How many miles are you comfortable pushing yourself to do?

[Snowtrout]

"Hike your own hike" is something I have learned from this community and experienced first hand last year on a JMT attempt. Typically my wife and I plan trips hiking up to 8-9 miles a day but have hiked 12-13 miles when needed (something we would not like to do every single day!!) We have learned to adapt to what we want to do and can do that day. Some accept that rationale while others have to stay on their pre-planned ittenary at all costs.

Motivation, elevation, destination, perspective, weight on your back and physical preparedness all impact how one hikes and for how long. What works for others may or may not work for you. If you like hiking 15 mile days, that's great and continue to do it. Listen to yourself and hike how you want to hike.

[mrphil]

mrphil wrote:
You must eat, period. Choke it down if you have to.


I gotta disagree here. I am, admittedly, an edge case due my health issues, but if I "choke [food] down" when I lack an appetite, it's going to come back and bite me in the ass. Just a week and a half ago, I was able to hike as far in one day as I had in the previous two due to cutting down my calorie intake in response to my health issues acting up (Half the time was lost to a storm, half was lost to eating/health issues).

When it comes to longer hikes like the PCT, maintaining calorie intake and overall nutrition is important, but it's not a requirement when it comes to shorter trips. What matters is that you're accurately interpreting your body's feedback, and if undereating isn't causing any major issues over a week long trip, I don't see what's to be gained from forcing yourself to eat.

It's pretty common for most to lose their appetite at higher elevations, and the OP said that she was famished (insatiably), as well as weak and sluggish the day after pushing herself beyond her normal distance. I can't speak to the physiology of nutrition with any measure of authority at all, but while "choking it down" might have implied sitting down for some sort of big normal meal, there has to be some calorie intake, and something is going to be better and more healthy than nothing at all. Her body was screaming for food (overwhelming negative feedback), but her routine and first inclination is to not eat; the body is demanding energy, the mind is making a decision not to take it in. If you can't stomach much for whatever reason, no matter when you decide to eat, you have to be able to find something that is going to give you what you need without messing you up. Accept it, do whatever you have to do, get on with it. In hindsight, that's probably a better way of saying it.

Really though, same with water. When people are dehydrated, they may not even realize it, and drinking enough, forced down or otherwise, regardless of whether they're thirsty or not, has to happen. Sips or a liter at a time, a little jerky and some trail mix or a full meal, hydrating and eating are both integral to performance and health.

[Tom_H]

Rather than stopping for a lunch break, we always stopped numerous times per day for a munchie break. This might include dried fruits, nuts, granola, M&Ms, jerky, part of an energy bar, and water. If anyone had cramps, then a small crystal of rock salt. Most days when leading groups we also had a couple of classes (map/compass, flight plan creation, wilderness first aid, many others) combined with the munchie break. With newbies it was important to do equipment checks and hot spot checks every hour or so and we made sure they all kept their blood sugar and hydration levels up.

We did NOLS type group cooking of large meals for breakfast and dinner and often took large doses of wheat bran as fiber to avoid constipation from all the freeze dried foods.

When we trained new staff, we would plan a long hard day and then at 5 p.m. tell the trainees that we were simulating an emergency and that they had another day's distance to travel before we could set up camp. This was part of the reality of learning to be an instructor. We would hike while constantly passing peanut butter tubes, honey tubes, and water bottles between ourselves and kick it into high gear.

Hiking without appropriate blood sugar and hydration levels is unhealthy and doing so can even lead to being less hungry. Altitude sickness contributes as well. It can be hard to make yourself eat. Keeping the blood sugar level up all day with munchie breaks prevents it from happening to begin with. Experienced hikers who don't want to stop often pull the munchie bag and water bottle out of a partner's side pocket and just snack while still moving.

[Jimr]

I pay much more attention to my calorie and water intake while hiking than I ever did before. If I don't pay attention, I won't eat and will hardly drink. Dried fruits like mango and apricots help me as a first nibble. It's only then that I can nibble on the drier stuff (as long as it's light on peanuts). I tend to get some acid reflux as a result of hard work on top of hike food and water, so I'm considering adding an antacid chalk tab of some kind to each lunch baggie.

I gauge my need for food and/or water on the frequency of lactic acid buildup in my quads. I'll often take an uphill pace consisting of a few dozen steps followed by a 10 second or so stop to allow lactic acid to dissipate. As time goes on, I notice fewer and fewer steps between short stops. It is then that I know I need either water or food and water. This is for trail pounding. Off trail is a different beast.

[Wandering Daisy]

I am also a nibbler. When I go with those who have a strict 1/2 hour or more lunch break, I lag the remainder of the afternoon. I eat a big breakfast, lightly snack during the day and then have a big dinner. My camp routine is 1) immediately take a bath while I am still warm and fill water bottles, 2) set up the tent, 3) drink one cup of Emergen-C to rehydrate, 4) cook dinner, having a cup of tea or soup first. That routine is my "cool down" at the end of the day. I also take a short walk just before going into the tent. Also a slow start to each day helps. Backpacking long days is like going to the gym to work out- you need to warm up and cool down. Anyway, you may experiment with your daily routine and see if that helps.

[happycamper0313]

Amazing insight and experience from the community! Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.

[longri]

I agree with Daisy's earlier post. Miles isn't the best metric unless you narrow the question to a specific type of terrain, or better still, to a particular route/trail. There are some guidebooks that specify the number of hours actually walking as a gauge, in addition to miles and elevation change. In the context of something like the JMT, where the trail is generally very good, the miles tend to be limited as much by elevation change as by the distance itself.

What I've found is that 12-14 hours are pretty much where I've had enough, whether it's 3+MPH cruiser terrain or more challenging terrain where all I can manage is 0.5MPH. 24 hours in a day. 8 hours of sleep. 1 hour in the morning, 1 hour in the evening. That leaves 14 hours, so maybe that's why it's my magic number.

As an aside, I love pushing to up near my limit. Maybe if I were a fisherman I'd fish. But I'm walker. So I walk.

[rlown]

I'm going to hit your lake in Sept, and my hike plan is to take it nice & easy.

Not my lake but it is a great destination; Rust and Lorraine were more fun; they were spooky but don't move and cast and they respond. You know you're too close if you spook them. I like the drag and drop beyond the fish philosophy. Paris is a dinner lake.

I'm doing French and Humpreys area next year. I love the shoulder season up there, and I get to meet the pika and that pesky marmot at the outlet of Deso on the South side again, as they prep for what I hope will be another big winter.

I'm doing Evelyn, Townsley and HB this late Sept into early Oct.

Evelyn is a great little hike and a great place to introduce my 18yo nephew to altitude without killing him. He hasn't backpacked before. We'll do the pre-plan meeting and then the store run and then our group of 5 will head up. He's gonna kick our a$$ given we're all 50+.

I completely agree everyone hikes differently, but with groups, you have to build in safeguards so people don't stray. Oldranger's concept was to stop at trail junctions and wait for the party to catch up. I like that approach. I've seen my own group "forget" to do that. Good thing we had walkie-talkies..

[sekihiker]

A few years ago, I returned to the Marvin Pass Trailhead from Lonely Lake. I had finished packing my gear in the car when a couple of girls returned from a hike that took them over Colby Pass. I asked them why they chose that area. They said they read a report on line that piqued their interest. Then they mentioned that the guy that wrote the report was pretty crazy. He hiked back all the way to the trailhead from Colby Lake, 25 miles, in one day. I agreed that he seemed pretty crazy to me, too. I got home that night and reread my trip report for the area. It turned out that I was the crazy guy that had hiked those 25 miles. http://www.sierrahiker.com/CentralGWD/index.html

[Shawn]

They said they read a report on line that piqued their interest.

Them and a few thousand others of us. Many of your TR's were THE early inspiration for my hikes and I've directly talked to others that have said the same.

PS. Thank you !