By John Haynes

It is amazing how often you observe people who go from being physically active as a teenager to a sedentary lifestyle, characterized by inactivity, as they grow older.

This past summer I had the opportunity to backpack with an old friend of mine, Wilbur Miller. I should mention that Wilbur has not migrated to the easy chair after reaching voting age. In fact, he has upheld a long-standing exercise regime.

Quite some time ago, I introduced Wilbur to backpacking. He immediately became an active hiker. Whenever we have scheduled a hiking trip, I have never worried about him being out of condition to safely backpack. I have had fleeting thoughts and concerns about myself, however. With Wilbur, intense weightlifting workouts have been the norm. This has included the "killer twenty squats" routine. Coupled with the weights, he also, almost daily, goes for a long walk in the pasture.

Hiking and backpacking, in particular, place serious physical demands on the body and if you really want to safely enjoy your trip, you can not neglect physical conditioning. What we are talking about primarily are the cardiovascular demands. Wilbur’s workouts tax both strength and cardiovascular requirements. The big issue here is to not let your age interfere, and if you want to be a life-long hiker, you have to exercise!

Getting back to Wilbur and our backpacking trip, Wilbur had never climbed a 14,000-foot peak. We decided to climb San Luis Peak, southeast of Gunnison, Colorado. I had been hiking and backpacking in Colorado earlier in the summer, so I already had some conditioning and probably some acclimating to the altitude. Wilbur, on the other hand, had been doing his workouts faithfully.

Our strategy was to do three successfully higher camps before attempting the peak. (This sounds like a Mount Everest expedition, doesn’t it?) We did this to help acclimate ourselves. The end result was that we successfully made it to the top. Wilbur really felt pleased at achieving his personal goal of climbing a 14,000-foot peak.

By the way, did I mention that Wilbur is three months shy of being seventy years old?!!

(Below is a picture of Wilbur Miller at the top of  San Luis Peak)

(click to enlarge)