Any Long Distance hikers?

JessyJ03

So one of my major goals in life is to become a long distance hiker. I love to hike but I really want to push that to the max. Right now I'm not in the shape to do this goal yet but I'm working towards it. My goal is to hike the whole Arizona Trail (800 miles) straight through (all at once) by the time I'm 30 (27 now). That's just a warm up for some of the longer hikes (Appalachian trail 2100 miles, Pacific Crest trail 2,650).

Anyone a long distance or thru-hiker? What kind of fitness levels should I be hoping to achieve before my hike? I know the best training is hiking itself but I'm VERY out of shape (ie: obese) and want to do as much as I can to help me achieve my goals.

Any general advice about thru hiking or hiking in general? Any stories?

fishyfoo77

Awesome goal!!! My husband and i are doing the grand canyon for our anniversary in October. I think total it will be 30-40 miles of hiking but that's over a period of 4 days. To prepare we just hit as many local mountains here as often as we can. We are also doing insanity. Good questions I'm interested to know as well, maybe we should up our training too better prepare.

JessyJ03

Awesome goal!!! My husband and i are doing the grand canyon for our anniversary in October. I think total it will be 30-40 miles of hiking but that's over a period of 4 days. To prepare we just hit as many local mountains here as often as we can. We are also doing insanity. Good questions I'm interested to know as well, maybe we should up our training too better prepare.

The Arizona trail actually goes down the grand canyon and up the north rim. In Oct. you guys should see some snow! Sounds like a challenge.

Loulady

Hey, this site/forum is specific to the Appalachian Trail, but I've found it very helpful for general hiking advice:

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php


I'd love to take on the whole AT someday, but unfortunately, that may have to wait until I win the lottery or retire.

My current hiking goal is to thru-hike the foothills trail next spring. That can be tackled in a week.


And if you're ever lacking inspiration, check out the books "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed, and "Becoming Odyssa" by Jennifer Davis

JessyJ03

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