How many miles are you comfortable pushing yourself to do?

[rlown]

Hike on my friend.. Hike on! It sometimes takes up to 8 hrs just to circle a lake and start to figure it out.

I do agree. different strokes.

[Jimr]

I know. I used to be that guy. I'd get to a camp spot and immediately fish, then think about setting up camp. Bench lake would have taken two days to fish around. These days, with both camera and fishing rods, I find I'd like to shorten daily hikes so there's more time to play.

[rlown]

fishing IS the play..

[Hobbes]

But seriously, who wants to hike 10 hrs a day?

Andy is a bull. He does squats and hikes every weekend during the 'off season' to gain further strength & endurance. For him to hike all day at a very steady pace is like the rest of us hanging around fishing. I'm not going to say it's effortless for him, but he's put himself in a position where he can enjoy the visual stimulation & changing scenery as if he was sitting in a passing car.

If you ever get a chance to hike with him, he's super diligent about his 'recovery'* rituals. He takes a 10 minute break every hour for stretching, rolling, hydrating & snacking. I can get a bit impatient and tend to rock on, but as the afternoon comes around, I want to take a nap but he's still in super cruiser mode. Also, while he doesn't fish, he loves to take photos, so he's always very excited & engaged, running around trying to get the best shot.

I, like most people, tend to tire - both physically - emotionally - and eventually want to get home. BlueWater seems to really love being outside; he may be the next iteration of Rogue.

Anyway, when I would hike 10+ hours a day, I was powering trying to get somewhere. Modifying BW's approach, I enjoyed hiking a part of the day, purposely pacing myself while trying to be in the moment. It seemed to work, and I'm pleased with the results/experience. I'm going to hit your lake in Sept, and my hike plan is to take it nice & easy.

* It seems physical recovery has become a very big thing among athletes: https://www.pdhpe.net/factors-affecting ... trategies/

[Wandering Daisy]

The emotional aspect of a longer trip is relevant. I have been out for long stretches, up to 100 days with only 2 days in town, guiding groups. My experience is that it takes about 10-14 days out before most people "emotinally acclimate". After that, campsite is home and mental focus is on being in the wilderness, not thinking about getting back home or "real" food. Enjoying, or for that matter, simply being able to complete, a long route requires a differnt mind-set from short trips. We really are addicted to our creature comforts and civilized mental stimulations, and like all addicts, we need to detox. When I did long 35 day trips, at the end I really dreaded going back to civilization (we had packed in resupply so never got close to a trailhead in those 35 days).

For most, going solo on long trips is more mentally challenging; you simply get lonely! Big name trails, like the JMT are different, in that you can go solo and then along the way group-up with people when you feel the need for social contact.

Doing long miles every day, for many days is just as much a mental challenge as physical. Being a goal-oriented person helps. Slow and steady helps. You need to pace yourself so you are not exhusted at the end of the day. My mental challenge is tamping down my own internal fear mongering. Each of us has a personal mental battle we fight to suceed on long trips. The weather forecast is one of the devils I fight. On short trips, I will adjust my timing based on a weather forecast. For long trips, you just need to be prepared a go for it. Realize that the long-term forcast is not very accurate. Do not let it create anxiety. The issue of rest days is individual. I do better mentally traveling every day at reduced daily miles. Others prefer longer days with regular "zeros".

There is a huge correlation between weight of pack and success in long days. To keep pack weight down, you have to be minimalist. Being a minimalist, is just as much mental as the specific gear. You have to mentally accept and embrace a very simply life style. A small luxury that helps me is my 1-oz I-pod with my favorite music for a half hour listening every night.

I read the PCT journals, and can almost predict who will finish by their attitude. One fellow named "Lunch" has the most upbeat, "can-do" attitude and sounds like he is really enjoying every bit of the trip. Another fellow is truely amazed about every little piece of the experience, finding wonder in even the most mundane things. I predict that those who only write about getting to town and eating, will not likely succeed.

[freestone]

Well into my 60s now so anything beyond 12 miles in a day and I feel like I am doing more harm than good on my body especially in the High Sierra given the repetitive impact all the talus and downhill can cause. The first and last days are my big mileage days and in between, I have a tendency to just wander around satisfying my curiosity as time allows. As I age, all that "wandering" seems to be where all the fun is now and the big mileage days less so.

[Dave_Ayers]

... My experience is that it takes about 10-14 days out before most people "emotinally acclimate". ...

Wow. Takes me maybe 10 minutes. The hard part is getting re-accustomed to city life despite a lifetime of it.

[Wandering Daisy]

Perhaps I should have worded that a bit different. Of course you are thrilled to be out on day 1 or day 2, but what will that feel like on day 12 with perhaps 20 more days to go? I meant emotionally acclimate to the prosepct of a long-term trip, knowing that day after day you will be in the wilderness, without contact to the outside world. But, of course, nowadays, with cell phones and PLB's, very few people actually experience that total removal from civilization, family and friends. Whatever you may call it, after two weeks, with many more weeks ahead of them, people do change emotionally. I am not sure the PCT hikers experience this, because they hit towns so often.

[Tom_H]

I know what WD's talking about. When you've been out weeks on end, it starts to feel like you and the wilderness are one, that civilization is just some far away place where everything is unnatural and out of balance, a dream of a past life.

I never enjoyed solo much. My best experiences were long expeditions training new staff, all of whom were strong physically and emotionally. The intense training and mountaineering we did builds strong bonds of community. Trusting your belay partner with each others' lives and depending on each other for survival in a primeval wilderness builds a camaraderie like none I have otherwise experienced. I do miss that, but life also has other treasures as well.

[Ashery]

...I'm a little dismayed to see so many folks advising you to change your perspective.

That's far from the read I've been getting. OP asked for input from the community and my impression has been the advice has been more of the form:

"For reasons <A, B, C>, I take the attitude <Y> that's different from yours."

As opposed to:

"Your reason <X> is wrong for reasons <A, B, C>."

People have wildly different reasons for wanting to get to the backcountry and circumstances governing their trips, so with a question as fundamental as OP's, there are going to be a lot of seemingly contradictory answers.

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.

If you can govern yourself and just manage around a 2mph (or lower)...

So, you're saying you want me to do more pacemaking?

To answer OP's question:

I sleep poorly so tend to get up around first light (I'd likely get up earlier if I were to bring a watch), get listless when I'm idle for extended periods, and have yet to take up fishing. So, needless to say, I spend a significant part of the day hiking. One would think that'd put me in a position to put in high miles. However, my health issues introduce enough variability on top of the circumstances that've already been covered (On/off trail, condition of trail, etc) that I've found myself gravitating away from thinking in terms of raw mileage and towards loose itineraries.