I did a cache trip four years ago or so with a guy in his upper 50's at the time, his son and sis-in-law, some others caught up late in the afternoon. He and his son were having some issues with the elevation, trailhead elev. was around 7500' and we bped up to 11,200' for the night. They weren't in shape and had a tough time with keeping moving, what with trying to catch their breath and leg burn. Not only were they packing 20 or more lbs. of extra body weight than they should, they had the extra bear canister to stash. They were getting set to do the Sierra High Route again. With me being in better shape then they were at the time, I would still hate to have to stay with them when they hit the trail for the SHR, a tough trip.

Some trips it seems, my knees and hips do better then on other trips. Four years ago, I went a different route than I planned because my knee was bothering me some. The next day it felt fine, but too late to go back. A great trip anyway, I got to see some lakes where I saw no one else at.

I'm in my mid 50's now and wish I exercised more. Since the loss of my dog 4 years ago, I don't go for a walk in the evenings anymore and I'm not in a situation where I can get another dog.