[pct-l] Hiking style

[Jeffrey Olson]

When I was in my 20s and 30s I was able to jump on the trail with no 
preparation and with my 50 pound pack hike 10 miles a day.  I remember 
hiking most of the Tahoe Yosemite Trail in 1977 and being totally wasted 
by mid-afternoon.  I started a Lassen to Whitney section hike in 1992 
with a 72 pound pack and wore out a ligament within a couple weeks and 
was off the trail after 30 days at South Tahoe. When I discovered 
Jardine's work in 1995 I was 43, it was just in time.  My base weight 
went from about 40 pounds in 1992 to 12 pounds today. 


My last couple of section hikes, six and seven weeks, were spent getting 
in shape.  Being in my 50s means I don't have to worry about money like 
I did in my mid-40s and earlier.  Regardless of how much or little I 
exercise prior to a hike now, it's not enough.  I need to hike eight 
hours a day to get in shape to hike eight hours a day.  My "hiking 
style" is to hike for five or six days and roll into a motel for two 
nights and a day.  I need that 36 hours of lying on a bed, sleeping, 
reading and watching tv to recover.  I do it on the trail as well - 
spend two nights in one camp - but it's not quite the same thing.  No 
beer or doritos... 


After six weeks on my last section hike I was able to hike 20 miles by 2 
or 3 in the afternoon.  I was used to stopping at this time - I usually 
was on the trail by six or six-thirty.  Now if I stopped, I would wonder 
what to do.  I hadn't shifted from the "getting in shape section hiking" 
mode to "thru-hiking" mode. 


What I did work through over six weeks was the effect of chronic 
injuries garnered in a lifetime of active living.  Both ankles have been 
sprained innumerable times from basketball and tennis.  I regularly fall 
off one inch rocks.  I used to skid, or do face plants, skinning my 
palms and knees.  I now roll when I fall.  I roll hard, sometimes coming 
back up onto my feet, depending on the trail.  I started using two 
hiking poles three years ago.  That helps. 


Both knees require conscious stretching of the hamstrings and gluteus 
maximi two or three times a day in order to function well.  The 
stretching also keeps sciatica from developing, which it seems to want 
to do now after a couple weeks on the trail.  That is so wearing - the 
sciatic ache that has a little burst with every step.  It always takes 
three or four weeks for my stomach muscles to tighten up and stave off 
intermittant lower back pain. 


I know what to monitor as I hike.  I know to start slow, eight to 10 to 
12 miles a day at most for a week or two.  These first four or five 
weeks are filled with pain.  From feet to calf to back to thigh, to 
tingling hand, to knee to foot and around and around we go...  There is 
nothing like laying out the tent and lying down during those first 
weeks.  Nothing like it.  It's almost like the pain morphs into an 
amplitude of peace - reading, napping, looking around, eating, napping, 
and finally, sleeping til first light.  I know I've reached the hump and 
moved on when I've done 10 - 12 miles by 9AM or 10AM. 


I look forward to starting the PCT or CDT and making this shift in 
hiking styles - and doing the full hike.  I will be that much more 
conscious of moving through my comfort zone - getting in shape - and 
going into thru-hiker mode.  Anticipating this adds to my motivation to 
start the next long hike, to move changing jobs more forward, to think 
about downsizing, simplifying, and semi-retiring to hike, whitewater 
raft, sea kayak, and live out of the soon to be Subaru powered vanagon 
sitting in my garage, waiting for completion.  For a number of years at 
least.  Ummm  -  Sunday musings...

Jeff, just Jeff...