14 Tips for Bringing Diabetes on the Trail

The date has been set. The packing list has begun. The companions have been chosen. I am off into the planning stages of my next adventure. Tony, Michelle, Brian and I will be hiking from one end of Catalina to the other over two-ish days. In addition to the usual hiking/backpacking preparations, I also need to make the diabetes preparations. And there are quite a few.

I recently came into contact with another diabetic hiker, Dylan, looking for tips. He is a ten year old who is hiking the Appalachian Trail this summer (a much bigger adventure than I can imagine) to raise money to purchase three Diabetic Service dogs, one for himself and two for fellow diabetic kids in his town. You can check him out at www.dcubed.org.

I'm always looking for cool new ways to solve diabetic problems on the trail and thought I'd share some that I have found along the way. I have a feeling there are thousands more tips out there just waiting to be shared. So your job is to add them at the bottom of this post, for Dylan and for Michelle and I.

So here are my tips, in complete random order, and probably useful only to some... (and they are just things that work for me, not in any way to be confused with medical advice or something I would advise you to do.)

FOOD, BASALS, and BOLUSES

1. I like my pump to be turned down to 45-55% for long hikes. I start it usually about an hour before the hike.

2. I cut back on boluses for food to the same percent.

3. I bring two bladders for fluids. One with just water for when I am higher than I would like, and one with what I call GatorPel. It's half Gatorade and half Propel. It gives me enough sugar to keep hiking and extra electrolytes (super important on a hike) from the Propel. When it runs out, I refill the bladder with water from the trail and pour in a pre-measured Ziploc with another dose of the GatorPel powder.

4. I never under-eat on a hike, even when I am higher than I'd like to be. I have found I burn at least 100 calories an hour on top of my usual daily calorie burn. Food early and often is very important.

5. I love to bring pre-measured trailmix in Ziplocs in an outside pouch so I can grab them easily without having to stop to get them out and slow everyone down. I make them with 240 calories of raisins, chocolate chips and Annie's cheddar bunnies (an organic version of Goldfish). For me that's a 2.0 unit bolus, or on the trail a 1.0 unit bolus.

6. Watch out for the overnight lows after a big hike. I have had to go to a 15% bolus at times. Other times if the day's hike was too strenuous my sugars would spike and become very obstinate. It really depends on the nature of the hike. After a few days on the trail, those results may also change.

GENERAL HIKING TIPS

7. Fresh socks, halfway through the day are AMAZING!!!!!

8. Dehydration is a really big concern on a hike, especially with diabetes. On my last hike, I ran out of water between stops in the hottest part of the canyon and could't take in calories because my stomach got so out of whack. And that's not a place I want to get again.

PACKING

9. Bring enough food, quick acting sugars, and insulin supplies to last more days than you expect to be out there in case you get lost or stuck.

10. Find a way to refrigerate your insulin if it gets hot, or warm it if it gets cold. No one wants frozen insulin. Consider the moisture of the air also can ruin test strips.

11. Having a favorite food for a mid-day meal will do wonders for morale. Even if it seems like it's a pain to pack. Last hike it was a soda and a chocolate candy. So worth it!! It gave me something to look forward to before and something to revel in afterwards.

CGM's

12. I have hiked the Grand Canyon with a glucose meter, and I have hiked it with a CGM. Let me just say, CGM's RULE!! If you don't have one, find a way to get one, even if it is just for the duration of the trip. With only a meter, I had to stop my group sometimes every 30 minutes to test. They hated it and we never got into a groove.

With the Dexcom, I kept it in my pocket and pulled it out about every 30 minutes to check. It also alerted me if I was dropping fast BEFORE I got low and had to stop hiking to correct and then wait for the sugar to hit before continuing on. But always keep a backup. On my last hike, my fellow Type per Michelle had her Dexcom go out within the first 30 minutes.

13. I've had a sensor pull out on other trips as well. You may want to consider additional measures to keep the CGM sensor on. I use SkinTac and have had excellent success (Just an FYI. This is not FDA approved or Dexcom approved) but those sensors stay on like no other.

14. Start your CGM an few days before your trip. I've found the first two days on a new sensor can be a little more off than later int he sensor's lifetime.

So what are your tried and true tips for taking diabetes on the trail?

Rim to River to Rim in One Day

I seem to be thinking lately in pictures instead of words, so I thought I'd give a recap of my Grand Canyon Hike in pictures. Michelle and I hiked from the top of the North Rim down to the Colorado River and back up again to another part of the North Rim in one day, Signs posted everywhere warned not to attempt this, but it wasn't as hard as they warned. (disclaimer: do not attempt this unless you have really trained thoroughly for it and are willing to take the chance of having to be rescued by a helicopter if you cannot make it back out.)

Our GPS Tracks

Our Camper for the Weekend

Had to make a 7-11 stop for Diet Dr Peppers in the car ride out

We're so happy this early in the day.

The sign that say we SHOULD NOT be doing this hike in one day. What better reason to do it.

Taking a moment to soak it all in.

Soaking my feet and knee in the freezing water.

Couldn't have been a more welcome sign after a hot and dry 13 miles.

Getting towards goofy cause we're so tired.

Taking a moment to look at what we had just climber up. (And resting our feet a little)

We finished our hike right as the full moon was rising.

Happy to be out of that canyon.

Food tastes so much better after a 16.5 mile hike.

My victory pose the next morning.

The Grand Canyon Trial Run

Labor day was a great excuse to get in our first trial hike. Michelle and I are planning to hike/run the Grand canyon from rim to river to rim in one day at the end of September. I chose a 5-mile loop in Encinitas because I was familiar with it and it had some great inclines to mimic the Grand Canyon. Since recovering from thyroid disease that kicked my butt, I'm not as confident of what my body is capable of.

This hike was a great place to test it out. The bottom of the Grand canyon is not the place to figure out that you have gone beyond what you can handle. Because the first part of the hike is spent easily descending, many people venture too far before realizing it is at least twice as hard to hike back out. the official Grand canyon website is littered with warnings about venturing too far.

The Encinitas hike couldn't have gone any better. It was a lovely 82 degrees at noon, similar to the 90 we will encounter in the interior of the canyon. Michelle was a perfect hiking buddy holding a swift pace and keeping the conversation entertaining.

And my new Hoka One One running shoes made the day. They are made for long distance running with 30% extra cushioning in the soles. And I felt every bit of it. It felt like I was hiking on spring loaded marshmallows. I never even felt the trail. T

he last time I hiked the Grand Canyon I wore a twenty pound pair of hiking boots with a steel rod running through the sole. By the time I reached the top my feet had passed through hellishly painful to just plain numb. I know this time my feet might be sore but the will be in much better shape because of the new shoes.