Hi Gary, this is what I was thinking of:
I also hit the gym about a week out and put in 6000 feet of gain on a treadmill set at 15 degrees, just to make sure my legs can handle it in one day. I've been hiking and climbing western mountains for about 10 years, and the biggest problem in training here in the east is the inability to get sustained gains in these low mountains. Your legs always get a downhill break after no more than 2000 feet, which is definitely not the case in the Sierra. The treadmill always tells me how ready I am.
Yeah, Chevy, there is that last temperature check. Damn hard - and boring- day. It is an excellent barometer, though, to determine if your legs are ready. Been a couple of years since I've done that since I've backpacked Whitney the past two years and didn't necessarily need that kind of conditioning. Hour after hour after hour on a 15-degree treadmill - freakin' torture, but effective.
