View Full Version : waking up
sharper8
10-22-2012, 23:36
This may sound stupid but I enjoy sleeping in the morning times how do you wake yourself up . . . i know this may be stupid but i dont think ill be carrying an alarm clock
Feral Bill
10-22-2012, 23:47
I go to bed early and naturally wake up early. At home, not so much. For serious sleeping in the back country, try winter camping. Many hours of darkness = many hours of sleep.
kayak karl
10-22-2012, 23:50
i get up at 5am home and get to sleep-in till 6 on the trail. never owned an alarm clock.
Mountain Mike
10-22-2012, 23:51
Birds & sunshine make a great alarm clock.
Summary: alarm on strapless watch
Long version:
It helps me to have things ready to quickly break camp so that waking up and getting out of camp isn't such a chore. I typically repack my backpack so that I can simply stuff things in in the morning without further shuffling. It's not the most ideal pack organization for hiking, and I might rearrange things later in the day, but the priority is to get out of camp quickly.
The right kind of gear can help too. Like a foam pad is quickly rolled up and strap to the top of a pack. That's just one example. I also like a slightly oversized pack so that I don't have to pack carefully to get everything in it. You'll find what's right for you.
Now with the hassle out of the way, I find that I'm less likely to resist waking up. For my alarm clock, I use a strapless watch. I'll put it in one of my shoes. This makes it impossible to leave behind, and also makes it a little harder for me to turn off, which forces me to come more fully out of sleep. Because we tend to stop hiking when the sun goes down, I find the nights extraordinarily long. It's possibly the long night, along with mental programming that often has me waking up before my alarm goes off. Or maybe I notice the first bit of light starting to creep into the sky, which is what my alarm is set to. I'll pack more things while I'm still under my sleeping gear, then if I'm using an air mattress, I loosen the air valve. Once the mattress goes flat, I'm definitely getting up. If I'm using a foam pad, I'll just throw the quilt off me as a mental reminder that I'm going to get cold if I don't get hiking quickly. The rest takes care of itself.
sharper8
10-22-2012, 23:57
That seems simple enough thanks guys!!
Go to sleep early, wake up early.
Tip for when you know you should get up but you're too comfy.
Reach out and let air out of mattress (works especially well with air only mats like my neoair...).
Feral Bill
10-23-2012, 01:24
Go to sleep early, wake up early.
Tip for when you know you should get up but you're too comfy.
Reach out and let air out of mattress (works especially well with air only mats like my neoair...). Yep, that works for sure.
Hairbear
10-23-2012, 05:32
i get up at 5am home and get to sleep-in till 6 on the trail. never owned an alarm clock.change the numbers to 4 and 5 and its a plus 1..i could wake up the chickens if i wanted too. the rooster stretches his wings and comes out to wake the world and sees me in the yard,and just shakes his head and goes back inside grin.
Hairbear
10-23-2012, 05:37
what usually wakes me up is my urge to pee.try drinking a big drink of water when you wake up in the night it will wake you early to pee when your up get your act on the road.
Monkeywrench
10-23-2012, 07:14
Go to sleep when the sun goes down and wake up when the sun comes up. For me, I almost always wake up when the birds start singing, which is actually a bit before the sun comes up.
If you sleep in the shelters, someone else will probably be an early riser and you'll wake to the sound of them moving around.
I am used to getting up around 5:30 every morning to go to work so on most mornings i am packed up and gone by 6:30-7:00am 7:30 at the absolute latest.
if you tent you can control when you wake. but in the shelters there is generally alot of noise as people are waking. some set their dang alarms on their watches or their phones that wake everyone. there should be a thread about how to pi$$ off a thru hiker. alarms are one of the ways in my opinion.
Slo-go'en
10-23-2012, 10:03
I too like to sleep in. Getting up a 9 AM is early for me at home. Getting up that late on the trail wasn't a problem when I was younger and could hike faster, but these days I find myself hooking up with partners on the trail who like to get up at dawn, which motivates me to also get moving. Unless it's raining or really cold out. In that case, getting out of the sack before noon is a real struggle...
But yes, it is annoying to be at shelter were someone gets up really, really early and then takes 2 hours of fussing around and making noise before they finally get the heck out of there.
I too like to sleep in. Getting up a 9 AM is early for me at home. Getting up that late on the trail wasn't a problem when I was younger and could hike faster, but these days I find myself hooking up with partners on the trail who like to get up at dawn, which motivates me to also get moving. Unless it's raining or really cold out. In that case, getting out of the sack before noon is a real struggle...
But yes, it is annoying to be at shelter were someone gets up really, really early and then takes 2 hours of fussing around and making noise before they finally get the heck out of there.
finally, it all makes sense.
This is another reason I avoid shelters. I'm one of those people who get up extra early and waking everyone up.
To me, nothing is worse than laying there awake knowing I could be hiking but not wanting to wake anybody up because it's early.
max patch
10-23-2012, 12:31
My timex watch has an alarm; I attach it to a cord tied to the top of my tent which hovers just over my head. If its on my arm I don't hear it.
If you use an alarm in a shelter then you're an azz.
swjohnsey
10-23-2012, 17:50
This is another reason I avoid shelters. I'm one of those people who get up extra early and waking everyone up.
To me, nothing is worse than laying there awake knowing I could be hiking but not wanting to wake anybody up because it's early.
Me, too! Birds start singin' 'bout 30 minutes before it starts gettin' light. Trouble is ain't many birds on the trail, none in Maine. Your body will wake up when it has had enough rest or when you need to pee.
Shelter folks calls us pot bangers.
Drybones
10-23-2012, 17:59
Early to bed, early to rise, will make you healthy, wealthy and wise.
Capt Nat
10-23-2012, 18:19
Hairbear gave my away my secret. Drink water at bed time and you will be awake right about dawn. You'll either get up or wet your sleeping bag!
My dumb phone (4 years old!) has an alarm function with several tone and volume settings, but I seldom use it unless I'm up talking 'til the wee hours.
I've always carried my phone because my wife sometimes worries and just in case I need to call for help for either myself or someone else.
Hairbear gave my away my secret. Drink water at bed time and you will be awake right about dawn. You'll either get up or wet your sleeping bag!
If this is the case, then dawn occurs, for me at least, about 5 times a night (it's that age thing) ;).
daddytwosticks
10-24-2012, 07:13
If this is the case, then dawn occurs, for me at least, about 5 times a night (it's that age thing) ;). +1. Getting old sucks....:)
I have a feeling you'll figure out how to wake up without even thinking about it... :)
+1. Getting old sucks....:)
+2...It's an age thing...:(
88BlueGT
10-24-2012, 10:48
On a thru, I would imagine most are up pretty early. On my weekend hikes, I tend to wake up around 9 and leave by 10:30! :) I obviously like to lay around. Thru-hiking is obviously much different scenario.
Like many others here, I rarely use or need an alarm on the trail, but there can be exceptions. Perhaps I've just started hiking with one or more other(s) who get up at a different time. Perhaps I know it's going to be hot and I want to wake so as to be on trail as soon as it's barely light enough. Perhaps I'm camped near enough to a trail town or store or whatever and want to get there just as they open. Etc.
I've found that watch alarms are unreliable at waking me at a time that I don't normally wake in the woods. What works very well for me is a free alarm clock app on my smart phone. The great thing about this is that the one I use starts out quiet and gets gradually louder, so there's none of that "startled awake" nonsense.
Hairbear
10-24-2012, 13:24
+1. Getting old sucks....:)yup old age is not a sport for the weak at heart lol,but it beats all other options at that point all to heck
rusty bumper
10-24-2012, 17:27
I was usually sound asleep by 9pm at the latest, unless my journal writing kept me up longer. I slept in my tent 95% of the nights, so dawn and bird songs got me awake every morning without any other help. In mid summer I was hiking between 7 and 7:30 most mornings.
fredmugs
10-26-2012, 13:04
+1. Getting old sucks....:)
Yep - but getting 10 miles in before some people get up doesn't.
While hiking and not quite awake enough in the morning I'll plug into some "sunshine get up and go time tunes." I got tunes on my thru-hiking Mp3 player for when it' raining, snowing, lightning, when I'm cold, hot, or hungry, when I'm viewing shooting stars watm in my netty sleeping bag, AND, I even got morning time tunes
Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
Alive and Kicking - Simple Minds
You Can Get IT If You Really Want - Jimmy Cliff
Right Here Right Now - Jesus Jones
It's A Beautiful Day - U2
Let Your love Flow - Isley Brother
Travelin Man - Bob Seeger
Ramblin Man - Allman Brothers
New Radicals, Angels and Airwaves, Van Morrison, Jack Johnson
I like to get up early, but the hammock is sooooo comfy...zzzzzzzz
Prime Time
10-31-2012, 20:43
One of the life's little sweet moments for me is when I get up in a shelter at my usual time of full light dawn and maybe make a teeny bit of extra noise a few feet from the head of the guy who was gabbing away until 10:30 the night before.
hikerboy57
10-31-2012, 21:21
what usually wakes me up is my urge to pee.try drinking a big drink of water when you wake up in the night it will wake you early to pee when your up get your act on the road.
i find "the bladder technique" has worked extremely well for me.
but i also go to sleep much earlier than when im home, dont really need more than 6 hours of sleep.one of the benefits of tenting is if im up before dawn, make some coffee and go find a spot to just witness the sunrise, then come back to start packing up while the idiots sleep late in the shelter.
Unless I have been feeling sick--or unless it is very dark and cloudy outside--I have almost never had problems getting up "early" in the morning when backpacking.
I find that, once it gets dark, I have trouble staying awake extremely late at night when I am backpacking (unless I am "partying" or socializing with a group). Going to bed "early" means that I have probably already received 7-9 hours of sleep by the time that the birds start singing LOUDLY in the morning. Noisy birds--combined with bright sunshine filling my hammock (or tent) and a urinary bladder that is about to burst--can be a pretty effective alarm clock for many people.
I am guessing that you will eventually be in a similar situation most days on the trail--unless you get into the "social scene" in a significant way.
Many Moons
11-01-2012, 18:46
As u age u need less sleep. Time will take care of ur problem. Hike On!!!
Miller