Over 60-yo

[tomman]

Cherokee Bill,
I would love to do some planning to hike with you. I am 76 years old and have COPD which means I will have to start slow until my lungs get build up to handle the mountains. My Doctor tells me that if i take it easy in the beginning I should be alright. I may have a bit of trouble going up the mountains in the beginning but if I stay after it after a few miles I should be able to hike at a fairly good pace.

I have started working out around here in Texas, the problem being I do not have any mountains to climb for exercise. I ca work out in the gym on weight wand treadmills and may be some stair climbers. I think the main thing I need to do is just walk until I can get up to 5 to 6 miles every day. What are you doing to get into shape?

I have most of my gear and I have been trying to keep it very light with out going so light that I get into trouble. I know what the weather is like on the trail so I plan to dress accordingly. Then when the weather lets up I can send some things home.

Let me know what you think?

Why did you choose Cherokee Bill? I chose mine because I am part Cherokee and my greatgreatgrandfather was named Cherokee Tom.
Tom Mantooth
Cherokee Tom

[Cherokee Bill]

Cherokee Bill,
I would love to do some planning to hike with you. I am 76 years old and have COPD which means I will have to start slow until my lungs get build up to handle the mountains. My Doctor tells me that if i take it easy in the beginning I should be alright. I may have a bit of trouble going up the mountains in the beginning but if I stay after it after a few miles I should be able to hike at a fairly good pace.

I have started working out around here in Texas, the problem being I do not have any mountains to climb for exercise. I ca work out in the gym on weight wand treadmills and may be some stair climbers. I think the main thing I need to do is just walk until I can get up to 5 to 6 miles every day. What are you doing to get into shape?

I have most of my gear and I have been trying to keep it very light with out going so light that I get into trouble. I know what the weather is like on the trail so I plan to dress accordingly. Then when the weather lets up I can send some things home.

Let me know what you think?

Why did you choose Cherokee Bill? I chose mine because I am part Cherokee and my greatgreatgrandfather was named Cherokee Tom.
Tom Mantooth
Cherokee Tom

Sent you a PM, but as usual the DAMN server seemed to crash, so I do not know if it got out or not. Happens to me all the time lately, don't know why I renewed my Donating Memberrship?????

Keep in touch by "PM"

[rmitchell]

You may want to check out trailjournals.com. Listed in 2012 AT hikers is MamawB (Barbara Allen). She is 72 years old and presently doing a thru hike. I met her on the trail around Pearisburg a coulple of weeks ago.

[Cherokee Bill]

You may want to check out trailjournals.com. Listed in 2012 AT hikers is MamawB (Barbara Allen). She is 72 years old and presently doing a thru hike. I met her on the trail around Pearisburg a coulple of weeks ago.

------------------
2nd try at a response! Damn server crapped on me agin here!

Thanks for the reply! Have read all her posts and have bookmarked it as well.

[WhoAh]

You might also want to read Hopeful's journal. He has done the Trail twice now, the last time in 2011.

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=11473

I'm up there with you (63 y/o), and wheras I am not going to attempt another Thru (tried it in 2007 and screwed my knee up in the Smokies), I will be up there in March going for a couple of weeks. Like a the others have said - easy does it from the start (Georgia is the training grounds...), keep you base weight down, rest often, and just have a ball. It's your journey, not the blokes who go rocking by you and are doing the big mileages.

[Hairbear]

Hoping to do a Thru (NOBO) w/the Class of 2013. I will be 66-yo at that time, having retired this year (2012).
I am a Cancer Survivor and have the standard age challenges: aches/pain, move slower, etc.,etc.
I have however, been hiking the AT off/on since the early 80”s,so I do have some experience.
I wonder what tips/info folks have that completed a Thru,who were at least 60 or older at the time?

hope to see you out there good luck

[Wil]

I've considered doing the AT during just about every post-teenage age decade to date (declined to being in bad shape in my 30s but subsequently smartened up). Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is always there. I'll keep taking a look every once in a while, just in case.

[Winds]

Hoping to do a Thru (NOBO) w/the Class of 2013.

I have not the wisdom to offer but the presence to think: Wishing you great success in your epic journey!

~ Cheers

[Papa D]

You can do more than you think you can - - for starters, stop comparing yourself to other people your age and take what naysayers say with a big grain of salt - - sure, start out slowly in GA - probably everybody should do that but I would say that you shouldn't plan on "taking it easy" - the hike will be hard. If you start hiking at 4:30 am most mornings, you will have about an hour+ jump on your younger thru peers - - they might pass you later in the day but you will be surprised how you will end up at the same spot as most almost every night. You won't be the fastest and that's obviously not your goal but don't sell yourself short either. Here is a link to an article about a guy I'm striving to be like when I'm his age - right now, he's probably in better shape than me and he has me by over 30 years!

fatshapetofitshape.blogspot.com/2011/10/don-wildman-profile-circuit-esquire.html

[wannahike]

[QUOTE=billyboy;1290025]Thanks so much my friend! Live w/n 20-mi of the Priest (on the AT) so I hiked to the top this past Thursday! Going up was not bad, but coming down my knees cursed me all the way! So I am hitting the "Y" more than normal in an attempt to build up the body!

At the gym make sure that you equally exercise your quads and hamstrings, if there is an imbalance it can really mess with your knees.

[SawnieRobertson]

Granma Soule. She was tiny. I've run across descriptions in trail books about the author's encounter with her on the trail. She would be mistaken for a little boy because of her pace as well as her size. There were all sorts of factors that probably helped her be the hiker she was. For one thing she had a very supportive husband, Ken. He respected her sport; she, his, which was golf. In one conversation she told me that she kept so able by doing a daily 8-mile walk on a course which she had made out. She trusted others. She believed in AT thruhikers. Her pack was not what we would describe as light weight. I visited Shaw's one time, and Mrs. Shaw and I exchanged Granma Soule stories. She described Verna's morning when she was putting on her pack as she began her trek through the 100-mile Wilderness.
Verna was carrying 10 days worth of food. So were the others (men) who were taking off at the same time. They were struggling to get their packs on. Verna just leaned over, threw it over her head, let it settle into place, and was ready to go. A few years later she tried a thru feeling not quite so strong as she had previously. When she got to Hot Springs, Ken came for her. She was exhausted. It was the second time during that attempt that he had come for her at her request. That time though she changed her mind and set out again without his giving her a grumpy bad time of it. (I may have got that out of sequence, but both occurred that year.) A later year, maybe the next, she was going to do a supported thru. She sent me her planned itinerary. Every day from Day One was a 12-mile hike. She did that quite well through Massachusetts. Then Lyme hit her as she approahed Manchester Center. A tiny tick was found in her ear. She went home permanently that time. Then cancer overtook her a year or so later, and she died. From her I learned that it is not how old you are. It is how much you weigh. (Not just the pack.) And how devoted you are to your sport, preparing for it daily. And not being fearful, having faith in other hikers. (Not looking for a "snake" behind every bush.) Doing what you can, not what others can. She remains my inspiration, and I do not blame my being older than the AT for any lack of ability to walk it. It is mostly prep, attitude, devotion to giving it another try.

[SawnieRobertson]

Hours later after posting the above note about Verna Soule (Granma Soule) I have come across a short letter that she sent me in 1998. In it she says "I have backpacked since 1974. Have done the A. T. (thru hike) in 1987." When she wrote that she was a lot older than most of those who have posted on this thread, being concerned about their age. After that I know of the two attempts she made which I mentioned.

[Drybones]

Age is a case of mind over matter...if you dont mind it dont matter.

Gettin old seems bad....until you consider the alternative.

Go for the gusto!

[Grampie]

I thru hiked when I was 66 years old. My advise would be: take your time, do 8 to 10 mile days until you get into trail shape. It will take 4 to 6 weeks . Take a "0" every 5 days until you get into trail shape. Learn to eat something every 2 hours. Start drinking water before you get thirsty. Carry a good sleeping pad. (I used a Thermal Rest). Start taking glucosamine & chondroitin, 1500 mg daily. Start now. Walk bear foot as much as you can to toughen up your feet. Most of all 'hike your own hike." There will be plenty of rabbits out there. You are the hair.

[Charlestonyankee]

Sounds familiar, I retired May 2012 and will start a AT thru hike in 2013. I will be doing a short hike end of Aug on the Mohawk trail in CT.

[Drybones]

Billyboy...good luck on your hike. I'm 63, tried a thru hike this spring, made it 414 miles and was forced to stop due to old torn cartilage issues in the knees. I will return in the spring and take up where I left off. I believe I know now how to better care for the knees. Lessons learned: 1) you can still do 20+ miles per day but do it in 10 hours instead of 8. 2) eat better, good food is better than a light pack, more protein. 3) Take glucosimine, it's worth the ounces of weight. 3) When the knees start to flare up, stop and ice them asap. 4) I actually enjoyed hiking more once the knees forced me to slow down...smell the roses. 5) Hike when you feel like hiking, rest when you feel like resting.

[GRRRR]

I'll be 66 this Dec and part of the class of 2013 in March. Hope to see you then.

[BFI]

Food... know what your body needs to perform at a high calorie burn rate. I found Pastas the best for me. ( I’m 61). When I got into towns I loaded up on salads and red meat. Lots of people have said it , Hike your own hike, it’s not a race. Do everything possible to stay healthy. Young ones bounce back from illness sooner . Be fastidious about bathroom procedures. Don’t eat from other hikers gorp bags. Use the lightest equipment you can afford & use hiking poles. Most of all enjoy every step you take.

[BFI]

I met these two this spring just north of Pearisburg one is 82 the other 78 Mile 631 The hiking sisters.jpg

[LeConte]

I'll be 70 when I start on March 10, 2013. I have hike a lot of the trail but next year I want to thru hike and get this monkey of completed sections here and there off my back! I have hike a lot in the Whites. Believe me everyone, they are to be respected but not to be feared. I fear the Smoky Mountains more then the Whites. The Smokies can make love to you with sunshine in the latter part of March and smack you down with three feet of snow the next day and below zero temperatures. I should be entering the Smokies about April 1...that's a little early but I am not putting off starting until April. If it gets bad in the Smokies, I'll skip them and start at Davenport Gap. Not like I haven't hiked the AT in the Smokies 14 times before. :-)