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cascadetraverser
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cascadetraverser
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PostMon May 18, 2020 4:46 pm 
Nice story Hit the Trail. I don`t see why given a healthy life and regular excercise, as well as regular trips one can`t go backpacking well into the 70s or even 80s. Its my plan (hopefully!) Sure, you ache more and there aways seems to be something to train through, but the alternative doesn`t look fun at all.

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Eric Hansen
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PostThu May 21, 2020 8:57 pm 
Sculpin, "One of the great experiences of my life" Agreed. I'd only differ on the timing. I'd prefer 2nd week of May. Have done it the first week of June and it was starting to cook. 90 or + every day. Still glad to be there but didn't get in all the hiking we had planned. Word is autumn trips are also reasonable but some chance of having to walk the boats through shallows then. +1 on Tex's. Good folks

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80skeys
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PostFri May 22, 2020 8:28 am 
ImTheScientist wrote:
Just turned 41 this year and I’m hoping to do this till 70. Curious how old some are and still doing it? Have you had to dial anything back?
This entirely depends on your personal genetics as to whether or not your body is going to still be able to do it, and how regularly you have been doing it your whole life. I know several people in their seventies and eighties who are still backpacking. in every case they have been doing it regularly their whole lives: - one couple in their late 70s in Boulder have been runners and hikers their whole lives. The lady is 80 and still runs five miles a day now. Her husband (my longtime friend) has been running with her for the past 20 years; in his earlier days he was a rock climber, backpacker, outdoorsman. - one man in his mid 70s in Boulder who has basically been a mountain man most of his adult life. In his younger life he ran 100-mile races in the Rockies. He used to be able to do one-handed pushups. Later he spent many years where he went out wandering the Rockies for 3-4 months each year by himself; he has been living in a mountain cabin for the past several decades; nowadays he still hikes about 15-20 miles a day, and during seasonal periods gathers horns that have been shed in order to sell them. - the mother of one of my buddies from college who is in her early 80s. She moved to far northern Alaska in her 20s, where she established a rugged life, hunting, tanning leather, married a trapper. She's in her 80s now and still goes backpacking and hiking regularly. The common thread among all these people is regular aerobic exercise throughout your adult life. Even my dad who was never much of a backpacker, he used to be a runner - he would run five miles a day at lunch every day, he did that for at least a couple decades. Now he's almost 80 and he still has a strong heart, healthy kidneys, etc. Another example: my parents neighbors. They are in their upper 70s now. They have been hunters and fisherman their whole life. Even as a recent as a couple years ago they were telling my parents about a recent hunt where they had to field dress it and hike in a out a few times, including section where they had to crawl on their hands and knees, to be able to reach the animal and pack the meat out. They said that was real tough at their age but they still did it.

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80skeys
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PostFri May 22, 2020 8:37 am 
By the way, you don't have to formally hike to get the exercise. Fly fishing in the Rocky mountains is excellent exercise in and of itself. It's strenuous. When we lived in Santa Fe, I almost every day would hop in the truck and drive to go fishing in the Pecos about 15 miles away. Hiking in the brush, wading in the river, scrambling around brush and boulders to get to pools, etc is very good exercise. It (fly fishing) is a very active endeavor, one of the reasons I like it.

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bobbi
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PostSat May 23, 2020 8:15 pm 
Songs2 wrote:
Winning answer!
bobbi wrote:
I'll keep backpacking until I can't tongue.gif
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bobbi ૐ "Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
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