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

I was wearing men’s Altra Timps and my feet measure EEEE width. Nobody really makes shoes for me. The reason my feet were blistered were because to make more room for my feet I took the insoles out but it rained every day of my trip so my feet were always wet and rubbing on the threads inside my shoes. My knee started when I got my first pair of Timps and I was so happy with how grippy they were on the trail that I decided to bomb down the mountain. I tweaked me knee and it has hurt for 4 years now. Even so, I’ve done two PCT section hikes with 20 mile days on my knee, and this last trip that had shorter but tougher days with a lot of crawling over fallen trees. The achilles tendonitis started on the PCT in 2009. The podiatrist said to stretch my calves. Why do my calves get so tight to begin with?

My whole body used to be so much more resilient to all this stuff. It is catching up to me and it bums me out.

This may be quite unfair to podiatrists, but my experience has been that they are great at soothing suburban housewives, but fairly ignorant when it comes to serious athletes. If you are doing multi-day trips in the mountains, you are probably way out of their league. I suggest that most of your other problems are due to sore feet throwing your whole leg motion out of whack. This is well-known.

4E shoes are readily available from New Balance. Sue & I both buy from their Mens 4E range for running and for the mountains. Most of the other niche companies just make a single width, usually a D or maybe an E – because that is where the big volume street customers are. Sadly, they just don’t tell you what their shoe width is – unless it is to say ‘medium’. But walkers do not (in general) have ‘medium’ feet.

Message: NEVER buy shoes that are less wide than your feet! Note that womens’ fittings are usually too small and too narrow. This is what can happen if you have too-narrow shoes:

The shoes had shrunk in width (long story involving leather trim) and were now far too narrow. The grinding of the bones inside the feet while walking had caused significant internal bleeding, which leaked down to the soles and showed up as you can see here. Fortunately, replacement shoes of a generous width next day solved the problem – to my amazement.

Part of the problem is that most women want narrow shoes because wide shoes look ‘ugly’ on their feet. It’s a fashion thing, so the mfrs make narrow shoes for women. Demand and supply. Sorry, but that is not a sexist comment: it is one based on decades of shoe retail experience. Someone else’s, not mine, but I can support it. I see it here at BPL all the time.

Cheers

I still wear my Vasque Italian made Sundowners, rebuilt by a respected cobbler in the Pacific Northwest. The last few hikes I have worn out some New Balance country walkers- wore them out as my school teaching shoes mostly. I bought a pair of Vasque low cut approach shoes. Wide and fit well. I still carry my red Kelty internal frame pack, use a SVEA stove, sleep under a tarp, and brew tea like Colin Fletcher in a tea pot and cook simple dinners in a small pot  my only concession to age and feebleness is a a super big ass down mattress  Sleep, hot tea/coffee, and wearing wool will cure all discomfort .

Diane in particular…I am 55 also, with plenty of age-related nonsense going on, and all I can say is, don’t stop! Stopping is a downhill slide, a fast one. Take a break and get some rest, but go walk every single day no matter what. A few things that have helped me:

*diclofenac cream – the pill is really hard on the stomach, but the cream takes the edge off a complaining joint

*massage – it helps not only the muscle but also the joints, loosening up everything around the joint

*weight training – I hate it, it’s boring, and I feel silly doing it because I’m not very strong. But it really does help strengthen everything. Get a trainer if you haven’t done it before.

*yoga – the combination of stretching, strengthening and breathing is just perfect for getting all parts up and operational. The breathing and balancing practices really help me in sketchy areas, like scree, wet logs and rocks, etc.

*weight loss – I struggle with this and I’m not too overweight, but just enough that it makes life a little harder. I need to shed 20-30 pounds. Not sure if this affects you or not, but I find that while it can be a vanity thing, it’s also a huge part of getting out. Losing even 10 pounds makes the walking much easier, and the load on the feet and knees much less. But it’s  hard to eat less! I eat a very healthy diet, just too much.

I haven’t had the foot problems you’ve had. I would bet the sole problem is due to a too large shoe, with your foot sliding around? Rather than too small, as Roger suggests. That’s my take on it anyway, but I’m no expert. But anything moving inside your shoe as you walk is going to get rubbed raw due to friction. I like a shoe to fit snug but not tight, with only the toes having a bit of extra room.

Getting older sucks, physically speaking at least. No sugar coating it. But it’s always so worth getting out there. I loved your videos especially since it’s  an area not too many folks walk. Don’t stop! Do whatever it takes to find a way.

They’re always making new shoes so you find something that works and then its gone. I bought 3 pairs of the Timps after I found out they fit pretty well.

I gave up the weight lifting. My biggest squat was 210lbs. I gave up after my trip. My feet were so beat up I could barely stand on them. I lifted weights for about 4 years and was always sore every day. I started to like not being sore and the longer I stayed out of the gym the more scared I was to go back and get so sore.

Now I’m riding my bike to work and riding my bike to run errands. It’s an ebike, which is kind of cheating, except since it helps so well with all these big hills around me I feel like I can just ride everywhere, no reason not to, so I ride a lot now. In 2 months I put over 800 miles on my bike.

I want to do a backpack trip in November and try to get my hat out of Buck Creek if I can find it.

My knees gave out about 70 mikes into the 100 mile wilderness this June.   I had to goose step the last 30 miles.

i thought I was done.   Really made me feel crappy.

Got stem cells injected 8 weeks ago.  Time will tell but so far its looking like  a miracle.

@jaymenna – were you diagnosed with arthritis, I assume, and/or something more?  How were the stem cells collected?  Keep us posted.  I’ve had knee problems (arthritis and possible small meniscus tear) in the past, doing OK now a couple years post PT, lots of gym work, cortisone and hyaluronic acid injections, but you never know what the future holds.  Keeping my eyes out at what’s happening in newer therapies…

Just turned 70. Thankful for new technologies and lighter pack weights; base weight 5 lbs now. Been backpacking for over 5O years. Eagle Scout, Scout Master, Backpacking Guide and Instructor. Been on quite a few long hikes: the Haute Route thru Switzerland, lots of time on the AT and PCT sections. Spent six weeks on the continental Divide trail before it was the CDT.
Because I am still working, I have limited time for long trips therefore weekends or backyard backpacking. There are lots of trails in the Old Fort Ord nearby that is now a National Monument.
So what’s next? Transferring backpacking skills to canoe camping. Just canoed across Scotland for five days with my wife. Canoeing is easier on by back then kayaking and you can carry much more for two people.
My wife cannot backpack any more and I am not inclined to go solo – seen too many Sasquatch stories! Any suggestions for meeting other seniors for plutonic outings? Should I start a “Senior Scouting” group?

Any trips run by the local Sierra Club these COVID days, or are they on hold?  Either the general chapter trips or their senior sections.  Sf Bay chapter has a senior group,  I believe.

^^

Also check out your local backpacking Meetup groups, you might find something there for older folk like us.

Recently one concession I’ve made is I quit saving money by avoiding UL gear..

So… I got an REI FLASH Insulated 15 oz. 3 season air mattress and a pump/clothing dry bag.

And after going back and forth on to for 3 years  I FINALLY got a Tarptent Notch Li 21 oz. tent.

Both our daughters are attorneys and well off so why save my dollars for them? That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.