Quote:
Originally Posted by JLarson
Haha! I won't say it'll be a cake walk (wouldn't have picked it if it was) but we've done much harder treks with much less fit people and lived to tell the tale  Law of averages though - if I'm taking 1 person with me who I expect will struggle, I want three more who won't.
Had an issue once in the White Mountains (NH), just off the summit of Mount Washington, where one of our group had his legs basically collapse. It was in late May, but the temperature during the previous night had fallen to about 17 degrees, and we were still hiking through snow occasionally, waist deep on some portions of the ascent where the shadow of the mountain kept it from melting (and apparently does so until July at times). We had to divide his pack and help him for the next 8 or so miles of descent. He recovered pretty well by the following day, but that mixture of prolonged exertion, cold, and dehydration can be brutal.
That was a pretty awesome trip. |
Dehydration is the biggest issue on any hike. I made 2 trips to the Philmont Scout Ranch and was accepted to be a ranger there the summer I went to boot camp. First trek in 1971 was probably about 25 to 30 miles, the second one in 1973 was over 50 miles. I entertained the idea of making a return trip to Philmont with one of the local Scout troops, but I'm relatively sure that would not be a good thing for me to attempt. While I'm in fairly good shape, cardio-wise; my knees are not quite up to 5 or 6 days of humping about 50 pounds of gear up and down mountain trails.
Enjoy your trip.
