Off trail miles? (Currently thru hiking)

[faxanadu]

Laying in my tent wondering how many total extra miles people do on a thru hike. For instance: in town, getting to town, water side trails, shelter side trails, etc.

[Dogwood]

On the CDT and PCT I would roughly guestimate I hiked/hitched to/from towns and walked around town or to wherever at least 300 miles on each(prolly closer to 450 - 500 for the CDT).

[Monkeywrench]

This isn't actually what you asked but I do have a wee bit of data that is related to your question. During my thru-hike I kept track of all mileage I walked with my pack on. I had 2178.3 AT miles and 56.8 non-AT miles. Those extra miles were mostly side trails to shelters and water sources.

[modiyooch]

We don't do side trails. Now that I have completed the AT, we go back and meander all over the mountains during day hikes and without the larger pack.

[faxanadu]

On the CDT and PCT I would roughly guestimate I hiked/hitched to/from towns and walked around town or to wherever at least 300 miles on each(prolly closer to 450 - 500 for the CDT).

2-300 was about what I was thinking. Just to use the bathroom at Clingmans Dome took me a mile hah.