Hiking/Backpacking Fitness

[scubascout]

Our troop is planning to go on some extended trips (AT Trail)

Does anybody know of a backpacking conditioning program to prepare us for these types of hikes?

[RWSmith]

Two good places to start...

http://www.appalachiantrail.org

http://www.scouting.org/philmont/visitors/preparing/physical.html

[hacimsaalk]

i have been on several long hikes (40-50mi) on the AT as well. What part of the trail are you going on??

i would reccommend hiking each night after school or work. if you have them, find the biggest hill you can, and hike it 2 or 3 times. if you only have one or two small ones, hike them one way, then turn around and huke them back. jog as much as possible. lung stamina is THE MOST important thing. as you climb, air gets thinner. it may not seem like you really are hiking that hard, but things get really tiring realy quick. getting your hips in shape would probably be next (as your pack SHOULD NOT rest on your shoulders).

once you feel you are in shape (or getting there), get in as many hiking trips as you can. im not talking about 2 or 3 miles, put in 20 or 25mi in ONE DAY. It will tire you out, but it gives you a good work out. do this as often as possible.

if ya got any more ??'s, feel free to ask me. i'll try to help out (although it may not be "professional" help )

[scubascout]

I am planning to do 50 miles of the at trail, the New York part
I hope to do more as a troop

When i graduate highschool me and my friend want to thru hike it

[hacimsaalk]

hmmm, cant help ya much with that part of the trail. we always have gone up into NH and ME. I love it up there. 50mi is a good amt. to do with your troop. we have done that much with 12 people. it worked out well. i wouldnt try any more than 50mi in one week. however, im not real familiar with that section of the trail. the aprt we did has been called the hardest 50mi of the eintire trail call us crazy, but we did it twice

me and another scout buddy of mine are planning the same thing. we are thinking of starting at Mt. Katahdin in June, and hiking down to GA. We would probably take off our first year of college, and start either the spring semester, or the next year.

good luck, and if ya got any other questions, fell free to ask (or email me)
micah

[lifescoutforlife]

When I was preparing for a hunt out west I added some distance to my hike everyday along with a little more wieght in the pack.

[hacimsaalk]

When I was preparing for a hunt out west I added some distance to my hike everyday along with a little more wieght in the pack.

ditto-forgot to add that part.

[Quailman]

I did a 50 miler two years ago ( at age 48 ) with my son. Prior to my training, the sum total of my exercise was a brisk 2-mile walk each morning with my dog. We'd usually cover it in a 1/2 hour. Starting three months out I began wearing my backpack with about twenty pounds for the brisk walk, adding 10 pounds each of the next two weeks. On weekends I walked with my son (wearing his own pack) four or five miles. We live just north of Houston, so it's all flat.

To prepare for the hills, each day I climbed the steps from 5 to 12 (all my office building would accomodate) at mid-afternoon. I didn't work up a sweat - just got my legs used to going up. After three weeks I was doing the seven flights two steps at a time, after which I'd take the elevator back down and repeat twice more for a total of 21 flights. My son did no such training.

The place we chose to go was in the Teton Wilderness, just south of Yellowstone NP, but being a national forest it had fewer restrictions on camping. The first day we gained about 2,000 ft elevation - about 800 more than planned due to the trail having been rerouted following the Yellowstone fires of '89. My son had quite a bit of trouble on the uphill, but I made it relatively easily.

So be sure to carry your pack during training, and make sure it's comfortable - all the weight should be on your hips - not your shoulders. And try to do some stair climbing, with or without the pack.

Good luck!

Edit by: RWSmith ( to correct a smiley-face )

[scubascout]

youre son did the 50 miler at age 4??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????!!!

[Mrw]

I think he meant that he did the 50 miler with his scout age son and that he (the dad) is age 40+, but he is not saying how far into the plus category he is.

[scubascout]

ah now i get it thanks

[RWSmith]

Occasionally, an unintended Smiley (aka, Emoticon) will find its way into a post.

FWIW, You can disable Smilies in a single post, by selecting the "Disable Smilies in this post" at the bottom of the" Post a reply frame" (that is, while you're actually composing a message). Or, you can select "Preview" when replying to a post so you can catch unintended Smilies. Or, you can go to your Profile and turn the Smilies function "on/off" (default is "on").

[Quailman]

I get it. Unless I'm quoting someone or using a url link or something, I rarely preview a post, and if it's just text I don't look to see how it came out.

Yes, I was 48. Thanks for fixing the smiley. Of course my son wasn't 4. He had just turned 7.

To earn the 50 miler award we had to do a service project along the way. I contacted the forest service to see what was available and arranged to reseal (effectively 'paint') the backcountry ranger cabin. It was an appropriate job for the two of us. I did all the ladder work and my son painted what he could reach, which wasn't much since he was only 7.

But if you've read this far, actually he had just turned 14. He held up his end just fine, and I didn't tell his mother about it having been grizzly bear territory until we returned.

[RWSmith]

Yeah, know what you mean... I'm old school (about a lot of things), too. I'm thinking of flushing the Smilies that don't have the dashes, i.e., noses.

• Old school... "8" "-" ")" (w/o the quotes and spaces) makes a...
  
• New school... "8" ")" (w/o the quotes and spaces) also makes a... (That is, unless we delete the dups.)