https://pmags.com/the-first-step-how-to-start-backpacking Practical advice and musings on the outdoors, hiking, backpacking, ski touring, and camping. Thu, 17 Aug 2023 03:24:28 +0000 hourly 1 https://pmags.com/the-first-step-how-to-start-backpacking#comment-579328 Sun, 03 Apr 2016 12:19:39 +0000 https://pmags.com/?p=10676#comment-579328 I live in the flatlands and walk around here with no real problems. I have noticed, that when I get into hilly country, I start having trouble with my feet. The first time I had this problem was in the Smokies when I walked to Low Gap and back, only about 5 miles. By the time I got back, I could hardly walk because of pain above my heels. It took three days for the pain to stop. At the time, I thought that my new shoes were the problem, so I switched to different ones and didn’t notice any problems. Some years later, I had the same problem in Canyonlands NP. but this time I was wearing shoes that I had many miles on. This time, I started to think that it might be the change in terrain and the angle of my feet going up and down the slopes. I still don’t have the answer. My point and the reason that this fits here is that your feet take you out and back and you need to know that you’re not going to get out a ways and not be able to get back. Good shoes, that fit you, plus plenty of short trips in areas like where you plan to backpack are important in your conditioning. It may be possible to get conditioned on the trail, but a few short training hikes are always helpful. I want to get back out into the mountains, so I continue to look for similar terrain within driving distance that I can use for training.

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