The next morning, things went on almost automatically. Routine kicked in, in preparing food/tea and eating, putting things together, packing the backpack. At this time of the journey, every little item, that I took with me, had finally found its place and I knew where to find it. That was different to the beginning, where I knew this or that item is with me but I could not say exactly where to find it.
Locations were optimized for usage. Cooking equipment, matches, and the days’ rations were close to each other and easily accessible. When making breaks during the hike I was able to have warm food in a matter of minutes if I liked so. A warm jacket, gloves, and a warm cap were on top of everything else. When I stop, these things are the ones that I am in need of immediately.
When on the move I had quite little clothes on, considering that temperatures were somewhere between 2 and 8 degrees most of the time. On the move, I wore my light hiking trousers, a long sleeved hiking shirt, short pants, and synthetic cool-max T-shirt as underwear. When raining, I wore additionally a light Goretex rain jacket.
To avoid hypothermia, the first things I did prior to anything else when stopping was to put on gloves, cap, and my warm jacket. The first things I did when stopping for the night was again putting on warm clothes, setting up the tent immediately, unpacking the resting mat and the sleeping back and then changing every piece of wet clothes for dry ones.
The next thing was to get out the cooker to warm up some water. Meanwhile, -if is not raining- I put the wet clothes to dry either by hanging them into the wind, putting them over the tent, or placing them on dry stones.
At that time or shortly after, water is boiling and I make some first warm drink, like coffee, tea or some instant juice. If the weather is uncomfortable, I enter the tent enjoying the warm drink inside the tent and put some more water to boil for the meal afterwards. After having drunk and eaten everything is in right order again. Mood, spirit, and physical strength recover at fast pace.