This article was first published on The Trek on March 16, 2025.
Oliver’s Journey to the Arizona Trail
In case you’re just tuning in, my name is Oliver and I am a Canadian Armed Forces chaplain. I am going to leave to hike the Arizona Trail in 9 days. A lot of conventional wisdom out there seems to suggest that prepping isn’t that important – that you don’t get your “trail legs” until a week or two in anyway, and the only way to truly prepare your body for thru-hiking is by thru hiking. That’s great if you’re in your 20s to 30s and you’re a handful of pounds from a healthy weight. It’s another if you have spent the last 30 years since high school raising children and riding a desk.
Overcoming Health and Fitness Challenges
Of course, my story includes a few more challenges than that – last year I had a cardiac event which left me in a hospital for 3 weeks straight, and health-related anxiety that had me questioning whether my heart was going to stop every time I started breathing hard. Since then I have been working hard to trust my body again, slowly building my capacity up to be ready to hike on March 26.
My plan, as I outlined earlier, was to work on averaging 10 thousand steps per day in January, 15 thousand in February, and 20 thousand in March. I hit my goal in January, and in February. Here we are halfway through March, and I thought I would give one more update. I plan to go into rest and recover mode by next Saturday, and give myself 3-4 days before hitting the trail to let blisters and chafing heal up, before tackling Miller Peak day 1.
The event was the end of June. I am really proud of the trendline ever since and the total steps I have put in the last few months – some of the biggest non-hiking months of my life.
Dome Mountain Training and Loaded-Pack Hikes
The first week of March I got into a routine of pushing hard for 25 thousand steps, then the next day slowing down to 15 thousand. This worked well for the first week, then week 2 I tried to include more 25 thousand step days, culminating in Saturday, where I have made it a habit to climb Dome Mountain (the only height of land around here with elevation gain and a trail that works in most weather).
In January I was only doing the mountain itself, 9km (6 miles). In February I started walking up with a light daypack, some water and snacks, and beginning my journey at the start of a 2 mile stretch of road to the base, making the total distance 13.5km (8 miles) up and back to the car. In March I strapped on my loaded Durstongear Kakwa 55 and carried that up the 13.5, then yesterday I took it even farther: I hiked from my house up the mountain and back for a total of 22km (13.6 miles)!
I was in rough shape last night, pretty tapped out but I think I was worse off than I could have been because I planned to have a Mountain House meal at the summit for lunch… but realized that since my pack was loaded with trip gear the stove didn’t have a gas canister in it (because I have to fly with it, I didn’t have one packed).
So a handful of cookies was all the calories I was fuelling with up and back, and I think that was a mistake. But doing that kind of distance with load was a huge confidence builder because that’s the distance I expect to do on day 1 up close to 9500 feet on Miller Peak (albeit with a lot more elevation gain… but on trail I’ll have all day to get it done, whereas yesterday I did the whole distance in 5 hours!)
Final Preparations Before Hitting the Trail
All in all, I am feeling very good about the prep I have managed to get in. I feel confident in my body for this trip, barring unforeseen accidents. All that remains now it to finish out this week, plan out my first week’s meals and snacks, pack them up, and wait for my flight!
This last week of training will be still aiming for 20 thousand steps per day, but I won’t be pushing for more. And I may wind up doing it in the gym on the treadmill as we have two warmup days forecast, which may turn the roads and trails into ice sheets. That isn’t the worst problem to have though… I have some Icebug shoes that can deal with traction. But with two rapid warmups it is also likely to be very windy, and windchill is miserable.
In any case, my next post will probably be on the 26th about my journey to the trail! See you in Arizona!