View Full Version : Daily Hiking Routine (Simplified)
I am wondering what your daily hiking routine is. I know that the first thought that may come to mind is HYOH, but I am trying to get an idea of how I should set my initial goals. Any help would be appreciated.
Simply answer the three following questions:
1. What time do you get up?
2. What time do you start hiking in the morning?
3. What time do you stop for the day?
For the most part people are getting up 30 minutes after daylight. Of course some get up before dawn and others sleep till 11:00AM.
Depending on type of breakfast and conversations 30 minutes to 90 minutes to be ready to start hiking.
Stop time depend on a good stopping point/goal and the weather. Generally I hike to Twilightish unless raining then maybe 2 hours less.
1. Up shortly after the sun rises
2. I'm packed and on the trail within 20 minutes of waking up
3. Depends on my mileage plans
Lemni Skate
11-18-2009, 05:27
I'm usually up as it turns daylight, grab a pop tart and some carnation instant breakfast and am off and rolling. I hike until I hit an interesting spot and then I break until it ceases to be interesting or wanderlust pulls me back down the trail.
I somehow end up having lunch right around 12 no matter what.
I like to finish hiking around 3:00 pm, but I've been known to hike until dark. Dinner is when I cook a little something. I'm usually in the tent relaxing and heading for sleep as it turns dark.
Ditto what Compass said.
I usually got up between 0500-0530 hrs. Cooked breakfast/had hot tea then on the trail no later than 0600-0630 hrs. (no pressure morning). I usually got to a shelter or camping spot around 1800 hrs.
True, the twentysomething crowd slept in later than the fiftysomething group.
Lone Wolf
11-18-2009, 10:26
I am wondering what your daily hiking routine is. I know that the first thought that may come to mind is HYOH, but I am trying to get an idea of how I should set my initial goals. Any help would be appreciated.
Simply answer the three following questions:
1. What time do you get up?
2. What time do you start hiking in the morning?
3. What time do you stop for the day?
1. 7ish
2. 8:30ish
3. 4ish
1. Sunrise
2. After I eat breakfast and pack up. (Usually just over an hour)
3. When I get there. (Between 4-5, earlier in the winter.)
garlic08
11-18-2009, 10:48
1) First light, or 1/2 hour before sunrise
2) About 10 minutes later. Watch the sunrise from the trail. Stop for breakfast in an hour or two when it warms up.
3) Depends on season and place, and when sunset is. In the northern latitudes in early July, it's still light out at 10:30 pm and I'm trying to sleep when the sun's up. Late season or winter in the South, I'm hiking for hours after dark. I like to get in at least a 12-hour hiking day, anyway, sometimes 14.
1. What time do you get up? 7
2. What time do you start hiking in the morning? 9
3. What time do you stop for the day? When I get there
Pedaling Fool
11-18-2009, 11:01
Just don't be the first on the trail so you don't have to break all the webs.
wake up with the light
packed up and hiking half hour after waking up
light breakfast - continous snacking
water breaks - view breaks - tired breaks - 10 minutes each
hike all day unless I have a predetermined stopping point
eat my one hot meal around 4:30/5pm or sometime in the late afternoon - about an hour break.
Keep hiking until it gets dark give or take an hour depending on the time of year and the weather.
I like to actually hike for about 10 hours a day - not counting breaks.
For me this doesn't feel rushed or crazy, but I'm able to cover at least 20 miles pretty much regardless of the terrain. West coast - milage is higher.
Awake by 7am, out of tent about 8am, mostly packed up. Morning chores, breakfast, and try to be hiking by 9am. Don't always make it by 9am, but I'm not a morning person so couldn't care less.
If I'm energized that day, will hike til about 6 or 7pm. If not, I'll stop early--like about 4pm. If the terrain is friendly I don't mind night-hiking and sometimes actually like it, so sometimes that's an option.
Slo-go'en
11-18-2009, 12:26
1. It depends on the weather. If it's chilly out or raining, I'll sleep in until it warms up a little or the rain starts to tapper off. In any event, rarely later than 9 AM. If it was a really cold night and am freezing, will get up at first light and get moving just to warm up. If its going to be a sweltering hot day, I'll get up at dawn and put in as many miles as I can before it gets too darn hot.
If I'm in a shelter with a good crowd, I'll wait for the early risers to leave, so there will be more room for me to more around when I do get up.
2. I'm usually packed and ready to go about 30 minutes after I get out of the bag. 15 if I'm in a real hurry to get moving. Its amazing how long it can take some hikers to get ready to go in the morning.
3. How far and how long is highly variable. It changes day to day.
Rowdy Yates
11-18-2009, 12:38
I am wondering what your daily hiking routine is. I know that the first thought that may come to mind is HYOH, but I am trying to get an idea of how I should set my initial goals. Any help would be appreciated.
Simply answer the three following questions:
1. What time do you get up?
2. What time do you start hiking in the morning?
3. What time do you stop for the day?
(1) Approx. 6:00 a.m.
(2) Approx. 7:00 a.m.
I normally stop around Noon for my Lunch and a break. Back on Trail by 1:00 p.m.
(3) Around 3 to 4:00 p.m. according to my destination for the day.
Pacific Tortuga
11-18-2009, 12:54
1. What time do you get up?
2. What time do you start hiking in the morning?
3. What time do you stop for the day?[/quote]
as my mood dictates, earliest 4:AM/ latest 11:AM
about i hour after that
by night fall and anytime before that, earliest 3:PM/latest 9:PM
ShelterLeopard
11-18-2009, 13:06
I am wondering what your daily hiking routine is. I know that the first thought that may come to mind is HYOH, but I am trying to get an idea of how I should set my initial goals. Any help would be appreciated.
Simply answer the three following questions:
1. What time do you get up?
2. What time do you start hiking in the morning?
3. What time do you stop for the day?
I used to have a "set schedule", but I wised up.
Now, I wake up when the light gets in my eyes, make food, pack, hike until I'm hungry or feel like stopping, take a break for however long I feel like it, resume hiking, repeat several times. At one point I'll have lunch, and occasionally (when I'm in the swing of hiking and my muscles aren't going to freeze over) take a short siesta. Then hike again, etc... Then stop when I get to wherever I'm going or if I feel like stopping. Occasionally, if I'm really not tired and just want to keep hiking, I'll stop and make dinner and keep going. But not often. By dark I'm usually in my tent or shelter and ready to fall asleep.
[Repeat]
Just do exactly what you feel like. I sleep when it's dark, wake when it's light (just because that's how my body decided it would be), some stay up late and wake up really late, some are out by 4am (???). Whatever floats yer boat.
ShelterLeopard
11-18-2009, 13:10
Sometimes I do what garlic does and hike a while before I have breakfast.
Like Totem and other said --- get up with the light. If anticipating a really hot day, set an alarm and get up before the light, timed to start walking as soon as it's barely light enough to do so.
It typically takes me about an hour from wake up until I'm on the trail, depending on whether it's raining/snowing or not, how cold it is, maybe other random daily factors.
How long I hike during a day is driven by various dynamics:
- how much daylight there is, and maybe whether there's a decent moon out (rarely)
- how cold it is ... perhaps cold enough that "you just want to keep hiking"
- how hot it is ... perhaps hot enough to take an afternoon siesta
- where water sources are (and how confident I am of finding water at the next source)
- where acceptable camping places are
- where my next planned town stop is
- how much food I have left
- what general health I'm in (foot issues, whatever, and general hiking condition level)
- how tough the trail is
- in a few unhappy cases, when the post office closes and whether a weekend is coming up (hopefully no more of that nonsense next year ...)
- these same dynamics for other people I might be hiking with (and want to stay hiking with)
Generally one or more of the above dynamics fixes my stopping location for me.
Most of these sound like work schedules.
I get up whenever I wake up, usually start walking about one to two hours later, and stop when ever I feel like it.
For example a few weeks ago, I woke up around 10, started walking around noon, set up camp around 1:30, and spent the rest of the day lounging and reading. Great day of hiking.
"Most of these sound like work schedules.
I get up whenever I wake up, usually start walking about one to two hours later, and stop when ever I feel like it.
For example a few weeks ago, I woke up around 10, started walking around noon, set up camp around 1:30, and spent the rest of the day lounging and reading. Great day of hiking."
Not to sound to much like a douche - but that sounds more like a very nice "camping" schedule instead of a hiking schedule.
I like to have my breakfast and pack in order so that in the morning I can get a jump on the day ahead. I usually get up right before the sun does and try to start hiking right at sunrise but I don't have a set schedule. Usually stop around 7, or just after sundown. I can't sleep more than 6 hrs a night so if I hit the sack early I'll probably be up uneccesarily early too though.
"Most of these sound like work schedules.
I get up whenever I wake up, usually start walking about one to two hours later, and stop when ever I feel like it.
For example a few weeks ago, I woke up around 10, started walking around noon, set up camp around 1:30, and spent the rest of the day lounging and reading. Great day of hiking."
Not to sound to much like a douche - but that sounds more like a very nice "camping" schedule instead of a hiking schedule.
Hmmm. Was that a disclaimer?
That was between a 10 mile day and a 12 mile day, besides what does it matter to you or anyone else if I take a day to relax in the woods, it is a vacation by the way.
HYOH
i am very impressed with your 8 mile an hour hiking pace. didn't mean to offend, but I figured by pointing out the diffrence between hiking and camping - I was likely to receive a defensive response. OP asked about typical hiking day - that's all.
Kerosene
11-19-2009, 15:13
For my section hikes, I typically wake up 30 minutes before the sun rises, just as you can start to see without using a flashlight all the time.
For the first few days of the hike, I typically take ninety (90!) minutes to break camp, as I'm trying to remember my morning routine that I last tuned a year ago. By the end of the week I'm down to 30-60 minutes.
As I typically hike in the fall when daylight is limited, I'm usually walking until an hour before sunset. For hikes in early June I've had great luck with eating and early dinner and then hiking for a few more hours until I get to a nice place (sometimes dry) to camp.
joedannajr
11-19-2009, 15:22
I'm usually up fairly early and on trail as soon as it is light enough to see. I don't spend much time with a cooked breakfast but just a bar and maybe peanut butter. In about 5 hours I will stop at a shelter (or view) for a cooked meal. In late afternoon I'll look for a camping spot or shelter and set up for the evening. Usually take a nap and then a cook dinner. I turn in before sundown. I try to get in a 15 to 20 mile day, terrain dependent.
Usually get up about 6:30, try to be on the trail by 7 or 7:30. Anything after 8 is a late start. If a normal or short day, I make some coffee in the AM. If a long day, I forgo the hot beverage. Hand full or two of trail mix or power bar gets me started. If a really long day, my just get up, answer nature, pack and head out. I sometimes like to stop an hour or two after setting out to have a more formal breakfast, sometimes even making coffee at a nice view. My goal is to have AT LEAST half of my planned miles done by noon/lunch, three quarters is even better. If I'm not rushed for some reason, I've been known to take a five hour lunch break! That's what's nice about getting an early start, give you lots of flexibility in your day.
Like to be in camp by 5:30 or 6. Sometimes I make it to my intended destination by 2 or 3 PM. In that case, I usually hike on for a few more miles. Infrequently, I'll hike till after dark if I've extended my day a bit too much.
The basics of my day, out between 7 and 8, Half the mileage by lunch, quit hiking sometime between 4 PM and 8 PM.
Lots of room for flexibility which serves me very well. Highly recommended.
I get up around 6:30 and an usually on the trail by 7:30 and try to stop for the day by 5:00. In the begining when there are less hours of daylight I might stop earlier. Like to stop in time to set up camp and eat before dark. During the day I look for a nice spot to have lunch and usually stop for around 45 minuters to an hour. I like to get water right before or during lunch. My day is also very flexable to make time for things discovered along the way.
1. 7ish
2. 8:30ish
3. 4ishPretty close to my times. I don't pack up until I've enjoyed my breakfast, coffee, and pipe, which the later lasts for about 45 minutes. Makes me not the first horse out of the gate in the morning. :)
warraghiyagey
11-22-2009, 20:33
. . . and pipe, which the later lasts for about 45 minutes. . . :)
That's about how long it takes me to smoke my pipe too. . . :sun:sun
saimyoji
11-22-2009, 20:48
That's about how long it takes me to smoke my pipe too. . . :sun:sun
you sure are a flexible one. i'm surprised you even leave the house.
my answers:
1. 5-7, depends on the weather, how i slept, who i'm with (waking up and getting up are different.)
2. around 30 min to an hour after getting up.
3. usually around 4. but i stop when the mood strikes me. depends on if i find a nice spot, the weather, my hiking partners, etc.
depends on if i find a nice spotHa! Yes, any time after 3pm I'm vulnerable to a "sweet camping spot." If I come upon one, it's all over! :-)
Chaco Taco
11-22-2009, 21:36
When I wake up or Wak wakes me
Hang out and do whatever til an hour after that
Whenever
Blissful
11-22-2009, 21:46
Up at 6:15.
On trail by 7:30 (earlier if I don't have a tent to pack, etc).
In by 5 PM or around there
I am wondering what your daily hiking routine is. I know that the first thought that may come to mind is HYOH, but I am trying to get an idea of how I should set my initial goals. Any help would be appreciated.
Simply answer the three following questions:
1. What time do you get up?
2. What time do you start hiking in the morning?
3. What time do you stop for the day?
1) First light (sometimes earlier, especially when the days get shorter).
2) As soon as I can, right after breakfast and privy visit.
3) In enough time to set up camp, eat dinner, and clean up (I'm a hiker, not a camper).
When I'm with others the schedule is subject to change without notice.
SassyWindsor
11-22-2009, 21:52
1. What time do you get up? A: Depends on the weather and how I feel.
2. What time do you start hiking in the morning? ....Ditto....
3. What time do you stop for the day? ....Ditto....
awake by 5 a.m. normally
on trail 20min. to an hour later depending on weather and or schedule.
stop when I get to my destination, sometimes as early as 1 p.m. and as late as dark depending on how the day went or how far I'm going. Stops along the way as the mood or views strike me, after all it ain't a race. ;)
my first section hike we got up wit the sun and hiked to our destination no matter how early we arrived or how late.
We have found a better tecnique since then. It leaves us less tired at the end of the day and usally more miles.
Wake with the sun.
No matter what I eat or how much I pre pak it seems to be right about an hour before I get on the trail.
Here is the change for us... we hike 45 min pull off and take a 15 min break. Take of pak, boots, and socks. That really helped the foot pains and any blisters were noticed early on. We would get a snack at each break
We would do that untill lunch and that would be about 30 min or whatever we feel we need.
The trek continues on till we got to our destitnation that was chose by water supplly. We typcially have several options for the end of the day before we left camp that morning. Most days in the hammock before or right at dark
BEAS
fredmugs
11-23-2009, 14:09
My section hikes are in a lot of ways worse than a work schedule with the exception that I actually enjoy my hikes. Based on having a limited number of days I can actually get on the trail and the fact that my sections are getting further and further away from my home I try to knock out as many miles as possible. Prior to any section hike I break out the thru hikers guide and plot out where all of the potential camping spots, hostels, food, etc. Typically I plan for 20 - 25 mile days which do not allow a lot of slack.
My daily hiking routine is to get up at twilight. As I pack up my stuff I start hydrating and stretching. I may or may not eat depending on how I feel. It's normally fully light out when I start and I enjoy being the only one on the trail and I tend to go really slow.
After I take off and throughout the day I try to look at the map and find a spot 2 - 3 miles out and that's where I take a break. If I see some ideal spot I'll stop earlier. If there's a big climb then I use getting to the top as a reward. On a normal hike I will bring one meal that requires heating and I have that meal around noon or shortly thereafter. I do this because it forces me to take a longer break in the afternoon. This is really the only use I have for AT shelters.
After my large meal I know what pace I'm on to finish for the day and can either pick it up or back it down accordingly. I try to get to finish the day one hour before it gets dark.
Until I've hiked the whole thing I plan to continue attacking.
1. What time do you get up?
2. What time do you start hiking in the morning?
3. What time do you stop for the day?
1. Whenever the birds start singing.
2. About 2 hours later, not because I'm not a morning person, but because I AM a morning person. I love to watch the morning happen, so I take my sweet time.
3. About an hour before sunset.
We'd probably hike pretty well together. The only difference I can see between us is that I eat my hot meal at the end of the day. Otherwise, ditto for me.
My section hikes are in a lot of ways worse than a work schedule with the exception that I actually enjoy my hikes. Based on having a limited number of days I can actually get on the trail and the fact that my sections are getting further and further away from my home I try to knock out as many miles as possible. Prior to any section hike I break out the thru hikers guide and plot out where all of the potential camping spots, hostels, food, etc. Typically I plan for 20 - 25 mile days which do not allow a lot of slack.
My daily hiking routine is to get up at twilight. As I pack up my stuff I start hydrating and stretching. I may or may not eat depending on how I feel. It's normally fully light out when I start and I enjoy being the only one on the trail and I tend to go really slow.
After I take off and throughout the day I try to look at the map and find a spot 2 - 3 miles out and that's where I take a break. If I see some ideal spot I'll stop earlier. If there's a big climb then I use getting to the top as a reward. On a normal hike I will bring one meal that requires heating and I have that meal around noon or shortly thereafter. I do this because it forces me to take a longer break in the afternoon. This is really the only use I have for AT shelters.
After my large meal I know what pace I'm on to finish for the day and can either pick it up or back it down accordingly. I try to get to finish the day one hour before it gets dark.
Until I've hiked the whole thing I plan to continue attacking.
When Hooch and I did our Maryland section we got up between 5 and 5:30 am so that we could take our time packing up and eating a hot breakfast. Tried to get moving around 7am and then hiked until we reached our predetermined stopping point. Depending on milage (I'm right slow) we arrived anywhere between 2pm and 5pm.