/out/ - Outdoors » Thread #598963

[10 / 4 / ?]

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Anonymous Fri 25 Sep 2015 18:57:26 No.598963 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>599204

Alright guys, i feel stupid asking this question but here it is, how many miles is a good hike? How many miles can a moderately fit (slightly overweight) person hike in one day over moderate terrain in a Chaparal environment (southern California)?

I know you guys like specifics so i tried to cover everything.
Also pic related, i was thinking about taking the 11 mile San Juan trail, camping at the end, then turning around and maybe taking the truck trail to Viejo Tie, then back to the intersection with the San Juan trail

Am i stupid for thinking i can do this?

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1440424485681.jpg, 79KiB, 800x1201

Anonymous Fri 25 Sep 2015 21:25:31 No.599051 Report

Quoted By:

it's just tough to call man. there are a lot of variables: stride, water retention, psychologic ability, joint health etc. there are thousands of thing that make you and me different

if you want a general answer for a general question I would say yeah you could probably do it. it's not outrageous. the incline isn't killer it looks doable.

just go for it and if you have second thoughts turn around and only hike half of it. there's nothing wrong with that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 26 Sep 2015 01:11:19 No.599171 Report

Quoted By:

Just get out there and try bro, you're not stupid for trying to hike. Go half as far as you think you can go and then turn back, who knows, you may find yourself at the end of the trail laughing cause it was all easier than you expected. Good luck man

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 26 Sep 2015 02:58:50 No.599204 Report

Quoted By: >>599227 >>599547

>>598963
If you have no idea, about 10 miles is a good rule of thumb. If you could do more than that, you'd know it. An out-of-shape hiker, or a hiker going slow/taking a lot of breaks who starts fairly early in the morning can do 10 miles in a day and still get to the campsite with lots and lots of daylight to spare. An in-shape hiker can do 10 miles across moderate terrain before noon. Experienced hikers often do 20-25 miles, and the most in-shape hikers may do 30 miles, in the summer when the days are longest.

On most trails for the average person, I find that 2 miles per hour is pretty average "slogging" speed. If you can walk with a little bit of a bounce in your step, then 3 miles per hour is very do-able. If the trail is extremely steep for a long distance or else you are just THAT out-of-shape, then slow down the average expected speed to about 1-1.5 mph. Going by the first number, that means 10 miles = 5 hours of walking, but when you add in maybe a 10 minute break every hour and a 30 minute lunch in the middle, that's about 6.5 hours of "travel time" for 10 miles. And many people will want to take more breaks or a longer lunch than that.

OP, you are talking about 11 miles, so figuring a little over 7 hours of total travel time would be a safe bet. It gets dark at about 7:30(?) these days, and you'll probably want to get to your campsite a little before that to gather firewood when the sun is still up, set up your tent and cook your food, so figure a 6:00 arrival at camp, at the latest, meaning that as long as you are on the trail by 11:00 am, then you'll be fine time-wise, although you should aim to leave earlier.

Hiking is not all that physically hard. The hard part is all mental. Many people are unable to do more than 5-6 miles of hiking in a day because they just get bored and miss their video games.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 26 Sep 2015 03:59:49 No.599227 Report

Quoted By: >>599352 >>599466

>>599204
Wow. Very informative, thank you sir.

Im more than motivated, im trying to get away from technology, phone calls, alarms, and especially clocks, so im not worried about getting bored.

I walk around my town alot, im not really THAT out of shape at 215 and 6'1", so im not to worried about that. I just wasnt sure what average speed on the trail was.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 26 Sep 2015 11:57:11 No.599352 Report

Quoted By:

>>599227
Good call, hope you have a good time away from technology! There is nothing better than being in the woods with the stars over your head and flickering light of a camp fire in front of you.
One thing that wasn't mentioned yet is the weight of your pack.
When I started hiking around with my "everything I need for weeks in SA" backpack, 15-20kg , depending on food and water, I could hardly make 5km without a break. If it is slightly heavier than what is comfortable for you, you just slowly run out of energy and it gets worse and worse, the longer you walk.
Now after regular hikes and long bike tours with a pack, I can carry it ~15km without problems and feeld refreshed and ready to go further after a short break and something to eat.
Carry around your full pack for half an hour before you start your hike. See if it is straining your muscles, especially neck and shoulder. if it gets a bit uncomfortable after a short time, you probably will have some trouble at a longer hike.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 26 Sep 2015 16:22:02 No.599466 Report

Quoted By:

>>599227
Person you replied to here. I was a little dismissive of the boredom aspect, but make no mistake, this is a factor that we have all faced. Especially if you are doing this hike by yourself and haven't done a hike of this length before - and actually, especially for out-and-back style hikes - it is not always easy to convince your brain to keep sending a signal to your legs to keep putting one foot in front of the other when you could alternatively just make camp, relax, and make dinner.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 26 Sep 2015 18:52:02 No.599547 Report

Quoted By: >>599692 >>599700

>>599204

Those higher numbers really only apply to through hikers. Even if you're capable of walking that far in a day, you probably won't because you're outside to see the sights and enjoy being outdoors, not to get to Canada before first snowfall.

If you're pushing 25 miles a day on a long weekend's backpack it's no wonder you're getting bored. Either you're hiking someplace awful, or you're focused on distance rather than enjoying yourself.

tl;dr pic related

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 26 Sep 2015 23:43:28 No.599692 Report

Quoted By:

>>599547
Thru-hiking is one, but not the only, situation in which people hike high mile days. Some people like to do a rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon in as little time as possible. I've done some weekend hikes where I did 17-22 miles a day and had a great time. Yeah, I was on my feet from pretty much sun-up to sunset, but to me, it's fun to get around the mountain, see more sights, experience more of the trail, etc. instead of sitting in camp or doing something stationary. Pic related is something I wouldn't have seen if I'd only hiked a few miles per day and then made camp.

And I didn't mean to imply that normal hikers getting bored is the issue. I mean it's something that beginning hikers all have to overcome at some point. Even after a long winter of not hiking, I can revert to like that. Our brains get wired for constant input while in the city, and hiking can seem monotonous, which in turn can cause beginning hikers to lose steam and decide to hike fewer miles than planned.

Also,
>posting /b/ tier reaction images
Don't do that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 26 Sep 2015 23:50:51 No.599700 Report

Quoted By:

>>599547
And again, just to reiterate, I was probably overly-dismissive when talking about people missing their video games. It's just a normal thing that all beginning hikers will run into. As an example, I recently went on a 5 mile overnight hike (2.5 out, 2.5 back - very short) with some older people (55-60 year old), and one of them had never hiked a day in her life, although she is very physically fit. The person who had never hiked before was feeling very unsteady and uncertain in the first 1-2 miles of the hike, complaining that it seemed to be taking forever and she wasn't sure if she would make it. The fact is, though, that she did just fine and probably had the stamina to hike another 7-10 miles that day no problem. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. It doesn't really matter the distance; it's an experience thing.

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