Preparing to thru hike the Pacific Crest Trail.

Pardon me for saying this, but 15 miles a day at your weight, plus the weight of a full pack, is an ambitious goal. Especially the longer the hike goes. One thing you should do for sure is train with a heavy pack. Like 30 pounds. You can do this on a dreadmill in the beginning, but eventually you are going to want to hit some more aggressive terrain to get the feel of what you are up against. Good luck to you, sounds like a lot of fun!! I'm hoping to do similar hikes once I retire!!

I would suggest practicing a few day hikes first. Figure out how far you will walk in 1 session, and try to do that. I do mostly day walking in the midwest at forest preserves, so its not that technical. I can say after 2.5 hours I'm really looking forward to finishing my walk. 3 hour walks can be a little brutal on the knees, and for me that is about 12 miles.

Things you will want to consider:

1. Knees, lower back, and upper back area (lats) if you are carrying anything. Again, if you practice a few walks you can find out if there is pain and make adjustments as necessary. You may have sore knees and ankles after a day or two as well.

2. Perhaps consider splitting up the hike into phases, maybe 2-3 sessions. Then you can walk 5 miles, take a break, walk 5 more, another break, etc...

Mostly you need a full body weight lifting and cardio program. I don't think the specific exercise matters too much, there are so many effective ones. Hit all body areas and major muscle groups and core. Squats, lunges, deads, rows, curls, and presses, plus core work. You can't say a goblet squat will make you a better hiker than a back squat, or a bent over row is more effective than a single arm row, etc. It would be perfectly fine to switch up the specific variations as you go along. Check out the thread in the Gaining forum, "Which lifting program is right for you?"

Try to get out for as much hiking on your off days as possible and do a couple of short backpacking trips. It will help your conditioning and to shake down your gear and routine.

Nutrition is an important part of your prep before the trip. Protein helps build muscle. Nutritional planning for the trip itself will keep you going through long days. Cooking isn't that hard because I would get a bunch of freeze dried meals from REI, etc., but you might want to try some out to see what you like and what agrees with you. I find my taste changes on the trail and food I like while out tastes disgusting to me at home, so keep that in mind too.

I don't know what you have for gear. Get some well fitted hiking boots and a pack fit to your body. These two pieces make all the difference in a happy trip. Try them out before you go. Also consider getting a hydration system as part of your pack. If you don't have trekking poles, get some!

Have fun preparing and going! I hope you will post pics!

About balance.

This is the Kendall Katwalk, about 6 miles north of Snoqualmie Pass on the PCT. People died building this section of the trail. You might be here on a gorgeous, dry, sunny day, or in the rain. Have shoes you're comfort in, and a pack you can manage. (But you'll already have hiked 2,000 miles of trail by this point.)

Might I just say -- re: kayak4water -- on the footwear.
I tend to prefer boots. I have hiked 20-25 mile days in running shoes and my feet felt quite beat up at the end of those days. Granted, my shoes were old, and by "trail shoes" I am going to assume you mean something with a sturdy sole. But, for clarifications sake, I would just like to mention that walking on sharp rocks and hard trail, all day, in soft, filmsy footwear, is not fun.

Hike your own hike.
There are so many ways to walk. But ultimately, four words say it all: "Hike your own hike." Don't copy someone else's gear list or hiking wear because it is the only way. Do it if you have no other reference point from which to start. Accept that you need to change something if it doesn't work for you. That is one way to know you're hiking your own hike. Don't try to keep up with someone if you're so exhausted come day's end, that you don't even clean up before crawling into your sleeping gear.

When conditions change, it may require that you change your "hike." Make sure you have fun, however you define fun. You might want to be flexible on the definition of "fun," so you can enjoy yourself. If you do this you won't feel "incomplete" if you can't finish the trail for any reason.

On walking:. Most of us walk quite well on level floors without a pack. Add a pack, trekking poles and a five degree hill and many people begin to activate muscles that add little to the hike. I've seen dirt fly out from people's heels while ascending a hill, when they put their calves into high gear to help them up and/or they take bigger steps. Sadly, the calf muscles don't add much to a long climb. Taking bigger steps turns an aerobic walk into a muscle building session. The quadriceps (front of the thigh) muscles do the work of getting us up hills and can do it all day long without screaming, if we use them efficiently. Yeah, this may be too much information for most of us. We should just go out and walk!

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