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View Full Version : Whats the shortest distance you hiked in a day?



Cheers
11-25-2009, 09:05
People talk about busting out 20 mile+ days routinely. I'd like to hear people bragging about the shortest day. I'm talking on-trail mileage, not including hiking into or out of a town, or road crossing, straight up "i left the shelter and hiked 0.3 miles then set up camp".

Hit me.

Cheers

The Solemates
11-25-2009, 09:11
i assume you mean thru-hiking the AT. if not, we've hiked 0 miles, stayed in the same spot.

on our thru, one day we slept til 9 or so, got up and hiked 4 miles to upper goose pond cabin and ended up staying the night there.

cravj1988
11-25-2009, 09:16
We left Roan High Knob early on a cold and foggy morning. Hiked maybe 6 miles to the Over Mountain Shelter. It was such an amazing area. We decided to call it a day and enjoyed one of the best shelters on the trail.

Pedaling Fool
11-25-2009, 09:25
3.5 miles over the baldpate mountains. It was so windy that day that I was nearly blown off the mountain, took the rest of the day off.

I tried to capture the conditions via a picture, but it doesn't do justice to the actual conditions that day. Couldn't see the trail through the fog and the wind was the strongest I've ever hiked in, with no cover.

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=20610&catid=member&imageuser=6936



.

Kerosene
11-25-2009, 09:36
8/15/79 (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=262123): 2.6 miles from the old cabin near the summit of Camel's Hump (Gorham Lodge on the Long Trail) north to ancient, dark Montclair Glen Lodge. It had been raining and blowing hard since the prior evening as the temperature dropped to just above freezing. We waited around until mid-morning but nothing improved, so we set out over the fogged in summit of Camel's Hump and made it to the Lodge soaking wet in our ponchos. We cooked up a lunch, lazed around, and finally decided to just not hike anymore on our 12th day out.

Peaks
11-25-2009, 10:03
My shortest days were typically nero's. Either from the last shelter into town, or from town out to the first shelter. I can get a much earlier start on the day when I don't stay in town.

Hoop Time
11-25-2009, 10:14
I hiked from the couch to the fridge to grab a beer last night. Does that count?

Yahtzee
11-25-2009, 10:31
.2 Watauga Lake Shelter to Watauga Lake. Started late hiked into a party.
Did the 40 into Damascus the next day.

white_russian
11-25-2009, 10:59
Day 2: Stover Creek to Hawk Mtn.

I knew there was a very bad storm coming and wanted to be inside. This was one of those storms where even the short trip to the privy would get you completely soaked. There was a nice lightning show as well. This was at the begining of April so there were more than 30 other people there, but only 4 of us stayed inside. The combination of not checking the weather, fear of mice from stories on the internet, and the novelty of their new tents kept them all out there to get their gear drenched.

RedneckRye
11-25-2009, 11:44
Left Harpers Ferry, walked 1.2 miles north along the canal, stopped at the hostel.

Cookerhiker
11-25-2009, 12:50
People talk about busting out 20 mile+ days routinely. I'd like to hear people bragging about the shortest day. I'm talking on-trail mileage, not including hiking into or out of a town, or road crossing, straight up "i left the shelter and hiked 0.3 miles then set up camp".

Hit me.

Cheers

October 22, 2004 (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=84125) - hiked a grand total of 0.7 miles from the parking lot at the north end of Fontana Phony Lake to the Fontana Hilton. Upon emerging from the woods to the parking lot, I received some unexpected Trail Magic from Wildcat. Spent the night at his home and didn't resume until late afternoon the next day.

Cookerhiker
11-25-2009, 12:52
8/15/79: 2.8 miles from the old cabin near the summit of Camel's Hump (Gorham Lodge on the Long Trail) north to ancient, dark Montclair Glen Lodge. It had been raining and blowing hard since the prior evening as the temperature dropped to just above freezing. We waited around until mid-morning but nothing improved, so we set out over the fogged in summit of Camel's Hump and made it to the Lodge soaking wet in our ponchos. We cooked up a lunch, lazed around, and finally decided to just not hike anymore on our 12th day out.

That 2.8 miles was harder and probably took longer than some 10 mile stretches elsewhere,

mrc237
11-25-2009, 12:59
LW's house to Dots!

Kerosene
11-25-2009, 13:04
That 2.8 miles was harder and probably took longer than some 10 mile stretches elsewhere,It certainly felt that way, although at the time, being a Northeasterner, I didn't have any experience with the smooth, well-graded trails down south so I didn't know any better.

Cookerhiker
11-25-2009, 13:12
8/15/79 (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=262123): 2.6 miles from the old cabin near the summit of Camel's Hump (Gorham Lodge on the Long Trail) north to ancient, dark Montclair Glen Lodge. It had been raining and blowing hard since the prior evening as the temperature dropped to just above freezing. We waited around until mid-morning but nothing improved, so we set out over the fogged in summit of Camel's Hump and made it to the Lodge soaking wet in our ponchos. We cooked up a lunch, lazed around, and finally decided to just not hike anymore on our 12th day out.

BTW, I remember Gorham Lodge - I stayed there in the early 1980s. But weren't you really hiking south? I guess in the thick fog and cold, it's hard to know where you're going.!:D

Yahtzee
11-25-2009, 14:05
That 2.8 miles was harder and probably took longer than some 10 mile stretches elsewhere,

Word. That stretch around Camel's Hump, especially south of the Hump to the summit is the hardest and slowest trail I have encountered. It's actually a great climb heading up the north side, tho.

Jaybird
11-25-2009, 14:12
People talk about busting out 20 mile+ days routinely. I'd like to hear people bragging about the shortest day. I'm talking on-trail mileage, not including hiking into or out of a town, or road crossing, straight up "i left the shelter and hiked 0.3 miles then set up camp".Hit me.
Cheers


I think my shortest day was a 4 or 5 miler...from campsite to the next closest Shelter!

what abt it "Jigsaw"????

:D

Cookerhiker
11-25-2009, 14:21
Word. That stretch around Camel's Hump, especially south of the Hump to the summit is the hardest and slowest trail I have encountered.....

I sure wouldn't want to hike it when icy.

Saffirre8
11-25-2009, 14:27
I hiked from the couch to the fridge to grab a beer last night. Does that count?


Nice one...lol

XCskiNYC
11-25-2009, 14:40
People talk about busting out 20 mile+ days routinely. I'd like to hear people bragging about the shortest day. I'm talking on-trail mileage, not including hiking into or out of a town, or road crossing, straight up "i left the shelter and hiked 0.3 miles then set up camp".

Hit me.

Cheers

But dude, that's exactly the mileage I hiked from CT341 to Mt. Algo shelter recently (actually backtracking on the AT for an overnight --- I am a total purist).:D

Okay, let me answer this seriously. My shortest day that wasn't INTENDED to end at a road crossing was about 2.5 miles, left Graymoor, got serious pain in right foot probably related to newish hiking shoes, decided I like not being crippled better than I like hiking and exited at Old Albany Post Rd.

But let's see, the shortest day that wasn't inadvertently terminated........

gotta go to trailjournals for this............

I'm a section hiker so many of my days start very late with getting myself from the city on public transport, and then often a shuttle/long hike/hitchhike to the trail or they end abruptly when I have camped very close to where I'll get off the trail at the end.

Shortest ever 7.0 miles, CT341 to Stewart Hollow Brook Lean-to. First full day on the trail so I got a pretty late start (it's hard to adjust from second-shift hours to hiker midnight). Technically there was the aforementioned 0.3 from Mt. Algo Lean-to (backtracking) but even adding that it'd still be the shortest.

Blissful
11-25-2009, 15:07
1/2 mile hiking out from Overmountain Shelter. The weather was so bad we had to turn around and spend an unexpected day there.

Marta
11-25-2009, 16:31
But dude, that's exactly the mileage I hiked from CT341 to Mt. Algo shelter...:D

That was also my shortest day (unless you want to count a zero at Kid Gore Shelter, holed up during a storm). I wasn't backtracking, either, 'cause I was going SOBO. I was dropped off at the road crossing, started hiking in a downpour, got to Mt. Algo Shelter, and called it a day.

Kerosene
11-25-2009, 18:40
BTW, I remember Gorham Lodge - I stayed there in the early 1980s. But weren't you really hiking south? I guess in the thick fog and cold, it's hard to know where you're going.!:DYep, my 16-year old brother and I (age 22) started at the Canadian border. I had a fair amount of experience by that time, but it was my brother's first backpacking trip. The thermometer broke 100F the first afternoon climbing Little Jay, but after it rained that afternoon it got steadily cooler until we had a day of snow showers near Smugglers Notch. My layers were okay until Gorham Lodge, which by that time was extremely drafty for a 4-sided cabin, and the wind combined with the plummeting temperature made me glad to find an old cotton sweatshirt that someone had left behind. I wore that sweatshirt to Massachusetts, and I don't think it got warmer than 60 for the rest of the trip.

Jim Adams
11-25-2009, 22:24
I have alot of zero days on the trail during my thrus (especially if there was a source of beer nearby) but I also probably have at least 10 days of less than 1/2 mile hiking due to leaving camp and finding somewhere beautiful to camp within a short distance.

geek

stranger
11-29-2009, 17:03
Not involving a town - 7.2 miles in 1995, from Low Gap Shelter area to Blue Mountain Shelter area in Georgia.

Last year...surprisingly it was something like 17 miles, I had plenty of short days but they always involved heading into town, or leaving.

Jack Tarlin
11-29-2009, 17:13
We left my house one August morning planning to head North and resume our hike; we walked .3 to the Trailhead and walked along the soccer field only to discover that friends of ours had arrived late the night before and had camped out there, but were planning to take a zero day in town.

So after discussing this at length (like maybe 10 seconds) we joined them and walked back to downtown Hanover.

Total A.T. mileage that day?

I dunno, maybe a tenth of a mile, certainly less than 200 yards. And it was a great day, too.

GeneralLee10
11-29-2009, 17:33
My shortest day on the AT so far has been from the Dicks Creek Gap to Plumorchard Shelter the map I have says 4.4 mi.

paradoxb3
11-29-2009, 19:01
I hiked from the couch to the fridge to grab a beer last night. Does that count?

It WOULD count but the OP wanted mileage... :rolleyes:


My shortest day on the AT so far has been from the Dicks Creek Gap to Plumorchard Shelter the map I have says 4.4 mi.

I've done that one too. I also hiked from Plumorchard Shelter to Bly Gap, then back to Plumorchard Shelter in the same day... a net distance traveled of 0 miles. :D

I've also done several little 1-mile-up-the-trail-and-back "hikes" when car-camping/fishing in the Suches area in GA.

Plodderman
11-30-2009, 10:14
5 miles in the Smokies.

CrumbSnatcher
11-30-2009, 22:25
hiked the approach trail a couple times. zero miles?

Mags
12-01-2009, 00:39
It WOULD count but the OP wanted mileage... :rolleyes:






AH! A man with a sense of humor and/or a 2x4 inserted somewhere! ;)

40 feet = 0.00757575758 miles



Ta da!

Shortest distance I've hiked in a day as well!

Ox97GaMe
12-01-2009, 00:52
My shortest day (without a town or trail magic stop) was in Montana. Our group got stuck in a snowstorm in the backcountry. I dont know how far we actually made it that day, but it was less than 2 miles, taking turns post hole-ing through 6 ft of snow. At the end of the day, we could see the area where we had camped the night before at the other end of the valley.

srestrepo
12-01-2009, 03:08
i once hiked from rt 20 in mass to upper goose pond cabin. i think its like .3 or .5 miles just to test out some new gear i had bought...

ki0eh
12-01-2009, 10:24
How about from a cabin on the PA MST out to the back yard of said cabin to set up a tent for 2 parents and 2 4 year olds, does that count?

Many Walks
12-01-2009, 10:39
We pulled into a shelter in GA and met Rambo Ron who was on a year long yoyo. He made it a point to stay at every hostel and shelter along the way to get the full experience of the AT. In some cases that would be a 20' hike. When we saw him he was thinking about heading back up the trail again. Not sure if he did or not but he might get the award for shortest mileage in a day.

lancer_45
12-01-2009, 11:05
3 miles. I got on the wrong trail (The Long Trail to be exact). Wound up hiking a total of 16 miles on it. By the time I got back to the AT, I was so pissed that I only walked two miles. I went into Pittsfield that day to Aimee's Farm Hostel cuz I was totally pissed.

Stellbell3
12-01-2009, 11:53
This year during my thru, my shortest day was .3 miles over the bridge going into Palmerton. We had stayed the night in Slatington and then unexpectedly had to stay in Palmerton. So we got a ride to the trailhead, hiked over the bridge and down the train tracks to Palmerton, a total of .3 trail miles. Then took two zeros at the jail in Palmerton!!!!!
I loved my life then!! Miss it so much!!

Buttchinz

Disney
12-01-2009, 11:54
I've had a few unplanned neros. I went from Stan Murray to Overmountain and stopped. That's 2 miles I think. Reason - It was that beautiful.

I climbed out of Low Gap and stopped. About .5 miles I think. Reason - Achilles tendon agony.

I also went from upper goose pond cabin to lower goose pond cabin (or vice versa) when it was still active. That was less than 2. Reason - I was that lazy.

Pony
12-01-2009, 15:03
Not on the AT, but one day I got to the trail head late in the day and it was chilly, and only about 2 hours of daylight left. About 100yds into the woods, I ran into two guys with a fire and a cooler of beer. I had some whisky and we started trading beer and whisky. After about 30 minutes we all agreed that it would be fun if we all just sat around the fire and sipped beer and whisky.

Gray Blazer
12-02-2009, 08:07
I drove the whole width of the FT twice last night on highway 301 at Hampton.

whisperingwind
12-02-2009, 09:55
Woke Up at Blue Knob shelter about 1.5 miles south of Annapolis Rocks, crawled from the tent, seen the rain, walked 35 steps, found a tree, peed, went back to bed. Grand total of 75 steps, give or take. That made for an exhausting day. I just did not feel like hiking in the rain that specific day.