The Importance of Shakedown Hikes / Lessons Learned

[2000miler]

I'm coming off a 6-day shakedown hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington. Tons of pictures and full stories uploaded at the link in my signature, but I have to reiterate how useful one big shakedown hike was for preparing for the Appalachian Trail.

I'm interested in hearing your lessons learned from big shakedown hikes. We're nearing the end of summer, so presumably the big shakedown hikes are behind you or are coming up soon.

My big lessons learned:

• Think you want to do a thru? Do a big shakedown trip first. Despite all the absurd things that went wrong this trip, the stab wounds, the sore feet, the hunger, the cravings, the blisters – at the end of the trip, I was still absolutely fired up about my thru next year. Discovering that you don’t have the fire in your belly for a 6-month trek while on a 1-week shakedown hike is so much better than figuring it out on a thru attempt, after you quit your job and leave your family and friends behind.
• Setting a conservative pace for yourself for the first few days will let you get your trail legs under you with minimal risk of injury. Super tired legs = Not paying attention to footfalls = Landing weird on tendons that aren’t accustomed to strain = bad stress injury to ankle / foot / knee that takes weeks to heal. Cool your jets, we’re in this for the long haul. Go for 10 miles a day your first week, then ramp it up after that. Your body will thank you.
• Pack yourself delicious, easy-to-make food for the trail. There's reading this, and then there's experiencing this. Screw healthy food. Screw complicated cooking. Your best intentions at home will absolutely fall to hell after 24 hours on trail. I was so tired and craving salt so hard that by the end of the trip I was ready to see if my Trader Joe’s Raw Organic Almonds would make a good fire starter. Convenience and tastiness are king in the wilderness. I'm considering going stoveless for the convenience on my thru.
• Immodium. Take it. You won’t need it ’till you drink some bad water and you’re 3 days out from town, squatting over the side of a cliff letting it fly in the wind. Then you will be really, really glad you have it.
• Take any blogging notes in an offline app, then transfer over to WordPress or your preferred blogging platform once back in civilization. I took all my notes out on the trail in the WordPress app with my phone on Airplane mode. As soon as I took my phone off airplane mode, the drafts all deleted.

[JustaTouron]

Just one persons opinion, but for the life of me I don't get why anyone who hasn't done multiple week long hikes, decides they want to hike the AT.

Why would any think it sounds like fun to do something for 6 months something they don't do every time they have week or weekend off.

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[pauly_j]

What a ridiculous thing to say. I don't swim with dolphins every weekend but that's not to say I wouldn't want to on a holiday.

[bigcranky]

Yeah, but would you swim with the dolphins continuously for six months without ever getting out of the water? I mean, yeah, the dolphin swim sounds great for like an hour or two, but after that not so much.

That's the difference between "hey let's go for an overnight hike" and "hey let's go walk up and down steep mountains for six months, leaving our jobs and our families behind, carrying heavy packs in rain and snow and summer heat." Totally different.

[pauly_j]

True but who can say they have real experience of that situation? No one knows if they're going to enjoy walking all day every day for half a year until they've done it.

I'm starting my first ever thru hike in 2016. I love to hike, ramble, and hill walk. I've never done so for more than a handful of days in a row because I have a job, commitments, etc. I don't know how I'll react to hiking non-stop for 6 months and I don't believe anyone would on their first hike. I don't believe hiking for a week long trip 3 or 4 times a year when you have time booked off work prepares you any more than going for a weekend trip 3 or 4 times a year.

As long as you know your gear and you have the fitness, it's pretty irrelevant.

[Spacelord]

What a ridiculous thing to say. I don't swim with dolphins every weekend but that's not to say I wouldn't want to on a holiday.

If all you can do is float on your back it's not gonna be very enjoyable I wouldn't think. At least work up to a strong dog paddle for the big holiday.

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[pauly_j]

Hence my point about having the fitness.

What JustaTouron is implying is that you wouldn't dream of doing a thru-hike if you didn't already spend all your time hiking.

Quite the opposite; I'm doing a thru-hike because it's what I never have a chance to do.

[JustaTouron]

Hence my point about having the fitness.

What JustaTouron is implying is that you wouldn't dream of doing a thru-hike if you didn't already spend all your time hiking.

Quite the opposite; I'm doing a thru-hike because it's what I never have a chance to do.

Yes, that is my point.

You wouldn't buy a fishing boat if you had never fished. You would rent a boat and only once you started going fishing so often you decided it made more sense to own one than to rent all the time would you buy one.

You won't buy a lifetime membership at a golf course before you took your first lesson.

You won't decide you want to move to Australia if you never even visited first.

So why do so many people who rarely if ever hike (even though it is a very accessible sport) decided, "hey I want to spend 6 months doing something, I never avail myself to do on a three day weekend."

[Mags]

So why do so many people who rarely if ever hike (even though it is a very accessible sport) decided, "hey I want to spend 6 months doing something, I never avail myself to do on a three day weekend."

Because of the romanticism of an AT thru-hike trumps reality for many people.

Mind you, I agree with you.

Weekend hikes, besides letting see if you actually like hiking, are also fun... (assuming you enjoy hiking..which I guess is the point).

[Dogwood]

• Pack yourself delicious, easy-to-make food for the trail. There's reading this, and then there's experiencing this. Screw healthy food. Screw complicated cooking. Your best intentions at home will absolutely fall to hell after 24 hours on trail. I was so tired and craving salt so hard that by the end of the trip I was ready to see if my Trader Joe’s Raw Organic Almonds would make a good fire starter. Convenience and tastiness are king in the wilderness. I'm considering going stoveless for the convenience on my thru.

LOL. I wonder if organic almonds burn better than conventionally grown almonds.

Let me remind you. Don't assume healthier eating has to be tasteless or some how be a forced fed eating experience. HEALTHIER NUTRITIONALLY DENSE FOOD CAN BE JUST AS IF NOT MORE TASTY THAN UNHEALTHIER FOOD LIKE PRODUCT CHOICES. Just as your food choices, food habits, and imagination have evolved while eating questionably unhealthy highly refined highly processed food like products you can evolve your food creativity with healthier trail food choices.

Eat on.

Funny JustaTouron, the same romanticism trumping reality Mags referred to with thru-hiking the AT I've seen also played out by economic social climbers who HAVE bought fishing and sailing boats, some quite expensive and large, with zero fishing or sailing experience. Some of these boat folks never have left the marina berth but just enjoy advertising and limitedly enjoying their newfound expensive toy while at dock. After a couple yrs of boat maintenance and upkeep expenditures these are the folks that are sometimes often all too happy to get rid of their hole in the water with a quick down and dirty nitty gritty undervalued boat sale. Nomadic buddy in Hawaii now lives on a 28ft sailboat he obtained by trading for it with 30 days of his work way below value just from such a situation.

Before thruing the AT I had a good sense I would finish despite never having done a lengthy LD hike. I had gained similar experience in knowing I loved walking by all the walking in Nature I did as a child with friends, family, BSA, church groups, and with the NJ/NY county park system under various weather and terrain scenarios.

While exhilarating in the extreme swimming in deep water in rough seas into a pod of Spinner Dolphins, which is a smaller dolphin species, in Hawaii it is also dangerous with them flipping and spinning all around you. If one jumps and hits you you could get seriously injured or even be knocked out and drown.

[Malto]

True but who can say they have real experience of that situation? No one knows if they're going to enjoy walking all day every day for half a year until they've done it.

I'm starting my first ever thru hike in 2016. I love to hike, ramble, and hill walk. I've never done so for more than a handful of days in a row because I have a job, commitments, etc. I don't know how I'll react to hiking non-stop for 6 months and I don't believe anyone would on their first hike. I don't believe hiking for a week long trip 3 or 4 times a year when you have time booked off work prepares you any more than going for a weekend trip 3 or 4 times a year.

As long as you know your gear and you have the fitness, it's pretty irrelevant.

if I were king then I would require at least a hundred mile hike prior to allowing my subjects to begin a thru hike. But since I'm not a King, I just will watch and shake my head as the majority of thru hike attempters discover that reality is much difference than the romantic notion of a thru hike. There is a huge difference between a weekend and a multi month hike as you will learn. And physical fitness is not nearly as important as mental fitness which is gained through experiencing conditions as hard or harder than what you see on your thru hike.

[GoldenBear]

Had quite a few lessons learned

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/entr...-the-Year-quot

[Dogwood]

Shh, stop it Malto. You're scaring them...into reality. Besides, you're ruining my purchase opps. Some of those AT thru-hiker wannabees will think it's all about the bike(the kit in backpacking lingo). I may be in the market for some barely used fire sale I HATE BACKPACKING CF backpacks and shelters.

[Malto]

Shh, stop it Malto. You're scaring them...into reality. Besides, you're ruining my purchase opps. Some of those AT thru-hiker wannabees will think it's all about the bike(the kit in backpacking lingo). I may be in the market for some barely used fire sale I HATE BACKPACKING CF backpacks and shelters.

I met a guy at about mile 140 on the PCT that was quitting the next day at Paradise Cafe. He was a BPL member (as was I) and had a kick butt UL setup with cuben this and carbon fiber that. But he should have spent a bit more time learning whether he really liked walking day after day. That likely ended up being a I HATE BACKPACKING fire sale.

[Dogwood]

The heat of the Mojave and size of the sauteed mushroom, onion, Beefstake tomato, and Tillamook Cheddar Cheese burgers at Paradise Cafe have that affect on some people.

[egilbe]

I met a guy at about mile 140 on the PCT that was quitting the next day at Paradise Cafe. He was a BPL member (as was I) and had a kick butt UL setup with cuben this and carbon fiber that. But he should have spent a bit more time learning whether he really liked walking day after day. That likely ended up being a I HATE BACKPACKING fire sale.

I must love backpacking since I dream of doing it, while at the same time, backpacking is some of the hardest stuff I've ever done. I had an early spring,three day trip, where above 3000 feet, I was post holing in 6 feet of snow and battling blowdowns every few hundred feet. I was exhausted and my feet were constantly wet. I still look back with fondness because it was the first extended backpacking trip my GF and I did together. We saw a moose at the top of Old Speck mountain. We stealth camped near the summit, just below the snow line. We took our time and concentrated on not breaking any bones. I envied a kid I met this weekend on the AT who lost his job and decided to go hiking. I would do the same thing if I lost my job now. I'd be simply gone.

[pauly_j]

if I were king then I would require at least a hundred mile hike prior to allowing my subjects to begin a thru hike. But since I'm not a King, I just will watch and shake my head as the majority of thru hike attempters discover that reality is much difference than the romantic notion of a thru hike. There is a huge difference between a weekend and a multi month hike as you will learn. And physical fitness is not nearly as important as mental fitness which is gained through experiencing conditions as hard or harder than what you see on your thru hike.

Yes, and what I'm saying is that a vast majority of people don't have the capability to do a multi-month hike. People have jobs, mortgages, bills, family, etc. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to do something. I do most of my walking in the hills and currently live in a very flat part of the country. I only go on one or two proper hiking trips a year but that won't stand in my way.

[MuddyWaters]

We live in a society today that is used to instant gratification. You can have anything you want, right now. Yes, they buy $1000 golf clubs and dont know how to play. Yes, they buy $100,000 boats and dont know anything about boating or fishing. Yes, they buy $750,000 houses that they cant afford, on pure speculation that the price can only go up. And yes, some decide to hike 2000 miles just because they are enamored with some overly romanticed concept, or totally bored with their cookie cutter existence.

So a lot of people make foolish impulsive choices based on marketing, imagery, and dreaming. So what?

Its not that hard, it can be learned on the fly, people get in shape quickly. Even out of shape fat people can enjoy themselves too. Many nobos each spring have never hiked before, some of them make it, while others with experience....quit. A weekend hike, or a week, doesnt uncover much of the mental challenges that longer hikes create.

[Malto]

Yes, and what I'm saying is that a vast majority of people don't have the capability to do a multi-month hike. People have jobs, mortgages, bills, family, etc. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to do something. I do most of my walking in the hills and currently live in a very flat part of the country. I only go on one or two proper hiking trips a year but that won't stand in my way.

does a hundred mile hike take multi-months? There is a huge gray area between a weekend and a long trail (multi month) thru hike. Glad it won't stand in your way, hope it works out for you.

[garlic08]

I always recommend (to people who ask) a 100-mile shakedown hike, hopefully in similar conditions to the longer trip. That's long enough to learn whether the gear you chose is right for you, and whether you actually enjoy the whole business. I learned good lessons before my PCT thru during a 100-mile desert shakedown hike in southern NM, fairly close to home; a single large water carrier is a bad idea, desert chaparral will rip the bit valve right off a hydration hose, dust and sand affect the feet differently than dirt and mud, and illegal immigrants are trying to get to work. And I really enjoyed it.