Menopausal Hikers:
Tips For How To Embrace The Change 

By Diane Spicer

Welcome, menopausal hikers (and those heading in that general direction).

First, a bit of celebration.

• No more monthly interruptions in our hiking schedules.

I don't know about you, but I always found the cramps, the frequent stops to change pads or tampons, and the personal hygiene issues related to menstruation to be impediments to a satisfying hiking trip.

Don't get me wrong.

I appreciate being a female.

I deeply appreciate the fact that my monthly menstrual cycles resulted in my two wonderful offspring.

But I do not miss having periods.

There, I've said it.

Now let's take time to explore this normal transition, from a menopausal hiker's perspective.

Menopause is normal!

If you're in your forties (perimenopausal), these issues might be of interest because you can prepare yourself in advance to stay strong on hiking trails.

If you're in your fabulous fifties, you're aware already that things are changing in your body.

Here's why....

The trade-off for no monthly bleeding is less estrogen in the body.

And that affects more than just the reproductive system.

• Read this humorous article for a glimpse into the total body changes of menopause.

Specifically for menopausal hikers, we're focusing on changes in bones, heart, urinary bladder, cognition, and balance.

• And how that impacts your hiking career.

Let's take a look at each of them in turn to see how those changes affect us on the trail.

Bone strength for menopausal hikers

Estrogen levels are decreasing as women head into their fifties, putting them at an increased risk for fracture compared with younger women, and also compared with men of all ages.

Why?

• The hormone estrogen prevents bone loss by telling the bone destroying cells (osteoclasts) to chill out.

Which bones?

Any of them, but for menopausal hikers, we're concerned with hips and vertebrae (backbone) because they bear our weight and give us maneuverability on the trail.

Here are my tips on strong hiking bones.

If you're already dealing with thinning bone mass, read my tips on hiking with osteoarthritis.

How to protect your precious bones as a hiker

Women need to be mindful of the potential for osteoporosis as they age.

Need some menopausal hiking tips?

For starters, be smart about how you put on your pack (good ergonomics).

• Bend your knees, swing the pack onto one thigh, then hoist it to your shoulder. Here's a video to explain the process in more detail.
  

Better yet, use a handy rock or log as a prop and sit down while you get your pack on.

Even better, ask your hiking partner to lift it for you!

I avoid this whole thing most of the time by keeping my pack on at all rest breaks shorter than 15 minutes, taking it off only at lunch time and at the end of the day.

Another thing to consider: weight distribution.

Is your backpack packed properly? You want to allow your pelvis to carry the weight of your hiking gear and water, not your shoulders or neck.

If you experience a sore neck or tight shoulders after a hike, have someone snap a picture of you wearing your backpack to see if posture is also a concern. Thrusting your neck forward to see the ground more clearly, or straining under the weight of your pack, can throw you out of alignment.

Deal with it, don't put up with it!

Adjust your backpack straps, set a reminder on your phone to check your posture every hour, start a yoga practice for hikers, hike with your shoulders back and your chin tucked a bit.

Guard against bone loss with activity and good nutrition

Another bone protector: regular moderate weight bearing exercise.

That means more than a hike now and then.

• Take daily walks with a light pack or wrist weights. Work your way up to a heavier pack.
  
• Do some moderate weight lifting - use filled water bottles if you don't want to invest in fancy weights or a gym membership.
• Carry your own groceries and grandchildren.
  

Getting a bone density screening (DEXA) to keep an eye out for osteoporosis may be a good idea, especially for women over the age of 65 years.

Your "T score" is the number your health care provider wants to know.

It's tough to build lots of bone density after menopause, so be sure to keep what you have.

Diet plays into this in a big way.

Adequate vitamin D (many respected authorities recommend 400 to 800 IU each day) and calcium (1000 to 1500 mg each day has been recommended) levels give your bones the necessary building blocks.

So be sure you're getting enough each day to safeguard your bone mass via dairy products, leafy greens, and canned fish with bones.

• More menopausal hiker nutrition tips
  

Cardiovascular issues that may arise for menopausal hikers

Before menopause, women enjoy protection from heart disease compared with men.

As menopause approaches, things start to even out.

The fat content of your diet becomes even more important, as does stress management, smoking, and activity level. These all play into cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) health.

Since you're a menopausal hiker, I'm guessing that you already have good baseline levels of cardiovascular fitness. Your heart muscle is stronger than if you skipped hiking, because you elevate your heart rate for long periods of time.

Let's keep it that way, shall we?

Move it to keep it strong!

If you are a "week-end warrior" type of hiker, maybe you should give your heart muscle daily exercise to keep it ticking along without problems.

Suggestions for you to incorporate into your day:

• Take the stairs every time. 
• Park far away from the door and use a brisk pace to reach it.
  
• Climb a hill every evening and gaze off into the distance, plotting your next hiking adventure.
  
• Dance! or at least jump around to music while you're vacuuming or brushing your teeth.
  
• Just be sure you get 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each week day (with more on week-ends on a hiking trail, right?).

Pressure matters

Do you know your blood pressure?

• Inexpensive monitors can give you a baseline reading.
• Some drugstores have free blood pressure machines.
• Wellness events can give you the numbers, too.

The "bottom" (diastolic) number is what really counts: you want to be somewhere around 80 - 90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).

If it's creeping higher, talk things over with your health care provider about ways to bring the number down.

The "top" (systolic) number shouldn't wander too far over 140, either.

Cholesterol

While we're at it, a word about cholesterol is in order.

Our body makes most of our cholesterol, but what we eat also contributes to our total cholesterol level circulating in our bloodstream.

Excess cholesterol has to go somewhere, and that can become a problem.

Every 5 years you might want to consider a complete lipoprotein panel so you can see where you're at with this important contributor to cardiovascular health as a hiker.

This data allows you to monitor how much cholesterol and fat carrying proteins you have in your bloodstream, and to consider how what you're eating may contribute to your numbers.

There are "good" lipoproteins and "bad" ones.

Your health care provider can get you sorted out on which are which, and what your values should be for your age range and gender.

Hint: Menopausal hikers need to watch out for elevated LDLs and decreased HDLs, along with increased triglyceride levels - all because of that darn disappearing estrogen.

Dietary changes as a menopausal hiker

If you're used to carrying a hiking lunch or trail snacks that are high in saturated fats, consider some new additions to your hiking food rotation.

Ultraprocessed foods like cold cuts on a sandwich can be replaced by a source of good fats such as avocado.

The research paper titled The Importance of Nutrition in Menopause and Perimenopause is a systematic review of good approaches to proper perimenopause and menopause nutrition. It discusses the topics mentioned on this page in more detail.

Urinary bladder leakage as a hiker

Here's a distressing subject for menopausal hikers: urine leakage.

It can be very annoying to sneeze and feel a spurt of urine.

Or to take an unexpected step into an unseen hole and feel the same thing.

On a hiking trail, this accumulation of urine in your underwear causes chafing.

And the odor can be problematic.

Why does urinary bladder leakage happen?

Estrogen, one of our lovely female hormones, is starting to become scarcer (same story as above).

The muscles controlling urination are not getting as much hormonal attention, and will shrink in size (atrophy).

This gives you less control over your bladder function.

So when the intra-abdominal pressure increases during a cough or sneeze, you lose urine to the exterior (incontinence).

Ditto for an unexpected big step off a rock or an uneven trail.

And you might resonate with this T-shirt slogan I saw recently:

"Sometimes I laugh so hard, tears run down my leg."

Be prepared to deal with bladder leakage

A few ways to be prepared:

1. Wear a light pad, one that is specifically

designed to absorb urine, not menstrual flow.

2. Cross your legs tightly when you feel a sneeze or cough coming on.

3. Include pelvic floor strengthening exercises in your daily exercise routine.

• These muscles follow the same credo as all other muscles: use it or lose it.

4. Carry pre-moistened wipes to clean up and feel fresh throughout the day. Also carry a plastic bag for disposal of pads and wipes.

Brain fog in menopause

My personal favorite (not!) as an older female hiker: brain fog.

• Or "fading cognition", if you prefer the medical term.

Another little "gift" to look forward to, as you head into menopause! as a hiker and older woman.

Medical journals also refer to this as "cognitive decline".

• Ha! Not decline, just a temporary inability to locate memories or words.
  
• They're in there somewhere, just give me a minute...

So what's going on?

Really, isn't it bad enough that our bones are crumbling, our hearts are weakening, and our bladders leak?

(thank you, Suzy Sunshine)

Now we can't remember where we put the bag of dog food we bought yesterday.

• Or the dog's name.

Alas, the brain is also going into estrogen withdrawal.

And sometimes we're moody and irritable, on top of being forgetful.

A plan to fight brain fog

So I have a little plan to keep myself sane.

• I learn one new thing every year - something with some cognitive demand to it, like map reading or the names of plants along my favorite trail.
• I read a new textbook cover to cover in my field (I teach for a living). Update: Retired now, but still reading severak books a week on my Kindle!
  
• I keep updating my map collection and plotting new routes, using Google Earth and trail reports.
• I learn a new hiking skill that requires dexterity or memory: knot tying, for example.
• I solve at least one 1,000 piece puzzle a year.

What's your plan to keep your brain active as you age?

Promise me that you'll do something (lots of things) to keep your brain active and engaged in new learning activities.

Because I want to see you out on the trails.

• We can wink at each other as we float effortlessly past those estrogen rich thirty somethings ;)

A note on brain fog

Sometimes we fuzz out because we have ignored our hunger level and we need a carbohydrate hit, and fast. This can happen at any age!

Always carry trail snacks that can give you fast glucose in your bloodstream, and thus to your neurons.

My fave? Honey Stingers!

And while you're at it, drink a bunch of water to help things along. Adequate hydration should be on your list of things to pay close attention to as a hiker.

Balance, or lack thereof, as menopausal hikers

There's not much in the scientific literature about the loss of balance during menopause.

Instead, it's correlated with aging.

So I won't blame my increasing clumsiness on lack of estrogen, but instead I'll point to my wealth in years: I'm accumulating trips around the sun, AND losing my balance.

Such a deal! (I think not)

I noticed an increase in clumsiness about two years ago.

My usual rock steady rock-hopping ability as I crossed a stream let me down.

• I couldn't automatically judge how to hop and land on a rock.
  
• I stood in the middle of the stream and had a sudden flash of anxiety about falling into the swiftly moving water.
• Then I tumbled in.
  

This was a completely new experience for me.

Can you relate?

At the time, I wrote it off as a momentary balance glitch.

Until it happened again on the trail a few weeks later, when I tripped on a tree root and face planted.

News flash along with the hot flashes

That's when I became a staunch advocate of using hiking poles.

Now when I stumble or waver, I have a pair of allies to keep me upright.

The poles give us menopausal hikers an extra layer of confidence as we negotiate rocky narrow sections of trail, or tap dance over slippery roots.

I no longer dread stream crossings, because I use my poles to:

• probe water depth 
  
• check out the stability of the next rock before I put my weight on it  
  
• lean on one pole as my foot pushes off to take that next step

Of course, poles take a load off your knees when you're going downhill, too, but that's just an added bonus.

Wait, no!

• That's a smart move to preserve your precious, non-renewable joint cartilage.
• And they give you a nice upper body workout, too.
  

How to avoid falls as a hiker

There are lots of ways to help yourself stay upright during a hike.

I pulled together all of my tips and tricks for not falling down on a hiking trail. 

And here are my tips for hiking with eyeglasses. Have your vision checked if you're experiencing balance issues or a feeling of unsteadiness. It may be time for some new technology!

Hot flashes and night sweats

I just have to say a few words regarding "vasomotor instability" and "thermoregulation dysfunction".

• You know, the joy of hot flashes and night sweats!

Statistics predict that 75% of menopausal hikers will experience these, especially within the first 2 years after menstrual cycles stop.

For myself, I've found these bursts of heat extremely useful during cold weather excursions.

In fact, here's a photo of me enjoying a hot flash! I like to think of it as "being my own star": emitting heat as a natural part of my life cycle.

True, hopefully encouraging, story

My very first hot flash occurred in a tent on the flank of Mt. Adams (Cascade Range, Washington State USA).

• I thought I was having a heart attack!

Eventually it dawned on me how great the extra warmth in my sleeping bag felt.

So don't fight it....embrace it.

To help you, here are some strategies for hiking with hot flashes.

I've heard other women refer to these as "power surges".

I kind of like that idea!

Night sweats, not so much.

My recommendation? Bring a sleeping bag liner that you can toss into a washing machine at the end of the trip. It saves the expense or hassle of washing your sleeping bag constantly.

The liner should fit seamlessly into your sleep system. Not sure?

• How to choose a good backpacking sleep system

Dress for your internal weather before you get into your sleeping bag: a moisture wicking layer next to your skin that dries quickly and can be washed each morning and be dry by evening. 

Top it with Merino wool or synthetic layers that come off easily (no zippers or buttons) in the night when you're flashing. 

I find that wearing a hat and socks as I drift off helps me stay asleep until it's time to peel them off. Toss them in the bottom of your sleeping bag so they're warm for the next morning.

Benefits of hiking in menopause

Did you think it was all bad news for menopausal hikers?

No! You're doing something incredibly smart by starting or continuing to hike through all of these physical struggles!

Let's look at three big bundles of benefits you gain by hiking through your hot flashes, brain fog and wobbly balance:

• Physical benefits
• Mental benefits
• Emotional benefits

Physical benefits a woman in menopause gains by hiking

We've already mentioned cardiovascular health and bone density gains that hikers can enjoy as they age.

Let's add weight management in the plus column.

When you carry a loaded backpack and move your entire body for hours at a time, you can add more calories to your daily intake but remain at your current weight.

You can also use hiking for reaching your ideal weight. Here are HFH tips on hiking for weight loss. 

Mental benefits for menopausal hikers

It's an anxiety provoking time, passing from your 40s into your 50s and beyond.

Society takes away, and then redefines, your roles and your value as a woman.

But why let it dictate who you are in menopause?

Immerse yourself in nature on a regular basis (maybe add more hikes to your calendar?) to rob stress and anxiety of its power over your mind.

Listen to the birds, smell the odors of plant life and trail dirt wafting up to your nose as you hike, taste raindrops on your tongue, hear bird calls, feel the sweat between your shoulder blades and marvel at your amazing body and its senses! 

Your choice to take a hike is a choice for good mental health. Congratulations!

Emotional benefits for menopausal hikers

Mood swings were common in adolescence and during menstrual cycles, and you learned to deal with them in any number of ways.

Now they may be gaining strength as you navigate all of the changes you're going through.

But you're a hiker, so you have an advantage!

Here's the good news about hiking in menopause:

• Regular exposure to natural sunlight is linked to a boost in serotonin (brain neurotransmitter).
• Having that valuable mood booster in larger amounts pays off in your energy and mood levels.
• If you are prone to winter time blues, start winter hiking and snowshoeing!

And there's more good news about another brain chemical you're enhancing through your physical exercise coupled with time in the outdoors: endorphin levels are higher. 

In other words, hike to stay happy!

And hiking with other menopausal women?

Even more benefits: strong connections, a built in support network, and lots of laughs along the trail as you share the tales of a changing body.

• Need to find your hiking community? 

Menopausal hikers: a call to action

So there we have it: menopausal hikers must acknowledge and work with the changes in our bodies as we lose an abundant estrogen supply in our bodies.

That doesn't sound so hard.

Ha! It's not for the faint of heart, and the tips on this page are meant to help you through this transition.

But have you noticed that menopause is a touchy subject in American society?

The whole aging thing is a touchy subject!

This truly puzzles me.

When did getting older become equated with becoming "less than" and "invisible"?

As an older woman and hiker, I feel just as strong and confident as I ever did out on the trail, and WAY smarter.

I look at all of the years I've spent hiking as training for the next phase of my outdoor career: campaigning for elder hiker of the year!

I hope you do, too.

Menopausal hikers, are you with me?

According to a report by the Outdoor Industry Association, there are more and more of us older hikers enjoying the trail.

They note that the participation rates for Americans aged 55 to 64 (menopausal and post-menopausal, right?) increased from 41.2% in 2019 to nearly half of us in 2023 (49.7%).

Let's show the younger hikers what it means to be an experienced, smart, fabulously menopausal (or post-menopausal) hiker!

Send me your thoughts on how you incorporate this call to action into your trail time.

It's been said before, but bears repeating:

We're not getting older, we're getting better!

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