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Reviews > Books > General > A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike > John Waters > Long Term Report
January 29, 2006 Contents: Tester's Biographical Information Name: John R. Waters Backpacking Background My backpacking experience is limited to the last couple of years, hiking primarily in Michigan and Colorado. In Michigan, I do hikes of 6-8 miles (10 km-13 km) 2-3 times a week in Pontiac Lake Recreation area with weekend hikes in various other southeast Michigan locales. Our twice-a-year vacations are usually in Colorado where we hike the mountains in the summer and snowshoe in the winter. I tend towards the lightest pack possible - under 12 lb (5 kg), but of course, that is day hiking. I am starting overnight hiking this summer and am aiming for a light to ultralight weight pack. Product Information (from Manufacturer website) Author: Rick Allnutt, MD Features: Product Information (from tester) Weight: 6.6 oz (187 g) Field Conditions/Completed Test Results The last three months of testing "A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike" have been winter months and I wasn't able to do anything near a 200-mile hike. While I had two separate trips to Colorado, most of the time there was spent searching for property for my planned 2006 move. On both of those trips, I spent most of every day hiking around various 35-acre parcels, so even though I wasn't hiking marked trails, I WAS hiking, sometimes in more rugged conditions than any trail I've ever been on. I did, however, get in a couple of good day hikes in the Royal Gorge/Twin Peaks area of southeast CO. Temperatures ranged from 19 F (-7 C) to 68 F (20 C) with elevations averaging 6000 ft (1800 m) to 7000 ft (2100 m). Terrain was rather rough. There were times that I was hiking around on level prairie grasslands, but for the most part, I was really scrambling on steep hillsides while dodging cactus and very large boulders. Using "A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike" as a guide, I have continued to try to prepare my body for long distance hiking, challenging myself to longer hikes and strengthening my knees and ankles through various exercises. I now know to alternate my steps both uphill and down so that I am not always leading with the same leg. I have also learned the danger (to my knees) of charging downhill quickly to make up for my slower uphill climbs. Thanks to "A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike," I have tried to lighten my backpack, but have not come near to Dr. Allnutt's 15 lb "Forget It" weight. I'm down to about 20 lb (9 kg) for a 2-3 day trip. Recently, I gave my wife "her" 2-person tent to carry, thereby lightening my load by 3.2 lb (1.5 kg)*grin*. But I would have liked Dr. Allnutt to have greatly expanded his advice on how to further accomplish the task of load lightening. I'm too cautious an individual to leave behind just-in-case items, I've found. The section on "Losing the Will to Hike" was not very interesting to me, because it is so completely foreign to my way of thinking. Since I've yet to experience a 200-mile hike, I suppose I'm not one to pass judgement, but when I do actually get to hike 200-miles, I plan on enjoying it. When I lose the will to go on, I'll stop! I'm not sure that I could ever be a hiker where the destination is more important than the journey. Summary "A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike" takes the experiences of Dr. Allnutt and condenses them into 4 key areas of potential hiking pitfalls. Dr. Allnutt explores these hiking joy-killers and suggests ways to avoid and/or rectify them. All of this advice is dispensed in a painless memoir style of writing. While the book is NOT a how-to book, it is a good light read taken for what it is - one man's "Lessons Learned from the Appalachian Trail." Thank you for the opportunity to test this product! John R. Waters Read more reviews of Wayah Press gear Read more gear reviews by John Waters Reviews > Books > General > A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike > John Waters > Long Term Report | |||