Hiking Training

[cosmic]

I am curious what others have done to become stronger hikers (besides hiking more - I already know that one!)

Last weekend told me this: All the running, cycling, and hiking I have done this fall has helped tremendously for the climbing. I felt a lot better, and was faster, hiking to the summit with a heavy pack in the winter, than with a light pack in the summer. Granted, we did it in two days not one.
But on the descent I feel like I am not improving as much as I would like. I was pretty tired after decending Lions Head- my quads were burning pretty bad. And then the next day, same thing after hiking down TRT. This is muscle fatigue I am talking about, not joint pain.

[atruss]

I hiked up and down sundown as many times as I could before my trip to the Daks with weight in my pack.

I usually hiked with 40 lbs or so, and then I ramped it up to 55 lbs which was difficult in the summer.

Other than than, I just started running.  I hate running ..... its horrible 

[surf88]

Well stairs is the obvious one, if you have access to a good stairmaster, besides that squats and lunges, and hip flexor, quads, calfs, and hamstring stretches all help me.  One thing I ve noticed is that when hiking in snow I tend to use different muscles than on terrain.  In snow it is alot more like just going up stairs, while on terrain I tend to use my calves alot more to stabilize.