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  1. #1
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Default 70 Year's old and Hiking.... Serious thoughts only need application here.......

    I don't know where to start. My Dad enjoys hiking, but after a recent back operation, up and down for a little while are off the table... riding a mountain bike is still on the table, he's 75 and still going as best as he can. So I think I can plan a trip in the NJ pine barrens. Thats me on the right, my youngest brother in the middle and Dad on the left on the Angel Trail (Mason Dixon) Lancaster, PA. So I'm 25 years away from this where do you see yourself hiking when you get older..... BTW the Clubs are full of older hikers!

    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

  2. #2
    Registered User SawnieRobertson's Avatar
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    When I am 25 years older than I am right now, I see myself hiking the same way I do now--as best as I can.--Kinnickinic
    You never know just what you can do until you realize you absolutely have to do it.
    --Salaun

  3. #3

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    Your question was, "Where do you see yourself hiking when you get older?" I guess I would have to ask "older than who?" At age 68, I have three more "big" hikes planned for this year -- The Wonderland Trail in Washington State, A rim to rim to rim of the Grand Canyon, and the Ressurection Trail in Alaska. I will work in a few other hikes in between.

    For younger people who want to hike well into their elder years, I have some advice --

    protect your knees. Many of my contemporaries are unable to hike with me because their knees just won't hold up. To protect your knees: 1)Keep your body weight as light as practical. 2)Exercise evey day -- hiking is a good exercise. I wear a pedometer and make sure I get 10,000 steps a day.

    Live on less than you make so you can afford to hike when you are retired. Those who live on just social security can't afford hiking trips.

    Earlier this year, when my wife and I were hiking in the Grand Canyon, we met a 90 year old who was hiking from Phantom Ranch to the South Rim in one day. He was slow, but steady. For some reason, we don't meet many people in the bottom of the Grand Canyon that are older than we are.
    Shutterbug

  4. #4
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    You nailed it Shutterbug... these are the best years of our lives....pedometers were far to inaccurate for me, but your future plans are awsome!

    Good Luck!
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shutterbug View Post
    Earlier this year, when my wife and I were hiking in the Grand Canyon, we met a 90 year old who was hiking from Phantom Ranch to the South Rim in one day. He was slow, but steady.
    A couple of months ago I met a couple, both 86 I think they said, on the way out of the Canyon, shared a break at one of the water stops up Bright Angel. They were doing fine, slow & steady. A very cute gay couple still obviously very much in love.

    "Maverick" was, I think 86 and still doing rim-to-rims. I'm sure he would have been doing so into his 90s if it weren't for his mental breakdown and resulting death.

    My very much younger brother and frequent hiking partner said to me (unintentionally condescending) a dozen years ago "I hope I'm still able to hike these mountains when I reach YOUR age." Well, he's reached that milestone and we're both still going strong.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by SawnieRobertson View Post
    When I am 25 years older than I am right now, I see myself hiking the same way I do now--as best as I can.--Kinnickinic
    You are so funny, Kinnickinic! As I get older, I get slower, but I still see myself hiking, just not as far or as fast. Hope to still be out at 78 like Kinnickinic and maybe at 103 which is what she'll be in 25 yrs... Cimmaron is still out there and he's almost 90!

  7. #7

    Default Maverick

    Quote Originally Posted by Wil View Post
    "Maverick" was, I think 86 and still doing rim-to-rims. I'm sure he would have been doing so into his 90s if it weren't for his mental breakdown and resulting death.
    Mavrick was an inspiration. I was priviledged to meet him on one of my hikes. We road the Trans-Canyon Shuttle together from the South Rim to the North. If I remember correctly, it was his 94th rim to rim hike. I think he topped 100 before he died. I intended to take his picture at the North Rim, but while I was still adjusting my pack he was already headed down the trail. I never saw him again.


    Shutterbug

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    I'll be 83 then. I guess I'll see how much i decay between now and then. Shutterbug's ideas look good. I'd sure like to at least be day hiking.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  9. #9
    Registered User moytoy's Avatar
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    Hmm..64+25=89.. DNA may play a big role for me in this. I'm still doing 6-7 miles 5 times a week now. It's hard to say what I'll be doing at 89. My Mother died last year at 87 and she was still walking 1+ miles every day. The last picture we have of her was at Bald River Falls three days before she died. My brother said she had walked about a mile that day. If I can follow her path I'll be satisfied!
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  10. #10
    Registered User moytoy's Avatar
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    Hmm..64+25=89.. DNA may play a big role for me in this. I'm still doing 6-7 miles 5 times a week now. It's hard to say what I'll be doing at 89. My Mother died last year at 87 and she was still walking 1+ miles every day. The last picture we have of her was at Bald River Falls three days before she died. My brother said she had walked about a mile that day. If I can follow her path I'll be satisfied!
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  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shutterbug View Post
    Mavrick was an inspiration. I was priviledged to meet him on one of my hikes.
    I ran across him a couple of times but only on the third and last occasion, about two years before his death, did I spend much time with him. He was waiting for a group of younger and slower companions to catch up, and I threw away my schedule and we talked for nearly two hours

    Yes, he was an inspiration. I will never forget him.

    Most of the Rangers of course hated him and that hostility apparently boiled inside him and had some effect on his breakdown. But it's not their fault; I know so many of them and they are good people. Maverick saw himself as bigger and more important than them or their rules, and he was, but there is no way they could be expected to understand, appreciate, or accommodate that.

    Pictures I have seen of him late also show a bad look in his eyes so very different from the sparkle I remember. Clearly he was sick.

    I am getting old enough that I begin to understand the phrase "elderly curmudgeon." It's a late symptom of the terminal disease called life, I think. For some people it sets in at puberty. We need to combat that symptom just as aggressively as we do knee degeneration if we want to have a very long and happy life, hiking or otherwise.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Wil View Post

    Maverick saw himself as bigger and more important than them or their rules, and he was,
    He wasn't. His grandiose ideation may have been a symptom of his inner demons that eventually led to the murder of his wife and his suicide. His wife was the victim. And even implying that the Rangers may be in any way responsibility for his actions is absurd. I find hikers that feel themselves more important than others repulsive.

  13. #13

  14. #14

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    I hike with lots of older people. I don't think it's unusual to hike into your 80s. I just hope I can survive the work years. All this desk sitting is really hard on your body and unhealthy.
    Some knew me as Piper, others as just Diane.
    I hiked the PCT: Mexico to Mt. Shasta, 2008. Santa Barbara to Canada, 2009.

  15. #15
    Registered User Doctari's Avatar
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    Your dad was only 19 when I was born, so barring major illness or accident I'm going to hike as much as I can till I'm "DRT*" In fact, except for the hassle of someone finding me & having to lug me out of the woods, I hope that's what I'm doing when I, , , , , , reach my expiration date.
    75 doesn't seem as old to me as it used to. And hiking at that age seems not that different than at 56,,,, so far.
    So keep encouraging Dad to do his best, & someday maybe we'll meet on the trail & share "Old people stories" about how Awful young people are ("much worse than we were at that age"). LOL



    *DRT = Dead Right There
    Curse you Perry the Platypus!

  16. #16
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    My hiking partner is 72 years old and his technique is much better than I. So much so that I doubt my ability to hike at that age. I kick stumps and rocks that he seems to avoid which results in me falling every 200 miles or so - he falls about half that rate. We did call him the Legend but after meeting a 74 year old hiking by himself in the middle of nowhere this year had to back off.

    I agree that a large component of hiking longevity is genetic.

    At 72 he will ski free at Santa Fe this year. Has to wait until 80 to ski free at Taos - he may even make that lofty goal.

  17. #17
    Registered User Ewker's Avatar
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    I am only 60 (will be 61 in Nov) and I hope to be hiking a for a long time. My gf is 62 and just started backpacking about a yr ago. I broke her in on short overnight trips and have slowly increased the mileage and difficulty. She may be slow on the hills and rocky sections but she totally enjoys being out there. We are making plans for a week long hike in Sept which will be her longest time out. She is really excited about getting out for that long.
    Conquest: It is not the Mountain we conquer but Ourselves

  18. #18
    Registered User Old Boots's Avatar
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    I am 69 and am planning a thru-hike or at least a major section hike on the AT next year. My only concern is being away for 6 months. My wife just can't get along without me ( at least that is what she says). I would agree that keeping active is the best way to keep active. As long as my doctor keeps wondering how I do it, I am going to keep on doing it.

  19. #19
    Flip flop, flip flopping' LASHin' 2000 miler
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    I have hopes and fears of what I may be capable in 15, much less 25 years. My maternal grandfather died of Alzheimers, and my Dad suffers from dementia. So, I have it on both sides of the family. Maybe I'll dodge that genetic bullet, and I'll be hiking anywhere my boot-steps take me, and maintaining a nearby section of trail ...
    L Dog
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    "The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness." - John Muir

  20. #20
    Registered User Storm's Avatar
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    I feel like I'm just getting started. Have walked for exercise for 30 plus years but only started backpacking a couple years ago. I have every intention of going as long and far as my legs will take me. As someone said earlier I would be more than happy to have someone find me dead in my tent some morning. They would never get the smile off my face.
    "The difficult can be done immediately, the impossible takes a little longer"

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