Podcast: Download (Duration: 29:00 — 29.4MB)
Today on The First 40 Miles, The Top 5 Tips that will help you make it through the tough uphill climbs. On the SUMMIT Gear Review, we’ll show you a vast improvement to the humble hiking stick. For the Backpack Hack of the Week, noodles noodle everywhere. And we’ll wrap up the show with a little trail wisdom from Mr. Emerson.
Show Notes: Episode 028
Opening
Girls Camp prep
Survival Skills the youth leaders will be teaching:
- Know when to use these knots: Square Knot, 2 Half hitches, Bowline
- 2 methods of purifying water
- How to signal for help (and contact local authorities)
- How to identify and prevent camp pollution at water sources
- 3 types of emergency shelters
- Sever Weather: Lightning, tornado, avalanche, flood
- Bedroll or emergency ground bed made of natural materials
What will the real survival skills at Girls Camp be? Surviving with under 4 hours of sleep a night…
Top 5 Tips for Backpacking Uphill
Keep your pace, but shorten your stride
- Don’t be tempted to stop on the uphill
- Keep steady pace
- REMEMBER: Stopped is zero miles per hour.
Exertion breath
- Breathing is an important part of pain management—or uphill management.
- A forceful breath out
Try the Rest step
- Stand up completely with the leg that you stepped forward with, and let your knee lock briefly
- That gives your quadriceps and glutes a chance to rest on each step
- Even that split second rest, really helps as you climb the trail
Try Trekking Poles
- Heather recently tried trekking poles
- Study on trekking poles: Muscular and metabolic costs of uphill backpacking: are hiking poles beneficial?
- The study says “By redistributing some of the backpack effort, pole use alleviated some stress from the lower extremities and allowed a partial reversal of typical load-bearing strategies.”
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11128857
M&Ms= Mantra & Music
- Mantras: Man versus mountain, one step at a time, I am strong, Whatever doesn’t kill you…
- Music: High energy, since your steps will be shorter, you can keep tempo with a faster song
SUMMIT Gear Review™: LEKI Micro Vario Carbon Trekking Poles
Structure
- Carbon Shaft
- Foam Grips which are edgeless, and comfortable, so no matter how many miles you go, they’ll feel great
- Wrist strap (security strap) made of wicking material and dries quickly
- Baskets on bottom are standard trekking baskets (you can remove them and the poles can compress down even more compact.
- Purpose of baskets (snowshoe concept)
Utility
- Super compact, so you won’t be poking people if you put them away in your pack
- The push-button release mechanism that slides part of the pole into itself, and the rest pulls apart and folds
- Very easy to adjust, using their “Speed Lock”. Flip latch out, adjust to desired length, and flip latch back. Holds securely
Mass
- Sold as a pair
- 14.6 oz for the pair
- 110-130cm
- (Micro Vario Carbo Lady goes down to 105 cm)
- Fold down to just 15.5″
Maintenance
- Wipe clean before collapsing so grit doesn’t get inside
Investment
- $200
Trial
- Trekking poles made me think more strategically
- Felt like jet packs on the trail
- Incredibly invaluable on uphill
- Not as noticeable on downhill
- Put my weight on wrist straps (aka security straps)
- Gave me crazy amounts of speed
- Any time you are doing a significant amount of elevation gain, bring your trekking poles
Backpack Hack of the Week™: Rice Thread Noodles
- Rice or Bean Thread Noodles (no hot water needed)
- Inexpensive
- Can be found at most good sized grocery stores in the Asian aisle
- Just need water to rehydrate and soften
- Infinite recipe ideas!
Challenge: Try these at home, and see if you can come up with a recipe that you can bring on your next trip!
Trail Wisdom
“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson