old man on the trail

“ok so im trying to get my dad out on a trail with me...hes like 67...any tips? i wanna do 15 days out and he says hes too old...i need tips to sucker him in...oops i mean to convince him hed have a good time.”

“Bring along a medical professional.”

“I think it's great you want to do that with your dad!

My thoughts have nothing to do with his age, but...15 days is a long time for a novice backpacker of ANY age to be out on the trail. I think he is much more likely to enjoy himself if you start with a much shorter trip.

What kind of shape is he in, and what previous bp'ing experience does he have?”

“he was a back-country ranger when he was younger and did all kinds of cool stuff like climb whitney...infact i use his old kelty now(and i hate that damned thing cause its ugly and has no padding) he hasnt really done anything for about 15 years now from since befor my mom married him and id really like to expirience time on the trail with him”

“I think it`s wonderful that you want your dad to go with you and enjoy the outdoors again. I hope it works out for the both of you, but that many days might be over doing it if you want him to get started again.

I wish you the best!”

“I hope you have better luck than I would have. My dad's idea of roughing it is to leave a window open! LOL! I wish I had some better advice for you. Good luck.”

“hi, skully! :-)”

“Hi! How was your Christmas?”

“lyra's bored again. :)”

“it was great, thanks! today's the first day i've been at work in a week! i had a wonderful vacation all around :-) and it's almost New Year's, yay! and how was your Christmas, miss skully?”

“yeah, well, i wasn't gonna brag...”

“I got stranded in KY for Christmas. It was pretty nice, though. Hangin' with the boye, making candy, baking. You know, cool Mom stuff.”

“you were stranded in lubricating jelly?”

“oh, that sounds awesome :-) how come you got stranded? did it snow? i was in Charleston for only 1 day...i just couldn't get up the motivation for the drive until Monday :-)”

“My car decided to take a crap the week before. We hate it now.”

“I have met many older folks on the trail... 67 is not bad ....what kind of shape is he in ???

I would do a couple of low mileage 2-3 day trips first. If he likes it and wants to do more then go for it.

Just my 2 cents”

“"...and id really like to expirience time on the trail with him"
vyxtryx
09:45:42 AM
12/26/01


By all means spent some time with him. If not backpacking, perhaps fishing, a walk, a game of cribbage or whatever. Ask for his suggests for something you can plan and do together.

To perhaps give him an incentive, as a "tip," I suggest that you show him my profile (and click on "more"). This only covers part of what I do. I feel that each day needs another eight hours. Then explain to him that I have 5 bypasses, a heart that pumps only 85%, two knees that the orthopedic surgeon wants to replace, and wear orthopedic inserts under my feet.
After seeing the results on my health, my cardiologist ordered me to go mtn. backpacking again this year.

If you are sucessful in getting him to backpack with you, you probably should start easy. I normally start on short, easy hikes, sometimes just day hikes. It takes me about two months to build my condition from being comfortable on easy hikes to where I can reasonably handle strenuous ones. (In shorter time frames I usually overstress myself before returning to work.)

If he is interested, I'd be happy to have him join me on one of my GSMNP excursions.

Good luck.”

“vyxtryx - My dad (now 72) and I do a trip each summer. I've had to scale it back a bit, in the last couple of years, and look for places that are more easily accessible. We keep his pack to a minimum weight and keep the trail days short. Now I look for places where we can hike in, and set up a base, for a few days of exploring without packs.

These are the best times, that we have ever spent together, and I encourage you to do as much, or as little, as your dad is up for. It will be time well spent !!”

“A BACKCOUNTRY RANGER???

Do it woman!!! Hit him up with the question? Who knows, maybe HE'LL have some places to take you...places he'd like to see again. I'll bet he'd have some interesting stories to tell around the campfire.”

“Hiking is a non-contact sport which means anyone in reasonable health can DO IT at any age.

Just spike his coffee with a double shot of expresso and some jinseng.. He won't know what hit him til you're on the trail. Ü”

“I would have a hard time getting my father to hit the trail like I do and plus I would be worried beyond belief that something bad would go wrong.
Think about...
ROAD TRIP ! ....... Car campin', sightseeing, dayhiking, oneniters, fishin, maybe even some horsebackin for a few days up in the ROCK's duuuuude!!!!”

“Take poppinfresh too?”

“yeah, what fritz said... pleeeease.”