Piece of gear to stay focused

[Kattt]

Blinders!

They may weigh a couple of ounces, but then there will be no distractions from the trail ahead. All the focus will be on moving forward, faster now since the scenery will not distract you. We already have predator eyes in the front of the head, yet we stray and look around too much.
Cuben blinders perhaps?

[jscott]

Who goes out into nature for all that awful scenery? Contemplation is for wusses. Cuben blinders to aid in one's death march are a brilliant idea. All hail, bragging rights!

[Ken Thompson]

Glacier glasses. Dual use. Just extend the blinders ahead of the lenses a bit. A tight spot beam headlamp for nighttime should have a similar effect.

Maybe a cow bell for safety. Alert other hikers of your presence before they get run over because you can't see them as it is all a blur.

[Brent Mathews]

There is an odd humor in this community… I totally get it!

[Brian Lewis]

Night hiking might help you out too, but best to do so in heavily treed areas so that the star formations, landform outlines, that sort of thing don't distract you from your quest for maximal miles.

Tongue out of cheek for a moment — as someone who has on occasion pushed for miles, I want to say that the choice to do more miles in a day isn't inherently the slander of "treating the trail like a freeway" or indeed "wearing blinders". For those that think that higher per-day mileages are inherently that then — I just suggest that you give it a try before judging (not saying that anyone here IS judging, more just reacting to unsolicited advice given by others met on the trail).

[spelt with a t]

I think if miles are ALL someone talks about EVER, they are having an unbalanced experience and should maybe look at that. But even Skurka, who came up with the ultimate hiker/ultimate camper dichotomy and who averaged something like 30 miles per day on the Alaska/Yukon trek, has a video of himself crying over the overwhelmingness of the experience of following the caribou. Focus on mileage doesn't preclude other sorts of experiences. Not at all.

[Jake D]

"Focus on mileage doesn't preclude other sorts of experiences. Not at all."

Exactly. I've decided that the majority of many trails looks the same.. the more peaks, overlooks, vistas, etc I see the more interesting the trip becomes.

[Hiking Malto]

I suspect there are very few folks who's primary mission is miles. Rather, it is often the means to a different end, more terrain seen, less time away from home, opportunity to get into remote areas, etc. I doubt there are any who has a singular focus of miles at the expense of everything else, well maybe one or two. It would be far easier to just get on a treadmill and walk for hundreds or thousands of miles if miles were the only focus. I do think there are many who look at how other choice to spend their time on the trail and evaluate that choice through their experiences and preference completely missing the reasons that others have for hiking differently.

One final thing. Brian alluded to this above. Night hiking offer a whole different experience. One of the coolest moments of my thru hike was hiking back south from the Canadian border at night, above tree line, full moon, cool temperatures. It was absolutely magical. Same thing with hiking before sunrise. Yes, it is a great strategy to put in the miles but it is also a great opportunity to watch the wilderness wake up and start the day.

[Mary D]

Try a 19th century sunbonnet!
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/04/f2/07/04f207d5425603b97a8c8507f8aa60ca.jpg

[Jake D]

Mary you might be the only one to pull off that look… maybe Mags.. ;)

not big on hiking at night but early AM miles are almost essential for long hikes like the Presi traverse and Pemi loop (and for the really twisted, Hut traverse). Can definitely be cool.. really nice light starts coming through the trees and early fog/mist, temps are usually the best they will be all day.

[Kattt]

Once or twice a month I take people on hikes, as the resident naturalist for an "Eco resort". That used to be a full time job; now I have a different job and only do that on the side.
I can tell you that I have taken many people on hikes that treat it almost exclusively as exercise. Their interest is on the miles we do and very little else. I find it a challenge and try and make it more than that. Sometimes it works, other times it does not and that is ok too. Some people are birders and could care less about anything else, some look at birds and other stuff too.
There definitively are people whose primary focus is a sense of accomplishment that only miles and beating others in some way will do. Everything they do or say exudes competition and one upmanship. There is a place for that and it is not a bad thing, but like any human trait there are times it kicks in when maybe it was not necessary and can take away from something else.

[Daniel Pittman]

Very well said, Cat Pee. Sometimes I'm in it for a leisurely scenic stroll; sometimes I have time constraints and a destination driving me. The whole competitive hiking thing seems silly to me, but there are worse things folks do all the time.

[Kattt]

Still Cat Pee to you, I see..

[Daniel Pittman]

BTW, the young lady modelling hats on your website is lovely. And I will be placing an order in a month or two… something cute for my GF and something extra soft and warm for me!

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