[pct-l] quick question on my hiking performance

[Michael]

Shroomer, I enjoyed your comments.  Sounds like what I'd like to do, though I'm just a young sprite of 52!  :)

If I choose to spend 2-4 weeks getting acclimated to the trail, would it be wise to start a couple of weeks earlier than the main group?  Maybe even March 1?  It might be cooler and more water might be available.  Possibly by the time I get to Tehachapi, all the super fit UL hikers will be zipping by me, and I can wave.  

I'm sure there will be a lot of snow in the some of the mountains (and based on getting rain in October, which is rather rare), it might be wetter up in the mountains around LA than it usually is.


On Oct 26, 2010, at 20:32 :36PDT, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:


Message: 3
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2010 20:14:53 -0700
From: Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] quick question on my hiking performance
To: Mark Hudson <mhudson89521 at att.net>
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Message-ID:
	<AANLkTin6roWRbHu8O9H35DATEEAdseddggfyujM-=_c1 at mail.gmail.com>
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For me, the most important thing I did prior to starting last April, was not
my choice of gear, pack weight, or shoes, but was to train hard, and for
many months before setting foot on the PCT.  I'm just about to turn 58, and
when the endorphins get rolling, I have a propensity to just keep going
because it feels good, and then find myself with an overuse injury.  This
didn't seem to happen when I was younger, but it does now.  I trained at
between 10 and 20 miles 3 to 4 days per week, with a 4000 foot elevation
gain.Even so, when I started I still didn't go over 10 to 12 miles per day
the first week.  The second week I upped it to 15 to 17 or so, and by the
third week was over 20 miles per day.  This may have been overly cautious,
but I know how quickly I can kill myself when I'm feeling good on the
trail.  On full hiking days, except in the High Sierra where the snow really
slowed us down, I ended up doing 23 to 28 miles per day in most of CA.  By
Oregon we were mostly over 30 and up to nearly 35, as the trail is simply
much easier.  Everyone I loosely hiked with got into a pattern of hiking all
day, stopping for dinner on the trail, and then hiking an hour, or two in
the evening before pitching camp.  By WA we were making a bit less as the
trail is tougher, and the days shorter, but started out at 27 to 30 still.
Speeds varied by terrain and goal, but were usually in the 2.5 to 3.5
range.  One afternoon when we realized we could physically make the bus at
6pm into Stehekin, which meant a bed at the lodge and a good dinner, we
trail ran for hours on a mostly downhill trail, and made it with time to
spare.   We were well over 4mph that afternoon.  So Mark, I think you are
well on your way to a great hike of the JMT and TRT.

There's still plenty of time for training, and John, I train at sea level to
4000 ft. which isn't much, but by the time you get into the high country,
you will have lots of mid elevation hiking and relatively slow ascents, over
a day or two, to get used to real altitude.  It can still be an issue as
became clear when Turbo and The Kern had to help Half Ounce, off of Forester
Pass when he developed altitude sickness.  He is a very experienced hiker,
but was airlifted out of the high country near the Kern River in early June.

Steel-Eye's mileage estimates are right on, and his comment of hiking versus
camping became a real joke with us by WA.  Whenever we purposely pitched
camp early, we would all joke that we were finally "backpacking" and not
"thru hiking."  It simply felt so restful and enjoyable.  We all promised
ourselves that next summer we were going "camping."  The time factor is
real, and we didn't want to make it to Manning Park too late, given that
"the predominant season in the North Cascades is winter," as we were so
eloquently told by a North Cascade local who was south bounding.  Our last 2
1/2 weeks in WA were in drizzle, temps in the 50's and 60's during the day.
Within 2 days of crossing into Canada on Sept 17th, however, the temps had
dropped into the 20's and our friends who were within a week of us all came
out in white out, and some in blizzard conditions.  I was glad to have been
able to push at relatively high miles, and with fewer zeroes than I had
planned.  I found that I really liked being on the trail, and simply didn't
need the rest of a zero as often as I had thought.

Good question,  thanks.

Shroomer