This series is meant to help you to prepare if you and yours have to go a long way on foot. Part I focused on the psychological aspects. This part focuses on the physical side. Here are tips and tricks that long-distance hikers use to get the most miles for the least distress.
Just so you know I practice what I preach … This day started on the far rim, at the back of the canyon seen near the left edge of the photo.
The elephant in the room: Physical training
Yeah, it’s obvious, but this topic wouldn’t be fairly covered if we didn’t say it. The best way to be able to walk a long distance is to stay in good shape. Does that mean you have to spend hours a week hiking wearing your bug-out bag? No…although having done some of that is important, as we’ll get to later. Generally good cardiovascular fitness and a good psychological approach will get you a long way. The rim-to-rim Grand Canyon hike I just finished was done on about three weeks of hiking training, but it was fine because I’d stayed fit in other ways through the winter.
The right gear
Feet, pack, and weight are the magical trio to reduce the physical strain.
Feet: Get sturdy walking boots or shoes and have worn them enough to know you can stand and walk in them all day comfortably. It doesn’t have to be the big heavy combat boots, although some folks like them. Lighter hikers or what they call ‘trail runners’ are better for some people. Trail runners, the shoes, are the sturdy- and grippy-soled but otherwise pretty lightweight shoes worn by trail runners, the humans. (Trail runners, the humans, are the hard-core individuals who do things like put on a camelback and run the rim to rim Grand Canyon hike. Oi.)
Make sure you know what socks work for you. I like cycling socks when I expect my feet to be wet and wool blend hiking socks for colder weather. Cotton invites my feet to blister. Your mileage may vary.
Pack isn’t too hard; just get one that shifts much of the weight onto your hips instead of hanging it all from your shoulders. You aren’t a gibbon; your physical form isn’t built to support that much weight from your shoulders. I use a light internal frame backpack.
Weight is pretty clear-cut if you’re walking a long way: As little as you can get away with. Here’s an example of how I lightened my usual bug-out bag for the rim-to-rim hike.
Foot care and blisters
Even good foot gear won’t always prevent blisters on a long hike. Physical and psychological performance are both degraded by pain, and open blisters can get infected. So how do you deal with them? I did a full piece on that here. The executive summary:
- Bring multiple pairs of socks and switch every few hours, or when you feel a blister starting. (I took Doc’s advice on this one halfway through the rim hike, and the nascent blister never developed further. Thanks Doc!)
- Moleskin or other physical barrier to reduce friction on the hotspot before the blister gets real is a great help, especially for multi-day efforts.
- You can walk on a blister surprisingly well, but the problems multiple if it tears open or you have to get back up on it after you stopped walking and it had time to get Really full of fluid.
- Don’t pop or uncover a blister unless you must.
Rest management
Short breaks can be surprisingly rejuvenating. Twenty-three miles in to the rim hike, when I was really feeling it, a series of stops of only about a minute a piece of leaning against a rock let me get my wind and tackle another few switchbacks. What can just a minute of rest do, if we’re talking physical reality? It lets you blow off some carbon dioxide, or if you’re at altitude, reload the blood with oxygen. Or you can get rid of some lactic acid. All of those things immediately improve your performance.
Long breaks can be surprisingly counter-productive. What’s ‘long’? Based on my stiffness when I start up again, anything over ten minutes is long. Muscles stiffen, blisters get tight with fluid, adrenaline wears off … Life is Bad. I’d much rather take a five minute break every half hour than one half hour break — well, ever until the end of the day.
Hunger and thirst lie
Humans’ physical senses of hunger and thirst are notoriously unreliable. Not only are they heavily swayed by social factors (It’s Lunchtime, so you’re HUNGRY dangit!), but by physical factors too. High levels of the short-term stress hormones tend to suppress hunger. Which is ok in the short term, since they also suppress your ability to digest and absorb food.
The problem is that an all-day hike gets more stressful as the hours wear on. You’re burning plenty of calories, but don’t feel like stuffing that many back in your face. Similarly, you don’t want to be constantly drinking, yet you’re leaking more fluid than you know. If it’s a dry environment, you don’t feel most of the sweat. If it’s at altitude, you’re losing a lot of water in your breath that you can’t feel leaving.
So? Too bad, body. You’re getting some calories and plenty of water shoveled in even if you don’t ask for it. Brain has to keep track: When did you fill this camelback, and how full is it now? What have you eaten in the past hour? Unless you’re outright nauseous, keep pushing little sips of water and nibbles of high-calorie foods.
Those who don’t take in enough find their energy flagging, and risk heat exhaustion and heat stroke from the dehydration. We passed too many of those poor souls climbing out of the cabin. They weren’t happy.
But listen to your salt hunger
At least in my case, my physical craving for salty foods is much more reliable than my craving for foods in general. Other hikers report the same effect. Nuts are a good high-calorie food also high in salt and easy to eat while walking. While chips Sound like a disaster (oily dust in a crushed bag), a can of Pringles is one of Doc’s favorites. This is no time to go low-carb.
I know people with high blood pressure don’t want to go crazy on salt; and in general that’s a good thing. It can be a bit of a balancing act. However, high blood pressure from high salt is mostly a long-term threat, while hyponatremia from salt depletion can kill you before the end of the hike.
There’s one gotcha about salt. Most high-salt foods (like the chips) don’t contain enough of the trace minerals to replace what’s lost in sweat. I found that taking salt tablets high in magnesium did a lot to reduce my habit of cramping. Although I love the salty foods while I’m working in the heat, from now on it’s either be sure they’re high in magnesium (as some nuts are) or supplement with magnesium sources.
Ending the day with anti-inflammatories
There’s one physical prep you can do to help yourself if after a hard day of walking. Even if you don’t hurt a lot and aren’t feeling inflamed, you might consider taking a post-hike dose of anti-inflammatories. Ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen are anti-inflammatory in addition to being painkillers. Acetaminophen is not.
So why spend potentially valuable drugs if you don’t feel the need? Because most of the stiffness you feel the day after exertion is due to inflammation caused by microtears to the muscles and other tissues during the work. Next-day stiffness not only makes it harder to make yourself do what you need to do, but it increases injury risk. That you do not need during a bugout.