Hiking lots of miles is less about speed and more about time. Just remember that early spring, winter and late fall have less daylight hours. Try to make the most out of your day and be ready to go at sunrise. Make sure you factor in the weather and elevation gain into the equation. Try to set realistic goals and remember that every trail is a little bit different.
Hikers have been asking the same question for decades. I'm constantly asked that question and the answer is Throughout the years, I've heard the same question asked over and over again. Is a pair of burly boots really Introduction New backpackers want to know several things before they tackle a long-distance trail such as how to pack a backpack and what are the best trekking poles, but one of the most common questions, is: how many miles can I backpack in a day?
Many factors affect the miles you can walk in a day. Terrain The ground you are walking on can have a significant impact on the distance you can cover in an hour. Mountain paths are slower than flat trails. Time on Trail in a day or a week The next factor which impacts how many miles you can backpack in a day is the time you spent on the trail. Weather The weather can have a pretty dramatic effect on how far you can backpack in an hour or on any given day. Rainy walks are slower than sunny ones!
Equipment Carried This one is pretty straightforward: the more weight you carry, the slower you go. Altitude oxygen There are plenty of states where long-distance trails will throw you high up a mountain. You won't walk as far on a winter's day.
What You Enjoy What brings you pleasure in long-distance trekking? Summary Whatever your preferred method of trekking, fitness level or experience, the surest way of finding out how far you can backpack in a day is to give it a go. Load up your pack, pick a trail and start walking.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. If you click, scroll or otherwise use this website, we'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More. My son and I are going to hike for 30 days heading north from Springer on the Appalachian Trail this summer. How far will we get? The best predictor of hiking speed is past performance. I hate to say it, but planning a longer trip without any experience going on shorter ones is usually a recipe for failure.
Way more. Then I add in a day to get to the beginning of my hike and a day to get home and can get a pretty good estimate of how long my trip will take me. However, I also know that my pace slows down considerably if I have to hike in very difficult terrain which requires hiking over steep mountains, through snow fields, or desert areas.
For example, when I backpack through the Presidential Range or along parts of the Maine Appalachian Trail, I might reduce my daily expected mileage by a few miles a day to account for the added effort level. The reverse is true if I need to do a lot of road walking, since I can hike 3 miles per hour over paved roads and cover a lot of distance quite quickly.
When planning a multi-week backpacking trip, you want to build a lot of flexibility into your schedule if you can. This is particularly true for remote destinations, where the transportation you plan on using to get back to civilization might be a bit sketchy and haphazard You learn to go with the flow more and improvise. I found a minimum speed of 1mph works for me and my GF for planning purposes in Maine and New Hampshire.
That accounts for rest breaks. Seems to be fairly accurate over multiday trips and allows for built in fudge factor. If we hike something like the Eastern Trail, we can do 14 miles in 5 hours, but that is nice and flat. I figure it sort of like this.
I divide that by two for the Trail since the unknown elevations and gains are not that predictable. So about 1. In a group of 4, I Subtract again, So about 1 mph… When hiking Solo, I never keep track of the time or the mileage I just Hike…But I have been doing this for over 40 years so I generally know what to expect. Most of my backpacking is desert hiking in the mountains of the Southwest and starts with an onerous climb for several hours hauling water.
Typically, I average 1 MPH. A few years ago, I think I could have gotten up to about 1. Now, I have to keep up with him. I aged, got out of shape, got better gear and averaged 1 MPH. I got myself back in better shape, introduced grandkids to backpacking and helped to haul their gear and averaged 1 MPH. Now, with back issues and a grandson who can carry his own gear, I average 1 MPH. Start with the standard time-control estimates and compare vs. Another reason for starting on smaller, more manageable trips is that backpacking is a learning experience, especially at the beginning.
Necessary things will be forgotten, items of limited usefulness will be brought along, unprepared for contingencies will happen. If the first trips are overnighters, usually the worst that happens is being uncomfortable for a day or two. Wow, this question is really unanswerable except by actually doing it. Just last weekend we did part of the JMT with four experienced backpackers, one of whom is known to be slow and it took us 8 hours to cover 11 miles.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, my Marine Corps son and I were in the Peruvian Andes two years ago and did 34 miles in 11 hours, including a very scary traversal of a huge washout in a steep valley down in the rain forest. Naismith was a Scottish mountaineer who developed an equation to determine roughly how many miles you can expect to cover in one day.
Additionally, if you are accustomed to hiking and walking trails, you will find it easier to sustain that activity for multiple hours. The inverse of this is also true.
Hike until you accomplish that goal, assess how you feel, and then increase your goal to 18 miles the next time you hike. Continue in that pattern until you can easily hike 30 miles in one day. Another reason that more experienced hikers can last longer on one day than someone who is new to the sport is because their feet are more trained to handle the blisters that can often come with a long day-hike. Additionally, if a trail has lots of water that you need to cross through, or is particularly muddy it will take you more time to hike it.
This makes pretty good sense because, if you think about it climbing uphill takes more energy and effort — and therefore, more time as well. Something that might not make sense at first, however, is the fact that walking downhill can also slow you down significantly. However, if you pace yourself well, you might also find that your pace increases as your body becomes more accustomed to the hike.
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