Sleep
On thru-hikes and long hikes, weeks, months, has anybody built up a sleep deficit? Has anybody had serious problems with sleep?
Yes - I am a walking plethora of sleeping issues. Howvever each day hiking knocks the hell out of you and sleeping is easy when you exercise.
If you have concerns set stuff up in the back yard test your gear - tonight is a good night.... chilli
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
My biggest problem is that I tend to wake up after 7 to 8 hours of sleep which is my norm. Not too bad in June and July when the nights are shorter, but as the nights get longer in August and later I wind up awake at 4 am waiting for dawn. Best remedy I've come up with is to camp away from others, stay up later, and make breakfast and start to break camp via headlamp.
"That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett
it seems like on any hike, the 1st few days I have a very hard time sleeping, but the longer I get into the hike & the longer I hike per day, the better I sleep. So I always try to really push myself to the max to ensure a good nights sleep. A good nights sleep is imperative to long distant hiking.
Take Time to Watch the Trees Dance with The Wind........Then Join In........
Originally Posted by 4eyedbuzzard
That's normal stuff - Now you might wonder why I know this - Back when George was alive (GEORGE WASHINGTON) there wasn't daylight saving time - Ben had not had the idea yet...
People in that time used to go to bed just after civil twilight - an hour after sunset, they would blow out the candles and go to bed. About 3-4 am people wrote about waking up and lying there for two-4 hours and falling asleep again. This would happen late fall to spring... There are many books and studys on it, but don't exspect to find the historical view... everything on the internet is current science. Nothing about the absence of electricity..... thank Edison..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-...night_insomnia
Last edited by Wise Old Owl; 10-06-2011 at 19:26. Reason: after thought no need to single out 4 eye - my opologies
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
After the first few days of my section hikes, I usually sleep longer than I do at home. That's because I settle in around sunset and wake up around 6. And as others have said, when you hike all day your body is ready for a good rest.
Edited to add: I often have some green tea after supper, and I sleep in a hammock (Hennessey backpacker's asym), which is rigged with the foot end somewhat higher than the head end. Alll of this promotes a good night's sleep.
Last edited by tiptoe; 10-06-2011 at 14:31.
Mon - Fri I'm up at 4:30. Thats what happening with a farming background. Just not usually a big sleeper. That said when hiking what happens is every couple of days my body just shuts me down. Can even remember a blink of an eye actually being 13 hours of deep sleep. Nothing feels better then waking up from that type of natural konk out. ya all should hear Cool Breeze snore, I used to put butts in my ears. Avoided shelters and tented if I smelt him.
Last edited by lemon b; 10-06-2011 at 20:40.
You know how people say that the best food is that which you eat in the woods after a long day (and presumably long hike)? I find that sleep falls into the same category. Best night's of sleep ever come after a long day of backpacking (until nature calls, that is).
I stay up around the campfire or in my tent and read until I get tired, which is the same routine I do at home in bed. Yeah, the book is extra weight, but getting a good night's sleep is a much higher priority than saving 10 or so ounces. Also, I full belly never hurts either...try eating foods high in carbohydrates while winding down for the night.
just came off a section... was completely beat... but still could not sleep. have always had sleeping problems.. but i do believe that after you get a ways into your hike sleep will come better.... at least i hope this is whats going to happen for me... i'll see.
I always find I have odd dreams when camping. I assumed that in my normal life, my dreams are my brains way of dealing with all the crap you deal with during the day. Out in the woods, you don't have as much crap to deal with so dreams seem to take off in a different direction.
A nice neo air, down bag and 2 cocoon pillows in a tent. Plus ear plugs. Sleeping bliss.
I dont sleep well for a couple of days when I start. I carry foam earplugs and it makes a big difference and they dont weigh much.
Whenever you go someplace new, it's a little more difficult to sleep at first but eventually you adjust. After a while on my long hikes, my home was the trail. I slept great. Once in a while I had a night of insomnia like I do in regular life. Sometimes the moon made it hard to sleep. But otherwise, I slept great and got to the point where it was hard for me to sleep in a hotel or on a bed or anywhere except for my tent.
Some knew me as Piper, others as just Diane.
I hiked the PCT: Mexico to Mt. Shasta, 2008. Santa Barbara to Canada, 2009.
Only when someone is snoring . . . of course, the best remedy for this is to not sleep in a shelter.
See you on the trail,
mt squid
how to hike
On average, I have trouble the first two nights of a week long section. My trips have been so spread out lately, unfortunately. So the exposure makes me think paranoid thoughts. I always think of the trail murders my first night on the trail. I know it's pretty ridiculous but that's just where my mind wanders after a prolonged time of sleeping in an enclosed space.
"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do."
-Bob Dylan
On my sections, Ive always had trouble the first night, but once Ive become acclimated to the noises of the forest, Im fine. I find the shelters too noisy for me to entirely relax, so I avoid them for sleeping. earplugs definitely, and maybe advil pm for the first night.
I seem to suffer from some type of sleeping disorder, never had it diagnosed; I just can't get a normal sleep on a regular basis, part of it does seem to be insomnia-like, but I don't know. Probably my time in the military and the lack of sleep, but sleeping in the tent doesn't seem to help/hurt, but I do have some strange dreams the first few nights out.
solutions to having a bad night - one would agree that at some point - you know that you are going to have a bad night - don't delay do it today!
if you crash about 9pm and you are lying there for lets say 2 hours
take the main ingredient from most sleep medicine and take ONLY one OTC (OVER THE COUNTER) pill - from Dipahydramine
and yea not with water but room temp milk so if U are on the trail its Nido and water and it works!
Talk to your doctor - get informed and if the above fails - it is time to have a conversation......here is some stuff I found
Intense Sleep problem types of Medications Used to Treat Sleep Disorders when your doctor is frustrated.
Listed below are some of the types of drugs used to treat sleep disorders. Your doctor can prescribe the appropriate medication for your particular sleep disorder.
- Anti-parkinsonian drugs (dopamine agonists) including Larodopa, Sinemet, Parlodel, Requip, Permax, and Mirapex. These drugs may be used to treat restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder (also called nocturnal myoclonus syndrome).
- Benzodiazepines, which are included in a class of drugs called hypnotics. Some types of benzodiazepines include Klonopin, Valium, Restoril, Xanax, and Ativan. These drugs may be used to treat parasomnias. Occasionally, they are also used to treat bruxism (teeth grinding) and short-term insomnia.
- Non-benzodiazepine hypnotics, including Ambien, Sonata, and newly approved Lunesta (formerly called Estorra). These drugs are used to treat short-term insomnia.
- Opiates, such as codeine, oxycodone, methadone, dihydromorphone, and propoxyphene. These drugs may be used to treat restless legs syndrome that is refractory or present in pregnancy.
- Anticonvulsants, such as Tegretol, Carbatrol; Depakene, Depakote; and Neurontin. These drugs may be used to treat nocturnal eating syndrome, restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, and insomnia related to bipolar disorder.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
My biggest problem is that I tend to wake up after 7-8 hours of sleep that is my norm. Not bad in June and July, when the nights are shorter, the nights are getting longer, but in August and then, finally, I'm awake, I do not see the sunrise 4. The best medicine I've come up with a field away from the others, stay later, and have breakfast and begin to dismantle the camp because of the projectors.
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