[pct-l] Hiker Fitness

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Jason,



One good thing to do is stand back and look at the whole SoCal
timeframe.  First,
pick what you think will be an acceptable date to arrive at Kennedy Meadows
– 15 June for example.  That is 50 full days from the end of the
KickOff.  Next,
deduct the number of zero or “nero” days you plan to take.  That might
reduce the total from 50 hiking days to 45.  KM is at Mile-700 and that
means you would have to average about 15.6 miles per hiking day.  That’s not
too bad.  A hiker could start by averaging 10-12 miles per day and increase
to 18-20 by KM.  To arrive at KM by 5 June the average would have to be 20
miles per day.



It’s probably a good idea to go as slow as possible in those early miles
provided one gets to KM at an acceptable date.  It doesn’t make a lot of
sense to go fast early, then wait at KM for the snow to melt – or leave KM
early and have a slow, difficult time trip through the Sierras.  Much
depends upon this year’s snowpack levels and one’s appetite for snow travel.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT -- 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye


On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 11:39 PM, jason moores <jmmoores at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> Gadget brings up some good points:
>
>
> "I will say that by that point I was doing more miles than I would have
> expected to be doing --- YMMV, but if you're in reasonable shape
> starting out of Campo, you might well find yourself doing more than
> you expect by, say, Warner Springs.    Also, your "thru-hiker hunger"
> will likely not have kicked in so early on, hence you should hopefully
> not have to carry a lot of food weight per day."
>
>
> Brian Lewis / Gadget '08I think that many of us would benefit from hearing
> more on these subjects. Does anyone want to relate:There perceived fitness
> when they arrived at the border/  How long was it before you were making
> good (relative) miles per day / How long until "hiker hunger" set in/ How
> long did it take for your feet to toughen up?
>
> I realize that this is all very subjective. I think that many people,
> myself included, take some of these for granted. "I'll be eating 5000 cal.
> per. day, doing twenty miles..." All of these things take time. I don't hope
> to gain exact information only a little broader insight into the "Toughening
> Up" process.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> jason
>
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