Why go fast? Why go slow?

[Don Wilson]

Some thoughts on going fast and slow, inspired by Matt Colon's lament of speed-focused backpacking in the BPL print mag.

OK, readers, why do you go fast, or slow?

A quote from Colin Fletcher, the ultimate in slow-paced walkers, from The Man Who Walked Thru Time, "It makes no difference at all whether the challenge is in your mind or body, or whether – with richer promise than either alone – it embraces both."

Why I go fast.

Because I enjoy the physical pleasure of moving efficiently and quickly through the wild. I like to walk at dawn, and I like to walk at dusk, so why not walk all day.

Because traveling quickly over long distances opens up new possibilities , new trips, new vistas, distant plateaus, remote lakes – they now are in range. This is the same motivation I faced as a climber for 25 years – being a better climber allowed me to explore more beautiful climbs, more dramatic cliffs. For me, that was always the motivation – skill and speed expand your horizons.

Because, when times get tough, speed equals safety.

Because it is fun to go fast.

Why I go slow.

Because I can't draw or write when I go fast.

Because I like campfires and long mornings sipping coffee.

Because, just a few weeks back, I was resting near a remote desert waterhole in Saguaro National Park. While I rested a small Ringneck snake glided up to the pool, and began to forage among the reeds and insects. You miss that on a speedy day.

Because it is fun to go slow.

[James Pitts]

I backpack for the journey, not the destination. I take however much time is necessary to get what I want from my expeditions. What I want changes from trip to trip so how I approach the journey changes as well.

That said, I love to feel my heart pounding as I attack a steep uphill segment. I'll sprint uphill as fast as I can and still be able to make the top. It makes me feel like I am ALIVE. I never sleep better than after a day of hard hiking like this. :)

[Scott Robertson]

I think the idea of planning a hiking trip day by day defeats its purpose. To say that I will not divert from my planned path for the sake of time and distance focuses more on the destination and less the journey. I always allow myself way more time than I need because I know that I will follow the small paths off the main trail so that I might discover a few hidden sights.

Yes, it is true that the faster one goes, the more distance they can travel over a given amount of time. However, the faster you move, the less you take in. The human senses are VERY selective. The more rapid the stimulus, the less you perceive. Your brain will only allow you to be aware of what it deems most important. This will not be the family of deer 200 feet to the left, the intricate spider's web on the right, or the hidden petroglyphs at waist height. Your brain will focus on the ground so that you will not trip, fall, and die. You will look into the distance and not see the mountains in the distance because you will be calculating whether or not you are moving fast enough.

If you were to slow your average pace even by 1mph, imagine all that you would see had you not slowed up a bit.

[Anitra Kass]

For me it's a toss up…do I hike fast and cover more ground (which gives me an opportunity to see more miles of trail/wilderness) or do I hike slower and soak in the sights but see less mileage of trail/wilderness? Either way I get to see a lot. A lot depends on my goals for the trip and if I am hiking with anyone and how experienced they are and their fitness level.

Typically, when I am hiking by myself, I find a happy medium…I usually hike between 2-3 mph and average 2mph with all of my breaks for the day…where I end up covering more miles than others of a similar pace and break schedule is that I hike long days. I like to stroll along the trail in the early morning and the early and late evenings (although probably not so prudent in bear country). By hiking at all times of the day (and sometimes at night) I get a different experience. I like hiking at night by moonlight, using my sense of hearing more than I do during the day when I can see so well. There is a lot that you can experience by hiking "slow and steady" as I call it.

Either way you hike…just get out and experience it. That's probably the best thing you can do.

NITRO

[James Pitts]

Have other people noticed that they hike faster with a partner than they do solo? I do for sure. I think I read something about that in an article somewhere recently. Great… now this will bug me for days now until I can find the reference. :)

[Randy Brissey]

I have found quite the contrary to the hiking with a partner………..

When I have a partner or a group I have a reason to stop. If I am by myself I still rise at first light and am on the trail within a half hour. With a partner I have a predetermined point that I will stop at…..otherwise I will continue on to the "next best camping site". Sometimes that means after dark.

The last big hike I was a part of I only hiked once with another person the whole day. The other 29 days the most I was ever with another person was 3 hours.

The day I did hike with the person the whole day it turned out we pushed each other harder than we would normally go.

For me the great part about the ultralight movement is that I now have more time and energy when I get to camp to explore more than 100 yards off the trail. I have always been amazed by the people that go backpacking that never get off the highway.

A great enjoyment of mine is just stopping in a basin at noon and watching the life around me. For months on end there are no flowers, no insects. And in a miracle that happens each year life rushes forth.

I always hike fast while I am with backpack, that does not mean I am not paying attention. I stumble more than any one I know just because I am always looking around.

Randy

[Randy Brissey]

I think another part of the graph may be Time vs Distance.

the question that I have for you is……………..

What is the determining factor for most of you? How much time do you have or how many miles is the loop or leg?

If you have a ten day window to do a trip do you;

a) spend 10 days on the trail

b) turn a what was once a ten day trip into 7 days

c) do what was once a 14 day trip in ten days

for me if I could I would spend more time on the trail and less time at home that would be my druthers. My determining factor has been my supply points. The most I have had to do is 14 days on one resupply.

Randy

[Erin McKittrick]

Why go fast? Resupplies.

If I can make it from town A to town B on one pack load of food (I find that over 14 days of food starts getting prohibitively difficult to carry), I get to do the trip, and see all the wilderness in between. If I can't make it, I can't go, or I get very hungry.

A faster pace allows the freedom of inefficiency – the more ground I can cover, the more I can plan my route to weave around through all the interesting spots between A and B.

Why go slow? Bushwhacking.

I do almost all of my trips off trail, and it forces a slower pace most of the time. I find that when I occasionally hike on a trail, it's quite possible to zone out, get into a kind of "trail tunnel" mind set, and walk quickly without seeing much. But off trail, I'm right in the thick of the wilderness. The constant small scale (which way over that log) and large scale (which way over that mountain) navigation doesn't allow any zoning out. My pace varies with the terrain. Sometimes 1/4 mile/hour (thrashing through a thick bushwhack), sometimes 6 miles/hour (floating down a fast river).

But I'm not really an athlete or a racer in any terrain. I generally hike long days, but will pause mid-day for a campfire and meal, or to crawl around on the ground photographing the tundra, etc…

-Erin
http://www.aktrekking.com

[James Pitts]

Time is certainly an issue for me. I have a "day job" and large blocks of time on the trail come at a hefty cost. It has taken me years to save up the vacation time for my JMT trek this August! That said, I try to set goals for the trip that are realistic and consistent with my objectives. The JMT trip this August, for example, is a trip where I plan to SOAK IT ALL IN. I'll not be racing through this trail because I have no clue when I'll next have a chance to hike it. Later this year I'll certainly do a marathon weekend hike in Red River Gorge and you can bet I'll be hauling "you-know-what" ultra fast and light… but that's the goal or that trip.

So if I had a 10 day window to get a trip done I would decide how I wanted to spend my 10 days in terms of the overall experience. Then I would select a hike that matched the desired goal. I won't pick the hike first then set the time I have to do it in.

…at least in theory. In practice one of my hair-brained buddies often calls me up and we go out on a half-baked scheme that gets us into some small amount of trouble.

It goes back to a mindset I picked up on when running. New runners should never try to optimize BOTH time AND distance at the same time. Work on one OR the other but not both. Too many constraints leads to too many opportunities for problems.

[Elliott Wolin]

Ghandi said: "There is more to life than increasing its speed."

[Anonymous]

Why go fast? Because some people are just wired that way. They can't not go fast without getting all twisted out of shape. Especially after being cooped up in some sterile fluorescent lit building all week, month, year. Others are wired slow and amble along at a leisurely pace. Each moves through the mountains in their own way and experiences them in their own way. Many fall in between. Down through the years I've hiked with all different kinds and have found it interesting to try and imitate them and see if my usual experience is altered. I used to do that when I had a dog-just let him go and follow him around without trying to impose any constraints. Darned if I didn't start to see things differently in both cases. So over the years I have modified my natural instinct to burn a bit. Now, I go fast for the first day or two to put some distance between myself and the crowd, then settle into a leisurely pace and smell the roses, or just set up a base camp and spend my time figuring out the watershed, one rivulet at a time.

[Kattt]

I am somewhere in between here. I prefer a decent clip without a lot of breaks and definitively not mid hill rests.  I can go faster along with the speedy folks but not day after day. Holding back, slower than I naturally want to go makes me more tired overall, as there are almost opposing energies at work there.

The last trip my daughter and I did together I finally (!!) got into her pace with lots of breaks and was able to enjoy that way of hiking as well.

Interesting thread but most of the posters have been gone for a while.

[W I S N E R !]

Thank you for resurrecting this as it’s been a topic I’ve wrestled with for the last few years.

I’ve completely shifted.  I used to be more occupied with miles and pace and trying to do bigger, “bolder” trips.

About two years ago I had some serious heart issues and an ensuing surgery that for over a year left me wondering if I would be able to even backpack anymore.  I had to quit surfing and work back up to simply walking around the block.  A quite humbling experience for someone who’s done the Grand Canyon R2R2R in 14 hours and had a top 10 age group finish in the distance Spartan Race a few months before that.  While those issues are mostly resolved, they’re not 100% over, leaving me questioning if and/or when I’ll be seeing those dark days again.  Now add in basal cell carcinoma and a few separate cutting sessions over the last few months to remove some cancerous skin spots…

All of which has had me spending more time in hospitals and wondering about my body than I ever imagined I would.  Simply knowing I have an upcoming appointment with my cardiologist is a reminder that this whole affair is more fragile than we think- five years ago I would’ve never imagined any of it.

So I’m not in a hurry anymore.

I find myself running less and walking more.  Not because I physically can’t run, but because I want to sit by streams and look for birds.

I want to savor it.

I want to set up camp in a beautiful place and just stay there.  I want to be paying attention when I walk, stopping for breaks whenever it feels and looks good.  I don’t want a fixed itinerary or the feeling that I have to be anywhere by any time or date.  I used to be into ultrarunning and doing distance events; now I see it as too much time spent with my head down just slogging away.  I’d rather be sitting under a tree.

Mindfulness in the outdoors (and life in general) has become very, very important to me.

I still have the distance bug in me and occasionally go out and tear myself up.  But it’s fading.  I find that speed and mileage tends to take me out of my environment and throw me into focusing more on what my body is doing. Being able to do 20+ mile days in the Sierra is no longer something I care much about in and of itself, but now is only a tool to get somewhere more isolated, sit back, and take it all in.  I used to think that a good trip consisted of lots of miles, peaks, and destinations along the way.  Not so much anymore.  Now a good trip tends to revolve more around the idea of settling in to an area and really feeling it.

 

 

[Ken Thompson]

Kat, I think Craig sounds ready for picking.  Awesome.

[Kattt]

^^^^ let’s go.

 

[Nick Gatel]

Time X Pace = Distance (or miles)

I concentrate on Time. Not necessarily the hours per day walking, but the number of days outdoors. Not the number of consecutive days outdoors, but the number of days per week or month or year. My key metric is the number days and nights spent outdoors away from home. The activity doesn’t matter. Backpacking isn’t necessarily better than camping, which isn’t necessarily better than day hiking.

Miles? Not important. Pace? Not important.

It is much easier to define or communicate a backpacking trip in how many miles walked, rather than what we saw or felt. When I return from a backpacking trip people, hikers and non-hikers, rarely ask me what I saw or felt, but always ask me “How many miles did you hike?”

Miles? Not important. Pace? Not important.

Managing Your Recreation Inventory is more important because there is a finite number of days we each are given the day we are born, and none of us know what that finite number of days is.

If tomorrow is the end of my finite days, I can truthfully say I have lived a good life. I have seen and felt a lot good things in the wilderness in copious quantity, and in my “home” life too. Every time I hear this Louis Armstrong song I feel good about life

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world

Why go fast? Why go slow?

Wrong focus. Just go, and go often.

[David Noll]

Nick,

AMEN.

 

[W I S N E R !]

Well said Nick.

[Paul Wagner]

I agree that the important thing is to get out and go.

 

I hike faster than my wife, and tend to look up at the mountains and trees around me.  She hikes slower and tends to look at the flowers, bugs, and mushrooms along the trail.  We hike together, so I usually have to wait for her from time to time.

But we’ve done over 1,500 miles in the last ten years, and still going strong.

Whatever works to get you out on the trail.

[Ben C]

Contrarian as usual, I often enjoy the physical aspect of a hard day on the trail.  It’s a joy to arrive at camp worn out from a hard day’s hike.  I find I enjoy rest more when I have worked harder during the day.  It’s the same way we have joy after pain, to some extent.  But my work is pretty sedentary, so the contrast in a fast-moving day is enjoyable to me.  That and the fact that I have always been a somewhat restless person by nature.

[Anonymous]

“Why go fast? Why go slow?

Wrong focus. Just go, and go often.”

It would be hard to say what needed to be said more eloquently, Nick. Bravo!

Note to moderators: Move this thread to CHAFF, where all meaningful conversations take place.

[Jerry Adams]

yeah, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, whatever

good not to get in a rut and do the same thing all the time

If I don’t go 5 or 6 miles it’s not much of a workout, I like getting tired.  I don’t want to be like home, just sitting in a chair, trolling Nick…

[John Vance]

I like hiking fast and slow.  I much prefer off trail, and in that environment I am not always in control of my pace.  I find I hike fastest when in terrain I don’t particularly care for and on trail.  When I was on the CDT there was a great deal of road walking and I found myself wanting to run to the next interesting topography, usually a range or forest I could see in the distance, and would often have to hold myself back to avoid strain or an injury.

This past year I am finding my body is slowing me down, particularly my knees, and I am trying to embrace the fact that I will have to hike longer to cover the same ground or just enjoying lower mileage days.  My hiking partner will appreciate that as he has been trying to get me to slow down for years.

In the end it is an individual thing and some trips have different objectives – distance and speed aren’t always directly correlated.  I like getting an early start and stopping for camp early and relaxing in the evening, my hiking partner likes to start later and hike into the evening.  As such, sometimes we have to go fast and sometimes we are afforded a slower pace.  We have been going on trips together for 25 years and have come to appreciate and enjoy different approaches.  As long as I can still get out I am happy and would rather have a slow trip than no trip.

.

[Jim Colten]

A lot of echo’s from Colin Fletcher’s writing in this thread.  Each to there own, though.

This year, arthritis (which could be dealt with) and competition for my time (self inflicted but other things were important to do) meant my hiking was slower that ever (which is never very fast).  But going slow had it’s benefits, giving me time to notice and appreciate small details in my surroundings.

[Jerry Adams]

Sometimes I’ll just go a few miles to a nice campsite, no other good campsites in a reasonable distance.

I can walk around from that camp to put in a few more miles.

[Author]

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