"Older backpackers"-What concessions are you willing to make as you age?

Gary D. wrote, “Sometimes I hate growing older.”

Yeah Gary, but it beats the alternative. ;o)

UPDATE TO GARY’S COMMENT BELOW:

Old Amish Saying- “Ve get too soon old undt too late smart.” My wife says I’ll never get smart.

Eric, I think we need some kind of pill that makes us age more slowly and wiser more quickly.

This is truly an inspirational thread. I’m incredibly impressed by the creativity, perseverance, and accomplishments described here.

As a 55-year old who has experienced some set-backs due to degenerative conditions, and whose wife had a total hip replacement at age 49, I can’t even imagine doing some of the things that some of you are doing in your 70s! But it’s wonderful to hear that you are able to do them, and it gives me hope that I will find ways to continue some sort of backpacking for many years to come.

Dan, I get new hip #2 tomorrow and fully anticipate participating in a full slate of hiking and backpacking trips next summer.  I hope your wife hasn’t had to let the hip slow her down.  Well, it’s OK to slow down a bit but not stop!

And Gary, as far as that anti-aging smarter sooner pill, we would not be able to afford it.  Probably the closest we can come is eating wisely and exercising.  Even though a pill would be easier!

Good luck, Jenny. Given your “Front Range” location, you and my wife may have the same doctor!

So, Jenny, today’s the day for ‘part 2’? I’m going to start calling you the Hippy Chick! Let me know how it goes. I’ll help out however I can, just let me know…

Eric, I’d heard that cute quote decades ago. There was a poster in my dad’s office in the 1950s that said it was an old German saying. But then, aren’t the Amish of German descent?

People, I still want those pills!

I’m 66 and in good health. In May I started a through hike of ½ of the Arizona Trail, but had to bail after 3 days due to what turned out to be plantar fasciitis. Finally pain free about 2 months ago, started training hikes again, the “test” backpacks the last month. Now planning to get back on the trail in about a week and a half.

in preparing for this trip I spent a small fortune on lightweight equipment, including moving from my favorite Osprey Atmos pack to a lighter Osprey Exos. Used the Exos a lot, but find my back hurts. With the Atmos it doesn’t hurt, even though it weighs more.

Anyone else find that when it comes to pack padding and suspension lighter isn’t necessarily better when it comes to older bodies?

Jim E, It may or may not be that the Exos is lighter and less padded.  It may be that it just isn’t the right pack for you.  Before giving up and returning to the extra weight of the beefier pack, you might want to try out some of the other offerings out there.  Kind of like shoes–all the choices are a little different and fit different people.

I love Osprey’s air flow on the back, and none of the lighter packs offer that. To me that makes backpacking much more enjoyable. Yes, I know a couple of the Zpacks models do, but they’re more of an afterthought than a real feature. And I’ve tried them, and they’re not comfortable for me.

Anyone else find that when it comes to pack padding and suspension lighter isn’t necessarily better when it comes to older bodies?
Yes, definitely. My wife definitely prefers her old heavier framed pack to a lighter more modern one. The old one FITS her back and lets her go like the clappers.

Cheers

Pack fit is critical! An 18 ounce pack that hurts means you won’t use it or enjoy it. If the only pack that works for you is 3 pounds, so be it. Try to trim weight elsewhere. And what you found comfortable (or tolerable) in your 20s might not work in your 60s.

I’ve bought and backpacked with approximately 2 dozen packs over the decades – only two fit well. After the old one bit the dust, I had to buy and try another half-dozen to find one that fit well and met my other needs. It weighs about 28 ounces after some snipping. Good enough.

— Rex

Gents, Ladies, I’m gonna do some blaspheming here so be warned.

At 76 I am very seriously considering buying an electric mountain bike with 4″ wide tires, the widest available to my knowledge. OK, there I said it. Let the brickbat throwing begin.

Initially I’ll use it for hunting to help carry out big game boned meat. But I suspect I’ll begin using it just to replace backpacking at higher altitudes as Father Time encroaches on my physical abilities.

There has recently been promulgated a new Federal rule regarding the use of electric bikes on federal property and in a nutshell it says that electric bikes can be used anywhere manually powered mountain bikes are permitted.

@ Eric. An REI blog reports that there are 3 classes of e bikes:

“Class 1: The motor kicks in only when you pedal, and stops helping at 20 mph.
Class 2: Also has a pedal-assist mode up to 20 mph plus a purely throttle-powered mode.
Class 3: Is solely pedal-assist (like class 1), but assistance continues until you hit 28 mph.”

I would hope that only Class 1 e-bikes would be allowed on trails that allow mountain bikes.

Bruce,

Well Department of the Interior “ORDER NO. 3376” says (regarding these e-bike classes)

a) “For the purposes of this Order, ‘e-bikes’ shall mean ‘low speed electric bicycle’ as defined by 15 U.S.C. (Para.) 2085 and falling within one of the following classifications:

i) “Class 1 electric bicycle”

ii) “Class 2…”

iii) “Class 3…”

b) E-bikes shall be allowed where other typed of bicycles are allowed; and

c) E-bikes shall not be allowed where other types of bikes are prohibited.

And the Order goes on to instruct Fish & Wildlife, NPS, Land and Minerals Management, Water and Science and the BLM to implement this Order.

So there you have it, the Order includes ALL e-bike classes and most National lands.

Someone with more online skills than me may want to find this order and put it in a link in this thread.

I thing the e-bikes-on-trails comments deserve their own thread.  Readying popcorn now….

Agree with Jenny.

Come on Eric. Launch it!

This topic has the potential of a thread with VERY long legs!  If true and not a prank I’d offer a guess that this concession was initiated to give a  -jolt-  to the electric bike industry.

Guys, I agree the e-bikes topic could generate a lot of comment. But… methinks Ryan would not like such a topic in a site devoted to backpacking. Out of respect for this site we’ll let it die here at, ironically, a young age.

Eric B.

Having had a really bad year health wise [ and this is despite the new hip] I am actually contemplating giving up ski touring and walking altogether and just car camping and using cheap hotels for a year or three.

I may just have to build a porch so I can buy a rocking chair

@Edward: don’t give up! Just take a year off hard trips and switch to easier day walks – with morning tea at nice view points.

Cheers

Agree with Roger…go more slowly, walk less distance, set up camp in a beautiful spot and hang out relaxing and enjoying nature.  If you can find a spot that meets those criteria AND have it to yourself it will be heaven.  I schedule most of my trips for the middle of the week when the hoards are at work, which can also work for car camping in the less utilized spots :)

Love this thread. My wife is 67 and I’m 71. We just did her first trip (knee and foot issues) in 4 seasons and did 24.5 miles in just over 3 days. It was perfect. We got started around 8:30  – 9:00 each morning and finished by 3. We took a 10 minute break each hour with a longer break at noon. I also brought along a heavier double wall tent (Copper Spur HV UL) and used my McHale pack. We loved the space of the tent and I sometimes forget just how comfortable that pack is. We won’t ever do big miles again but we can still backpack. Life is good.

UPDATE INTO 69

I’m approaching 70 years old and need to update on some recent trips with some obscenely heavy pack weights.

In March 2019 I pulled a 24 day trip w/o resupply with a starting pack weight of 90-95 lbs.  My first-day hike in was only 3 miles which is an old-age concession I must make when carrying such expedition weight.

This is on Day 3 of the trip when pack weight was down to around 88 lbs.  “Old Age” means going slow and keeping a very careful focus on my feet and boot placement on the trail to avoid falling.  I used to fall alot in my 30s but rarely fall now—because I concentrate hard on Boot Placement and not falling.  It also helps to have decent full leather boots for trail stability.

Most of my daily mileages were low in the 3 to 6 mile range but I did have one 10 mile day.

I carry more comforts now than in my early years—and I even went ultralight when young—just a tarp and ensolite pad.  Now I like my comforts and especially enjoy humping alot of food weight and fuel weight so I can stay out for 3 weeks without seeing roads or cars or “syphilization”.

One real challenge with age and such weight is pulling creek crossings without falling.  This is Wildcat Creek on the same March trip. On this trip I was able to backpack up “the hardest trail in the Southeast”—Upper Slickrock Creek Trail #42 aka the Nutbuster.

Then in May 2019 I was lucky to be able to pull a 24 day trip into the Big Frog/Cohutta wilderness and even was able to pull one 10 mile day and two 9 mile days.

Here’s the big McHale pack at around 90 lbs as I enter the Big Frog wilderness and run into some dayhikers out for a lark.  This is on Day 1 and I somehow pulled almost 5 miles on a few tough uphills.  For this geezer such distance requires almost 8 hours of tough sweatlodge hiking.  Go slow, boys.  I also like to read so I brought out several books—all burned during the course of the trip.

The trip had 45 creek crossings including this one over Conasauga River in Cohutta wilderness.

In June I pulled a 21 day trip with the same pack weight but this time I went into the Citico Creek wilderness of TN—

This is the North Fork Citico footbridge with the McHale load monster at around 8,000 cu inches.

My most recent trip was back into the Citico in September for a 21 day swaray.

My September trip crossing North Fork Creek.  This trip required 68 creek crossings which are always a challenge when carrying such weight.

The point of all this crap is to say yes, it’s still possible to stay out for weeks at a time on long expedition style trips in “old age”—it just requires pulling low mile days, going slow, eyeballing the trail for careful foot placement—and enjoying the scenery and the opportunity to sleep with beautiful Miss Nature.

Oldsters are retired, right?  So we all have plenty of time to go on long backpacking trips.

Oh, forgot to mention.  On my June trip I twisted the wrong way and my right knee “popped” and ended up with bursitis which had me hobbling for a week.  So on my September trip I brought out an Ace knee brace but it wasn’t needed.

There’s alot more aches and pains nowadays—shoulder pain, knee tweaks, wrist screams, hip and sciatica crap—etc.  “Walk Through It” is the pertinent style—and it works.  Sitting at home as a couch potato is what REALLY ruins the body.

But it’s a good idea to bring a long ace bandage wrap just in case something needs to be wrapped.

I’m only 55. I managed to do my whole spring backpack trip on hurting feet with a knee that hurt, but once I finished my trip, I quit hiking. I can’t keep injuring myself. On that trip the whole bottoms of my feet were blistered, but also both of my heels were wrecked. The doctor said it was achilles tendonitis. He couldn’t give me a shot. So I quit hiking completely. But then I was just descending into worse and worse fitness. I couldn’t just sit there. So I bought an ebike and have been riding to work. This helps a lot. I took a walk today and my knee for once didn’t hurt and my heels weren’t bothering me. Maybe this is helping. I do want to hike again. Riding a bike to work is not a wilderness experience. I do not like mountain biking. It scares the crap out of me. I just want to experience the quiet of being by myself in the wilderness going somewhere new every day. Or the experience of backpacking with others where we start to make up our own jokes and songs. I also want to not have my body fall apart this young so that I can’t enjoy my old age doing the things I like. It’s been a difficult year.

the whole bottoms of my feet were blistered, but also both of my heels were wrecked.
Blistered bottom of feet very often means your shoes were too narrow. This is quite common. Many ‘outdoors’ shoes are made for the average consumer walking short distances in the city.

The doctor said it was achilles tendonitis.
He is obviously NOT a sports doctor. He looked at your feet in isolation, without considering the shoes you were wearing. This too is common.

Have you ever had your feet measured with a Brannock Device? If not, DO SO!

Your knee is a separate issue – I think. Mind you, it could be due to the way your feet were hurting.

Cheers