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Old 05-12-2009, 10:36 PM   #8 (permalink)
aelle
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: France - Japan - Korea
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How cool! Long distance hiking is one of the things I want to do at some point in my life.
I know your departure date is very close now, but until then try to train as much as possible. They say that after a week or so of hiking 8 hours a day up and down mountains with a heavy pack, the trained hiker and the unprepared one will be at the same level of fitness... but for the second one this first week will be pure hell. You're supposed to be out there for fun, so try to avoid hell...

Make sure to pack a first aid kit specific to the area you'll be hiking in (ticks, snakes?) and know how to use everything in it!
Read on Dharma's ressources, WhiteBlaze is a mine of information.

Since you specifically asked about nutrition, here's some unconventional advice I read on an extreme hiker's blog. In everyday life, we are quite sedentary and have low, balanced calories needs, therefore the healthier foods are whole foods rich in fibers and lower in fat (whole bread, brown rice, vegetables...) While hiking long distance, you have extremely high caloric needs and need to put all the energy in your legs, not your digestive track: you need lots of concentrated, easily available calories, ie processed carbs and fatty junk food!
This means that you DEFINITELY need to consciously plan your post-hike diet. It's not easy to go back to normal life after downing easily 5000 calories of fast food a day for weeks.

Have fun, give us updates and when you come back post pictures!
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