View Full Version : Average of 4.5 hours of sleep a night?
One statement in an article this morning on a thru-hike by a couple struck me as odd:
http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071028/NEWS01/710280302/1002
"The whole thing was challenging, both mentally and physically," Murray added. "One big challenge was knowing you had to push 22 miles in a day. Our longest day was 27 miles. And you only get an average of four and a half hours of sleep a night, so you're going on your own endurance."
Average of 4.5 hours of sleep a night? When I section hike, averaging around 17 miles / day, I get plenty of sleep - more than when I am at home! I usually hiike around 8 or 9 hours, leaving 15 or 16 hours of the day for chores and...sleeping! Even a 27 mile day should be under 14 hours of hiking, still leaving 10 hours for chores and sleeping. My longest day so far was 27.2 miles in about 12 hours and I slept well that night, much longer that 4.5 hours! I have also hiked 2 over 25 mile days and had a similar amount of time for chores and sleep.
This seems either like misinformation or some *really* slow hiking, including I would assume some hiking in the dark. HYOH, I know, but it just seemed odd to me.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
10-29-2007, 08:31
Sounds like these people imposed the excessive mileage and limited sleep-time on themselves. What I can't figure out is how you can hike 22 to 27 miles a day for five months (time article states their thru-hike took) and not end up in northern Canada. (5 months * 30 days per month * 22 miles a day = 3,300 miles). The AT is only about 2,175 miles so you could take a zero one day a week and hike about 10.6 miles a day to complete the trail. Unless you are crawling down the trail, 10.6 miles a day should allow ample time to sleep.
Dino calls BullScat on the article's content.
Bootstrap
10-29-2007, 08:40
The article also says:
They were also lucky enough to keep the weight of their back packs down to 20 pounds; Knopp said the usual hiker carries 40 to 60 pounds.
Is that at all true? I would have thought 35-40 would be fairly average for the non-ultralight crowd. I haven't carried 60 since I was a Boy Scout, carrying a canvas tent, an axe, and a dutch oven. I carried 45-50 in the Grand Canyon two years ago when I first got back into backpacking, but I learned from that mistake ;->
Jonathan
Well, since they're a young couple, perhaps they spent a couple hours a day enjoying nature! The birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees.... ;)
hopefulhiker
10-29-2007, 09:09
This whole "Conquer the Trail" mentality makes people exaggerate the difficulty of the trail. To be sure it is tough but these people made it out to be a lot more grueling than it really is.. Also more than 15 percent finish. like they claiim in the article...
Most likely the reporter got the story wrong.
I think that's why they go to journalism school.
So that no matter what the subject, the reporters can always get it wrong.
I like this...
"I loved it, but I'll never thru-hike it again," Knopp said. "It was a bittersweet experience; I'll never forget it.
A few paragraphs later...
"We'd also like to do the Pacific Crest Trail. I get traveling fever after about six months, wanting to experience something new."
Dino calls BullScat on the article's content.
I agree with Dino.
Doughnut
10-29-2007, 09:49
back to the original question: I usually sleep from about just after dark, till someitme just before daylight!! I haven't seen a 4.5 hour night since the early 80's when I was living in Fairbanks, AK.
We've all had some rough nights, not getting much sleep in the woods for one reason or another. But for most of us, the next night or at least the night after that, we sleep like babies.
If you're hiking 22+ miles per day and experiencing sleep deprivation, something does not compute. Methinks Dino calling bull**** on this story is probably accurate.
Having gone to school for print journalism after growing up in a city with a paper notorious for exaggeration, I think there is a great likelihood the reporter simply jotted down the numbers he wanted to hear.
example 1:
What the reporter (may have asked): What was the most challenging or least enjoyable part of your trip?
What they (may have said): Well, there was a section in Maine where we decided to push to see what we were really capable of, and while we were averaging 22 miles per day, our longest in that section was 27, we were having to put in a lot of hours to do that, sometimes getting a little as 4.5 hours of sleep at night.
example 2:
What the reporter (may have) asked: How much did your pack weigh?
What they (may have) answered: Our packs were pretty light, only about 20 pounds, though that's on the light side. Most people's packs weighed more than that, we even saw some folks carrying as much as 60 pounds.
It's easy for a reporter to toss out the majority of the qualifiers, especially if they've got little or zero clue about the subject.
That said, there is a possibility that these people are just that clueless.
:P