A Summer backpacking trip is now a solid tradition for me, and this year’s adventure was again a very worthwhile experience. Since my days as a Boy Scout, I have enjoyed camping, exploring, wandering, etc. through the Great Outdoors. As valuable as it is for a child to do those things, I might argue that it’s even more valuable now as an adult – mentally and physically.
For starters . . . I feel incredibly grateful to live so close to the Olympic National Park, seen here in images from the International Space Station.
If you live anywhere near and haven’t done so already, you must go visit and/or explore the Olympic Peninsula.
Hiking to the Enchanted Valley
We ventured into the Olympic National Park again this year, this time tackling one of the more popular hikes, from Graves Creek trailhead to the Enchanted Valley. This year’s hike ended up being approximately 30 miles – an estimated 75,000 steps – over the course of 3 days. Though our initial plan would have given us a brutal 13.5-mile hike out of the Valley on the last day, we [thankfully] adjusted our itinerary to split up the days in a more equal fashion.
Physiologic Aspects of Backpacking
And while I thoroughly enjoy being in nature, I also look at these expeditions as so much more than just hiking/backpacking. From the perspective of a physician in the metabolic health space, it’s a chance for me to explore what my body is capable of as I push it to extremes.
In general, people are most intrigued at how I functioned on so little food – a topic that I covered in last week’s post. Similarly, people struggle to understand how I was able to function on zero carbohydrates – none consumed at all on trail and none for 3.5 weeks prior.
From a medical/metabolic perspective, the thing that was on my mind the most about this trip was the impressive endurance that our leg muscles are capable of performing. Obviously, that kind of endurance is developed over decades. It struck me, though, how much more resilient our leg muscles are than our arm muscles.
Picture a time when you were working on a task overhead with your arms. It doesn’t take long to get to the point of profound discomfort that forces you to bring your arms back down to your sides. Those muscles fatigue so quickly, especially when blood flow is fighting against gravity.
The legs, however, are capable of profound acts of endurance, whether it’s running marathons or backpacking across 10+ miles of rough terrain. I’m not going to discuss the science behind this phenomenon in this post, but there are some explanations.
That’s enough medical talk for this week — enjoy the photos!
