Backpacking - A hobby for all body types?

Also....PACK OUT YOUR TOILET PAPER. Do not try to burn it or bury it (people have started raging forest fires trying to burn their tp). Coming across wads of tp in an otherwise beautiful wilderness area is beyond gross. Camp at least 100 feet from any water source also.

I hike rather than backpack, but I have been using poles lately. I feel kind of weird using them, but they definitely make hills and uneven terrain a lot easier. They engage the upper body to help so you get a bit of an arm workout as well. The primary benefit for me is that my hands often swell up during a hike, and arm engagement keeps that from happening. I got mine from Amazon, and they were not expensive.

5 miles/day is definitely doable for a beginner of average fitness. Rest when you need to, have a little snack when you need to, and have fun.

jenniferp04 wrote: »

I would never have even thought about burning it. Seems like a risky move. lol. We were suggested ziplock bagging it. haha. Thanks for the advice though!

Take baby wipes for TP. You will use less material and it easier to fold into squares as you're using it. Also baby wipes packs better clean and dirty into ziplock bags.

PAtinCO wrote: »

Avid hiker and backpacker here. Lots of great advise here.

Re: Shoes. My personal preference for both day hiking and backpacking is a running shoe. Trail runners are best but regular running shoes are fine too. Hiking boots weigh too much and wear you out faster, plus they trap moisture from sweat inside your shoes making them more likely to cause blisters. The main thing with light shoes is to keep your pack light too. On an overnight trip my pack is about 18lbs, add 2 for every day in additional food. I never exceed 30lbs.

I am by no means an expert...as I said I've only done one two day hike. But I and another person wore running shoes (regular running shoes, not trail runners) because we didn't have any type of hiking books. The trail was very rocky and after a while we definitely felt the rocks through our running shoes. It became painful after several hours.

Also, we had light rain through much of the afternoon. Yes, this trip was brutal in many ways for me. Years later, my friend and I still refer to it as our Bataan Death March. The friend who organized the trip is not as amused by this as we are. LOL! Anyway, the running shoes gave us no traction on the wet rocks and I slipped and took a rather nasty fall at one point. No broken bones, Just bad scrapes and bumps and enough blood on the rocks to look like a murder scene.

After the fact, the others told us we shouldn't have worn running shoes.

I'm sure they might have been fine if the trail was mostly dirt, but on rock they were terrible. Just my experience.

MoiAussi93 wrote: »

PAtinCO wrote: »

Avid hiker and backpacker here. Lots of great advise here.

Re: Shoes. My personal preference for both day hiking and backpacking is a running shoe. Trail runners are best but regular running shoes are fine too. Hiking boots weigh too much and wear you out faster, plus they trap moisture from sweat inside your shoes making them more likely to cause blisters. The main thing with light shoes is to keep your pack light too. On an overnight trip my pack is about 18lbs, add 2 for every day in additional food. I never exceed 30lbs.

I am by no means an expert...as I said I've only done one two day hike. But I and another person wore running shoes (regular running shoes, not trail runners) because we didn't have any type of hiking books. The trail was very rocky and after a while we definitely felt the rocks through our running shoes. It became painful after several hours.

Also, we had light rain through much of the afternoon. Yes, this trip was brutal in many ways for me. Years later, my friend and I still refer to it as our Bataan Death March. The friend who organized the trip is not as amused by this as we are. LOL! Anyway, the running shoes gave us no traction on the wet rocks and I slipped and took a rather nasty fall at one point. No broken bones, Just bad scrapes and bumps and enough blood on the rocks to look like a murder scene.

After the fact, the others told us we shouldn't have worn running shoes.

I'm sure they might have been fine if the trail was mostly dirt, but on rock they were terrible. Just my experience.

I'm sure different people have different results with them. Having said that, I do hike on really rocky trails including some of our 14,000 foot peaks here in Colorado. Watching where you step is key on those trails, as is having steady ankles. I do generally use trail runners though as they have better soles for wet rock and loose gravel.

As for wet feet, I've just learned not to mind them. I've found that wet feet are just a part of hiking. Whether you sweat from within or get wet from without, I almost always wind up with wet feet. With a running shoe and a merino wool sock, it'll usually dry out in about 20 minutes of walking, even after stepping up over my ankles (or knees) in a creek. Do that in a boot and it's still going to get wet, waterproof or not. It'll just take days to dry.

In the end, use what makes you most comfortable. From what I see, most people start with sturdier boots and move to trail runners as they progress and gain experience and strength. There might be something to be said for that.

Take care of your feet! Wear the right socks. Blisters will ruin your hike and the week after.

I've done a lot of hiking, including lots of off-trail, and some technical climbing. I got to the point where I'd spend 90% of my hikes in a running shoe. If I knew the trail had difficult terrain, I'd carry my heavier boots in my pack and only put them on when I needed them. That meant a pretty heavy pack, though. Ideally, you want to wear the lightest shoe that will work for your conditions.

The other thing beginners do badly is weight balance in the pack. Plan on stopping after a mile or two to re-pack your pack. Your shoulders and back should not work hard when you're hiking. Most people pack the weight too far back. The heavy stuff needs to be right against your body.

On an overnight backpack, chipmunks are your enemy. Keep your food secure.

For preparation, I'd walk outside. Hills, the steeper the better. If it's easy, walk faster. Work on finding a pace you can keep up for a long period of time. Hiking when you're out of shape is fun; hiking when you're in good cardio-vascular shape is the greatest thing on Earth!

Hanging food is best, but if you're careful, you can get away with good air-tight containers. Be careful, though. Stuff like instant oatmeal packets, or mac-and-cheese cups, aren't all that air-tight. I've had chipmunks eat holes in my tent, backpack, and a nylon stuff sack to get a bag of trail mix that I forgot was in there.

jenniferp04 wrote: »

I was reading a thru-hiking book over the weekend and the girl who wrote it said she'd leave her pack unzipped at night so mice could go in check it out and leave without chewing holes in her pack. LOL. I would have never thought about the little hungry ones being a pain.... only bears. haha.

Since I dont have a pack yet how much mileage should I shoot for with regular hiking? I read somewhere if youre shooting for 5 with a pack do 8 miles without one as practice til you have all of your gear.

Walmart has, or had, these great roll-top nylon bags in camping section by Outdoor Products. Not water proof though same design, but pretty good. Really good for putting all the food into, 3 different sizes, which I use for 3 daily meal organization, can fit about 4 days in each, dinner being biggest bag. Something big enough for cookware too is good.

Where you are going may actually have rules for what is required - you may have to get a bear canister - find out ahead if rentable and how big it is to hold your food. They may require bear bagging, which takes care of mice too. Except underfoot while trying to eat.

Get a big carabiner type clip, and you can hang the whole mess of bags on a tree limb for the mouse problem if bear bagging not required.
If you are hitting well established camping areas - they will be there, the little beggars.
So sleep no where near where you eat. And confirm no food in pack or as you read, leave totally open so they can explore but not chew through, which means don't zip up pack in tent with you, leave outside.

5-8 is great distance. Enough to know the legs can do it.
Enough to know the shoes especially feel alright. Nothing worse than finding the soles squish too much (again problem using running shoes) and that causes achilles friction.

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

kwtilbury wrote: »

How much ground will you cover? You may want to go on some training hikes to build up to it. Put some weight in your pack and off you go. Apparently, it's the latest fitness trend - called "rucking".

Never heard of "rucking" but I agree with this. Practice hiking with the weight to see if you can manage.

Rucking is a military term originally. It comes from ruck sack.

A few things about backpacking/rucking.

1. Start out easy, then build
2. Use boots once you start tacking on the weights. Failure to do so will result in you spraining or flat out snapping your ankles.
3. Take care of your feet and your body in general while rucking. Stop for 5 minutes every 4 miles and hydrate, change socks as needed.
4. want a good goal for rucking. The infantry has that goal. 12 miles in 3 hours with 65lbs weight. When that gets too easy go for the goal we had in the Ranger units. 12 miles, 125lbs, 3 hours.
5. Mind you these are military combat arms minimums and by the time we've been rucking for a year or so we knock out these times in less than 3 hours.
6. It works the whole body, hard - and your muscles will be screaming after mile 1.