The one universal thing with aging is that more that you do hurts. Period. At some point the array of things you did to yourself in the prior 6 or 7 or more decades decide to remind you of their presence. And arthritis is fairly universal, somewhere, after enough time. It is a wear and tear issue except that aside from bunions you can’t grind it out like a brake rotor.
So you lie a lot in the doc’s office when they get to the question of whether you are having any pain. Being honest just confuses the young aides and nurses.
The attitude of many in the generations prior to boomers was that the aching meant you needed to stop doing what made the ache happen. Which is not an entirely silly idea, it worked. And a lot of doctors recommended it,
But my boomer peers, we are more selfish about our activities. More likely to have decided to push thru that aching to find ways to keep doing what we want - mitigating the ache rather than stopping because of it. So more Yoga, inversion tables, gyms and weights at an older age.
Not that no one ever did this stuff before - as in the stories above there have always been people who understood that aging well could happen but it wasn’t for sissies.
So sore is fine as long as you got it from pushing yourself a little. Stiff mornings where the first half hour means moving carefully are fine as long as you keep moving thru that time. Snow shoveling can be done with a more back friendly shovel and spending more short sessions to move the snow you hefted like a weight lifter when younger. Hullivators, or lightweight pack boats etc allow you to still get out and paddle.
The important thing is not to stop until the devil arrives to argue for your soul.
My Dad is 96 and walks with no aids. He still drives 3 sports cars and trades in the stock market.
My uncle played tennis 3 days a week at 90. He recently passed at 93. He came to visit in his mid 80s and we went hiking in the mountains behind the house.
My great aunt lived to be 104. She walked a mile a day and liked to discuss politics.
Fortunately I don’t have back aches or arthritis and paddling being low-impact I haven’t torn anything, but I get muscle aches and tendon pain. Muscle aches go away with more workouts, tendon aches get worse. I take a NSAID before I paddle and usually another one 3 hours into it. It works for me.
True but this happened a long time ago. Ever notice how your brain, likely ego centered, thinks you can do the things you did at 25? I suffered from this at 35.
I drive a 30+ year old Ford pickup. It is still going strong, but it does require more body work and maintenance than it did when it was new. My body now has a few more dents and scars than it used to. I have broken just about every bone in my body and torn every muscle, at least once. At 72, I have to spend more time working out (built a home gym) to get into shape than I did when I was 25, but I’m still portaging a cedar/fiberglass canoe and I carry cast iron cookware. I paddle at a slightly slower pace, but I still enjoy a few weeks solo in the wilderness every year (except 2020…).
I have studied martial arts since I was eleven. I am now 61. I am a sea kayaker, free climber, hill walker and a registered Sahara guide in Mauritania. When there I walk about 30 km/day. I spend around two-three months in my kayak aroun the West Coast of Scotland. It is always great to walk up a mountain to have a day off from paddling, just to see a different aspect of my country. It is always a surprise! You are as young as you feel and I am looking forward to pass Theodore Monod’s age of 92 when he was still riding camels. Stay safe from Scotland.
Last year, Dale Sanders hiked the entire 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail. Two years prior, he paddled the Mississippi River from source to sea in 80 days. Others have done both trips faster, but they weren’t in their ninth decade, like the now-83-year-old Sanders.
As an aged adventurer, Sanders has more and more company. Last year, Aleksander Doba of Poland completed his third paddle across the Atlantic Ocean at the age of 73 and 80-year-old New Zealander Helen Thayer walked the length of California’s Death Valley solo and unsupported. At press time, polar explorer Will Steger, 73, was nearing completion of a 1,000-mile solo trek across Canada’s barren lands, dragging behind him a North Star canoe on skis filled with 200 pounds of kit.
More eloquent than Jack Kerouac who said, “In the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in [the office] or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.”
For outdoor people, going out there has never been controversial. The question is how do we keep going out there. I am 70 and have been backpacking for 60 years. Now I am slow going up hill, but in a boat I am almost as good as I ever was, and now have much better judgment.
Off our rockers, actin’ crazy
With the right medication we won’t be lazy
Doin’ the old folks boogie
Down on the farm
Wheelchairs, they was locked arm in arm
Paired off pacemakers with matchin’ alarms
Gives us jus’ one more chance
To spin one more yarn
And you know that you’re over the hill
When your mind makes a promise that your body can’t fill
Doin’ the old folks boogie
And boogie we will
'Cause to us the thought’s as good as a thrill
Back at the home,
No time is your own,
Facillities there, they’re all out on loan
The bank forclose, and your bankruptcy shows
And your credit creeps to an all-time low
So you know, that you’re over the hill
When your mind makes a promise that your body can’t fill
Try and get a rise from an atrophied muscle,
And the nerves in your thigh just quivers and fizzles
So you know, that you’re over the hill
When your mind makes a promise that your body can’t fill
So, mind what ya promise yerselves, and BOOGIE (w/paddle) ON, ya bunch of alta kochers! Oh, and Seasoned Soltices, Merry Christmas, May your post Chanukah Cha-Cha on with extra oil in the lamp, and, if Kwanzaa ain’t on yaz dance ticket, then patiently paddle per purpose and passion your partner the pirouge in some pagan fashion.
I turned 59 in August of this year, so I’m a youngin’ in this group. Hadn’t thought about kayaking much until I found out about kayaking in Newfoundland, with whales! So I started out on a borrowed SOT in May, I was in LOVE! I bought an inflatable by the end of that month, and then bought a used hardshell cross over boat in July. I go out whenever I can, I hope to paddle until it freezes over, and there are a couple rivers near me that never do!
Some day I might be too old to Kayak, but I don’t see that happening. I am planning to go up to Newfoundland as soon as they let visitors in and try the North Atlantic!
I am 68 and noticed some things are much harder than they used to be. As they say a body in motion stays in motion so the plan is to keep moving the best I can.
At 69 I’ve been paddling for about five years and in that time it has become an essential ingredient to my physical, spiritual and mental well being. I have made good friends on the water and garnered memories I will treasure when I can go no more.
For instance, today I’m taking out an old friend who is about my age for his first kayak outing. We’re both excited — me for the opportunity to introduce a dear friend to all the magic we paddlers experience and him because he will be doing something he’s always wanted to do.
While there is something to the old chestnut, “age is a state of mind,” we each have our physical limitations. It’s good to be ever mindful of them and take them into account when in challenging situations.
Four or five times a week I do several simple yoga stretches to maintain flexibility. This short practice has enhanced my abilities on land and water and is something I’d encourage anyone, paddler or not, to do.
Last week I took my 13-year-old grandson paddling on a nearby creek that had some fast water. About two-thirds of the way to our take-out, we stopped on a gravel bar, explored and ate sandwiches. I don’t think you can overemphasize the importance of getting kids away from their computers and smartphones and into nature. Afterward he told his dad he had a “great” time.
I am a perennial, recreational kayaker, almost 71. I helped a neighbor select a kayak a few years ago and he, at 82 years of age is still my kayaking buddy; we paddle mostly local lakes, ponds, and the Swampscott River ( saltwater ).
When I was 49 to 60 yrs. old, I did 8 to 12 hour fishing excursions in the Piscataqua River to the 2KR Buoy, with my last Pungo 140. Always in the direction of the tide, no finesse, never claimed to be an athlete nor a skilled paddler. For the stupid risks I have taken, I consider myself lucky.
I recently sold my last Pungo 140 after buying a used RAV4 - car topping (tried, didn't like the Hullivator, sold it) and recently downsized to a Pungo 120 but it's not the same...
I have been giving the fish a rest and carry my Nikon instead...I look forward to buying a more suitable kayak, probably my last one, this spring.
I am 72 and just got my last kayak. Last being highly flexible. I have a Pungo 140 and will sell it only when I can no longer paddle and relatives don’t want it . My kids, grandkids and paddling partner love the boat.
During the US cross country skiing craze in the mid to late 1970s I was selling the gear and teaching the sport and got to know about the legendary “Jack Rabbit” Johannsen, who was one of the main influences in popularizing the sport in North America. He lived to be 111 (science has identified XC skiing as the best conditioning sport and I have heard that Olympic Nordic racers are the overall fittest athletes in the world. Excellent cardio workout with virtually no joint impact. I’d seen photos of him participating in ski races at 104.
My own uncle (by marriage, no shared genes unfortunately) was of Swedish descent and loved XC skiing and long distance road biking, doing both far into retirement. I moved to live near him in West Michigan for a few years and my first winter there he had, at 71, only recently recovered from a Spring accident where a motorist struck him while he was road biking – he broke both arms and a lower leg. I’m a decent intermediate skier (no speed demon) but I knew if he had been in prime condition he would have cleaned my clock. Because he was “still healing” from those bone breaks 8 months earlier we were actually well matched and managed to pace each other doing a 15 miles circuit through the rolling terrain of Michigan woods. He lived to be 91, lived independently and biked (using a recumbent) until his last year or two.
This past summer of 2020 was perfect for my group of friends to safely get together and paddle the lakes, ponds, rivers and Bay of Cape Cod. I am now 81 and I plan the trips and lead the group (and I am not the oldest one in the group!). We wear masks, stay 6’ apart which is easy in a kayak. When we stop for lunch we sit 6’ apart and picnic on a beach. I have loved kayaking since I was about 12, always will. Two back surgeries and I am still going strong. Don’t give up! Stay slim and do squats so you can get out of your boat without falling in the water! Good luck!
Ivyabby
When there I walk about 30 km/day. I spend around two-three months in my kayak aroun the West Coast of Scotland. It is always great to walk up a mountain to have a day off from paddling, just to see a different aspect of my country. It is always a surprise! You are as young as you feel and I am looking forward to pass Theodore Monod’s age of 92 when he was still riding camels. Stay safe 
from Scotland.