Hiking by the numbers

[cakeman21k]

I know that I go hiking in order to get away from the daily “stuff” and as much as I believe in HYOH, I am always amazed by how much hikers get wrapped up in numbers. Everything from how many miles, how many steps, how many days weeks months etc. to how much does “it” weigh to; well you get the picture. <O</O

I thought it would be fun to get some idea’s about everybody’s favorite “number:" My personal favorite is how many BTU’s per ounce / gram of fuel, and its corollary how many ounces / grams of fuel does it take to boil a cup of water. If you are spending that much time worrying about your fuel then you either have wayyy too much time on your hands or you are wayyy too anal to be let loose in society.

<O></O>

So anyway that’s my favorite “number” what about yours?

[max patch]

I always calculate my minutes per mile pace on day hikes. I find it interesting for some reason, plus it allows me to pretty much calculate how far I can go and get back before sundown.

[rickb]

My favorite number has to do with how many birds I can add to my North American "Life's List" each year, or even on a trip.

I've been birding a long time, but don't agressively chase those birds I am missing with organized groups. As such, I always have a chance finding a new bird on any given walk.

I am on sharp lookout for a three-toed woodpecker, these days.

I never added up my total, because it woudn't be very impressive (way under 300 to be sure). One thing that is kind of cool is opening up my bird book and seeing the date and comments of when I first saw a particular bird. It brings the moment back better than a photo.

[Alligator]

Just mph. I like to know about when I'm going to get to where I'm going, so I can eat .

[D'Artagnan]

3,000: The number of calories one has to expend to lose one (1) pound of fat. I think about it all the time.

[chris]

On trail, the only numbers I run are:

Miles per hour, total (distance divided by total time, including breaks).

Hours since I last saw anyone.

Time remaining before cocktail hour.

Much of the number crunching that goes on at places like whiteblaze just doesn't happen much while people are actually hiking. The main exception to this was when I was stuck in the middle of the pack in Virginia in 2004, where I got a lot of lectures on numbers.

[saimyoji]

tjph: toes jams per hour. Here in PA my average is pretty high. At the end of the day I often measure my success in terms of damaged toenails, or chunks of rubber missing from my boots.

[Shutterbug]

[QUOTE=cakeman21k]I know that I go hiking in order to get away from the daily “stuff” and as much as I believe in HYOH, I am always amazed by how much hikers get wrapped up in numbers. Everything from how many miles, how many steps, how many days weeks months etc. to how much does “it” weigh to; well you get the picture. <O</O

I thought it would be fun to get some idea’s about everybody’s favorite “number:" My personal favorite is how many BTU’s per ounce / gram of fuel, and its corollary how many ounces / grams of fuel does it take to boil a cup of water. If you are spending that much time worrying about your fuel then you either have wayyy too much time on your hands or you are wayyy too anal to be let loose in society.

<O></O>


If you like numbers, get a gps unit. Mine has more numbers than I could ever use. I have yet to figure out when I will need "Velocity Made Good."

[The Solemates]

Of course this changes with my mood, but current obsession is how many peaks I can bag on a trip.

[Blue Jay]

I hike to get away from the national obsession with numbers. No watch, don't pay attention to miles, some days seem to last forever and months feel like years. Try getting away from the old A Type habits sometime, just to see if you can.

[Seeker]

i guess i'm one of those too anal to let loose in society... i'm pretty conscious of my numbers (fuel, ounces of gear, etc) until i get in the car to go... after that, i don't care about them anymore... they've done their job in helping me know i'm not carrying anything more than i need...

[Traction]

sometimes i count how many steps i'm taking per mile.. that's fun. but also psycho. I've tried counting trees too.. but my brain has a very tough time keeping up. Oh I know.. it's fun to count how many of those little orange salamander guys you see.. I see a ton. or maybe they're all hallucenations.. I sometimes hallucenate.. or maybe that's because I'm not very good at counting how many beers i've had in an hour..

[Seeker]

interesting about the 'steps'... it jogged my memory... my 10 year old daughter once counted the over 2300 steps it took her to walk however far it was once... i fell into the trap and started counting too, and realized that i only took about 2 steps to her 3... made me realize a 4 mile hike was more like 6 for her... so i learned something...

[Traction]

that's incredible.. I think the farthest I was ever able to count was like.. 32.. yes, 32.. which, was about a mile for me.. go figure

[Kerosene]

I've done the steps per mile calc, and I'm just a little anal at calculating mph. Near the end of my last section hike I was getting bored and started counting steps between blazes in a poorly blazed section.

[cakeman21k]

Ok Lets Sumarize here:
Minutes per Mile;
Calories per pound;
Birds;
Steps per mile;
trees;
peaks per trip;
Toe Jams Per Hour (I like that one)
Velocity made good (I have no idea what that is?)
No one has mentioned calories per ouce of food or weight of various stuff. I knew this post would bring the wierd & wonderful hikers out of the woods!
LOL

[Patrick]

Don't get on us desk jockey BTU calculators too much. It just means our minds are on the trail when our feet aren't.

I spend half my office day dreaming about gear numbers, but I spend none of my hiking day thinking about office numbers.

Very good thread.

[dougmeredith]

3,000: The number of calories one has to expend to lose one (1) pound of fat. I think about it all the time.

I hate to tell you this, but it is 3500. Sorry, but you are going to have to work a little harder.

Doug

[cakeman21k]

Don't get on us desk jockey BTU calculators too much. It just means our minds are on the trail when our feet aren't.

I spend half my office day dreaming about gear numbers, but I spend none of my hiking day thinking about office numbers.

Very good thread.

not to put too fine a point on this one, but does your boss know what you do with half of your work day?
PS I started this thread 30 minutes before I left the office for the day!
lol

[CynJ]

My favorite number has to do with how many birds I can add to my North American "Life's List" each year, or even on a trip.

I've been birding a long time, but don't agressively chase those birds I am missing with organized groups. As such, I always have a chance finding a new bird on any given walk.

I am on sharp lookout for a three-toed woodpecker, these days.

I never added up my total, because it woudn't be very impressive (way under 300 to be sure). One thing that is kind of cool is opening up my bird book and seeing the date and comments of when I first saw a particular bird. It brings the moment back better than a photo.

Very cool rick!

No entirely inline with the "numbers" thing - but I love counting and taking pictures of interesting dead trees. Somehow in my mind it pays homage to them.

Ok -I will go back to dusting my "dork of the year" awards now...lol