Longer trips / hiking.
There’s no reason to be afraid of extended trips. Once you’re comfortable with equipment, sure of your needs outdoors and satisfied with your hiking performance, then by all means go. Increase distances and nights outside incrementally. Go five–six miles a day for two days, then three. If all goes well on shorter runs, go back further, climb higher and spend more nights on the trail.Allow yourself the option to go back if things don’t work out. Slip into outdoorsperson-mode carefully. Remember it’s supposed to be fun.And like anything else, the more you hike and camp, the better you’ll get at it.
First backpacking trip
Plan to hike two–four miles in, camp overnight and hike back out.
Where?
A local map may yield some answers.
The physical challenge
It’s not easy hiking with a 40-pound pack. It gets easier after you get going. Over time you can develop a tolerance, even a taste for it. But it’s a real chore at first. Plan your distances carefully. It’s better to feel that you could have done more after a hike than to feel beaten and exhausted.
Attitude
Determine why you are backpacking on a given trip. Is it a pleasant escape from the day to day or is it a race against time and distance? The latter may become an ugly trial if you’re not experienced, prepared or in tiptop physical condition.
It’s wise to leave expectations at the trail head and take the hike one or two miles at a time.Take regular rest and water breaks — like every hour. Advance through your hike in a steady manner. Let the terrain, weather conditions and your body dictate the pace of your hike and the distance you cover.There is a proper pace for every hike. Furthermore, there is a proper pace for every portion of a hike. Get in sync with it.
Hiking heros
There’s an outdoor culture that continues to astonish me. Every time I get back in there far enough I find someone else who’s been so much further back for a lot longer. I was on a 45-mile trek and thinking I was some kind of Daniel Boone when I ran into three young men loping (yeah loping) through a 100-mile journey.As they sped by I noticed they were wearing sandals! Later on I meet some superman who ran my 45-mile trip in 12 hours carrying only a bottle of water and some power bars.That night I went on about how tough the day’s hike had been to a fellow camper. He told me he was on his way to Canada from Mexico. So much for braggadocio. I’m just a wet noodle with this crowd.
Parting words
● Dayhike several hikes before you backpack.
● Hike in only a short distance at first. Maybe only a mile or two.
● Allow plenty of daylight to make camp.
● Increase distance and difficulty of hikes gradually.
● Monitor your effort and take frequent water, rest and assessment breaks.
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