I am a 26 year-old male that has been hiking and camping since I was nine and a type one diabetes since I was 13 years old. I am an ultra-active, ultra-fit individual with a good diet. I thru-hiked the AT over five months in 2002. My base weight was between 13 and 20 pounds. I am going to thru-hike the PCT in 2005. Here’s how I did it the first time around:
I got rid of my diabetes meds carrying case and I kept everything in a Ziploc bag (replaced every month) at the top of my pack. I got rid of my finger-pricking device and just used the lancets by hand. I used an old One Touch II blood sugar monitor from BD because I am sort of a technology “dinosaur.” However, there are much lighter, faster, and easier models available. I tested my blood sugar at least four times a day, usually six, and ALWAYS before I went to bed. I took three injections daily; before breakfast I took a two-hour insulin combined with a 16-hour insulin, before dinner I took a 2-hour insulin dose, and before bed I took a 16-hour dose. I carried back up prescriptions for all of my medications and I kept the Rxes with my IDs and money. The total extra pack weight for my medicine was probably between one and two pounds.
I always had glucose tabs in my fleece/pillow pocket when I slept. Low blood sugars were no more of a problem for me on the trail then at home. I was probably eating between 3,000 and 5,000 calories a day but I was breaking most of it down with exercise and I was taking less insulin than I do at home, even for my fasting dose. I wear a Medic Alert bracelet 24-7-365. I rarely hiked with a partner. I camped solo on occasion. For the most part, I was surrounded by other hikers and most of them were aware of my diabetes.
I did 22 mail drops along the way with food, film, extra clothes, gear, postcards, and diabetes meds. Most things in my mail drops seemed to be in abundance towards the end of my hike because I was hiking faster than anticipated. This included all of my medical supplies. At home beforehand, I just counted out enough meds for 12-18 miles days (based on terrain description) for the overall mileage between mail drops plus a zero day here and there. This was more than enough supplies for my pace. Because I was sending out so many mail drops, when I could I sent them to hostels and hotels as opposed to post offices. This was to maximize the hours when I could pick up my packages. This worked great in all but one instance. When my girlfriend mailed my resupply 4 days before I was to arrive at the police station hostel in Palmerton, PA, the powers-that-be just placed the box on a table in the unlocked basement hostel. When I arrived I found that someone had opened my package and it had become a second hiker box for the hostel. Buying a second resupply of food was a mere inconvenience, finding my meds opened up and abandoned on the hostel table was the lowlight of my hike. Remember that hostel owners have no legal requirement to keep your package safe and sound.
Each of my mail drops included a self-addressed tyvek envelope. When I got to a town I would buy a liter of diet soda. When it was empty I would fill it with the used syringes and lancets, distinguishable from the unused ones because they were lacking plunger caps and were recapped, respectively. I would then recap the soda bottle and, along with my exposed film canisters, trail mementos and whatever else, mail the bottle in the envelope back to my base camp (re: my and my girlfriend’s apartment). My girlfriend kept all of the used-meds soda bottles in a box and when I got back I just took them all to the hospital for disposal.
The one thing I experienced was a serious jump in my blood sugars on days when I did not hike from sun-up to sun-down. Seriously, I got slammed. On zero days or half days I was eating like a madman, taking extra 2-hour insulin or even extra two hour insulin shots, and testing my blood sugar every 2 hours. After a while I had some good reference points for two doses of each of my injections; hiking and zeroing.
I’m sure there’s more but that’s all I can remember right now. If anyone has any other questions on trying to be a lightweight long-distance hiker with insulin dependant diabetes, don’t hesitate to contact me. Or if you just have questions about movies. Peace.
Spacemonkey
<bison175@yahoo.com>
SpaceMonkey
