Preparing for an High Adventure Hike

[dan]

With High adventure time coming up I thought we could give each other ideas for preparing for them.

I am an over 50 year old scouter, I have been on 3 High Adventures Hikes and I thought I would tell you how I tried to get ready for each one.

 

The first one I went on was to Double H Ranch a 50 miler. To get ready for this one I did 2 hikes of 8 miles on Saturday and Sunday with a 50 pounds pack for 4 weeks, on weeknights I rode the stationary bike for 5 miles each night. This got me into ok shape.

 

The second trip was to Philmont a 78 miler, I was out of town for a month straight for work, I lost 15 pounds in that month by walking around the plant we where implementing the computer system in. Philmont was not to bad, but Baldy would have been easier if I would have had time to work out more, we where working 13 hours a day, did not leave much time for training.

 

The third trip was last year we hiked 50 miles through the Rockies, now this trip I did the same backpacking on the weekends as the first trip, but the stationary bike was gone and I was using a little home stair stepper 3 nights during the week for around 20 minutes. I had a week of vacation 2 weeks before I left, my son and I hiked 10 miles everyday for eight days, I started with 50 pounds in my pack and worked up to 70 pounds by the 3rd day, my son started with 70 pounds in his pack I did not know this, I could not understand why I was out hiking him until the 2nd day when he said he started with 70 pounds.

We live in the flatlands of Illinois so most of the hiking was on flat level ground. On Tuesday we started hiking up a pretty good size hill for Illinois, before and after the 10 mile hike.

On Wednesday my son and I where dragging pretty bad the 10 mile hike was tough, we took Thursday off from hiking. On Friday the hike was pretty easy, Let our bodies recover a day made a huge differences. We walked up the hill did the 10 mile hike than waked up the hill 4 more times, did the same on Saturday and Sunday.

The next week I rode my bike 10 miles every night for 5 nights, than we headed to Colorado.

 

I drink lots of water starting a week before I leave for the higher elevation this really helps me with the elevation change.

[Gold Winger]

I did an 80 mile trek at Philmont last year. To get ready, I was at the gym four or five days a week, spending 30 minutes on the stairmachine and 30 minutes on the treadmill. After that, I'd hit the weight machines concentrating on leg presses.

 

For hikes we did montly hike on the AT, usually about 15 or 20 miles for the weekend with some big elevation changes. 800 up, 600 down, 700 up. Level. Never saw it.

 

I would also walk around my hilly neighborhood with a 30 lb pack.

 

After all of this training I droppd about 1,000 lbs of blubber. I never became as fast at the youngsters but I never had any muscle soreness hiking around Philmont.

 

Training is important. I ran into some adults at Philmont who hadn't done any training and they were in sorry shape.

[GernBlansten]

None of my training was done on machines. I hate working out indoors.

 

Our training for Philmont started with a few 10 mile loops with light packs in Jan/Feb. For me the 7 mile mark is when I start feeling things that didn't work right. Hot spots on the feet, mal-adjusted packs, etc. You really got to push to the 10 mile mark to get things sorted out.

 

We then did a 30 miler to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in March. April weekends was more 10 mile loops with at least 1000ft gains and increasing pack weight. May we started climbing 14nrs, 8 - 12 mile loops with 4000 ft gains and light packs. In June, I did a 100 mile bike ride. By trek time late June, we were tan, rested and ready. One benefit we had was all our training was at or above Philmont altitudes so we had no acclimatization issues.

 

I actually gained some weight at Philmont but my waist size decreased. Didn't take long to get my pants to fit afterwards though!

[dan]

GernBlansten

I find it assuming that your prehikes may have been done where we went for the High Adventure.

 

I agree that indoor training is boring, but you do what you have to do.

[Gold Winger]

Gern, after hiking the Grand Canyon and probably climbing Everest as well, I really have to wonder why your guys bothered with Philmont. It semms like it might have been a bit anti-climatic.

[GernBlansten]

GW, we didn't climb Everest, we climbed Elbert, 14,433 ft., Missouri Mt, 14,067 and Mt. Massive, 14,421. But not on the same day.

Philmont is a great prep for some of our mountains.

The topography of Philmont is very similar to our backyard. So for us Philmont was all about the program, which we enjoyed tremendously. Sure the scenery was nice but we have bigger mountains.

[dan]

Darn I meant amusing not assuming!

[Ohio_Scouter]

We took 2 crews of 11 folks each to Philmont during the summer of 2007. Each crew (612-O1 and 612-O2) did a 75-mile trek. Our preparation basically consisted of individual training and completing 4 of 6 scheduled preparation hikes prior to our treks.

 

We're located in southwestern Ohio, so our prep hikes were conducted from October, 2006 through May, 2007 at Hocking Hills State Park, OH, Red River Gorge, KY, East Fork State Park, OH, Shawnee State Park, OH, Zaleski State Park, OH, and the Mischa Mokwa Trail located in Cumberland Gap National Park, KY.

 

These hikes ranged in distance from 15 - 20 miles each in some of the hilliest locations in southern Ohio and central Kentucky. Our last hike along the Mischa Mokwa Trail in Cumberland Gap National Park was the longest (20 miles) and highest (about 3,500 feet in elevation). That's as high as it gets in our area.

 

There is an earthen dam located in our neighborhood which was built for flood control along one of the local rivers. On each side of the dam, there are a series of 100 steps which are perfect for getting your legs in shape. Three or four times a week, I would walk these steps for about 1 hour each day to help condition my legs. Eventually, I was walking up and down these steps with a full pack weighing about 50 lbs.

 

Unfortunately for me, towards the end of October, 2006, I had a heart attack and had to undergo quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery. Consequently, I was unable to attend our first 2 prep hikes scheduled for October and November, 2006. Fortunately, though, I also underwent a rigorous cardiac rehabilitation program at the local hospital, and by February, 2007, my cardiologist let me attend the last 4 Philmont prep hikes with our crews.

 

By time our treks rolled around in June, 2007, I had recovered enough that my doctor allowed me to travel to Philmont with the rest of our crews to hike our treks. When I got there, the Philmont medical staff checked me out, and after a short rest to help lower my blood pressure and checking to insure that I had sufficient medication, they let me hit the trail. We finished our treks without incident, and we thought it was the best high adventure trip of our scouting careers. It amazed me how physically fit you can become if you are truly motivated !