View Full Version : Take me back
mornin'.....don't post much but read all the time. filled up my nalgene this morning and sat down at my desk, no matter how many times you wash them I can still barely smell the crystal light that was mixed in it. takes me back, just wanted to tell someone since all I get here at work is blank stares when I say things like that. Me and the boys will be hiking SNP after school lets out this year, can't wait.
take care, greg
Whistler
04-20-2007, 10:18
Same thing happens to me with the smell of alcohol handgel. Makes me think of washing up before dinner.
-Mark
DawnTreader
04-20-2007, 10:45
Every time I make top ramen, I eat it straight from the pot.. I can't bring myself to pour it in a bowl.. I think of dinner time on the trail and eat on the porch
Sometimes I just get out the old stove and cook something on the porch or in the backyard....which ususally leads to pitching the tent and sleeping out just for the heck of it out back - what the neighbors must think!
Footslogger
04-20-2007, 10:55
...the smell of peanut butter and seeing the display of supersized Snickers at the checkout.
'Slogger
RockStar
04-20-2007, 11:29
Rootbeer and Chocolate truffles.
Also I find that EVERYTIME I go into a store my brains take inventory of ANYTHING "packable" I might want for hiking food/drink. ;) You can imagine at Wal-Mart it takes me an extra hour just to look at all the stuff I "could" bring to eat or drink. And thats just the candy isle! :p
...and that musty, camp-y smell that reminds me of a warm evening in the tent journaling away in the fading daylight.
DawnTreader
04-20-2007, 12:05
1 month and 11 days till' I start my next section!!!!
......glad it's friday, I'd never make through a whole week at work after reading these posts.
It is going to be hard not to go out this weekend (I promised I wouldn't).
Photofanatic
04-20-2007, 13:06
I can't go a day without a hiking fantasy somewhere. My neighbors probably think I am a bit nuts. Okay so I am, but there are worse things that I could be doing besides putting a pack on my back.
I learned that locally we have many miles of park trails, and within a half hour I can hit a state trail and though I may not be spending the night out I still pack my sleeping bag and tent.
Just yesterday I filled our packs as though we were on a 3 day short hike. My boyfriend came home from work, quickly changed we donned our packs walked out the back door up to the top of the hill and cooked our supper and tried to imagine that we couldn't see or hear the bypass or lawnmowers etc.
Everyday that I am able I try to create a mini fantasy of being on the trail. I have no problem going to a metro park with my pack setting up my tent and pretending for just a little while.
Sad but true... body odor and farts bring me right back to the trail. And pine trees.
Earl Grey
04-20-2007, 14:00
Yesterday I went to the gym with my pack on. I got on the treadmill and put the incline at 15% @ 3mph. People thought I was crazy but oh well.
The General
04-20-2007, 14:16
I was sat in a badging office in Baghdad waiting to update my access badge, on the guys desk was a large bag of Gorp. I just sat there wide eyed staring at that mixture of dried fruit, cereal, nuts and m&m's. I did not care how many or who's hands had been in that bag I just wanted to taste that trail food.
So I casualy said "is that Gorp?" the guy say's sure help yourself though most of the folks in the office have had the best nuts. In fact take the bag Ive got more. More I thought he has more. So I just yogi'd that bag of gorp right on out of there and snuck away and ate it, trying not to think of all those greasy paws that had been rumaging through my prize.
It was good damm good.:banana
The other day, I started sorting out some of my gear in aniticipation of backpacking season.
As I opended up a large bag where some of my CDT gear was stored, a musty smell hit me. It was only a slight smell. A smell of equipment used. A smell of equipment that had many miles.
It smelled slightly of stale sweat and body salt. A musty odor from equipment that saw days of sun, snow and rain. Equipment that became muddy and wet and then dried.
The gear took me back to a time that was only five months ago, but already seems far away.
I am back in the land of bills, meangingless tasks in an office job, the ups and downs of relationships and the other myriad parts of what we call "the real world".
I want to grab my new pack, stuff it again with some equipment and head out. To again expose the gear to sun and rain and snow. To again become muddy and wet then dried. To give the pack that slight smell that is a mixture of sweat and salt and is a bit musty.
The smell reminds of the times on the trail.
And I miss it.
Y'all are driving me nuts!! We're moving and all my gear is packed away where I can't get at it. I kept out my maps and hanbook and that is helping with my anxiety. I went grocery shopping last night and started buying food for the trail. I leave in 5 weeks and am getting quite antsy.
leeki pole
04-20-2007, 15:47
The other day, I started sorting out some of my gear in aniticipation of backpacking season.
As I opended up a large bag where some of my CDT gear was stored, a musty smell hit me. It was only a slight smell. A smell of equipment used. A smell of equipment that had many miles.
It smelled slightly of stale sweat and body salt. A musty odor from equipment that saw days of sun, snow and rain. Equipment that became muddy and wet and then dried.
The gear took me back to a time that was only five months ago, but already seems far away.
I am back in the land of bills, meangingless tasks in an office job, the ups and downs of relationships and the other myriad parts of what we call "the real world".
I want to grab my new pack, stuff it again with some equipment and head out. To again expose the gear to sun and rain and snow. To again become muddy and wet then dried. To give the pack that slight smell that is a mixture of sweat and salt and is a bit musty.
The smell reminds of the times on the trail.
And I miss it.
Well said, Mags. Very well said.:)
I agree with Mags. I keep small items from my gear with me even in the office. It seems to help during stressful days as I dream of getting back out on the trail.
It's like a siren song ever calling me away from the city life.
I can't wait to pass it on to my kids.