Today is day 9 of BCX, and I’m typing this into my phone. My fingers are numb because shelters only have three walls; they’re basically bus stops in the forest.
ICYMI, BCX is a Metaphysical Fitness Expedition hosted by myself and Sam Slater. Our plan was to thru-ski all 31 sections of the 300-mile Catamount Trail (20 miles a day for 15 days) to set the Funnest Known Time, to Experience Earth’s Energies, and to publish an episodic reality TV show extolling the virtues of gravel skiing aka backcountry cross-country (BCX) aka cross-country downhill (XCD).
We are definitely achieving some of those things, but we’ve had to alter some of our plans due, in part, to items #17 and #18 on the list you’re about to read.
You can watch all our daily video episodes on IG @mythicalstateof, and days 0, 1, and 8 are below.
20 Things I’ve Learned So Far While BCXing the Catamount Trail:
Don’t pack your fears—they’re heavy.
Related: if your down jacket has a hood, your sleeping bag doesn’t need one too.
ALWAYS PACK AN EXTRA POLE. But where and how, TBD. Meanwhile, sticks do, technically speaking, work.
If you think you need to skin up, you need to skin up.
Part wilderness, part never-ending Christmas rom-com, Vermont is like a live action snow globe.
Paper maps still serve a function.
Water filters freeze. Steripens fail, are heavy, and require batteries. Aquatabs are light and reliable.
Leko tape from the start—get ahead, and stay ahead, of blisters.
Wet wipes freeze too, duh.
The whole reason to ski the Catamount is reliable access to quality food resupply—especially the cheese.
Snow is mostly a type 2 surface.
I now loathe the word variable.
Reading trail section write-ups and notes AFTER skiing them instead of BEFORE is questionable, but also, effective?
Falling asleep while shivering in ALL your wet clothes (in order to dry them—this is the ONLY way it will happen) is considerably harder than it sounds.
The sound of metal edges on ice haunts me.
A “feels like” temp of 2 degrees feels a lil scary in a 3-sided shelter at 3am.
I can’t reliably ski 20 miles in a day, day after day. I’m more of an 8-15 kinda guy. It’s variable.
According to the Catamount write-ups, a lot of the sections require advanced or expert abilities. I assumed it would be easy because the Greens are so cute.
Needing to boil water for lunch is bad. Just eat more Off The Farm bars.
A worthwhile activity: download The Telepathy Tapes podcast to fall asleep to every night, and explore your relationship to Psi Abilities.
All the video episodes are here.
This BCX journey heavily features Type 2 Fun, and we welcome any and all guidance and positive energy in the comments, as an IG DM, or through telepathy.
Love, Daniel
Keep it up guys! Your journey is epic and you can always get warm again someday.