#22497 - 02/27/0602:32 AMRe: Are you an old backpacker?
[Re: Pika]
Anonymous
Unregistered
I'm turning 50 this year. My loads are alot lighter 25 lbs. or less. I can remember hauling 95 lbs. into the Sierras for three week trips in my early twenties. I was crazy...
Hmmmm..... judging by the responses I'm not going to make the cut for "old backpacker" at only 54. Though first morning out on a trip it sure FEELS like it....
60 is not old for a hiker; at least at 57, that's what I tell myself. On the Pacific NW trails where I spend most of my miles, a goodly number of folk are well into their 60s and more. For the stamina to do more miles, I now play soccer 3 times a week. One of my teammates is my role model: he just celebrated his 70th. Not only is he an asset to the team, after hiking the Grand Canyon last year with his wife, they now plan a cross-Alps trek this fall.
I'm 63 and still backpackin' and still collecting the latest backpacking gear. It's a chronic sickness (the gear buying) but when I'm on the trail with 10 or 15 fewer pounds than I had in 1980 I'm a very happy camper. Keep working out, taking conditioning hikes, taking Glucosamine/Chondritin tablets and the occassional Ibuprofen. You'll be able to do this 'til you're 80 or more. [color:"green"] [/color]
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"There are no comfortable backpacks. Some are just less uncomfortable than others."
Good GAWD! You ARE an old backpacker. I too started in the '50s in Boy Scouts with the Yucca Pack. (It was a canvas box with two top flap buckles, two cotton web shoulder straps, and six D rings on each side of the pack. That was it, PERIOD!) I used farm shoe clodhoppers for hiking shoes. No REI in Pennsylvania in the '50s.
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"There are no comfortable backpacks. Some are just less uncomfortable than others."
At 63 I'm still going strong. I hike with the Las Vegas area Sierra Club and the "Meetup" online hiking group to stay in shape for backpacking. At present I'm purchasing more and more lightweight equipment for summer camping. That's why I'm at this forum and likely why you're here too. Good luck and, as they used to say in the '60s: "KEEP ON TRUCKIN' "
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"There are no comfortable backpacks. Some are just less uncomfortable than others."
Thanks for posting. I had somehow lost track of this post and missed most of the responses. Your response helped me find it again.
I'm glad to see so many older people are still hiking. I haven't run into many on my recent backpacks in Washington and was concerned that they might have died off or moved to Florida.
Our group of 6 who just summitted Mt. Langley (14,042) ranged in age from 46 to 57. Our oldest expedition member (62) had to stay home at the last minute to care for her 91 year old mother. She is just as strong a hiker as the younger members.
We are all members of the Kern River Valley Hiking Club, founded by Ruby Jenkins (author of the Exploring the Southern Sierra books) who is 80 and still hiking and backpacking regularly. I hear she will be up in Mineral King soon, and there are NO easy hikes in Mineral King!
Some of our older members (70's and up) don't care to go as far as youngsters like me (51), but some do. I find the biggest difference in hiking is that the oldsters tend to go slower on the downhills to preserve their knees. I have to include myself in this category. Long downhill is not much fun, even with hiking poles.
The youngest member of our club is my son who will soon be 13. Not many other young people.
I am a 40 year old male. Very good job, small children, run to keep fit. Here's my question:
My ambition in LIFE is to thru-walk the Appalachian Trail. My plan is to wait until I retire at 65 or 67, and then hike the trail. But is this leaving it too late? It's obvious from the messages above that hiking into one's 60's and 70's is possible. But if my goal is to complete the entire trail, should I be more realistic....
Any advice, particularly from older hikers, is much appreciated!
Futureatwalker. Personally I would not leave it that late. Several of my friends are over 60 and many of them seem to have developed some kind of physical impairment. Few of them are backpackers, but just because we try and keep fit, the unexpected can and most likely will happen sooner or later. Some medical problems seem to hereditary and no amount of exercising, eating the right food etc is necessarily going to prevent illness. Also, we don’t heal as fast when we get older. I have a friend who is over 70 and an avid walker. He seemed to be in pretty good shape and had worked hard all his life, but he took a fall off a step ladder a couple of year back and has never been the same since. He still walks, but only on the level, as hills are now out of the question. I do see a lot of folk on the trails who are much older than I am, but I bet that for every old codger on the trail there must be at least 10 in the city who aren’t capable of such a workout. That isn’t to say I don’t plan on hiking when I get older. There is a well known Scottish saying, “the plans of mice and me gang after glee”. It means they go wrong.
Do it while you can, in my opinion. There are too many uncertainties for you to plan, with certainty, to do this hike 20+ years in the future.
Many of my friends (I'm 62) have had things happen that would prevent them from doing the hike if they wanted to at this age (e.g. arthritis, death, cancer, heart ailements, kidney disease=dialisis(sp?), etc.
Everyone hopes to be fit and healthy later in life but no one can count on it.
Perhaps you could do portions of it, a little each year?
Well, my hope is to do at least the JMT, if not larger portions of the PCT and other long trails, after I retire. I'm 51 now, and may be able to retire as early as 55 (but who knows?) if I keep my $$ expectations low. My philosophy is that I will do what I can in the outdooors now (which isn't a lot due to my busy schedule, but enough so that if I suddenly were stricken with terminal illness or disability, I wouldn't have to smack myself on the forehead and say "why have I wasted my life?" or words to that effect). Then HOPEFULLY, when I do retire, I will have a long trip to really look forward to. If I never get to do that trip, I have still had wonderful adventures. But I think I'd advise anyone hoping to do a long trip far in the future to take into consideration how "cheated" you'd feel if it turns out you never got to do it - if the answer is "a lot", then do some of it NOW!
Thank goodness, children do grow up! When they get to be old enough, make it a requirement of your helping with college $$, that they have to do the thru-hike with you. Moreover, have the kids carry most the weight (after all look at how many hours you hauled them around!). My daughter "worked" for some of her college money by backpacking with me, however poor old Mom carried more weight!
I bet at your age, you can do some long-term planning to take a leave-of-absense. Shoot- get a sponsor and give "mileage money" to charity. Waiting until 65-67 may be too late. I would aim to do it in your 50's. Where there is a will, there is a way!
#22515 - 12/23/0601:15 PMRe: Are you an old backpacker? Advice sought!
[Re: futureatwalker]
Anonymous
Unregistered
Have great hope futureatwalker. I started the AT 30 pounds overweight without any previous long distance hiking experience and a limited number of short day hikes, turned 65 on the trail, and summitted Katadin less than 5.5 months after starting. It is very achievable if you do excellant planning, go as lightweight as suits you and use common sense in all that you do. Good luck - you can and will do it if that is what you really want.
Registered: 01/10/06
Posts: 679
Loc: Central Texas
Not old. Nope. Just 59. My significant other is 72. At 69, she did 1,700 on the AT, and she's still trucking.
Me, I don't recognize age as a factor. Well, ok, I have a bionic knee, but other than that, I see 20 year olds gimping around camp and groaning as much as I do.
We may get older, but hopefully, we also get smarter.
I would start the "training" for this project immediately!! Even with small kids, you should be able to steal away for a weekend or two to train and then, once a year try a section of the trail for a week.
Better start now, and you'll be fit as a fiddle and ready to go the distance when those kids hit college age. They can drop you off and pick you up when they have their licence, you'll be near enough to retirement so you can take the time off!
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Listen to the trees in the wind
I will admit I'm old when they are shoveling the dirt over me, I'm only 69. I've been away from backpacking for about 5 years due to bad health, my wife not me. She has gotten enough better I plan to start again this spring. First several overnights, to make sure all the new gear works right. Then Isle Royale (again) in July or August. Planning on the Long Trail in VT next year, 2007.
A friend of mine's dad passed away last year at 92. He was backpacking into his late 80's. When they knew the end was near, his family dressed him up in his hiking clothes so he could hit the final trail properly dressed. Now that's a true enthusiast.
Yep! I'll be 64 in April. But I feel 44 and some ladies tell me I "look 45" so I' guess I am blessed with picking the right parents, gene wise, that is.
My worst problem is the 2 moderately herniated L4 & L5 discs but they really don't seem to bother me. Anyway. most of my pack weight is on my hips, not my shoulders/spine. And I carry two Leki hiking poles, not one. More support, less chance of slipping.
So I alpine, telemark, XC and backcountry ski camp in winter and hike, backpack and sea kayak in spring.summer .
Howsomever... this year I bought a LOT of lightweight equipment (pack, sleeping bag, tent, stove) for 3 season camping. No sense carrying my old Dana Terraplane at over SEVEN pounds when my REI UL 60 weighs only 3.3 lbs. Or no sense in hauling my heavy PUR Hiker water filter when all I need is a funnel, coffee filters and Aqua Mira. All my heavy, old backpacking equipment ended up as winter camping gear, including my MSR Dragonfly white gas stove.
"We get too soon old, and too late smart." Old Pennsylvania "Dutch" saying.
Wish I'd carried UL stuff years ago.
Eric B.
"KEEP ON TRUCKIN'"
Edited by 300winmag (02/23/0708:10 PM)
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"There are no comfortable backpacks. Some are just less uncomfortable than others."
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