The rule of thumb for hiking is you move about 2 miles an hour and add an hour for every 1000 vertical feet of hiking. This has been beaten into every hikers head for years.  Any book you read will tell you this or something similar, and there’s a good reason. Vertical feet take their toll on you very fast.  You exert so much more energy taking a step uphill vs flat, duh right? When I hiked in the Great Smoky Mountains there was a trail which was about 4.5 miles long, but it started at 2000 feet and ended at more than 4200 feet.  Over that distance a nice gentle slope would make for a decent hike, but not challenging.  Here’s the problem though, as with most hikes hills don’t gradually increase at a constant rate.  Instead the first 2.3ish miles of the hike went up only 800 feet.  The last 2ish miles went up 1400 feet.

So what’s the point other than vertical feet make it more difficult? Timing out a hike has two purposes. First, it allows you to figure out when you’ll arrive.  Second, it shows you the pace you SHOULD be hiking at, especially if you have more hiking to do afterwards.  If a hike should take you 4 hours, then you better have a good reason for coming in faster than 4 hours.

Pacing yourself is very important when hiking.  It is a great way to control how much energy you burn, therefore how much water you’ll need and how many breaks you’ll take.  More importantly, you wont burn out and be done for the rest of your week.  I made this mistake recently.  The start of the trail in the Smokies was so gradual that I let myself think it would continue to be or at least that I’d be find when I got to the harder parts.  Instead the humidity and fast pace of my hiking started to catch up to me.  I was consuming much more water than I expected, but I was making great time.  I reached the most difficult part of the hike and powered through it.  I made it to the top of Rocky Top and had a lunch with a great view.

My world all came crumbling down though when it was time to turn around and go back down.  I realized that I had burned myself out on the hike up – pushing myself too hard and not taking enough breaks.  The full impact of this decision wouldn’t really hit me until later, but I could already feel how tired my legs were.

Walking downhill is maybe the most dangerous part of hiking.  This seems counter intuitive since it’s the easiest.  However, you become complacent in where you put your feet and how fast you’re going.  You’re no longer walking on the ball of your foot, but instead the heel. Most people’s feet are not used to this kind of impact.  By the time I reached the bottom of the trail I had nearly fell at least twice (once on some slick rocks and once for simply stepping on a rock wrong).  I even managed to have one foot kick a rock right into my other ankle.  I was tired and knew it.

I made it down safely and knew I was tired, but the consequences of pushing yourself too hard don’t set in right away.  After you’ve sat for awhile you start too feel still – that’s normal after any exercise. However the heel of my feet were killing me within a few hours and walking suddenly became difficult.  The combination of high humidity and sore legs made drinking enough water a pain – since every time I’d chug a bottle of water I’d need to go to the bathroom, which was what seemed like a mile away. (It wasn’t, btw, but being so sore and my feet killing me it felt like it.)

The bottom line is this, it’s fine to push yourself on a hike, but know the consequences. If it’s your last hike or you don’t really care if you cant move the next day, then push yourself.  However, if you do care, remember that 2 miles per hour plus one hour for every 1000 feet is a good pace to remain at.