Pace, Pace, Pace

     Like most, my first backpack trip was a humbling experience... A young buck, fresh out of my junior year in high school, I was a well conditioned long distance swimmer and didn't think much

much of this backpacking gig. I figured I'd just throw this 50 pound pack on my back and rocket up the trail and leave a middle aged Harvey Manning and his long-legged Mountaineering friend, Dick Brooks, in the dust on this short little three mile hike in the Cascades. What was 3000 feet of elevation gain in three miles anyway?  

     Zoom around one switch back and up the next, and the next, and the next. Hmmm, getting too far ahead of the rest of the clan, time for a breather... And then onward, another couple switchbacks, another breather... Hmm Dick seems to be catching up... Its OK, I can walk faster than that... Zip, another pair of switch backs... I'll let Dick pass... There he goes 1.2.3.4., a nice even pace.. I can catch up... Another couple of switchbacks... Another rest stop... Where did Dick go anyway? As I was to learn myself after numerous trips, flameouts and blisters later, the secret of backpacking is not speed but Pace, Pace, Pace.

     This is easy to say, but what does it mean? To properly understand how to set a proper pace, it is best to start with a little physiology. The basic limiting factor of the human hiking machine is the heart. As your legs use up oxygen, the heart increases in speed to get more oxygen to your legs, and you breath more often. Soon, without some discipline, Rigor Mortise jumps on your back and the hike is over. If one wants to hike 18 miles, up 3000 feet of vertical over a 10,000 foot pass, one must set a pace that keeps the heart beating at about the same sustainable rate for the whole day. It follows that to maintain a relatively constant heart rate one must set a pace that has you breathing at about the same rate, no matter whether you are going uphill, downhill, with or without a pack, at sea level or on the top of a mountain ridge.

     What one ends up with is a "BackPackers Gearing" system :

• Drive -- The basic hiking gear is two steps per 'in-hale', two steps per 'ex-hale'. I frequently find my subconscious matching a step with each syllable, that is one step with 'in', the next step with 'hale', step to 'ex', step to 'hale', etc. 'In-hale-ex-hale' equals four steps. Get up and walk around the room to this rhythm. Simple enough...?

• Low -- As one comes across a modest up hill, the pace 'gears' down to one step per inhale, one step per exhale with the steps getting shorter and breaths getting deeper as necessary to maintain a constant pace. Try this at home up some stairs. Practice switching from using 'Drive' across the floor to 'Low' going up the stairs in one or two steps.

  • The human body does not roll uphill and 'switching gears' quickly is important to keeping a smooth pace. One extra step uphill at the wrong pace can spike your heart rate and take a while to recover. Don't be afraid to limit steps to six inches or less in order to keep an even pace up switchbacks. This way you'll have enough energy to step over or around switchback casualties who don't know about setting a good pace.

• Granny gear -- The 'granny gear' is an inhale and exhale per short step. It is really only needed at steep pitches at elevation. If you try it out at home, you'll probably pass out from hyper-ventilation. The granny gear is only useful clawing up that last pitch to get over some high pass or peak with sixty plus pounds of pack. Or you can visit your 90 year old great Granny and watch her climb some steps. Something to look forward to... I wonder if Granny gets an endorphine high climbing up stairs?

• Cruise -- The three step Cruising gear is for smooth flat land and slight downhills. It is simple high speed pace -- '1-2-3' steps per inhale, '4-5-6' steps per exhale. One must exercise some caution when hitting this gear with a backpack. It is easy to stumble on a rock and twist an ankle or knee. It is only used on open smooth flat trails.

• OverDrive -- Not recommended for the novice or unacclimated hiker. Four steps per inhale, four steps per exhale. Big Bob and I used it to chase down and pass a horse pack train coming out of Tonquin Valley in Jasper National Park. The surprise from the riders was only exceeded by the wondering gaze of the guide. I never use this gear without a walking stick to help pole vault me and my pack along and to help provide some stability for any small bumps in the trail. Again, this is not a recommended gear with a full pack unless one is willing to accept the risk of kissing the ground with sixty plus pounds of extra 'MO' to firmly plant your face into the ground.

     The important thing about this backpacker gearing system is to set and keep a pace that you can visualize yourself using without a break right over the top of the pass and into camp.  

Without taking a Break!?

     As far as taking a break on the trail goes, the best break is to slow down a 'gear' and have a drink or light munch without really stopping. This is because when one is hiking, a significant amount of blood is pumped by the valves in leg blood vessels. When you stop, you are dumping all of that load onto your heart.  The result is that your heart rate may well jump if you sit down during a hike.  This is not the desired result of a rest stop.  You will have to rest long enough to reoxygenate your blood and for your heart rate to recover.  The next thing you will find out is that your starter will get a little temperamental -- you have a hard time putting the pack on, or worse, it will just magically stay stuck to the ground...  During a break, don't sit down...  Keep moving around.

Walking Sticks

     Of course, backpacking is more than an outdoor treadmill. There are sights to see, pictures to take, bushes to fertilize... When you have a deen to dump your pack, you look for a "Landing Zone".  A landing zone is a waist high rock, tree stump, or ledge where you can sit or lean up next to with your pack on. This is where one place a walking stick really shines. After you park your pack on the landing zone and crawl out from under the straps, the walking stick is used to 'prop' up your pack to keep it from falling over.  This allows you to dig through your pack for some film, snack bar, take a dip, get some water or whatever. The advantage of a landing zone is found when you relaunch your hike.  Instead of doing ten or twenty "clean and jerks" each day with your back pack, all you have to do is crawl back into the shoulder straps, stand up and off you go. Rarely if ever should you have to lift your pack up to your shoulders or drop your pack to the ground.  Landing zones save your limited energy for that last hundred yards at the top of the ridge instead of wasting energy body building.

     On the issue of walking sticks -- Some use them, some don't. I didn't use to, but find them indispensable now when I am with a pack.  I use a single old bamboo cross country ski pole. Some use two ski poles, some use a single short pole -- Big Bob used a telephone pole sized log salvaged from the fire.

     The advantage using the stick as a 'prop' for the pack at rest stops cannot be understated. I have also used a walking stick to fend off critters such as rattlesnakes -- better the stick than my leg.  The walking stick can be used to pole vault a pack along the trail.  I 'lock' the stick next to my shoulder and lean on the stick as I walk along.  This shifts the pack's weight from trail weary legs onto the stick.

     How much of a walking stick's usefulness is actual and how much is mental, is difficult to tell. A walking stick can be a distraction to the entire hiking experience if one is not willing to blend its utility into one's backpacking rhythm.  The same can be said of the backpacking gearing scheme; it can be a distraction when one first uses it.  However, with a little practice, setting good pace seamlessly fits into the background of one's hiking rhythm.

     Each sport has its own background skills. 'Pace' is a background skill of backpacking. The 'backpacking gears' are akin to those used in bicycling, where one adjusts the gearing on the bike to keep one's leg speed at about the same pace. It is used for basically the same purpose -- setting a pace that one can keep up all day. Some are fortunate to have a natural pacing ability. For many, like myself, it is a learned skill.

    Before I learned the backpacking gearing system, I never backpacked more than 8 or 9 miles and 2500 feet of elevation gain before collapsing. Now, I blow past the sight of my previous flame-out before noon, going onward and upward for another five or ten miles. Speed is not the secret of enjoyable backpacking... Setting a good comfortable pace is. With a good pace, the backpacking experience can blossom to allow one to become part of the wilderness rather than to wilt under the weight of the pack and to become part of the scenery as others pass you by.

Other  wilderness pictures of same area for your enjoyment:

Camp leave it better than you found it, High Lake, Lake_Reflection, Yosemite High, Bonsai Lake, NightCamp

Other Hiking Stuff : Alpine Yachting, One Pot Meal, Backpacking Hints.

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