[pct-l] poor old Ray

[chwillet at indiana.edu (Christopher Willett)]

I thought I would chime in on this thread since it is something 
I thought alot about this summer while hiking.  Some 
background info.  From Tahoe on, 
I averaged about 30 miles a day on the PCT, including 
days off, etc.  That means a full, usual hiking day was in the 
mid 30s.  From Campon to KM I averaged about 22 miles a day, 
and in the Sierras about 21.  The final average for the trail was 
about 25 miles per day.  I was carrying about 12 lbs without 
food or water, but tended to carry more food (per day) than 
most people.  I was in reasonable shape (I'd run about 
20 miles per week) when I started.  The main purpose of this 
was to tough the feet and joints, not to build cardio or leg 
strength.

I never hiked to a particular location (i.e, "I'm going to 
Muir Pass tonight"), but would rather hike until a time (i.e, 
"I'm going to hike until 6 pm tonight").  I would always 
get going around 6 am, earlier in the south, later in the 
Sierra.  I would hike for about 2 hours, then take a 
20 minute or so rest.  I tended to eat while walking, by 
the way.  No particular reason.  It just worked out that way.
Sometime between noon and 5 I would take about an hour off to 
sit and cook a hot meal (I didn't cook at night) and then 
hike on. In SoCal, I would usually stop around 6 or so.  After 
Mt. Whitney, it was more like 8 or 9.  There were times when I 
would actually stop for some particular view, but the PCT is 
so open and exposed that this really wasn't rewarding: I 
had seen said view for the past hour.  Stopping at a lake in 
Oregon was not an option.  My hiking pace was usually around 
3 miles per hour.  Sometimes a little less.  Elevation gain sometimes 
would knock this down, but not by too much (alright, maybe that 
is stretching the truth).  This isn't too fast, as most day hikers 
or weekenders could keep up with me if the terrain wasn't to 
inclined.

I rarely felt rushed during my trip and tried not to think about 
how many miles I had done during the day.  I just hiked to a 
time.  There were a few times when I had to race a PO or a store and 
I hated doing that.  Sharon Dziengel did the same miles as I did, 
but took fewer and shorter breaks.  I'm still trying to figure out 
how I kept up with her.  Will Tarantino pushed alot harder across 
OR and WA, but had a similar schedule, although he did hike a 
bit faster and a lot longer.  I think it is very possible for 
quite ordinary people to consistenly hike 30 miles 
a day, atleast after they've given their bodies a chance to 
get broken in.

Rather deciding on a location to camp in advance, set yourself a 
time to stop.  Hike till that time in a manner that allows you 
to enjoy yourself.  If that means 12-15 miles, great. You've 
fulfilled the only requirement of hiking: Enjoying yourself.
If that means 20-25, fantastic.  If it means 35, great. 

Chris

----------------------
Christopher Willett
Department of Mathematics
Indiana University
831 East Third Street
Bloomington, IN. 47405-7106
(812)-855-6737
chwillet@indiana.edu
php.indiana.edu/~chwillet