Date: 2014-03-22
To: ADVICE FOR THE ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂOLDERÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ HIKER
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

ADVICE FOR THE ¢OLDER¢ HIKERAltho I really got into trying to keep up with the younger folks, I finally had to admit that some things are different as you get older. I don¢t claim to know what the magic age is, but it got a lot harder for me this past year than even four years ago, when I was in my late 60s.The main thing I observed was the feeling of depleting all my body¢s reserves. I lost about 30 pounds, & it wasn¢t all fat. There was a noticeable decrease in energy as I approached some of the hardest parts of the Trail. Younger people may feel that too, but they have better ability to cope with it. That means we ¢oldies¢ have to figure out our own ways to minimize the decline. Some kind of preemptive action seems appropriate, especially when it comes to rest & nutrition.Altho I tried to take at least one Zero day per week [except in the 100-mile wilderness], I didn¢t focus sufficiently on rest. There are always things to do in town, & they often require walking from one end of town to the other; so it¢s easy to find yourself on your feet much of the day, even tho off the trail. That doesn¢t conduce to getting much actual rest. I probably could have profited by taking more frequent days off toward the end of the hike. Many people suggest a 10-minute rest every hour of hiking. I¢ve never been able to make myself stop that often. Being a slow hiker, I always felt I needed to keep going, to get as far as I¢d hoped for the day. After I concluded I needed to have a big meal in the middle of the day [somewhere between 11:00 & 3:00, to power me thru the afternoon], I did have an hour to rest; but, especially in the hottest parts of the Summer, the idea of a real siesta sounded good. As I went along I discovered that the people who went faster than I had more time to stop and rest along the way: They would pass me and then I would catch up with them while they rested, and then they passed me again as I kept plugging along.Getting enough sleep at night is also important. I probably averaged 7-1/2 hours per night over the whole trip ¢ I don't think that was enough, but I was trying to get going early in the mornings & get as much hiking in each day as possible. Two other things interrupted my sleep. I switched to my warm-weather sleeping bag right after the Smokies, but had cold nights for another month; so being cold made for less deep sleep & also contributed to my other problem: my bladder repeatedly insisting that I had to get up in the night. I probably averaged 3 times per night [My record was 7!]. Medicines that are supposed to help that problem might be worth it, if there aren¢t too many side effects. Also, I've figured out that having a salty meal in the evening helps me make it thru the night ¢ maybe I should try salt tablets on a hike.At the beginning of the hike. I saw people who couldn't eat one of those two-serving Mountain House meals. I never had that problem and I was soon eating 2 of them daily [or equivalent] along with other stuff in between ¢ anything to keep up enough energy and enough protein. I think those sealed pouches of tuna are good for protein, and I like them. Energy bars may advertise a lot of protein but you get a lot of sugar & other things along with it that tends to disturb my stomach. It¢s important for hikers to figure out what kind of energy bars their stomach can handle and make use of them each day. The main point is that while a kind of starving-and-bingeing approach may work for some of the young people, as we get older our bodies don't recuperate quickly enough to live that way.My next advice is very standard & also contradicts what I¢ve been saying ¢ keep your pack light. Whenever I was in a place to weigh it, my pack was between 37 & 47 pounds. For the first few months, that seemed comfortable enough ¢ if I can carry to, why not? But I also think it helped wear me down eventually. Believe it or not, my basic equipment is very light: about 16 pounds for tent, 2 liters of water, sleeping & cooking equipment, & incidentals. The rest is clothing & food. I didn¢t buy any new clothes for the hike, so some of my stuff is a little heavier than some that¢s available, but I didn¢t seem to carry much more clothing than most people.The big thing then seems to be food management. When I¢m hanging 2-3 food bags & others only one, I guess I have to admit I¢m carrying too much. I never ran out, but maybe I should have been more willing to. One of my luxuries is homemade whole-wheat bread ¢ heavy bread that keeps well on the Trail. I could have saved a pound or two with alternatives purchased along the Trail. I ate a lot of dehydrated meals & things I dehydrated myself before leaving home. I think Mountain House meals are good, but the packaging makes them heavy & bulky in the pack [& then there¢s the problem of carrying out the trash!]. Scheduling food drops was difficult because I couldn¢t estimate accurately how many miles per day I¢d be doing. So for much of the trip I was plagued with the choice of sending stuff ahead [But then, how far?] or carrying extra weight. That meant spending inordinate amounts of time sorting & trying to keep track of where stuff was in the postal system. If I do it again, I think I¢ll rely more on buying food in towns along the way, which has its own problems in finding suitable items. Some places, there aren¢t many good stores, or it takes a lot of time to get to them (E.g., now that there is no IGA in Bland, there¢s not much between Damascus & Pearisburg). Some may seem expensive, but the Postal Service isn¢t cheap either. If lots of restaurants are available (e.g., Shenandoah National Park), plan on filling up there & carrying less. Towns are always a good place to get lots of protein & fill up on heavy fruits & vegetables [eating most of them before leaving town!].If you have a choice in the matter and can stand the mosquitoes in Maine, I think it's best for older people to do the hike from North to South. That way you have the longest days when your body is at its freshest, while you're doing the hardest part of the trail. I'm also of the opinion that the trail is easier from North to South, especially the White Mountains [but people disagree on that]. Maybe some kind of flip-flop would help. If you¢re like me & insist on going with the crowd, it might help to take a week or 2 off when you get to Vermont, before tackling the White Mtns & Maine. If your concept is that it counts as a thru-hike as long as you finish within 365 days of your start, there are other possibilities, like starting in Maine in August [fewer bugs!], stopping for a Winter break, maybe in Pennsylvania, & doing the rest in the Spring.