What's the hurry? It depends on why you are hiking. And not everyone can do a nice leisurely 5 month PCT trip so they have to have tradeoffs to make an adventure like that happen, so a quick start in the morning may be the answer.

Mary,

I agree with you that it is a good idea to try to slow down a bit and have more time to smell the flowers, however, in practice, I do find that I am trying to push out the miles.

I am greedy, I want to see as much as I can in the relatively short periods of time I can get away from work. I have trouble sitting still and perhaps for me, taking 10 minutes to appreciate my surroundings, is like someone else taking 30 minutes.

Yes, my ego is definitely involved. I enjoy trying to push myself to see what I am capable of and maybe in those moments of pushing hard I find something new about myself.

In time, perhaps, I won't find the need to push my body hard to learn something about myself and that the quiet moments will be just as revealing and enjoyable as the ones where my body is screaming to stop walking.

Maybe the short answer is that I am completely and utterly nuts. Nuts for tying to find ways to cut more weight and nuts for thinking that it would be cool to be able to hike 20-25 miles per day, everyday....which I cannot do at this time or have not tried yet to.

That said, I do have to say that some of the best hiking is in the early morning when the air is cool and sweat does not trickle off my body as I move at a fast pace.

I would definitely prefer to hit the trail early and do 8-10 hours of hiking with more of that in the morning vs. the hotter afternoon sun.

Just a view point, not disagreeing with you or maybe I am rationalizing my insanity?

-Tony

The few times i spent camped with other hikers on the PCT they called me the "alarm clock". As soon as the sky begins to change from black to light blue I begin to pack up. Don't wear a watch.. never needed a watch. I have a game i play with the sun. i like to be on trail and hiking before the first rays hit me. Yes, cloudy mornings really screw up my game.
I eat breakfast while I am hiking.
Coffee? Yea i put one of those freeze dried packets into my Aqua Fina bottle with some carnation instant breakfast and shake it up cold. It's friggin' delicious!
Anyhow I am stoveless and love the freedom and quick getaways with this strategy.
Typically I like to get as close to 15 miles by noon as possible then put it into cruise the rest of the day.
Mostly i just like to get moving as quickly as possible in the morning.
In the real world I have had co-workers cancel our commute plans after the first week because I am "too awake" first thing in the morning.
Actually I get angry with myself sometimes if i wake up late and the sun is already on the trail.
Morning has always been my favorite time of day on the trail.
Hmm.. I wonder why I am always hiking solo?
LET'S GO! LET'S GO! LET'S GO!!!!

Edited by Ice-axe on 02/10/2011 17:33:50 MST.

When I lead group trips with a central commissary, I found two things worked really well for getting people moving in the morning.

First, I fire up the MSR XGK stove. Some liken the noise to that of a navy fighter jet taking off from a carrier. That gets them awake.

Then a few minutes later just as the big pot of water is hot I yell, "Last call for breakfast." That gets them moving fast.

--B.G.--

Big fan of early quick starts. I love catching sunrise and can't think of any better feeling than stopping at noon and having already knocked out 18 miles. Use a mixture of what other people have posted, except I prefer walking and eating. My breakfasts are always cold and typically a bar of some kind. I also prefer to take hiking season to detox from caffeine. Don't get me wrong, I live off coffee but I don't like that groggy dependence feeling when you don't have any. Takes a couple weeks but I find I sleep better and when I do get coffee or a 12 oz coke I feel like I'm on coke, haha.

edit: "Some liken the noise to that of a navy fighter jet taking off from a carrier"
You just gave me flash backs.

Edited by mzion on 02/10/2011 18:03:24 MST.

"What's the hurry? It depends on why you are hiking."

Well said and spot on. Celebrate diversity, says I. ;-)

I am definitely not a morning person and don't hit the trail early. But once I am up I do like to be on my way as quickly as possible. However, I still find that I takes 30-45 mins as I like to have everything nicely packed away in its right place, as this makes things more efficient during the day and when getting to camp that night. One change I have been trying is a no cook breakfast. I don't have a hot drink in the mornings and so I was just boiling water for porridge. On my last trip I just had my porridge cold and it was great. This means the stove can be packed away the night before and no waiting for water to boil.

Back in my mis-spent youth, my goal was to hit ten miles by ten o'clock in the morning.

--B.G.--

"What's the hurry?"

I really like to hike in the morning. I really dislike sitting around in camp. Also, maybe it is a female thing, but when I first wake up for about an hour I'm very warm. After that, my body temperature drops. So if I can get moving before that big body temp drop, I won't get cold.

When I'm not in a hurry I enjoy relaxing in camp at the end of the day rather than the beginning. It's warmer then, I can eat my dinner while the sun's going down, maybe watch the sunset. Even when hiking the PCT I preferred to always get an early start but I would stop at dinner time before it was dark to set up camp. I never hiked in the dark.

From waking up to start hiking it takes me about an hour.
But I also wonder: "What the hurry? - Why don't you just get up earlier?
This is one aspect that no one has mentioned yet. If you want to be fast in the morning in order to get the miles in, why don't you just get up earlier?
When I hike in winter and have to use every minute of daylight I just get up 1 hour before sunrise and do everything in the dark... This way I do not have to rush in the morning or waste precious daylight.
Christine

A lot of people don't hike in the winter.

Well, in summer the hurry is even less understandable because you have so much daylight. And most people will not hike 14 or 16 hours straight either.... And if you want to take advantage of the early morning cool time - just get up before sunrise.
Christine

When I'm going solo, I like waking up early and moving out of camp whenever the mood strikes me. For me, it's the ability to start moving that's important. In contrast, one of my hiking buddies loves taking her time in the mornings, but also has no other choice, because she goes to bed with her gear in complete disorder.

My morning routine is dependent on (a) my evening routine of organizing my gear and (b) my packing routine, which I've developed for myself over the years and can do quickly whenever I decide to break camp.

Bob,

I would so love to be on one of those hikes. I can see myself sitting outside, warm brew in my hands, just so I can watch the scurrying that takes place as you yell out Last Call!!!

I'm also a morning person. But I do on occasion like to sleep in a bit and let the sun chase me out of the bag. Just depends on the trip and the goals.

James Marco wrote:

"A lot of peoople don't hike in the winter"


James I think you mean to say 'I don't know a lot of people that hike in the winter'.

A great number of people do go backpacking and hike in the winter. Just because you don't or don't know many isn't indicative of anything other than your personal preference.

Try not to make sweeping overgeneralizations that you try to pass off as facts, you'll come off as obtuse.

I do about the same amount of backpacking in winter as summer

I see very few other backpackers out there in winter - maybe 10% or less

Partially, I think people just have a preconceived notion that you can't camp in the winter, but that's just a guess

Maybe 3/4s of the time the weather isn't so good but if you can be flexible, there are great camping opportunities

Well I backpack year round and see a reduction of hikers and backpackers of 40-60%. The weather, snow depth, terrain, day of the week, and trail section all affect the numbers.

Ironically I've never been out on a winter trip where I haven't run into someone at least a day hike. The same cannot be said for the summer. Weird huh?

I hate to point it out, but if you see a reduction of 40-60% in the number of hikers and backpackers out in winter, I would think that would support the statement "A lot of people don't hike in the winter." Maybe I'm just obtuse.

Andy Dufresne: How can you be so obtuse?
Warden Samuel Norton: What? What did you call me?
Andy Dufresne: Obtuse. Is it deliberate?

Less people hike and backpack in the winter. That's a fact. Sorry, Chad ; )

Other than that I'm not sure I have much to add to this thread other than to reiterate that I'm one of the people who takes pleasure in being efficient at backpacking. More pleasure than that derived from hanging around camp in the morning so I wake up pack my pack immediately and then either make breakfast as I pull down my bear bag if it's warm out or hike a bit and then make breakfast if it's cold.

ps - coffee is a necessity but doesn't necessarily need to be hot although it is preferred that way.