View Full Version : How Long is a Long Distance Hike?
a) 2000+ miles
b) 1000+ miles
c) 300+ miles
d) As long as you resupply...
e) Other
Well, I was trying to start a poll but my skills with the 'puter are limited. Anyways, Spirit Walkers excellent thread on walking enjoyment and some of the responses got me wondering again about how long is long? For me, 2000 sounds like a nice round number. Opinions?
1999 miles would be long too!
My understanding of a long distance hike has always been as long as you need to resupply. Of course. that's relative. You can resupply 5 times in Georgia or never on the Colorado Trail like Coup did, but the later being a more accurate definition.
As long as it takes me to grow a full beard (a little less than three weeks).
I am borrowing this definition from Chris.
I voted "as long as you resupply." If you resupply you are going to be out 7 - 10 days and will go maybe 100... and up to 200 miles. I consider that long distance.
I didn't think it would take long for the 1999 reply, but that was quick Sly! As for resupply, most could every other day on the AT. I expect 100 miles to sound long to a scout, hunter, or the good old boys at the bar but if I'm back off the trail and home in a couple of weeks (or months) that was short!! Maybe I'm spoiled, but hey- I love short hikes too!!!
Youngblood
08-03-2005, 17:20
From the Companion:
"Long-distance hiker (LD hiker)—A hiker on a hike of 50
miles or more."
From the Handbook:
"Long-distance hiker is a somewhat indeterminate term applied to anyone who is hiking more than a few weeks, and who usually has to resupply at least once during his or her hike; often used interchangeably with the term thru-hiker."
max patch
08-03-2005, 18:39
From the Handbook:
"Long-distance hiker is a somewhat indeterminate term
That is ALMOST exactly correct! Take out the word "SOMEWHAT" and you've got the definition nailed. The definition of a "long distance hike" will vary among people based upon their personal experiences. There is no correct answer.
Youngblood
08-03-2005, 20:10
That is ALMOST exactly correct! Take out the word "SOMEWHAT" and you've got the definition nailed. The definition of a "long distance hike" will vary among people based upon their personal experiences. There is no correct answer. I agree it is like beauty in that it is in the eye of the beholder... but to be consist with our previous discussions I will disagree that there is no correct answer and suggest that there is no wrong answer. :) My grand kids do great when they hike with me and they feel like they are long distance hikers when they do a 4 mile hike... and so do I.
Lone Wolf
08-03-2005, 20:17
There is no correct answer or definition. Depends on ones physical capabilities. Ask Bill Irwin or Bob Barker(deceased) or One Leg, etc.
Well that last one didn't take so I'll try again.
I'll admit this a loaded poll. When I read of people who long for those long hikes I wonder how long. I dream of those 5-6 month adventures which usually means 2000+mi which usually means a thru. Sure I LOVE those 2-3 month trips but it's just not the same IMHO. Maybe my next loaded poll will be: How Long is a Long Time?:confused:
fiddlehead
08-03-2005, 22:53
This is a tough question. I would like to think that my attempt at traveling around the world without flying was a long journey invloving lots of hiking as well as hitchiking. But also, my 350 mile Pyrenees hike is another hike i consider a long distance hike. I guess it depends on the person, the situation, and maybe even your age. I remember in the boy scouts getting my 50 mile hike badge. That seemed like a long distance hike too although it was only 3 1/2 days.
SGT Rock
08-03-2005, 23:02
I've hiked 105 miles without re-supply, and I've hiked 150 miles with two re-supply stops. The 105 mile one sure felt longer:D
I've hiked 105 miles without re-supply, and I've hiked 150 miles with two re-supply stops. The 105 mile one sure felt longer:D
My husband and I hiked 200 miles (Pembrokeshire Coastal Path in South Wales) without a resupply. Of course we stayed in Bed & Breakfasts or Youth Hostels every night.
Then we did the West Highland Way (Scotland Highlands) over 10 days (it was only 95 miles) and we didn't resupply at all (no place to resupply really). We carried ALL our food with us from the start. The bonus to that was our packs got lighter and lighter as the days went by! :)
Here in the UK - we are considered "long distance hikers"...of course when he finishes his thru hike in September he will be quite the celebrity here - if not considered a bit *mad*!:D
Tha Wookie
08-04-2005, 08:58
To tag onto what Max and LW have said, it also depends where you are and the conditions.
But I don't see how 1000 miles is not considered a long distance.
Well I do tell folks that my last hike of any length was 900m on the PCT. Still, that is barely 1/3 of the trail, I'm just hittin my groove. Sweet hike but not a long one and I don't think another few days/miles would of made a difference to my way of thinking.
I was not looking for a finite definition!:) I'd like to hear WHY people FEEL about that distance THEY consider long? Maybe the question should 've been: When you dream of taking a long hike, how long is it?
Spirit Walker
08-04-2005, 12:19
For me, a long distance hike is one in which I have to quit my job to do it. In other words, it's longer than my vacation allotment. When I hiked the JMT I did it while working and was able to get an extra week off so I could take my time. It was a long vacation, but not a LD Hike. But that only works for me, with my short vacations. For example, Mags was able to do the entire Colorado Trail, which I would consider a LD hike, during his vacation. Someone like Skeeter who gets six to eight weeks a year, or a teacher who has three months, can do a long distance hike every year. So maybe a more general answer would be anything over 200 miles (two weeks).
But that only works for me, with my short vacations. For example, Mags was able to do the entire Colorado Trail, which I would consider a LD hike, during his vacation.
And that's why time/mileage is not always a good variable. I was able to do the CT in three weeks. Normally it is a 4-6 wk hike. For better or worse, I can do big mileage days, so I can do it in a shorter time.
However, I still considered it a long hike.
Time dilates on the trail. A week trail time is so much longer (in a good way!) than the so-called "real world". My three weeks on the CT seemed so much longer and more meaningful in three weeks than the other 49 out of the year. (That's another discussion in itself!).
When I did my first LT trek in 1997, it was only 18 days..but it ceartainly seemed like a long hike to me. Those 270 miles were unlike I had done anything previous to that time. Suspect it would still seem like a long hike to me many trails later because I am stuck in the "real world" and any extended time in the outdoors is so meaningful to me.
Guess it is like that old quote about art: "I don't know what it is..but I know it when I see it!"
I don't know what a long hike is, but I know it when I hike it!
The problem with the question, "How long is a long-distance hike?", is a vagueness problem of the word 'long'. The question form falls into the category of Sorites paradoxes. The Sorites paradox asks, "How many grains of sand does it take to make a heap?" or "How many hairs on a hikers face makes a beard?" If you take away 1 grain or 1 hair or 1 mile, is it no longer a heap or no longer a beard or no longer a long-distance hike? Typically, the more intuitive answer for each of these questions is a range rather than a specific number.
Interesting question. My friend Ed Talone says that for some people, a hike of 1 mile is a long way, and a major accomplishment. For most of my non-hiking friends, anything over 10 miles would be considered a "long distance hike" - even if it was a day hike.
So... I would say that the answer to this question varies widely depending on who is answering the poll. Like so much of a hike - it's mostly in your head.
Well, I must admit that I learned something from this poll. I'm not mainstream on this subject!:o
I dont know if you looked at more than the headline Miles, but there were ranges submited. Yes, yes, I knew YMMV;) ,but I was surprised that most people feel long starts at around 1 to 3 hundred miles and goes up to 2,3 thousand? Doesn't leave a lot of- range for short and medium does it? My ladyfriend says its the same reason all guys think their....:banana :-? :eek:
I suppose that because I stated out backpackin on mostly (really!??) long trips that less than a thousand felt short. Thanks for the WHYs for YOU responses.:sun
Youngblood
08-05-2005, 08:52
Nean,
For the most part, the word 'long' is relative. When it is important, I would expect the person using it to define short, medium and long in a way that fits in with context of how it is being used.... just as most hiking guide books do. A lot of our language is that way... relative instead of absolute... so sometimes to be clear we have to temporarily assign absolute numbers to relative terms in context with how they are going to be used. For instance, if an NFL quarterback told his receiver to go long it wouldn't be for the same yardage a 10 year old kid playing quarterback would mean if he told his receiver to go long.
Youngblood
Youngblood, I couln't agree with you more that the term long is relative and that this poll is not in any way, shape or form, important! It is also poorly worded as I was looking more for the Why than the What.:datz Most here want to point out the obvious What- that long is relative, no right answer, etc. Most never say Why they Feel a certain distance is long. Live and learn. Great example of relative YB!