How long does it take you to recover from a hike?

[dcdennis]

Just curious to hear others experiences. I did a 27 mile section last weekend over two days. Not my longest but close to it. I got home and slept for 13 hours and am feeling like I could sleep for another 12 tonight (which I just might :P).

how about you?

[Puddlefish]

After 600 miles this spring, I was feeling healthy, energetic, rested and ready to go for more... except for the ligament in my knee that took a solid 5 months to heal. The plantar fasciitis in my left foot took 4 months to heal. 7 months later, it's looking like the plantar fasciitis in my right foot is going to be with me for life.

It was a month into the hike before I managed 27 miles in two days. Had I stopped at two days into the hike, I'd probably have slept half a day as well.

[Storm]

If I take it easy at the start and listen to my body and not push my limits I usually only have one thing to recover from. Still want to eat everything is sight fore several days after the hike.

[hikernutcasey]

Half an hour

[saltysack]

A six pack of Sierra Nevada is all it takes...


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[4eyedbuzzard]

It depends upon the terrain and how many miles I do. Typically anything over 8 miles per day in the Whites will leave me pretty tired and with some leg soreness for about two days. On lesser trails, anything over 10 to 12 (terrain dependent) will have the same effect. But even though I walk 5+ miles per day between walking at work and at home, hiking up and down mountains with even a light pack isn't "just walking" (well, even though it kind of is). It's a lot more physically demanding, and I don't hike enough to be in good hiking shape. Sleep wise, I probably sleep maybe 9 hours for a few days after, as opposed to my more normal 6 1/2 to 7 hours. But likely a lot of that has to do with age - 60, and definitely don't recover as quickly or as well as I did 25 years ago.

[Cheyou]

I took me a while to recover from Pennsylvanias rocks.

thom

[MuddyWaters]

Mentally,... forever.

Physically...a week or so

[rafe]

The more often you do it, the less it hurts afterwards.

[Cheyou]

Is recovery gaining back all the fat lost on the trail ??? If not long

thom

[josh_ATL]

I still to this day walk funny, and do the "hiker hobble" for a little while when I first get out of bed. I kind of doubt you can ever heal completely after a thru hike, instead your body just learns to adapt to increased levels of pain.

[ScareBear]

After 600 miles this spring, I was feeling healthy, energetic, rested and ready to go for more... except for the ligament in my knee that took a solid 5 months to heal. The plantar fasciitis in my left foot took 4 months to heal. 7 months later, it's looking like the plantar fasciitis in my right foot is going to be with me for life.

It was a month into the hike before I managed 27 miles in two days. Had I stopped at two days into the hike, I'd probably have slept half a day as well.

I feel your pain. Plantar fasciitis is a real bummer. It took me over 5 months to get to 90 percent on the right foot and it looks like 90 percent is going to be my max recovery. Meh.

Funny thing is, while the rebuilt knee was painful, it was predictably so. And, the pain was something that I became used to. But the plantar fasciitis was like having your heel step on a red-hot Lego every time you took a step. The only thing that turned the corner was 7 weeks in an pneumatic isolation boot, first two weeks on crutches. That and Vitamin I and steroid injections into....yeah....the heel...and, I developed Achilles's Tendonitis along the way to go with it...double-whammy...

Of course, once you've had it in one foot...guess what...you are likely going to get it in the other foot...

[Deacon]

Is recovery gaining back all the fat lost on the trail ??? If not long

thom

It takes me about three months to quell my hiker appetite to the point I can eat sensibly in the presence of other people.

When we go out to eat with another couple, I'm the first one finished. Then I sit there watching others eat. I start picking from my wife's plate, and eventually she pushes her plate toward me. The other couple look at me with blank stares and I start to gorge her food. I catch myself then realize I'm making a fool of myself. I then explain the effect of hiking on the appetite.

Once my appetite is back to "normal", then I consider myself recovered.

[johnnybgood]

With limited vacation time to hike it seems the natural tendency is to do as much as possible with the time you have . Couple that with a few pounds gained with months of inactivity while chasing the dollar ...it takes days to even a week to fully recover.

[Hikingjim]

Typically not much physical recovery. Usually after a week or two out I come back feeling great then sink into a bit of a mental malaise a bit after, but that passes

[AfterParty]

Just missing the pack takes a minute

[shelb]

The more often you do it, the less it hurts afterwards.

True, that.

When I do short backpacking trips (30 or less), I find I have minimal - if any - recovery time. However, when I do a significant number of miles (like 100-200 _ and those miles are pretty dense (meaning 8-20 miles a day), I will feel it for a few weeks!

And yes, the PA rocks made me hurt for a while! I did just over 100 miles (last half of PA) in 8 days, and my feet hurt for WEEKS later!!!!

Helpful hints:
Train! OFF road ... in the woods, on rocks, up and down stairs!
Endurance! Put lengthy time in on occasion. This means go up/down stairs for TWO hours of more! Walk in the woods for several hours... Do the stepper machine at the gym for longer periods of time.
LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD! Your backpack - with one day's water and 4 days of food - should be under 35#. (Mine will be under 20!). This makes it much easier to go up mountains!

[Leo L.]

Being an old guy, it takes some time to recover, and being aware of this I'm pretty careful to not overdo it, so that my typical recovery consists of one pretty quiet day including a hot bath and lots of food (pizza and beer being the ones I like most), followed by another day with lots of muscle ache, more food&drink, and on the third day I usually feel myself eager to start moving again, not a hike but some easy walking.
And sleep as much as the body demands.
Recovery takes longer if I spend lots of time sitting in the office.
If recovery is worse than the above I know I did something wrong.

Did some training hikes recently when I've covered 100km (62 miles) in a 25hrs nonstop action, and it took me almost a week to regain my normal posture again and another week to get free of the painful hobble in the morning, so that was too much for me obviousely.

[egilbe]

Did 150 miles over 13 days from BSP to Caratunk and it only took a couple days staying at the Caratunk B&B gorging on milkshakes and burgers to fully recover. Conversely, Climbed Madison with a too heavy pack Saturday and my legs still hurt today. Tomorrow they should be fine...I hope.

[Thinspace]

I don't get out anywhere near as often as I used to. I did my first winter climb in a number of years a month ago. It was a short 5 mile round trip up Mt. Roberts in the lakes region of NH. I broke trail through 6" of fresh snow all the way with the snow a little deeper up top. My calves were barking at me for about 4 days afterwards! I'm almost 68 so the old legs aren't what they used to be. My winter boots are far too heavy which doesn't help.