RE: [Philmont]: Philmont Altitude Acclimation

It's been my experience that most of the time altitude sickness is really
dehydration, in some stage or another and usually happens to the individual
who is not in good hiking or backpacking condition. Do as much hiking with
a loaded backpack as you can at home, stay hydrated while on the trail and
you'll probably make the trek fine. Dehydration sneaks up on you but as
several have noted it has telltale signs that you can catch and head off
before it gets to bad. One of the things our ranger told us in 1992 was
"If someone is cranky or ill, they need to drink more water."
 
 I don't think enough emphasis is put on the importance of training with a
loaded backpack. In 1992 one of our crew was the state of Alabama Cross
Country Champion. He missed most, if not all of our training hikes because
of Cross Country events. When we got to Philmont he was the worst prepared
of the whole crew. He could run up Mt. Phillips without a pack but with a
35 pound backpack on he was one of the most miserable scouts at Philmont.
We had to lighten his load drastically to keep him on the trail.
 
So train with a loaded backpack and force the fluids. That will prevent
most of the altitude sickness problems.
 
Wayne White
Troop 222 present CC
(Scoutmaster 14 years)
Moulton, AL
Philmont 92, 96, 97, 00, 03

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Received on Thu Sep 18 05:21:45 2003