I’m seriously thinking of doing a Gump and **** off for a while…

Yes i need the rest, yes i shouldn’t but last time i listened to someones good advice it ended in heart ache and misery, so i’m gonna do it anyway.

So just how many miles is possible in a day allowing for meals proper sleep and enjoying the scenery en route….

15-20 miles per day. But depends very much on terrain and ascent. Remember, when walking, you don’t “get back” any lost time on the downhills (well – not much). Good tracks are fast walking, narrow heathery/muddy stuff can be hellish slow.

Naismiths rule as a good a place to start; 3 miles an hour plus half an hour for every 1000 ft or 300mtr ascent. If you push yourself you coud do 4 mph. though. Oh and add in rest time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith’s_Rule

We did Boscastle to Bude on the coast path last year, 18 miles & nearly all hills (steps a lot of the way) took just over seven hours & it was the hardest walk I’d done for a while!

walking away from the problems solves it in the short term but not in the long term bear it in mind.

The terrain will be very good with nothing too steep, i was aiming at 20 miles per day average.

Well – you’ve asked the question and got an answer, even if it wasn’t the one you wanted…

Similar thread on outdoorsmagic here

Most people saying between 30 and 50 miles. I think I’d collapse after 20 🙂

Driudh, i know! and the answer is what i expected..

sharki – Member

Driudh, i know! and the answer is what i expected..

Depends how long you’re out for. On multi-day stuff, I find day 3 is the crux. Get past that and you’ll see the mileage go up. Just plan 3 easier days at the start and take it from there?

nickname – Member

Similar thread on outdoorsmagic here

Most people saying between 30 and 50 miles. I think I’d collapse after 20

For a single day, in excess of 50 is possible. Remember, some folk run the length of the West Highland Way (96 miles) in less than a day.

This guy’s walking across India: you might be able to get an idea from his updates: http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/

I was guessing there would be a point that that would happen…though on this personal challenge there will be quite a few bad days…I’ll try and break it up by having a day off walking every now and again…

Pennine Way last May, 15-20 miles every day, Youth Hostel packing but carrying small sleeping bag and kit for emergency overnight as I was walking alone. A shorter day 2 is handy to ease yourself into it. Broken collarbone, I’d say half the kit and shorten the mileage as you’re bound to tense up somewhere to compensate.

Travelling light, planning on seducing lone women on the way round, free B&B that way 😉 and bivvy nights as back up….the closer to devon and cornwall in get the more desperate they will be so don’t plan many nights under the stars….

I would agree with the 15 – 20 miles. I have done more but I couldn’t do it day after day. Longest walk I did was 120 odd miles across the highlands in 9 days carrying camping gear – a lot of it without tracks to follow and the worst thing was my feet hurt – not rubbed or blistered but they felt like they were bruised all over the sole

TandemJeremy – Member
the worst thing was my feet hurt – not rubbed or blistered but they felt like they were bruised all over the sole

That’s how my feet feel – permanently – now.

Doing this again on Sunday: http://www.acoventryway.org.uk/
Almost exactly 40 miles.

Did it last September in dry weather, but just after all the bad weather… In places it was knee deep. It took us over 12 hours*
I’m not being macho.
My point is: I couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Have done it again the next day. I needed two days off work afterwards!

It is in April this year in an attempt to beat the weather. Hmm.
Will keep you posted on Sunday night.
(I’m only doing it again because I carried way too much and was gutted at the conditions underfoot…. aiming for more like 10 hours this time)

*Despite the conditions, the ‘winner’ did it in 6hrs-something!

Correction:
er… I just checked and reminded myself of something I’ve obviously blocked-out: It took us 14h 10mins (not 12 as previously dreamt).
..and 10 hrs is too optimistic this time… more like 11h30m.

The ‘winner’ came in at 6h 07mins. Nutter.

I would ask how much walking you have done recently. While cycling will give you a good CV fitness that don’t mean walking will be easy. I hadn’t done a walk of any length since September until I did an 11 mile canal walk a week or so ago. My hips were quite sore for last 45 minutes and I ended up with horrendous blisters on one foot. I forgot my routine of slathering my feet with Vaseline before the walk.

If you are determined to do a multi day, I’d suggest a couple days at about 8 and then start to increase your mileage.

Remember, some folk run the length of the West Highland Way (96 miles) in less than a day.
a lot less than a day too. record is 15:44:50! took me about than that to ride it over two days …

Assuming you have some fitness, the main thing that will stop you doing about 20 miles a day will be blisters. One of the main ways to avoid this is to carry the bare minimum on your back. Look up some sites on lightweight backpacking – some people can get away with crazily small amounts of kit, there is more to it than cutting the end off your toothbrush.

I’ve walked from Fort William to Cape Wrath (my route was about 370km/230 miles) over a couple of weeks (with 2 rest days) , and we aimed to average around 20-25km a day (which in hindsight was a good decision), with a couple of monster 30Km+ days thrown in. The route was planned to be as “remote” as possible, so very little road walking and lots of ascent and rough/trackless sections. At that time, my “walking fitness” was very good and I’d have struggled to sustain a higher daily distance than we did over that period of time – so if you’re not doing long walks regularly, you may find it difficult to sustain 20+miles/30+km/day without various bits of your body complaining. I walked the West Highland Way in 3.5 days a few years back (with a certain Mr. Druidh in fact 😉 ) and that involved that kind of daily distance on perfect tracks and the wear and tear on your body is significantly more – it also magnifies any small problem with the fit of your boots/socks/rucksac, etc. Shorter days have the benefit of getting a decent rest at the end of the day – if you finish late and start early, you’ll soon wear yourself out.

Druidh is spot on – day 2 or 3 is often the killer on longer walks – once you get past that, you start to get into the swing of things. I’ve never travelled super-light, but any weight off your back is good obviously. I found the main thing was eating enough of the right food to keep going all day – it’s worth looking into that…

After all that – You should definitely do a long walk if you can – the feeling of getting up in the morning and only having a nice walk to think about is close to unbeatable – very good for clearing the mind. I actually found it difficult for a few weeks after I’d finished – I wanted to still be doing it!

Mrs Moses & I do quite a bit of long distance walking, usually B&B ing carrying only daypacks. We reckon that 15 miles is an easy-to-middling day which can be sustained. 20miles/day can knacker you quickly. “Easy” country with lots of stiles is surprisingly slow especially if it’s muddy whreas open uplands can be quick.