What was your longest hike?

[Xithras]

Just curious whether we have any other diehard hikers here? I'm not talking dayhikes out of the back of your camper, but deep backcountry hikes that put you out of touch with civilization for weeks or months on end. I recently read about the hiker who completed the 5,300 mile, 6 1/2 month PCT round trip (first ever, apparently: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/traveloutdoors/2002093099_pacifichike.html) and was wondering what DU'ers have done.

[Kolesar]

1. 99 miles in 13 days in the Washington Cascade Mountains

We hiked the Boundary Trail west to the Pacific Crest Trail and then south. 13 days and not one drop of rain. It was not typical for the Cascades. But it was cold, cold, cold! 28 degrees every night for the first five days. They had 7" of snow the night before we started. That is much too far for an unsupported party.

[Redneck Socialist]

2. 2,100+ miles

I thru-hiked the AT about 10 years ago (damn, where did the time go?) I don't know that I would call most of the AT back-country hiking, more like a very long string of five and six day hikes, but but being in the woods for six months definitely gets your head out of the urban, "civilized" mindset.

The hiker that doubled up the PCT must have been moving to cover that much ground in 6.5 months. That works out to about 30 miles a day. Yikes!

[Romulus]

3. wimp here

except for the 20-miler one day military march some 13-odd years ago, the longest I've been on is a 4-day 50-miler on the AT near Mt. Rogers, VA.

[bemildred]

4. I routinely do 20-50 miles over 3-7 days.

Several times a year. I find it hard at present to take more time
than that, but have hopes to do things in the 2-week range in a year
or two when my family responsibilities decline drastically.

[Deep13]

5. not long

Maybe 15 miles. I once hiked from Paradise Inn to Panorama Point on Mt. Rainier. That's about 1400 vertical feet. It was my intent to do the Bright Angel Trail from the S. rim of the Grand Canyon and back over Christmas. (4000 vert. ft.) Unfortunately, I put so much time into the presidential campaign last year, I did not have time to train for it. Will go this year instead.

[Kolesar]

7. I backpacked rim-to-rim in the GC five years ago

If you can spare the $$ and five or so hours for the shuttle, I would recommend it. On my trip, I had a friend drop me at the N. Rim and meet me at the south rim five days later. I found a room at the Bright Angel Lodge for ~$45 on the day I finished. Morning coffee at dawn at the overlook was a delight. Saw the California Condors.

The best part was the ever-changing views and seeing the ecosystem change from Ponderosa Pine to black brush then to a Sonoran desert near the river, and back again. The NPS laid out the most impressive array of fossils along the trail near roaring springs. That was an unexpected treat.

Did you know there is a backpacking club in Cle?

[Deep13]

13. "Did you know there is a backpacking club in Cle?"

Did not know that.

We were thinking of going down to the river from the S. Rim, staying at the Phantom Ranch and then going back to the S. Rim. We would not need to carry a tent &c. We would probably go during Christmas.

[Kolesar]

14. You ought to descend on the Kaibab trail and return on the Bright Angel

You can use the shuttle bus between trailheads. The South Kaibab Trail follows the spine of a ridge down the outer canyon with terrific views. I did the first mile and a half of it. It is a steep seven mile descent into the canyon as opposed to Bright Angel's ten miles. IMO, downclimbing "hurts" more than up. I always use a hiking pole when descending to steady myself. It helps. Both of those trails are kind of beaten up by the mule trains, but I did not think they were bad, nor was that a big problem. There may be ice on the top 500 feet of elevation of either trail in the winter.

You can always take an extra day at Phantom Ranch and just hike the loop between the bridges, or go out and back on the Clear Creek trail. It is 9 miles and the whole stretch is too far for a day trip. I have never hiked it. You could hike 11 miles round trip through "The Box" up to Ribbon Falls, a wonderous travertine sight. The Box is a wild canyon where Bright Angel Creek cuts through 2 Billion year old gnarly ancient crust called Vishnu Schist. It is actually older than my knees.

Here is my favorite GC planning site: www.kaibab.org

I found the backpacking club and the hiking club linked at this site. A Free Times article said the backpacking club already has hundreds of members.

www.peteandedbooks.com/hclubs.htm

[MrSandman]

6. About 100 mi. in 15 days...

In the Sangre de Cristos.(NM)

The longest solo: 45 miles in 6 days in the Mt Hood Nat' Forest(OR) Much harder mentally.

[bemildred]

8. Yep, it's better with company, even if you don't talk much.

But once in a while, a day or three by yourself is good, too.

[Berserker]

9. well once

after I left a bar I ran over a frozen snow clump and tore the lines off my automatic transmission late at night and had to walk about 6 miles in my sorel boots that wore the skin off my heals in below zero weather. Does that count?

[bemildred]

10. Sure, it's all good ... nt

[MrSandman]

12. Only if it was uphill...nt

[idiosyncratic]

11. Once down the "golden stairs" in Canyonlands National Park

That was the hardest hike I ever did partly because I had a $12.00 Surplus Store backpack that hurt me in so many places.

The area was extraordinarily beautiful. It was nice to revisit it in the movie, "The Hulk." That was the ONLY redeeming feature of that movie. LOL.

[bemildred]

15. A good pack and good shoes are not luxuries.

Sounds like a great walk though.