilet three times, do we three times a day? Because I'm yeah, like it's not it's not the same. Yeah, it's a it's a bit different, but yeah, it's it's definitely not something that you should if you are thinking about doing it, you shouldn't stop yourself because of that.

Ben 35:40

What about the Shiwi of those those devices? Is that something you consider?

Lauren 35:46

It's definitely something that I would consider. And um I haven't considered it for this trip. Um I think it's just the the type of clothes that I wear hiking, like I wear bike shorts, like stretchy bike shorts, right? So for me to go to the toilet, I have to take my pack off and pull my pants down anyway, right?

Ben 36:16

So you're halfway there, halfway there.

Lauren 36:18

So, um, but whereas for other people, like you know, Crystal, for example, she hikes in hiking pants. So not I don't know if she's using a Shiwi or not, but if you were someone who hiked in hiking pants and you had a zip crotch and and you were able to do that, and I all of my stuff I wear is high-waisted as well. Um, and whereas if you're someone who wears more sort of low-cut pants and there is it, you might not need to take much off a Shiwi, might be perfect for that. Um, I also don't have mobility issues. I mean, ask me after the trip whether or not I had any trouble squatting, but you know, after all of the K's walking, but you know, if you've got mobility issues or knit like definitely it's something that's on my radar, it's just not something I need at this point. Yeah.

Ben 37:08

Good tip though, the type of clothing that you've got might depict what what you choose there. Yeah. I'm a bit of a segue into just general hygiene. Now, as a bloke, I'm like, I've got a toothbrush, I've quite often cut it in half, some toothpaste, and I'll take some wipes with me uh to freshen up now and then. Um that's pretty much my hygiene kit as a bloke. Yep. As a female, uh, a few more things that you you consider, is there?

Lauren 37:29

Definitely well, yeah, I think so. Like um the for this trip, I'm I'm want to be, especially because it's gonna be more hot, it's gonna be a lot more dusty. Um I wanna um I'm gonna be packing like a they're called Swedish dishcloths, right? That uh which sounds really random because it's a dishcloth, but it's sort of like this plant fiber or a cellulose type cloth that when it dries, it's light as a feather. It's hard. Um, but when it's wet, it's really soft and spongy. So I'm gonna take um one of those just to do a bit of a palm wash. And uh I've got some like wilderness wipe that you could palm wash being just uh like a wash my cup kind of thing.

Ben 38:16

Wet wet rag and wipe over.

Lauren 38:17

Heat up some, you know, if I'm cooking dinner, I'll heat some extra water and then I can use that to have a bit of a wash. Um, and then got like leaves, wilderness wipes. You can get them in like little leaves.

SPEAKER_02 38:28

Yep.

Lauren 38:29

Um, I thought about taking wipes and I'm potentially still considering it just because of the ease, but for me, I also don't want to be taking that rubbish, you know what I mean? Like it's um, and they're just single use. So the other element I think also is skincare, which some people like skincare, what do you mean? But it's like skincare is actually quite important to me. So I'll I'm gonna be taking some face wash and some moisturizer. Um, there's like, you know, and if you're also a woman, you can't just use soap on your nether regions. It's not, you know, we have pH that we have to worry about. So getting some specific women's specific wash. Um, but in terms of just sort of armpits and just I want to be able to heat up a bit of water and be able to like wash your lower legs, your feet, your armpits, your face, your neck. Just have a bit of a freshen up.

Ben 39:24

Yep.

Lauren 39:24

Um, it won't take, it won't be too much. You can get a little kit together that should tickle those boxes pretty well.

Ben 39:31

You can get little containers, squeeze containers and stuff, like human uh go tubes and I think Horjo make a range of like empty containers. So you can get small compact ones. You can probably find them from um I'm trying to think where I've seen them before. Like I think like Spotlight or some of those places, you can go and just get little screw top clear, clear containers that you can put things like moisturizer or even sun cream and that sort of thing.

Lauren 39:55

There's a shop that's called Daiko. Daiko at Marion. There's some like some major Daiso, that's it. Oh, isn't it there? Oh, there you go. Dayso. It's like a little Asian shop, right? With also Asian knickknacks. We've got a huge range of random empty containers. Like, yeah.

Ben 40:18

We've got them here. The little screw top now gene ones are good as well. Yeah. Yeah.

Lauren 40:21

Um, so yeah, you can definitely decant or or put stuff in. Um, but I think so that's the change for this trip for me. It's like I'm I'm actually not, it's it's more than just a week. Um, I'm gonna put in some extra luxury items there because that's I'm what I'm gonna want to feel clean and nice and fresh and beautiful.

Ben 40:44

Gotta look good in the trail for those dingos walking past.

Lauren 40:47

100%. Do you know what? One of my toxic traits is that I think that I could make a dingo be my friend.

Ben 40:55

Is that a toxic trait?

Lauren 40:56

Yeah, you know, when people say, Oh, what's your toxic trait? My toxic trait is that I could befriend any wild animal that exists on this planet.

Ben 41:03

Uh I don't know if you call that a toxic trait.

Lauren 41:05

I think you'd I think it's pretty toxic to be misguided. To think, oh yeah, that wild animal over there is gonna be my friend. No, that's that's not that wild animal over there could kill you. But not that a dingo would kill you, but do you know what I mean? Or actually could.

Ben 41:23

Yeah, yeah. We've seen one before. Uh uh mean.

Lauren 41:25

But see, that's my toxic trait. Dingo's not gonna kill me.

Ben 41:28

Uh we're in a um, we're off the beam track, and Ellis Springs down a a gorge somewhere, and I've just seen a spot in the map that Tara's like, okay, whatever, you go and go and find whatever you're looking for. Love that. And I left her in the in the in the gorge, and she said she saw a dingo come, she said it just kept walking towards her. She's sort of getting a bit nervous because you know, one's alright, but if you start to see a few, then you've got to get a bit of a little bit more.

Lauren 41:54

Yeah, I have seen a singular dingo, not in real life, but videos of singular dingo take down a massive male kangaroo solo.

Ben 42:04

Yeah.

Lauren 42:04

And I was like, uh Yeah.

Ben 42:07

So my wife was getting quite concerned. She said she scared it away eventually, but it just wasn't like the normal wild animal response where it went, or there's something, and then you wave your arm and it takes off. It walked towards her. Yeah, it just came, it wasn't scared. It had had some intention. So anyway, um, just a short story. Uh sleeping comfortably. You said you take so you've got a mat and you've got a Z mat. Now, Z mat being a closed cell foam mat that you can put underneath or use for a seat or whatever.

Lauren 42:36

Yeah. I've never had a Z mat before, so it's definitely not something that you need. Lots of people do take them, and I'm gonna take them on take it on this trip for different reasons.

Ben 42:45

But I've actually been thinking about that recently. How do I make my mat more comfortable without the extra weight?

Lauren 42:50

My mat, I have an Etherite women's mat that's 10 centimetres thick. Um, I've got the X term, like the one that's hardcore, like R-value 9 or whatever. Black one, yeah. The black one, and also the the normal insulated one. Um, I haven't decided which one I'm gonna take yet. I think the normal insulated one should be okay because I did a training walk with Sam recently and it got down to like three degrees, and I'm a cold sleeper and I was alright. Um and so coupled with the option of having the extra the extra amount underneath, I should be okay. But for me, one of earlier in my life, anyway, one of the barriers to multi-day hiking was sleeping because I need my sleep, man. Like I and I need to sleep comfortably. And it wasn't really until Cedar Summit brought out the Etherite mats that I fully committed. I think like early days when they started bringing out the first sort of airsprung seal mats, they were quite thin. And I was like, yeah. Yeah, I could I could get around that. I think Lise had one that was maybe about six centimeters. And I was like, yeah, this is getting good. This is getting good. And then they dropped the etherite, and I was like, uh boy, I'm committed to this for life now. And I tried it and it's insane. Yeah. Okay. Um, and I've slept on other ones that are like eight night, like I've got some thermorest neo airs or whatever. They're just not as good.

Ben 44:20

What nuts have you got? You've just listed off three significant pricey hike mats.

Lauren 44:28

That's why I work here, Ben. That's why I work here. But also, you know, like I want to take my kids with me.

Ben 44:34

Yeah, okay.

Lauren 44:35

Um, yes. Yeah, I I mean I don't need any more mats. No, I'm not gonna buy any more mats. Whatever. So, but anyway, so yeah. So that is a 10 centimeter thick mat. It is like bougie as hell, 100% comfort.

SPEAKER_02 44:53

Okay.

Lauren 44:53

Um, and then I've got a Cedar Summit Flame, which is the current series, is the Spark Women's.

SPEAKER_02 45:00

Yep.

Lauren 45:00

Used to be the Spark was the men's and the Flame was the women's, and now they just do Spark Women's and Spark Men's.

SPEAKER_02 45:07

Yep.

Lauren 45:07

Um, so I've got the Flame, which is a minus 11. And that's the bag that I've got as my all-round use because I am a cold person. Um in interestingly enough, in Tassie, even though it dropped quite cold, because I was sharing my two-person tent with my brother, and obviously there's heat generated from two people in the tent. I often slept with that as a quilt. Um when I'm hiking by myself in the my one-man tent, especially on some of the training ones, I'm sleeping with it fully zipped up. So um, it's one thing to consider how well you sleep, whether or not you've got another body with you, right? Yeah, okay. Um so that's what I've I'm taking with me.

Ben 45:50

And quick ones, liner and pillow, do they go with you as well?

Lauren 45:53

Yes, I do have a liner. Um, and so essentially in my sleeping bag stuff sack, my liner and my pillow and my sleeping bag all fit into the stuff sack. So I just put that all in. The liner I take with me every time, even if I don't use it as an actual liner, because what I've found is some of those etherite mats can be a bit noisy. And also if I want to open up the sleeping bag like a quilt, sleeping directly on those mats, it just has a bit of a plasticky feel, not always as good. So I actually put my um mat inside my liner. Oh, good one. Um, and I really, really like that. Even if I'm sleeping in the sleeping bag, I will often do that just because I don't know, it just feels nicer. Um, but yeah, so yeah, my liner always comes.

Ben 46:43

Safety. This is what we touched on at the start. Yes. Um, I just I put this in here because I I I just feel like there'd be people out there going, oh, how do you like, how do we stay safe? I guess let's bring in the likes of insects, snakes, spiders, all of those sort of things that people get concerned about. I'm I'm in danger out there. Like it's a dangerous place. So I mean, putting aside the safety elements of make sure you've got enough water, make sure you've got the right sun protection, all of those sort of things that you need to make sure you're covered off on good hot good uh uh food and all those sort of things. You need to make sure that you're looking after yourself. We're talking about danger in terms of um yeah, what what can happen, you injury other people, insects, snakes, what what are you um what what do you concern yourself with? And I guess what can we say to try and put people's minds at ease to manage that?

Lauren 47:39

I think that I'm you and I can be quite different in this mind frame, right? Because you know, we've called you safety ben in the past and for a reason. My mind frame is a little bit maybe in the opposite way in that, oh, it'll be fine. She'll be right, mate. So it's probably a little bit more in that extreme. Um there are a few people that I, you know, in my life that are like, I really don't know if I you should be doing this. Like, I, you know, is it gonna be safe or whatever? Yeah, of course it's freaking safe. Like it's such a well-known track. I mean, it's not anywhere near as prolific as some other hiking options, like Great Ocean Road and all that sort of stuff, because it is so remote and it is so long, but it's not like nobody does that, you know. There's like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people who walk that trail. So, in that from that side of things, first and foremost, you can be pretty confident that what you're doing is is is okay for you to be doing. Second thing is is you've got a PLB. What I I I guess it's more so you could get hit by a car crossing the road, right? Like you could have a uh a brain aneurysm in your shower. Like there's you know, like we we shouldn't be limiting living our lives out of fear. What we do need to think about is in certain circumstances, what do I have to be able to get myself out of that? Okay. And in a lot of cases, a PLB is is is the answer to that.

Ben 49:21

Um for real emergencies, I think I've heard of people using it like, oh, I'm stuck, I'll set my PLB off. If you're stuck and you're in a dangerous, life-threatening situation, yeah, then you use your PLB. Yeah. If you're just stuck and you've you've got a bit of time to compose yourself and think and get it out of work it out, have some other way to get help, yeah, you don't need to set a PLB off then.

Lauren 49:46

Well, and and I'm gonna go this as an example. Like Sam, who I'm hiking with, South Coast, Southwest Coast track in Tasmania or whatever, it's it's really remote. It's a it's a hard track. Three days before the end, she tripped and broke her wrist. She thought it was just a sprain. Fortunately, working with people who had really great medical experience, so was able to sort of help her, you know, like splinter up or whatever. Um and and she got trekked out um and then went and found out it was broken. But there is somebody else in that situation that might press a PLB. So it's it's sort of, I guess it's yes, it's for life or death or an emergency situation, but it also is going to be relative to you.

SPEAKER_02 50:33

Yeah.

Lauren 50:33

So I think the whole point of having a PLB is to help provide you with that reassurance that if you do find yourself in a situation where you genuinely feel like you're in trouble and you can't get yourself out of that trouble, that's you've got that there, right? Bugs and and things, it's just you're not gonna be doing a multi-day hike if you hate bugs. Yeah. You know, like there's just gonna be a certain element of common sense there. You know, you've got Errogarde or bug spray or whatever. If take a fly net, like I hate flies. I'm taking a fly net anyway. I don't know if I'll use it because apparently the flies aren't terrible at the moment, but I'm gonna take it because it weighs like 19 grams and I'd rather have it than not. Um making sure that um like snakes, I'm gonna have a snake bandage. Um, not many people see them on the trail, but they're out there. I can't stand snakes. They're literally my mortal fear, but I'm I still multi-day hike. Um I think there's I think multi-day hiking is also a really good thing for people to do to help build resilience and help you to really understand how capable you are as a person.

SPEAKER_02 51:57

Yeah.

Lauren 51:58

Um and I think if you have interest in multi-day hiking and you're not sure, but if the interest is genuinely enough, if you're not sure if you're gonna be safe, you're not sure how you can handle those situations, but you're still interested in it, just do it. Because I can assure you that after that you will realize how capable. Yeah, how capable you are.

Ben 52:21

But often it's uh you get started and you're nervous, but then once you're a day in, you're like, this this is I just this is just I walk and then I camp and then I eat and then I walk and then I camp, and this is fun. I think maybe it's um uh getting in the mindset of of not necessarily thinking you're putting yourself in a dangerous situation, but just putting yourself outside of your comfort zone.

Lauren 52:40

Yeah, definitely comfort zone. And I think um if if I would probably do it solo. I think if I was doing it solo, my preparations would be a little bit different. Maybe instead of having a PLB, I might have a satellite messenger or something that allows me to check in in a more like real-time, tangible way. Um I would definitely be a lot more alert and a lot more aware. But in my mind, I would have already set aside contingency plans for certain scenarios that I might want to be in.

Ben 53:16

Um I guess that sort of leads into that other safety element that we touched on earlier, and that's other people that that um uh what I don't have as an individual. Well, I guess I do a little bit, but I've wondered whether females have it more. But I guess you've got safety numbers, there's three of you there. Yeah. Um, but yeah, if you were by yourself, I guess you might make other considerations around maybe where you camp. Yep. Um to avoid certain types of things.

Lauren 53:44

Yeah, potentially where you camp. Also, maybe there might be times where um you could you could plan, you know, in in the case of a multi-day um trek like this one, where you know there's potentially gonna be other people, have an idea of I could stop at this camp for the night, and then this might mean that I walk an extra 5Ks tomorrow, or I could stop at this one and I do, or I could maybe go a little bit further and and you're walking with people, and maybe you might meet somebody and they're saying, Oh, I'm gonna hike at this particular stop at this camp tonight. And then maybe you might go, oh yeah, I might actually, you know, slightly accommodate and change my plans to make sure there are people around. If there aren't people around, where can I maybe set up my camp? So if someone does come into the camp and they sort of look around, they're not immediately just seeing this singular lone one-person tent that it's not immediately in someone's view.

Ben 54:36

Yep. Um I think the usual safety measures of just letting people know where you are and when they can expect you home. Um, speaking with the other group in your crew to say if something does happen, this is maybe how we'll we'll we'll plan it out. Yeah. Um, is it a if something happens, we're gonna press a P or B straight away, or if something happens because you get a bit panicky, you like you need to just compose yourself, calm down and go, something's happened. Yeah. We'll be alright, let's let's just deal with this, and then we'll work out what we're gonna do. Yeah. Um Lara Pinsa, for example, I mean, it's the trail runs pretty much parallel to the um Lasseter Highway.

Lauren 55:15

Yeah.

Ben 55:15

So for the most part, you could probably walk south and get to the highway for the car.

Lauren 55:22

Maybe like three to four Ks might be the longest walk to you get to the highway.

Ben 55:26

So it's not it surprised me how many people get lost out there not being able to do that now. It's easy to say that sitting here. And I know you can get disorientated because it's not always a straight line. There might be a range or a hill or something, you need to find your way around it. But you can have plans like that around if if something happens here, we know we can get to here, or we know there is I don't know, a farm homestead somewhere nearby, or you know, yeah, these these are our options if something happens. If none of them work, then maybe we need to look at a PLB scenario.

Lauren 55:56

I mean, I really like paper maps.

Ben 55:59

Oh, I love paper maps.

Lauren 56:00

I mean, everybody these days, like even just in you know, the Facebook group. Um, and that's the other thing. Join a Facebook group if you're doing a walk, like if you're doing the Great Ocean Walk, or you want to do the Lara Pinto, or you want to do the Bible man, or you want to do Overland Track or whatever, there's a Facebook group for that track.

SPEAKER_02 56:18

Yeah.

Lauren 56:18

So join it, even if you don't participate, read through the questions, read what other people are asking, read about other people's shared experience. There's a lot in those groups of people saying, Oh, should I get a map? And I would say 80% of the time, people saying, No, just use all trails or just use this. And I just like a lot of reliability on a mobile device. Even if you download everything and you are not connecting to satellites or you're not actually having you're leaving your phone on airplane mode the whole time or whatever, and you and you just downloaded the maps, even if that's what you're using a lot. You could drop that, you could access it. You know, there's so many ways in which that phone could stop working.

Ben 57:02

Yeah.

Lauren 57:03

Take a paper map for the sake of five grams. Like take a paper map.

Ben 57:07

Harder to come across now. You used to be able to go to a map shop and just keep there.

Lauren 57:10

The map shop in Adelaide's shutting down. That's like devastating to me.

Ben 57:14

Um, but uh, I I'm using all trials for a walk I'm doing with with Jake in the office. And um he's got an old map of the trial that we're doing. And we sat in this this room the other day and just had a look at it. And it was so good just to look at it. You got all the contour lines and everything, and just go, we'll do here, we'll we'll camp here, you can see. Like, but on a screen, you're scrolling and you're in and out, and you lose kind of the big picture. Yeah, the big picture and this whole scale kind of thing, because suddenly I'm looking at it closer and now I'm looking at it further out, and now I don't I don't know what that distance is compared to this one because I looked at it at two different scales, and yeah, yeah, paper map is so good.

Lauren 57:47

And definitely like that, like the you know, the the the topography lines and everything, and just even being able to go, oh, what can I see on this map that looks like that thing over there or that thing over there? Triangulate your position. This is where I am. Like it's you can't you can't do that on a downloaded map. Like, of course, you've got your GPS position, but once that GPS ping is gone, what are you gonna do?

Ben 58:11

Yeah, that's right. All right, last couple of things. Uh so it's 14 days, 223Ks.

Lauren 58:19

Um yeah, I think it's 14 or 15. I actually can't off the top of my head remember. I shouldn't know, but I know.

Ben 58:24

Okay.

Lauren 58:25

So how many like some days? I think we've got like a 32, I think, 32 or 3k day is the longest.

SPEAKER_02 58:34

Okay.

Lauren 58:34

And I think the shortest is 11 and a half, maybe, or 12.

Ben 58:41

Sounds about right. Yeah. Yeah.

Lauren 58:42

The shortest is Stanley up to Brinkley's.

Ben 58:44

Yeah.

Lauren 58:45

Um, and then I can't remember when the longest one is. But like, for example, the first two days, I think the first day is 27 Ks, and the next day is 26. Yep. So we've got two massive days to get started, and then hopefully we'll be in the rhythm.

Ben 59:00

Nice. The last one, what's in the menu? Or dehydrated foods this time? Keeping it easy.

Lauren 59:07

Actually, no. And the reason why it's not going to be that is because most of the hiking that I do is in winter. Um, because like even though I sleep really cold, I'm a really hot walker. I just get really hot really quick and I just feel stu I hate it. Um, so most of it is cold. But about a month ago, we did a training walk down at Deep Creek, and it was 28, and it ended up being hotter than we thought it was going to be when we planned it. And I was really surprised by how my food needs changed based on the weather. And I hadn't imagined that it would. Um and so I mostly hike with things like nuts and jerky and that sort of stuff. Um, and I have a very sort of small amount of um like jelly beans or gummies or something. And on that hot day, I actually smashed my gummies. Like I just I just needed a lot more um glucose and stuff than I realized, and actually a lot more food, um, which I thought was really interesting on the hot day because I thought, you know, I just didn't imagine that it would have that impact. Um and also the other thing was that on the hot days, I found that what I felt like eating and what my body was saying, oh, you need more of this, it was different and it sort of chopped and changed a bit. And so I was like, what I'm actually taking this time is gonna be a lot more variety and a and a much greater volume that I usually would take. Okay. Um, so I'm still gonna be taking like my oats and instant oats and things in the morning. Um, I'm still gonna take jerky, um, still gonna take some nuts and stuff. Um, we've got dried mango. I've got some more, like I've got some chocolate bars um for at nighttime, like more towards the end of the day. Um I'm gonna take some wraps, some tuna sachets, salmon sachets. Um, also gonna take some dehydrated chicken and mints and veggies and like some meagering, um, dehydrated dinners, like it just might even take a salami stick, like just some, yeah, I don't know, just a lot more, a lot more options this time around.

Ben 1:01:38

So a lot of snacky stuff and then some some dehydrated.

Lauren 1:01:40

Some cups of soup and stuff, uh dehydrated dinners. I've got some dehydrated dinners, but just mostly snacky stuff. And then the other thing is when it's really hot, do I want to actually sit down in the middle of the day to stop? And do I want to get out my stove and do I want to heat up water to have like some sort of dehydrated lunch or whatever? And you know, the first few days, especially because they're long and we're just getting started, we're gonna want to move. We're not wanna get into camp at night, especially out there because it is easy to it's in the dark, pick the wrong trail to go on. Um, so you know, that sort of thing's also like how do we have a fast lunch? So um, yeah, I I do imagine that I'm maybe gonna get to a point where I might be putting stuff in the dropbox and not needing it because I've overpacked for food, but just what I found in that training hike and and with a hotter day, I don't want to be in a position where I I've run out of food or I don't have the food that I want or need. So it'll be a bit different. Yeah. Whereas usually I do like all my macros and my gram counting and how can I maximize my calories for the m least amount of food. I'm just I'm not gonna do that. This is all gonna be about enjoyment and comfort food-wise.

Ben 1:02:58

Because you can, if you're really saving weight, you can do that and have a look at the um like energy dense foods. So you're getting more energy for less weight, which is for this hike, because you're not carrying 10 days all at once, it isn't as much of an issue.

Lauren 1:03:14

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that um, like for example, the Overland was my last sort of big last biggest hike from this one. Um, that was that nine-day hike. It worked out to being something like 400 or less than 400 grams between like three to 350 grams of food per day. And I was getting averaging around about two, two and a half calories from that because I was only going for super calorie dense foods that were meeting like my protein. Like I really cared about the macros there, little sachets of olive oil and stuff like that to help. It it's just like I'm I'm not doing that this time. Yeah, I'm just yeah.

Ben 1:03:57

It's it's a lot of research to go that far with your food. So um, yeah, but yeah, dehydrated, I think it's a great way to go. Yeah, uh, I think you've got a massive pack of dehydrated mangoes. Yes. Sweet snack that's also like taste good and oh god, those mangoes are so good. Yeah.

Lauren 1:04:15

But the campus pantry meals specifically, oh my god, I love them.

Ben 1:04:19

Campus pantry?

Lauren 1:04:20

Yeah, because I find the the some of the backcountry meals and outdoor gourmet meals, they're really nice, but they sometimes some of them don't agree with me. Um, they just don't, and you feel a bit weird. Whereas I find the campus pantry meals, they're just so good. And some of the real meals as well.

Ben 1:04:35

They're made a little bit differently in the way they're put together. So do some research around that. But yeah, Campus Pantry and um um real meals? Real meals uh are made kind of like a chef would make it, whereas the backcountry is a bit more bulk bulk made. All good food.

Lauren 1:04:51

Um and because we're because we're gonna have food drop boxes, I'm gonna put wet food in those boxes. So for example, I'm gonna like I think it's um on track. Like heavier stuff. Like on track, I'm gonna um have steak for dinner.

Ben 1:05:05

Um which is a retort package, yeah.

Lauren 1:05:08

Retort package with like an actual cooked steak in there, and I just chuck it in boiling water and heat it up. Um, you know, like the cooked breakfast with like potato and chorizo and stuff. No, that's not dehydrated because they're heavier, they'll go in the drop box days. It'll just be nice to have something that's a wet meal.

Ben 1:05:23

So you're not carrying that, you're just eating that when you're there. Yeah. Yeah, good one. Awesome. I'm very jealous. Uh, I'd love to go and do that walk again one day soon when the kids' activities settle down a little bit or when they're old enough to get themselves to their activities, maybe.

Lauren 1:05:36

Yeah.

Ben 1:05:36

Um, such a special part of the country, they're up into trail.

Lauren 1:05:39

Definitely a huge thing to organise.

Ben 1:05:41

I don't know when this article is going to go live. You may have been, you may still be going by the time this is live. Uh, if you've got questions for Lauren, though, or any of the crew she's going with, uh, or any tips uh for how you prepare for a hike for newbies or seasoned hikers alike. Please jump on to the conversation in the Snowy's Camping Banter Facebook group. It's been cool. Um, I think I've learned a bit. Cool. Uh just makes me want to go.

Lauren 1:06:06

Hope people find it interesting.

Ben 1:06:08

Yeah, I'm sure they will. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Snowy's Camping Show.

Lauren 1:06:14

Catch you later.