Longest Hike

[RingTwist]

How long was the longest hike you've ever taken? I've only hiked for a couple hours at the most; I'm not even sure how many miles that was.

 

[Theosus]

17 miles. It was supposed to be a 20 mile two day hike. It wound up being an 17 mile day hike with full packs. Oops.

 

[Grandpa]

I decided to hike 4 hours following a creek downhill. Didn't realize how much fall there was. It took me 13 1/2 hours to get back out. My map maker put the turnaround at 15 miles. 30 miles and I was exhausted. Backpacking, 80 miles in 9 days two years ago on the Yellowstone thoroughfare route, and just this past summer, 17 & 18 mile days with a full pack in the Selway/Bitterroots.

 

[ponderosa]

My longest deliberate dayhike was 18 or 19 miles with lots of elevation gain/loss in the Tetons. Another time I walked off trail with my dad from dawn until past midnight while hunting. I have absolutely no idea how many miles we covered that day. I was 13 and absolutely dead tired by the end. My longest duration backpacking trips have been six days. I prefer day hikes in the 8-15 mile range. As a point of reference, on a typical rocky trail with some hills, most reasonably fit hikers average about two miles an hour without pushing too hard.

 

[Hikenhunter]

Longest day hike was 16 miles on the Appalachian Trail in Pa. with a full pack. This,like Theosus, was supposed to be a two day trip but we were feeling frisky that day and after burning up the first 10 We decided that it was too early to quit for the day and we decided to keep moving to our next camping spot.I reserved myself to the fact that I have nothing to prove and hiking with a full pack is no fun after 10 to 12 miles in a single day. Longest backpacking trip was about 75 miles in 10 or 11 days, on the Loyalstock Trail in North Central Pa.

 

[ppine]

Longest day was 26 miles, on pretty flat ground. I carried a cast iron frying pan in a Trapper Nelson with no waistbelt. I haven't done any really long backpack trips.

Longest canoe trip was 151 miles. Longest horse pack trip was over 100 miles in a week, moving every other day. Longest canoe day was 36 miles. Longest horseback day was around 30-35 miles.

Sometimes it is not the mileage but the amount of hours involved. In rough country 10 miles can be a long day. Once at the end of a 10 day hunting trip in Colorado, we packed up and left at 0800. We got to the trucks after midnight. Lots of snow, darkness and plenty of mule wrecks along the way. A tough day, but one I will never forget. Was it 1985 or 1885?

 

[bsmit212]

My longest so far was 80 miles in 5 days following the AT from Fontan dam to Davenport gap in the smokey. Did a coupe of 17 and 18 mile days.

 

[wvbreamfisherman]

Day hike- around 15 miles with a fairly good load. It was a fishing trip up and back along a river.

Single trip- 50.9 miles on the AT in Virginia over 6 days.

 

[RingTwist]

You all are some serious hikers. I'm still working my way up to distances like you are describing. Ponderosa, thanks for the 2 mph reference; that is helpful.

 

[Navigator]

The Wild Oak Loop in Virginia was about 26-27 miles and I finished in about 14 hours., New York's Great Range Traverse was shorter at about 24 miles but took me almost 18 hours!

 

[Marlowe]

The military guys here are going to have the longest hikes records but that question really got me thinking. If hunting counts as hiking I guess the longest would have been in my youth. My dad would have us out dawn to dusk walking the rows for quail and other game. We also hunted rabbits with some other guys which was really like chasing beagles all day. I love hiking in the woods but have not felt the urge to "go long" lately.

 

[Grandpa]

The military guys here are going to have the longest hikes records but that question really got me thinking. .

I thought the topic was about fun hikes. I'd forgot about the days in the army. The worst hike I remember from that era was supposed to be a 25 miler in basic. I have no idea how far it really was but on asphault, it really took its toll on the guys who weren't used to it. At a walk, jog, walk pace it should have taken 8 hours but we were done in 5-6 hours so I think the 25 miles was just a mental game. Maybe 15-18 actually. However, A few couldn't finish, and a few of the ones who did finish were in bad shape but most of us had no problems other than tired after a long jog with field packs. I never really had any long hikes after basic. Some were through terrible conditions but rather short mileage.

 

[dinosaur]

Longest hike: thousands of miles; time: 64 years.
Fastest hike: 10 miles, time: just over three hours (full pack).

 

[BigSur]

Well, it has to be when I was in California. We hiked for like 6 hours that day through the mountains and the Big Sur State parks. It was the most breath taking stuff I have ever seen. It was over 5 miles because the park loop that we were on was that much already. We actually went off the loop and improvised so we added to the total.

 

[aksoutherland]

My longest day hike was 15 miles. I set out a couple of weeks later to hike 16 and hyper-extended my knee at mile 11 and had to call it a day at 14.5 when I reached a road and had my buddy finish the trail and come back in his car to get me.

 

[Stargazer]

I hiked 10 miles between two of the towns nearby. The communities developed a walking trail between the two communities. I carried a small pack with water and a couple granola bars in case I needed a sugar boost. It was mainly flat walking on a paved trail. I don't remember now how long it took.

 

[Outdoor Dave]

I went out for a short hike along a beautiful rail to trail up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The trail was supposed to be around five miles but ended up being about 13 miles round trip. Needless to say, evening rolled in and the water ran out before the trail did.

 

[mic]

the longest hike for me was a 97km (about 60mile) over 5days it was the overland treck in Tasmaina we did a few side trails as well.

 

[joshobrien77]

Just finished my longest with my 9 yr old last sunday. 11.5 loop in a state park. Lots of elevation changes between 600 and 1200 ft. Was great. But we were spent. I ran out of water and he did not drink enough. Next weekend we are doing a 9.5 loop. Working up to our first multiday.

 

[Hikin Mike]

I know it's an old thread, but my longest day hike was my "Death-March" to Mount Whitney "Death-March", 22 miles round-trip and took me about 16 hours.