[pct-l] Is Faster & Farther for you?

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

Not to step on Steel-Eye's argument here, but nothing below precludes  
carrying a light pack. Carrying a light pack does not force you to  
hiker faster and farther. However, a heavier pack might force you to  
hike slower and less far. I would much rather rest and relax with low  
mileage days by choice rather than by force due to an excessive load  
full of "luxuries."

Speaking for myself here, the real luxury isn't the "stuff", it's the  
freedom to take a side-trail or climb an extra hill or go a few extra  
miles because nothing is weighing me down. Being able to go farther  
faster means I can get to places that in the past I could only stare  
at on the map because there was never enough time with the mileage  
limitations that a heavy load placed on me. I also enjoy the freedom  
to walk upright and naturally with my head erect and facing forward,  
and no fear of stumbling or getting hurt by being unstable under the  
load, or fear of drowning while tangled in a back brace. I actually  
swam last year with my pack on fully strapped to my body.

Were I to start a hike a little earlier than most, I still don't  
think I would need a heavy pack with an aluminum frame to carry all  
the things I needed. We don't get much in the way of winter where I  
live, but I hike with guys who carry satellite phones, cross-cut  
saws, large loppers, full-sized shovels and other tools and even they  
don't feel a need for aluminum frame packs anymore.

If people enjoy carrying a heavy load, more power to them. But I  
enjoy lighter so much better. Backpacking is fun again. And I can  
hike with people in their 60s and 70s and we all have fun acting like  
nimble little kids again.

Diane

On Jan 19, 2010, at 12:33 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> Hi, Steel-Eye,
>
> Good points, to be sure.
>
> However, why would I want to go faster and farther if I don't have to?
>
> When I plan on hiking for as many days as my season and abilities will
> allow, my daily mileage requirement falls to the 17mpd average  
> (with a day
> off every five for laundry, pleasure, weather, etc.) I enjoyed on  
> both the
> PCT and CDT. My desire was to relax (in and around camp and rest  
> stops along
> the way) and hike (to see more of the mountains and wilderness that  
> I might
> not be able to return to enjoy again), not the hike-and-crash that  
> I see so
> much of these days.
>
> Granted, many a thru hiker gets used to 30 to 40 mile days,  
> starting before
> sun-up, striding all day, and crashing often after dark to a quick,  
> cold
> meal, maybe only a hastily eaten bar before sleep, but that was not  
> part of
> why I have ever been out there. To Each His Own. If hiking faster and
> farther is part of who you are and what you want to accomplish on your
> Wilderness Hike-of-a Lifetime, then do it; you won't be happy  
> otherwise (and
> it won't bother anyone else nor cause anyone else to do the same  
> unless they
> want to).
>
> Nevertheless, I can't help but wonder if all the trips off trail for
> resupplies, hitching back and forth, and even the strategy of
> "flip-flopping" consume so much time that hikers have to hike  
> faster and
> farther to make up for it in order to get through to the end before  
> the snow
> flies and they are forced to quit?
>
> Obviously, not everyone can carve out a hiking schedule that lasts  
> for five
> and a half months to keep their daily mileage down, but can't more  
> start
> earlier, say in March or the first of April, as long as they are  
> experienced
> in rain and snow hiking? Just because the current philosophy is
> start-late-so-you-have-dry-trail and "run" all the way to the other  
> end
> doesn't mean it is the only way to do it or that you have to hike  
> like the
> rest.
>
> Thankfully, I am still strong and able-bodied to carry a "heavy"  
> pack full
> of the luxuries I like to have with me while out on the trail, come  
> snow or
> nasty weather. I try not to start out with the weight I end up  
> with, that
> would invite pain or injury just getting used to it. Sure, start as  
> light as
> you can and once you're strong, say two or three weeks into your  
> journey,
> start carrying anything you'd like, fishing gear, nicer camera,  
> satellite
> phone, warmer clothes, thicker pad, roomier tent that can take the  
> gale or
> foot of snow, books, bigger maps, safer stove, bigger pot so you  
> can eat
> more food, and, of course More Food.
>
> "Food for Thought"
>
> Mtnned