How fast do you hike?

I'd lump myself in with the average to slow hikers...depending on the day. I am slow to get to the summit but smoke most people on the way down.
Where do you fall?

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BirdHead Studios

Maybe a little stronger than average going up, but much slower coming down. The descent is brutal on my aging knees.

I like to take in the sites & I used to smoke years ago. I think I might still be paying.

If it says 2.5 hours average, I take 3.

I usually hike with the same "buddy" He's old LOL and has bad knees and I'm a lard @$$ so we tend to be on the slow side. Usually just over "book time".

As a group, my "team" and I hike very fast. We once made up an hour over 10 miles on two very fit guys coming down from mount Glastonbury in VT. We always try to summit together, but I definately am faster solo. I think being fast also has to do with how much you stop, and I stop less when I am solo, instead eating and drinking while I hike. There is an argument that you dont see as much when you hike fast, but I think you can see more, because you can cover more ground in a certain period. What do you guys think?

I hike slow, mainly because I figure- what's the rush? I'm out there to enjoy the outdoors, relax, take in nice views, stop and take lots and lots of pictures. Covering miles and miles of ground and several summits is not my priority. Going up I am definitely faster than down, mainly because I have this huge fear of falling I have never been able to overcome, but I never let the phobia prevent me from doing what I love.

preciously precious!

I gotta agree with you precious!
Just think how much Cavedog/Tim Seaver/Stinkyfeet saw when they did their records?!
And I believe they had to be even more alert than the typical hiker because their success/safety depended on it even more than when "Joe Average" is out there!

It all probably evens out in the end as far as how much you SEE hiking fast or slow . . .

That being said I am going to loosely quote HikerBob from one of our conversations as we brought up the rear of a group hike . . .
"Us slow folks still get there to the top of the same mountain but just in our own time" . . . Granted those that are like Cavedog, Frodo, Tim and Stinkyfeet, they get up even more mountains in the same span of time.

There is a difference between having time to look at the beauty and having time to REALLY SEE the beauty? Or maybe that is just what I tell myself to feel better as my slowpoke self is left in the dust by all you speedsters

We all have our own ways to enjoy the beauty and I don't think one way is better than the other.

The only issue is I rarely ever actually hike WITH many of my hiking buddies, I chat with them for the first 2 minutes, SOMETIMES catch them at the summit as they are finishing up their 2 hour rest and then meet them for a beer at the local pub when I finally get down . . . BUT every once in a while some of the speedsters have SLOWED down and experienced an "Excercise in Patience" while choosing to hike along with me . . . RIGHT?

sli74

Yes Sli, that's right.

I tend to hike fast, but still seem to see plenty (see my photos!). I'm certainly not the fastest hiker out there (Max and SwampYankee can leave me in the dust), but I seem to just naturally migrate to the front of a group. When you're in the front, you often get to see wildlife or fresh tracks before the rest of the group tramples them (the tracks, that is). It also seems that when I go slow I become more tired than when I'm clipping along at my comfortably quick pace. I'm not antisocial - really !

Anyway, as the AT thru hikers say - hike your own hike.

I'm all over the scale (pun intended). When compared to many of the board members, I'm slow, but when compared to the average hiker, I'm about average. I have my good days, and my bad, but I'm going to get them one way or another. My speed, or lack thereof has never really bothered me.

When I'm alone, I compete with myself, trying to see how much faster than book time I can do. I enjoy this and it usually means more time at summits. When I'm with a group, I match my pace to the group, and enjoy every minute of the journey.

If I'm on my way out, and have an all you can eat buffet vision in my birdskull, I hike like a mofo to get out! mammy

BirdHead Studios

I voted average. I pass some; I get passed some. The groups I've hiked with have seldom made better than one mile per hour average, but that includes lunch and snacks, views and naps, photography, wildlife study, and whateverallelse. Whatever the makeup of our group, if someone is lagging we put them out front. The psychology of it always helps. When the going gets tricky they put me out front. Hiking alone is much faster.

When I am alone, I feel I am going too fast. When I am with a group or around people, I feel I am going too slow. Probably depends on the level of difficulty of the hike overall.

"The Mountains are meant to be enjoyed not meant to keep up with anyone else's pace." It's not the time spent but the feeling of accomplishment you get for being there.
I though am a moderate hiker, some may contradict me, by saying "I am a fast hiker." I don't stop to smell the roses much. I used to have to climb the whole range before coming home, before I felt a feeling of accomplishment. But now I would be satisfied to climb one mountain and enjoy the views and the company that I am with.

Speed

Yeah, I've passed "PIN PIN", he was coming down and I was going up. I might have passed him one other time... what kind of car does he drive?
-The Tortoise

Where do you fall?

On the descent. And the ascent. And most embarrassing, even on level ground with no ice the other day.

Average

I voted average
I hike solo all but when I am with my kids,(4yrs. and 7).
When I compare my times I am a little faster than book speed.
With the kids I am slooooow, partly because we stop for everything that interests them including chocolate bar breaks,
(its one way to keep them going) "you see that big rock all the way up there that is where we will stop for a chocolate bar break".
It also might be that I am carrying my 4 year old 1/2 way up and down.
As they get older they will be on pace with me and hopefully still want to come out with me,
I love soloing for the quiet and going with them for the sharing.
Al

depends

Lets see, today when I was bored and overdue for a hike I donned my gear and pack and headed out in the cold rain on my rural paved road. I was probably doing 3 to 3.25 miles per hour. On steep 1200 feet gain per mile sections it can take me from 1 to 2.5 hours depending on winter versus summer. A winter bushwhack climb up Basin Brook took our group almost 4 hours to go one mile up the steep section.

I probably average 2 to 2.5 mph overall. Slowest times occur during the last 2 miles on those really lovely 10-14 hour days like Seymour or the Santanoni's in the winter. I sometimes slow down to 1.5 mile per hour then. I did pretty good on a recent Allen winter hike with Michael CM by inadvertanly telling him that a 12 hour roundtrip was pretty good, but 10.5 hours would be a great time. Sure enough we did it in 10.5 hours. Pin Pin Junior did it in under 7.5 hours that same day.

Hey Mammy, how's your big toe?

Happy trails
Pvon

Okay, I probably should have punched the snails pass me choice... but I felt like the zombie comment meant I wasn't paying attention to anything. So, I went with I'm usually the last person in line instead.

I'm a terribly, terribly slow hiker, as anyone who has hiked with me can attest. I think it comes from hiking solo so much... I get to the summit, it just usually takes me about book time or a little longer to do it.

I have to admit I feel guilty about my pace when I'm in a group... and people end up waiting for me, especially in cold weather. It's hard not to feel like I'm slowing everyone down... especially when I don't mind hiking out by headlamp but others do. Now, when I meet up with other hikers for the first time I always over-emphasize that my pace is snail-like.

I'm still hoping to speed up at least a little bit one day!

- Ivy