4 Peaks in 3 days

[jrbren_vt]

What is your acclimatization plan ? When do you arrive at altitude (what date) ?

[rob runkle]

All good advice from the others. If there's one thing I can add it's to slow down. It's surprising how much faster I go, overall, if I slow my moving pace down and keep going rather than stop every 100 steps. I know you aren't going for speed records but finding a sustainable pace and reducing your level of exertion will reduce/prevent the possible effects of altitude sickness as well.

Totally agree... Find the right pace. If you have to stop to breath, your pace is too fast. You may not notice this happening until you get onto the steeper stuff or higher elevations.

[nunns]

All good advice from the others. If there's one thing I can add it's to slow down. It's surprising how much faster I go, overall, if I slow my moving pace down and keep going rather than stop every 100 steps. I know you aren't going for speed records but finding a sustainable pace and reducing your level of exertion will reduce/prevent the possible effects of altitude sickness as well.

Totally agree... Find the right pace. If you have to stop to breath, your pace is too fast. You may not notice this happening until you get onto the steeper stuff or higher elevations.

+1. I personally prefer to hike almost non-stop at a manageable pace. Others prefer a break every half-hour or hour, but if you are stopping more often than that you are probably going too fast. When you are hiking at sea level on flat ground, you can probably go 3 mph or so fairly easily, but not so when you are going up a mountain at altitude. Don't worry about others who might go by you.

Sean Nunn
Raytown MO

[ssusarla]

Fellow San Antonian here. Sounds like you have an awesome trip planned for a great cause. A couple of things I do to help with acclimatization (in addition to being well hydrated) are:

-I start taking 120mg of ginkgo biloba 2x a day two weeks before I head to altitude
-Starting the day before I leave and continuing through my trip, I take AltitudeRx, a supplement that can be ordered from Amazon

Both those things could just have a placebo effect, but before I started that regimen, I’d get a headache above 9000’ that would stay until I got back on the flight home.

Where are you training locally?

Hola Fellow San Antonian!! Good suggestions on AltitudeRX i will check into it. Locally training at Fredrich park, govt canyon.

[myfeetrock]

You should be fine with your pace.........

[Txhiker42]

Fellow San Antonian here. Sounds like you have an awesome trip planned for a great cause. A couple of things I do to help with acclimatization (in addition to being well hydrated) are:

-I start taking 120mg of ginkgo biloba 2x a day two weeks before I head to altitude
-Starting the day before I leave and continuing through my trip, I take AltitudeRx, a supplement that can be ordered from Amazon

Both those things could just have a placebo effect, but before I started that regimen, I’d get a headache above 9000’ that would stay until I got back on the flight home.

Where are you training locally?

Hola Fellow San Antonian!! Good suggestions on AltitudeRX i will check into it. Locally training at Fredrich park, govt canyon.

Friedrich is definitely the best local spot for training. I also like Hill Country State Natural Area, but that’s a longer drive. There’s a hill in a neighborhood off of 281/Borgfeld that if I hike up and down 15 times, I can get 2000’ of elevation gain. I’ve actually seen other folks training for CO mountains there doing the same thing. Good luck, and maybe I’ll see you out at Friedrich sometime!

-Karen

[Loves Thin Air]

Use beet root extract. starting today. (As in, go to your local health food store right now and get some.) You need to start about 2 weeks in advance of your high elevation activity. You don't have 2 weeks.

Beet root extract helps your body produce red blood cells. More red blood cells equals more oxygen to your muscles. That means muscles don't get tired as quickly.

Also, lot's of water. Sleep. High carb food on the trail. Reload after the hikes with high proteins.

[LURE]

Use beet root extract. starting today. (As in, go to your local health food store right now and get some.) You need to start about 2 weeks in advance of your high elevation activity. You don't have 2 weeks.

Beet root extract helps your body produce red blood cells. More red blood cells equals more oxygen to your muscles. That means muscles don't get tired as quickly.

Also, lot's of water. Sleep. High carb food on the trail. Reload after the hikes with high proteins.

Isn't iron the main nutrient you want to aid in red blood cell production? Beef has about 3 times as much of that as beets I think.

The nitrites in beets though have a tendency to convert to nitric oxide and dilate blood vessels, lower blood pressure, and basically act as a legal form of doping... kinda.

EATMORBEETS

[AnnaG22]

Tart cherries, spicy foods, and magnesium are also good ingestible performance enhancers. Tart cherries: anti-inflammatory, boost natural melatonin cycles for more efficient rest. Turmeric: anti-inflammatory. Cayenne: boosts circulation (though you want to be careful as it's also a natural anti-coagulant, that's a better one for those of us that are high pretty often). Magnesium helps combat fatigue, muscle soreness, and cramping.

[Bccrhp]

Grays/Torreys & Harvard were our first 14ers a few weeks ago. I'm guessing you're doing Grays/Torreys first coming from Denver, which makes sense; Harvard was definitely the hardest (and had a few unmarked forks, so be sure to read and print/screenshot the trail reports from this site first), but all three were spectacular. Make sure you have a high-clearance vehicle for Torreys/Grays or you'll have to hike to the trailhead or catch a ride. We did bagels + peanut butter the morning of the hikes, which worked well for us.

If you have the chance, I'd definitely do an acclimation hike the day you fly in & before Grays/Torreys the next day. Maybe 5-6 miles at ~10,000 feet if you can find it.

Good luck -- should be a great adventure!