[pct-l] Reality Check on Craig's PCT Planner

[Eric Lee]

Rhiannon wrote:
>
Is 2.25 or even 2.75 mi/hr still too slow?  Anybody know the pack's average
hiking speed (or does that vary considerably)? recommended hours hiked per
day to make it to the border? recommended max zeros?  Are the defaults for
Craig's PCT planner tortoisely conservative?
>

Different people have different hiking styles.  Some people are tortoises,
grinding out a slow but steady pace all day long, while others are hares,
hiking in short fast sprints with long breaks in between.  If you understand
how your personal style works then it's possible to work out the math the
way that Craig's PCT Planner tries to do it, but it's probably simpler to
just talk about hiking X miles per day.

A typical 5-month pace looks something like starting with high-teens per day
from the south border, then gradually raise that up to the mid-twenties
after a couple of weeks when you're hardened up, then back down to high
teens to 20-ish for the Sierra, then mid-twenties for northern California,
then high twenties for Oregon, and finally low to mid 20s for Washington.
Insert zero days as appropriate.  (I didn't do the math on those estimates;
it's just my impression of what seems to be normal after reading a lot of
trail journals and doing a lot of section hiking.)

As far as how you get 15, 20, or 25 miles per day, that's really up to your
personal style.  For me, my usual walking pace when I'm actually walking is
about 3 mph and hills don't affect it that much unless they're really steep.
However, when I add in all of the momentary breaks to take a picture, catch
my breath, say hi to someone and trade trail gossip, eat a snack, check my
map, get water, etc., I'm usually down to 2 mph or often even less if the
scenery is worth looking at.  To get a mid-20s day I have to start walking
at about 6:15 am and often don't make camp until 7 or 8 pm (mid-summer).
That's just the way I hike.

Eric