Staying Clean on the Trail

I just received some correspondence from M&K , albeit a few posts out of order. Enjoy! - sloan

3/22/2007 Many people have questions about personal hygiene while long-distance hiking.

Let me just say that you begin to adopt new standards for cleanliness rather quickly. But, we do go through some trouble to make sure we stay clean enough to be healthy.

1) Keep a pair of clean, dry socks at all times. Every chance we get we stop, take our boots off, air out our feet and dry our socks.
2) When we stop at night, we take a Wet Wipe sponge bath and change into dry, clean(er) camp clothes.
3) We carry hand sanitizer and use it religiously before eating and after going to the bathroom.
4) Hair - I haven't figured this one out yet. I keep my hair braided or tied up under a bandana part of the time, but if it is sunny and windy, I let it down to (sort of) air it out. It actually doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.
5) We wash out our pot with biodegradable soap after we eat every night. Every couple of days we boil our eating utensils.
6) We get our water out of the ground, but we always treat it, either by using Aquamira Drops, or filtering it with our pump.
7) We shower and do laundry in town when we resupply, and boy does that feel good!

-K