WOODS WALKING WITH A PACK
There is a certain trick in learning the technique of walking outdoors.
Unless one takes up pedestrianism to make the most of it he is not apt
to perfect himself in an art universally practised in a slip shod
fashion and yet which is one of the simplest functions of the human
body. Just this careful attention to details is what distinguishes the
pedestrian from the mere stroller. Indeed one must walk with the head as
well as with the feet, studying to eliminate the faults of gait. The
secret is to find how to walk with the least effort to relieve body
rigidity and thus conserve vital force.
The gait of the average townsman is that of a stroller--a distinct up
and down action with rather rigid hips, the toes very likely pointing
outward and the heels striking first and disturbing the balance. The
carriage may be erect enough and the movements springy and graceful over
firm level footing but it is an ill poised gait and exhausting should
one endeavor to lengthen the step or cover the ground in good time.
Essentially the difference between the above gait of the stroller and
that of the pedestrian is one of hip action, joint looseness and manner
of foot implantation. The novice will in all likelihood begin his
practical walking on country roads and to him is now addressed the main
features of the proper gait in pedestrianism. He will probably be
unencumbered with a pack and will have a firm, level surface for walking
with consequent freedom to develop a gait of definite “form.”
In the best regulation gait--the long swinging stride--the knee gives a
little as the weight of the body is placed on that leg but not so much
as to bend the knees. It is midway between the bent knee stride of the
French Army and the extreme conventional stiff kneed “goose step” of the
German Army. The foot is kicked well forward and by this the rate of
speed is regulated rather than by pressing the foot against the ground
as it leaves it, which is fatiguing. The body is held erect, chest up
and shoulders back but not strained nor lifted. The movements are
graceful and springy as no joint is held in rigidity. The eyes are fixed
about 35 feet ahead.
There is considerable of a swing at the hips, in fact a distinct
roll--the hips swaying an inch or more to the stepping side with a
corresponding long pace. The leg is swung back and forth from the hip,
the knee joint aiding this motion by adapting the leg to the
irregularities of the ground surface. As employed by professional
long-distance walkers the hip action is somewhat exaggerated. The hip
roll is regulated to some extent by the swing of the arms which should
alternate with the leg action. This is a means of instilling a lot of
energy into the gait. The tendency is to overdo--to swing too vigorously
and by overswaying disturb the body balance with a resultant fatigue. As
an aid to this, some professional walkers use a two foot light walking
stick or riding crop held in the hands. The arms may be held any way
desirable but it is advisable to carry them well up.
Woods walking with a pack differs greatly from common road touring. In
his primitive forest habitat the woodsman can outwalk the experienced
pedestrian for he has the knack of negotiating a steady gait over uneven
and slippery ground, edging through thickets and worming his way amid
fallen timber, rocks, brush, etc., with less fret and exertion than one
who is accustomed to smooth, unobstructed paths. The woodsman besides
having the handicap of traveling over an uneven surface is more or less
encumbered by a pack which even if made as light as possible gives the
hiker a taste of real work. The long swinging gait of the bushman is
less tiring than the straight ahead stiffer stride of one who walks on
smooth ground as on city pavements. This woods walking is acquired with
experience as a result of physical adaptation to repeated emergency
footing exigencies.
The poise of an Indian in the act of stepping would be found to be a
perfect body balance on each foot. This allows great control over
movements: the characteristic silent stealth of the redman displays the
greatest economy of vital force. He conserves his strength and makes
every step count, often going around many places which otherwise he
could make with a hop, skip and jump--a desideratum in preventing
fatigue in woods walking where the steps must be of unequal length and
the footing so different.
There is no doubt that walking is unexcelled as a short cut exercise to
the attainment of physical fitness. One should never try to accomplish
too much at one time, for overdoing disgusts one with the pastime.
Start in easy, walk deliberately, adopt an easy, natural gait and
maintain it. Short rests are permissible but if overdone they result in
stiff muscles and chill.
The question of the number of miles to attempt on a day’s tramp is
tempered by the several conditions of roads, trails, altitudes, hills,
size of pack, if on such a trip, and physical capabilities. One records
then variations in tours from the accomplishment of but two miles a day
with a back pack on a woods tramp over seemingly impassable swamp to the
professional achievement of the famous Weston who between his
seventy-first and seventy-second birthday walked from New York to
California and back at the rate of 46 miles a day.
For the average business man a one to five mile tramp each afternoon is
an admirable and perfectly feasible exercise: in fact this distance is
covered by many in their daily activities. Take the first mile or two
slowly to limber up. Daily one can increase the distance as the
perfecting of the stride and endurance permits until he can cover twenty
to twenty-five miles a day in road walking without injury--a feat not
difficult to attempt if one is in good health. Taken as a once a week
culmination to the daily several mile walk the twenty-five mile walk is
as much as the inexperienced walker should take and not feel
inconvenienced. For the experienced a trip of this length would be
merely incidental.
Three miles an hour is comfortable for a day’s trip. The infantry gait
is three miles and is sufficient for the amateur who is out for his
health. It is not easy to walk four miles an hour and keep it up and it
is certainly too much for the novice to attempt.
In estimating the rate of travel measure your pace, the average is two
feet in length, and time yourself for the approximately 2500 paces per
measured mile, counting the 1250 right foot implantations, and then use
time for estimating distance rather than the linear measure of mileage
which latter is impossible in the unmapped wilderness. If you care to be
more exact the pedometer can be used. Don’t try to break the record--it
is endurance not speed that counts. Be free to choose your course, and
never hurry lest self reprehension come upon you. It is the traveler on
foot who has the time to receive and reflect upon his impressions and at
the same time pleasantly rejuvenate his body and mind.
For one contemplating a long twenty-five mile or so hike it is well to
choose a route where it is never necessary to march very far in a day
for lack of intervening accommodations. In most of our country this is
easily accomplished. The annual vacation hike can be well spent in one
of our National Parks, the walkers’ paradise. Here the pedestrian can
start from one of the many noted tourist centers and be certain of
accommodations before the next night’s resting place: he can obtain
vistas of famous scenery and gain a storehouse of pleasant memories
which fully discount any hardship he may have experienced on the trail.
To accomplish a hike in the most approved form the arrangement of meals
and travel should be varied somewhat from the conventional customs. A
fairly early morning start should be made with but two meals in view--a
ten a. m. breakfast and a five p. m. supper with perhaps a brief midday
pause and a prepared lunch. This gives the man who cooks his own meals a
long stretch of time for getting over the ground without the worry and
time of cooking a noonday repast.
A nine to ten hour sleep is none too little for anyone enjoying the
healthful outdoor life, in fact the increased amount of sleep that one
seems to require is one of the upbuilding features of such a trip and
is not to be cut short for any reason. The amount of sleep needed is of
course subject to individual peculiarities.
In real hot weather start at daybreak and you can get in a half day’s
journey by the time the sun is hot. Slow down at the heat of day and
hunt a shady retreat. On such days drink but little water and have it
pure. One will perspire freely, which is good, for this is Nature’s way
of cooling the body by evaporation: if one stops sweating there is real
danger of heat stroke.
In wilderness travel the most dependable guides are the compass,
combining with the North Star by night or the sun by day. Night travel
is based on the North or Polar Star as the infallible guide. It is
located by means of the big dipper which should be known to everyone.
The two stars farthest from the handle and lowest are nearly in line and
are called the “pointers.”
Of course, if the sun is shining you will have a reliable guide to
direction, depending on the time of day.
The seasoned woods traveler goes principally by direction and he has
developed to a higher or lesser degree the “bump” of locality or
instinct of direction developed by his trained close observation. He
gets the lay of the land, noting little things which are unusual, such
as rocks, trees, sounds, course of stream flow, flora and fauna of the
country and then he travels north, east, south and west of some special
landmark, as a river, mountain, lake, etc. The use of the compass, North
Star, etc., is much preferable to travel by landmarks, for north is
always north whereas two landmarks may look alike and hence bewildering.
If you expect to retrace your steps you should look frequently backward
and impress the salient features of the landscape on your memory such as
a cliff here, a distorted tree there, and the like.
In such a region, too, one should blaze the trail by chipping the bark
off trees at intervals along the way and on both sides of the tree if
one is to retrace the route. In a country covered by bushes blaze the
trail by bending over a green bush in the direction in which you are
going, snapping the stem or chopping it with an axe: the top pointing
away from the trail. The underside of the leaves being of lighter shade
than the upper marks such a sign conspicuously in the wilderness.
If you intend to hunt in unfamiliar territory where you must depend on
your compass to get you out, a map showing the topography of the land
is of great benefit. These quadrangles can be secured at the State Land
Office, county seat or at the United States Land Office, the Post Office
Department or of the United States Geological Survey, Washington. They
are compiled from the field notes of surveyors and they indicate the
location of streams, lakes, roads, mountain ranges, swamps, etc.