Miles: 1,905.6 — Nervous energy marked my first full day back on trail after over a week off. Miles sped ahead, leaving me to hike alone and chat with Poppins and Peanut about the absurd “shrink it and pink it” world of women’s outdoor gear. I passed the 1,900-mile mark, carried extra water for miles, and finally found an unplanned stealth spot near a stream—pitching my tent in the dark after a mild panic about being alone.
Mom and Dad dropped Miles and me off at the trail head around 10am. For some reason I was really nervous and anxious. It was our first time in over a week to be back on trail full time. Somehow that was daunting, plus we had 300 miles left. It took me a while to get into a groove. Miles quickly sped ahead. Apart from a quick snack break during the second hour, I didn’t see him for the rest of the day.
Around 1pm I ran into Poppins and Peanut, who had hiked together since both of their first weeks on trail. They were inseparable. They complimented me on how color coordinated my gear was.
Somehow, I’d managed to get all my gear in or with Teal, Gray, or Navy. We laughed about how ridiculous companies were about colors. Like the women’s color of the year is always some kind of light blue, variation on red or pink, or purple. There weren’t really any other offerings out there. For example, my La Sportiva Ultra Raptors that I wore on trail only came in blue for women. The same blue that my poles were offered in, the only color either were offered in. The same colors as the clothes I ordered from Patagonia that only came in that color for a good price. The same color as my Smartwool socks for women.
Some people call it the “shrink and pink.” Manufacturers make women’s gear in this way: take the mens version, shrink it, make it pink, remove any and all pockets or make those smaller too, offer two colors (pink, blue, red, or purple). I’ve seen it time and again from most major outdoor brands. You’ll be hard pressed to find different unless you look to brands that actually design with their athletes or are run by women (like Outdoor Voices, Ultimate Direction, K2, Specialized, Liv, Eddie Bauer, Columbia, or some REI’s Co-Op Branded products).
This issue kind of got to me on trail, in case you couldn’t tell. The only time I paid less than a man for gear was when I bought my Black Diamond Women Specific Trekking Poles through Amazon. Every other piece of gear that was women’s specific that I bought was consistently more than the men’s version. I bought almost all of my gear on sale and the men’s sale prices were consistently lower than the women’s, even if the product started out at the same MSRP. Anyway…
I passed 1900 miles by myself after I had made dinner near the only non-beaverpond water source I found all day. I carried an extra 3-Liters from that source for the next five miles. When I didn’t find Miles at the next shelter, I kept walking and hoped to run into him. We’d agreed to do a shorter day since we left so late but we hadn’t agreed on a place to meet. It began to get dark and the next obstacle was the 3500’ Mount Success.
I wasn’t about to attempt it in the dark with rain forecasted for the next day. It didn’t look like there was any camping until the next shelter. In the dark, I really needed to go to the bathroom but I was standing next to the only clear stream I’d seen since the one 5 miles back.
I dropped my pack and headed uphill and away from the stream into the woods. I found a few bushes, did my business, and while I was up there found a flat tent site! Someone had obviously camped there before. Okay, it wasn’t totally flat but it was 9pm and I was freaking out.
I set up my tent and quickly made a meal. I drank as much water as I could stomach, unsure of the future of water sources. I’d only seen beaver bogs or streams leading to or from beaver bogs all day. I tried calling and texting Miles for a couple of hours but I never got a response. My heart pounded. We’d always agree that we could camp alone, but I kind of thought we’d talk about it first. I could’ve kept going, I kicked myself, but that couldn’t have been safe, not with the Mahoosucs coming up. I stayed put. I read the sample I’d downloaded of a book. Once I got through those 50 pages I listened to a podcast I’d downloaded.
Around midnight I finally dozed off. Still panicking and having eaten two Snickers bars. Rain came during the night and I stayed mostly dry. But I still spent the night worrying even though I was fine and Miles was, most likely, fine too.