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What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

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Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#131

Post by rukuu001 »

bitexploder wrote: post #50
somethingsimple wrote: post #26

How does one get started doing this kind of thing? Ever since moving to the US, and specifically to the PNW, I've been wanting to hike, but I don't know where to start. People here seem to grow up used to it, but I don't know what equipment I need, what food to bring, how to get to the trails (do I drive? what if there's no parking?), etc.

You just kind of... do it. Step 1.) Pack what this dude tells you to and follow his advice for food -- http://www.adventurealan.com/best-backpacking-food/ Step 2.) Go when temperates are cool at night, but not cold (high 40F as a minimum). This allows you to buy cheap gear to learn with. Step 3.) Pack the gear this guy tells you to -- https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-ultimate-hikers-gear-gu... Step 4.) Buy the ch…

What an excellent and helpful comment. Thanks for sharing that.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#132

Post by nether »

hsitz wrote: post #93
bootload wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"One thing that stuck out with me is that they only hiked for 8 hours/day. That seems like a light day! compared to these races," Really. Carrying a 20kg pack for eight hours over rough terrain is less strenuous than bike riding? Do this for over 500 miles? Ever done this before? Hike on foot with 20kg packs on consecutive days? Make camp, make food, rest, break camp. Everything on your back. This is a lot more stren…

""One thing that stuck out with me is that they only hiked for 8 hours/day. That seems like a light day! compared to these races," Actually, this is probably true. 8 hours a day, averaging 18 miles per day for 486 miles over 29 days is not that much. I don't see where they say they had 20kg packs, which is quite high weight for a thru-hiker. (EDIT: See now where he says he had 40 pound pack, which is probably at heav…

18 miles can be quite an effort if there's over 7,000' of elevation gain. We're not told the grade of the trail but I imagine it's not flat.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#133

Post by BadassFractal »

zoul wrote: post #128
BadassFractal wrote: post #124

Now if only we could replicate this somehow in the 21st century knowledge worker world without actually dedicating 8 hours a day to walking in nature. Any tips?

Walking a few weeks in the nature is precisely the point.

Humanity will have to figure something out here. Our bodies are evolved for hunting / gathering, yet over a few thousand years we've evolved to sitting in an office chair all day. Until our bodies have adapted to what, we need to come up with a way to simulate the environment we are actually optimized for.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#134

Post by rodionos » 

  > but on the Colorado Trail, we stuck to nuts, jerky, dried fruit, 
  > and only one carb-heavy meal a day, like a mac-and-cheese dinner.
That killed it for me. I would demand a better meal plan while on the trail. After all, one of reasons for Napoleon's victories in Europe was excellent food supplies to its troops, regardless how remote and quick the sorties were. Lots of 'foodtech' innovation happened around that time (Pasteur et al).

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#135

Post by hsitz »

nether wrote: post #132
hsitz wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

""One thing that stuck out with me is that they only hiked for 8 hours/day. That seems like a light day! compared to these races," Actually, this is probably true. 8 hours a day, averaging 18 miles per day for 486 miles over 29 days is not that much. I don't see where they say they had 20kg packs, which is quite high weight for a thru-hiker. (EDIT: See now where he says he had 40 pound pack, which is probably at heav…

18 miles can be quite an effort if there's over 7,000' of elevation gain. We're not told the grade of the trail but I imagine it's not flat.

The CT is about 500 miles long and has about 90,000 feet of accumulated elevation gain, which averages out to 3,200 feet over each 18 miles. That's not especially much for mountain hiking. One thing that makes the CT a bit harder is that it lies mostly at altitudes over 10,000 feet, where the air is thinner. Hiking 18 miles/day is quite an effort in any case, but still doing it on a hike like the CT is something the average person can do if they set their mind to it and train a bit for it.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#136

Post by nraynaud »

BarkMore wrote: post #95
Dowwie wrote: post #36

I came across three emaciated, bearded men on the continental divide trail in glacier national park. When I asked one of them where he was from he looked at his buddies and they all replied excitedly, in unison, "Mexico!". It was at that moment that I came to realize that these men were one day away from completing the entire thru-hike. I vividly recall one of their dinners: Dried ramen noodle, straight from the bag.…

When you carry your gear for a thousands of miles, you reevaluate what you really need. A stove is not needed because food can be consumed raw. A full tent is not needed because a basic tarp and careful site selection are enough to keep a person dry while sleeping. Toilet paper is not needed because smooth rocks, leaves and other material found on the trail can be used to wipe.

I need some comfort to sleep otherwise I'm more and more tired on the trail, I get up later and later and get cranky and then I just frigging stop and go back home.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#137

Post by tluyben2 »

munificent wrote: post #45
stuckagain wrote: post #3

Secrets to fitness revealed! 1: Stand up 2: Go outside 3: Walk around a lot

Those are the easy steps. You forgot: 0: Acquire the free time and money to not have to work, take care of others, etc. for extended periods of time.

>Acquire the free time and money to not have to work,

I do a lot of work while walking and hiking; as a programmer, most my time is spent thinking which I do not need a computer for. Well, I need a phone or tablet to find stuff on internet to think up a solution, but I can do that during walking. And I do. It won't give me a month of 8 hours / day, but it does give hours of walking per day. I did hikes of 4-6 hours / day in fulltime work days while sleeping / working in hotels on way points of the hike. 4-5 hours of walking/dictating/looking up stuff and then 2 hours of typing in/testing/delegating when arriving at a hotel.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#138

Post by ceocoder »

jon_richards wrote: post #112
Dowwie wrote: post #36

I came across three emaciated, bearded men on the continental divide trail in glacier national park. When I asked one of them where he was from he looked at his buddies and they all replied excitedly, in unison, "Mexico!". It was at that moment that I came to realize that these men were one day away from completing the entire thru-hike. I vividly recall one of their dinners: Dried ramen noodle, straight from the bag.…

The best foods for backpacking are actually peanut butter, salami (depending on the brand), cheese, and nutella. They all have roughly the same calorie density at about 70% fat. Toblerone actually comes surprisingly close (even compared to other chocolates/candies). Raman noodles or tortillas or something like that are generally used as a carrier for those foods to keep you sane, but they aren't very good from a weig…

> Some people actually just drink cooking oil, but it's rarely worth the tiny bit of extra weight efficiency.

Is this really a thing? I've read quite a bit about thruhikers and have never encountered this. If you have any more details, mind sharing?

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#139

Post by microtonal »

morgante wrote: post #80

By far the best shape I've ever been in was after hiking the 270-mile Long Trail in high school. It's the only time on my life—before or after—that I've ever been not overweight. The amazing thing about thru-hiking is that you can start in any shape and come out healthier. For a while last year I toyed with the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail. I even did a few practice hikes of a week or two, but ultimately real…

Why not do something that is easy to maintain on a daily/weekly basis? I cycle to work every day (approx. 11 km, so 22 km per day). In the summer I usually take a route where I have to climb quite a bit twice a week. Going by train/car takes approximately the same time. I am fit and have a good weight.

When I was still studying, I climbed indoor twice a week, which made me extremely fit. But after a couple of years I got bored.

I am on a regular Dutch/Germany diet.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#140

Post by morgante »

microtonal wrote: post #139
morgante wrote: post #80

By far the best shape I've ever been in was after hiking the 270-mile Long Trail in high school. It's the only time on my life—before or after—that I've ever been not overweight. The amazing thing about thru-hiking is that you can start in any shape and come out healthier. For a while last year I toyed with the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail. I even did a few practice hikes of a week or two, but ultimately real…

Why not do something that is easy to maintain on a daily/weekly basis? I cycle to work every day (approx. 11 km, so 22 km per day). In the summer I usually take a route where I have to climb quite a bit twice a week. Going by train/car takes approximately the same time. I am fit and have a good weight. When I was still studying, I climbed indoor twice a week, which made me extremely fit. But after a couple of years I…

Keto has so far been quite easy to maintain. It's just a simple habit change.

I already walk to work every day.

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