hiking in Colorado

Is there anyone in the club who regularly hikes at Colorado altitudes (up to 13000 ft)? I would appreciate any tips regarding pacing myself, stopping and starting on the trail, etc.

I find that I have to start slowly, that a trail that starts up steep gives me trouble and I generally avoid taking a sitting down rest on the way up because it is so hard to get going again.

What should I know about settings? I did not know there was something to know, check and keep track of until I stumbled across the club.

I am 73 and have had my pm for 7 years.. 100% dependent. I cherish my weekly hike with my women friends and want to keep going for as long as I can. Hiking is good for my body but it is my soul that needs it.

ibee

6 Comments

hiking

by Tracey_E - 2012-06-30 09:06:08

Electric Frank is the only one I know here who does very high altitudes. Hopefully he will see this and chime in. I live at sea level so I am a wimp and feel the altitude by about 6000 ft. We hike for most vacations but rarely go above 10,000, I've never been able to keep any kind of stamina higher than that.

My dr said to spend the night at an intermittent altitude if possible then take another day at the higher altitude before exerting but that's not always practical, and who wants to spend the first two days of vacation sitting around?! I settle for one day of behaving once I get where I'm going, drinking all the water I can stand and taking it easy, then the next day I go for it. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I carry either a sports drink or coconut water for back up if plain water isn't cutting it on long hikes. And I'm a fan of salted nuts in my pack, quick sodium and protein.

Ditto on stopping to rest,m it's so hard to get up and get going again. Resting is for the view at the top!

If your settings are ok at a lower altitude, they should be fine up high.

High Altitude wit Pacer

by ElectricFrank - 2012-07-01 02:07:42

Hi ibee,
Actually, I'm a cheater. I've rented a Jeep out of Ouray and run Imogene pass at 13,200'. There are some trails at the top that I hiked up to lookout points etc. I'm 82.

I've also camped and hiked in the White Mountains of Calif at around 12,000.

The best I can say is that the pacemaker itself has no effect on high altitude performance. The issue is the condition of your heart as a pump before the pacer. In many cases the reason for the pacer is a failure in one of the nerve pathways in the heart that provide timing for the various chambers. In my case I developed AV block which means that my atrium still beats normally and responds to exercise. The problem is that the word doesn't get to the ventricles and they just sit there at 35 or so. The pacemaker senses an atrial beat, waits around 170 milliseconds, and then tickles the ventricles. With this setup all is well and my heart works like it always did.

The only catch is that there is a setting on the pacer called Upper Tracking Limit which is supposed to limit the upper HR that will be passed on the ventricles. This comes from the factory set to 120 bpm which is a disaster for folks like us. Usually, at the first checkup they adjust the upper limit to something "appropriate" for our age. For us active old duffers the standard calculation is way to low. To make matters worse the limit is enforced by causing the heart to start skipping beats, which is the last thing we need on the trail.

My approach is to insist that the upper limit be set to 150 which is above the recommended max for me. Then I take responsibility for keeping my HR in bounds. I find about 130-135 is good for me.

So bottom line is go ahead and get out on the trail. If you find your HR is irregular don't panic. Just slow up a bit and check you HR. By the way some HR monitors will give bad readings with the pacer.

Feel free to post any other questions or drop me a PM if it helps.

frank

Thanks El Frank

by ldebaugh - 2012-07-03 12:07:06

Your comment was very helpful for me. I'm taking your thoughts with me to my appt. on Thursday and my treadmill test. I'm going to ask for a higher max rate.
Thanks!

Thank you TraceyE

by ibee - 2012-07-04 07:07:14

I had a great hiking day yesterday! Started at 11,158 ft and ended at 13,100 2 miles later. I did it all, very slowly, in one stretch, no stopping. I live in Denver.
You are so right about hydrating. I usually drink about 12 oz on my way to the trail head and then try to keep it up. My favorite snack along the way is citrus segments, grapefruit in my case and, like you, nuts.
Nice to have a kindred spirit out there!
ibee

I ride my bike up that high...

by COBradyBunch - 2012-07-05 10:07:21

Not more than a few times a year but am regularly over 10k. Did RTR this year and we had lots of altitude on our ride this year. Everything you said about hydrating, starting slow and listening to your body are super important. Sounds like you are doing great. In 8 days I get to do the Triple Bypass www.triplebypass.org which will be over 10k of climbing over Squaw/Juniper, Loveland and Vail Passes, 120 miles of riding all in one day. Fun, Fun, FUN!!!!

Thank you COBradyBunch

by ibee - 2012-07-13 06:07:45

Belatedly all the best for your Triple Bypass ride! I just got home today from having my PM replaced on 7/10 plus 3 days in hospital to get INR right. I am trying very hard to understand all the settings but:
ADL Rate Setpoint: mine is set at 15 and
Upper Rate Setpoint: mine is set at 40
have me puzzled.
When you get a chance could you enlighten me?
Hope your ride was everything you wanted it to be.
ibee

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