The last year or more, I've been thinking of doing a Portal to Portal to Mt. Whitney again for my 60th bd next Fall. I easily did the Portal to Portal on my 50th bd. To avoid disappointment and not sure I want to do that many miles in half a day, I have some reservations and don't want to fail, either physically or by knee or ankle injury. The last 12-15 years while jogging a couple times a week, I keep telling myself, I'm getting too old for this. Maybe I need to invite some of the North CA bpers I do trips with to see if any of them are up to it and for the company. Then there is the Lottery to deal with. How are you doing? Ready to move over and let the younger whippersnappers by? Not without a fight!
Duane

"I have some reservations and don't want to fail"

The only failure is not trying in the first place..... ;-)

Agree with Doug.

Duane, this year was my 37th annual on Mount Whitney in a day. For one thing, it helps if you start extremely early while the air is still very cool. That helps prevent overheating and dehydration later. Then I can start down from the top by 11 a.m., and I don't try to speed going down. That way, my joints will survive and my muscles will require only about one aspirin.

--B.G.--

Hike at a steady pace, neither fast nor slow.

My standard is that I "hike my age" by which I mean a 51-mile day hike this year. I don't always find the time to condition beforehand and can block out a whole day every year, but I find age no limit yet on hiking.

I could hike the least far in a day at age 30 - desk job, no longer immune from over-use injuries, but I hadn't learned to condition in advance.

Last year, going up Half Dome, I decided to see how many 20-somethings and 30-somethings I could hike past. The answer was "all of them". I lost track at 150.

Colin Fletcher was a mega hiker into his 80s. I've had my butt kicked on Whitney by an 80-year old when I was 19. Maybe that was BobG?

It isn't how old you are that counts. It's how old you think you are.

--B.G.--

Welll...

At 69 I'm not quite as spry as I wuz at 59 but I'm still pretty close. And compared to most of my contemporary buddies I ain't doin' too bad. No arthritis, no heart problems, no diabetes and lots of stamina.

Best of all I can still turn a pretty girl's head - at 20 yards.

"Best of all I can still turn a pretty girl's head - at 20 yards"
Yes, me too.

They turn the other way.

Then there's the old saying, "I'm not as good as I once as, but I'm as good once as I ever was."

Bob, Gary,
I like the good once as I ever was, love that song! At 50 I started at 5AM, may start a little sooner this coming year if I go. It isn't too warm in Sept, although when I went, I started in shorts and a light Polartec top, passed a heavy guy about a third of the way up, dressed like it was a cool day. At the top, I finally put my other layers on. I paced myself, going slower than I normally would go, I think I'll set a more normal pace at least to start. Depending on how many WAG bag stops I need, I hope to do it in 12 hours this time if I go, shaving a half hour off, jogging downhill mostly.
Duane

Not as good as I was 10 years ago, but the stories keep getting better and better. Knee surgery tomorrow, we'll see what happens next. I'm thinking I should have been up skiing just in case.

Better than I was 10 years ago but not as good as I was 40 years ago. I'm back into backpacking after a 30 year hiatus and, I must say, the modern ultralight gear has enabled this 60+ year old to get back into the High Sierra of his youth. Thank goodness for light loads!

Make peace with imprefections.
~Don't sweat the Small Stuff~
Live within your limits ~ BUT stretch them!

Who was it who remarked once: "I used to have four supple limbs and one stiff. Now, it's four stiff and one supple."

Ken,
I guess I expect to be the same as when I was in my 40's. Hard to take when you are getting half way thru your hiking day and getting tired already. I'm the kind that I thing everyone else is going to beat me to the last or best campsite, so I have to keep going. Like competition in sports when I was in HS. Maybe one of these days I'll accept the fact that I am older and I should take more breaks and not worry that if I don't catch up to the people I see ahead of me, that it is not going to be the end of the world. I have my very good days though. Two years ago after changing a bp trip out of Independence or Yosemite due to snow, I had a neighbor drop me off 30 miles from home so I could bp part of the PCT close to home that I have never done. Wades Lake/Jamison Mine to Big Creek Road by Bucks Lake, close to the Bucks Lake Wilderness. The second day out, I had my biggest mileage day ever, doing what I calculated as 22 miles, making camp on the Middle Fork of the Feather River that night. My best before was a couple years before that, doing 18 miles.
Duane

Yeah, Duane, I too get tired a bit earlier. Sometimes I actually nap on hiking breaks. I tell my fellow hikers, "It's a gift to be able to sleep anywhere, any time."
They are nice and "agree" with me, likely feeling sorry for this geezer.

"The only failure is not trying in the first place..... "

Or dying while trying. ;0)

Frankly, I'd rather die trying than not try. You gotta die some time. May as well do it doing what you love where you love being.

Well, of course we'll all break down some day - no one escapes that. When it comes to back packing capability (endurance, speed, etc) I really think I am pretty much the same as I was in my forties. I will be sixty this coming summer. Mind you, I no longer carry the heavy loads I used to haul in my forties; I've learned (and spent) a lot :) Naturally I can hear the old clock winding down. While I am still good for distance running, I can no longer sprint with any degree of comfort. If I try to do that, my body quickly lets me know just how old it is.

You are absolutely right: if you don't catch up with the people you see ahead of you, it is not the end of the world. And remember, the tortoise often gets the best campsite in the end anyway, after passing all those exhausted young jack rabbits.

Nova Scotia Duane Hall