This is the second in a series of three articles that will help you prepare for your first long hike as an older hiker.
In the first article we reviewed what will be needed to physically and mentally prepare. In this article we are reviewing what is required for planning your hike.
Planning
Remember this old boxing analogy?
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” I think Mike Tyson famously said that.
I’ve been known to plan my trips to excess. But not for reasons most may think.
Although almost every trip I take is well planned, many times, before I even take my first step on trail, everything changes. So, why do I still do all that planning?
Here’s the thing: I don’t plan with the expectation that everything will work according to plan. The reason I plan the way I do is to make me very familiar with the trail and my options for when (not if) things do go wrong.
“The Art of War” suggests that to “know thine enemy” is the path to achieving victory. On the trail you’ll have many obstacles (enemies) that can ruin your trip. If you study the best way to respond to anything that could go wrong on the trail, you will have given yourself the right level of anticipation and you’ll be ready with the right response. That’s my primary goal when I do my trip planning.
Example: On my Ouachita Trail hike last fall, several things happened that could have ruined my trip. I didn’t put my trekking poles in the shuttle vehicle but didn’t realize it until we got to the trailhead – a two hour and costly shuttle drive AND the beginning of this trail is the rockiest part of the trail, where I would need my trekking poles more than any other part of the trail. And I needed my poles for my bridge hammock setup. So, without any forethought and planning, I would have been screwed.
But, because of my planning, I knew the closest drop off point on the trail and we had backup drivers who would be available to help in a situation such as this. My poles were delivered to the drop off point a few hours later.
Another thing that came up was that I got trench foot and needed to get off the trail at about 100 miles into the hike. Part of my planning was to bring with me a list of trail angles that I could call at certain points in the trail where there was cell coverage. So, at the first opportunity, I arranged a pickup at the closest trailhead. One more day of hiking in this condition would have likely resulted in some serious tissue damage on my feet.
This is why planning matters, and this is the type of planning you should be doing.
One of the tools I use for planning is a very detailed spreadsheet that has a bunch of planning elements:
This kind of planning requires a good study of maps, reviewing trail organization websites, any published trail guides, maybe Facebook groups or other social media, National Forest Service web pages, and any place else with current trail information.
Also, one side note here: build in a few extra days to give you quality time to enjoy the trail to saver the moments. There’s no rush. And you may never get a chance to do this again. Give yourself time to take it all in.
I’ve had people ask me for this spreadsheet. And, honestly, I don’t give this away. Free stuff is never free; it always costs somebody. And this case, it’s me. But, it’s a way for you to support this website, which is costly to maintain. You can get this spreadsheet via my Patreon channel.. It’s available to purchase it alone, or your can become a Patreon member. This spreadsheet is one of the member perks. Thank you in advance for understanding and your support!
Other elements:
Shakedown hikes and Support System