Occasionally feeling sore is a part of living an active life. You haven't played tennis in awhile and the next day you're grimacing every time you get out of a chair. New movements challenge muscles in new ways. Move your body differently and just about guaranteed you'll be mildly to moderately sore the next day. Officially it's called delayed onset muscle soreness.

But I'm sure most everyone can recall a time of feeling horribly sore after overextending yourself way too quickly. I call these my Stupid Sore Moments. As a novice backpacker I once hiked with a super-fit buddy in the Cascade Mountains. We gained 4,000 feet in a few hours -- the trail incline was incredibly steep and I was carrying 45 lbs. I gulped my pride and with legs a screamin' kept up with him. I should have slowed us down and not gone for the peak. My lower body was ridiculously sore not for a day or two -- more like four or five days. Ibuprofen barely touched the pain. Since that time I train gradually on steep inclines with a full pack to avoid Stupid Sore on backpacking trips.

According to fitness experts feeling sore the day after your workout does NOT mean you pushed yourself hard enough. In this sense, sore is not good and shouldn't be the goal. If you're fit and accustomed to your sport you won't likely be sore the next day -- even after a difficult session. But your heart and muscles will get stronger and you'll get out of that chair with ease. Any Stupid Sore Moments you'd like to share?

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If you like to daypack, backpack and volunteer for a good cause in the great outdoors, the 2008 American Hiking Society's (AHS) Volunteer Vacations may be for you.

On these trail stewardship programs across America's public lands, you'll join anywhere from 4-16 volunteers to rebuild eroded trails, perform ecological restoration, "log out" fallen trees and perform other general trail maintenance duties. This year, AHS is offering 75 trips across 25 states. Trips cost a mere $275 and include food, but you will have to cover transportation to the starting line. Trips are rated from easy to very strenuous depending on length of backpacking or daypacking required to reach base camp. Accommodations range from cabins, bunkhouses and car camping to primitive camping.

As a past National Sierra Clubs Outing leader (backpacking and canoe trips), I can attest to the calories you'll burn and the muscle you'll build on outdoor work trips. You'll also be surrounded by a fascinating group of people willing to give their time to public lands enjoyed by all. I adore Sierra Club participants, we always had a lot of laughs, terrific campfire conversations and relative age didn't matter. I suspect AHS attracts a similar brood.

I'm closely looking at AHS's Flathead National Forest trail maintenance trip in Montana this July. Here's a complete list of their 2008 trail stewardship projects. The AHS website also has a FAQs section which is quite helpful to answer initial questions.

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I've always known women make excellent backpackers. As a past Sierra Club National Outlings leader, I've seen us gals rock on the trail. But how do women fare versus men when backpacking for three months or more?

Pretty darn well. This study in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine lays it out nicely. Researchers collected surveys from 280 long-distance hikers on the Appalachian Trail (AT). These weren't weekend jaunts, the mean duration of hiking was 144 days (plus or minus 66 days), covering hundreds of miles. The general experiences of women and men were quite similar, including distance, duration and incidents of musculoskeletal problems. Men did lose more weight than women (not fair!), and women hauled slightly lighter loads. Interestingly, women disinfected their water more consistently, but good hygiene provided no advantage against diarrhea on the trail.

Menstrual changes were common. Twenty-two percent of women experienced amenorrhea -- cessation of menstruation. While this is convenient on the trail, serious bone loss can result. Whether hiking the AT or training heavily, if you ever experience amenorrhea, official recommendations suggest a 1500 mg calcium supplement every day. I think it would also be wise to call your doctor.

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