Thanks. I never liked backpacking when I was in my 20s and tried it again when I was 64. I was doing fine until a bear showed up! We parted ways respectfully but I put in a call and the park offered to come pick me up since I was the only one up at that end of the park. I'll be 67 soon and am willing to give it another try. I definitely need to lighten my load.
Thank you for this great presentation, and I love to see older hikers. I wish I was 54 again! I’m going to add that trekking poles might be a really good idea, and to watch your steps on the trail if its rocky and uneven. I know a man in his 70’s very mobile,active and healthy, who literally broke his face tripping on a crack in the sidewalk, and another lady in her 50’s who broke a foot and an ankle walking downhill and catching her foot just the right way on a rock. But stop, look up, and admire those views!
Yep, almost 52 and feeling the effects of aging. It sucks to think I'm now in that "older" category even though my heart is wanting to act like a 25 year old. I just keep reminding myself that while I can't physically do the things I used to do, I can still laugh, be silly and feel good doing it, which is just as rewarding.
I'm over 60 and have lost 3 lobes of lung to cancer and have a number of old sports injuries and I still backpack, I just snowshoe hiked today (I had the day off). The more you ask your body to do, it can be done. My luxury items are a warmer pad (I live in Alaska so Exped Downmatt has an R value over 7!) and a Helinox chair Zero. I don't like to sit in snow or wet mud. GREAT channel you have made!
I would also add: exercise, exercise, exercise. If you are not on trail, go to the gym and workout. Interleave cardio with strength exercises, taking one full day off a week for recovery. Also, set a goal of 10,000 steps a day with 30 flights of stairs minimum, except for your rest day.
Good video. Be Prepared is always a good idea. I recommend a survival kit carried in a neck pouch. Have a SOL Emergency blanket, tealight candles, matches, safety pins, and some string in the kit. Good Luck, Rick
42 yo, been hiking forever but just got into backpacking in the last few years. I fight plantar faciatis, knee tendinitis, in arthritis in multiple joints.
Tendonitis stinks! It took me off the PCT and it’s been bugging me lately. (Posterior tibial tendonitis - in the arch) Thank goodness for PT and stretches. Be well!
I am 68 and just got back section hiking on AT. Could do around 11 miles a day. The real problem I noticed this time, is that I got real slow, lagging way behind others. Laggers are not the position you want to be in. Wolves, Mountain Lions, and Bears look for the animal that is too slow and can't keep up for their meals. Predators thin the heard by taking out prey that falls behind.
Lol..I think you’re pretty safe on the AT, and 11 miles isn’t too shabby! I know it stinks to fall behind other hikers, but there’s a lot to be said for the pleasures of hiking solo, too. I hope you enjoyed your section, I bet it was beautiful right now.
Know your limits, but don't use them as an excuse to do nothing. I tried to thru the A.T., Bursitis laid me up in Franklin for 12 days with cortisone shots but foolishly I pushed on. I should have gotten off trail at Fontana dam but foolishly I pushed on into the park. Both my knees were the size of melons. I couldn't stand and support my own weight. I crawled on hands and knees to Clingman's Dome to get an egress out of the Smokies. When I got home I was bedbound for 10 weeks before I could confidently walk again. I didn't know my limits. Don't be like me.
