How to Plan a Slower Hike
When you are a slow hiker, a 40 km multiday trek may seem daunting, let alone 120km or 1000km. You may feel even more daunted when you see fit strong hikers do that 40km distance – easily! – in a single day. You see their post on social media or in a hiking group with the “one day” mentioned prominently, because those hikers get their enjoyment from challenge, speed and conquering a goal. And that’s perfectly okay. But if someone hikes that distance in a day, you think, it will take us two, three, four or even five days to so! That walk can’t be for slow hikers like us, you think. We could never do that hike. But you would think wrong, because almost any hike can be adapted to those who hike at a slower pace.
Just sitting - taking time to immerse in the landscape.
It’s essential to have the confidence to hike your own hike! You don’t need to emulate fit athletes to do the same hike. You can instead take more time and cover less distance each day, but have just as much or possibly more fun!
And the planning is not hard. There are three main overlapping phases, with earlier details associated with each phase being reviewed as more information becomes available. Key phases and processes within them are:
Deciding where to go: Clarifying hike objectives, track and climate considerations, hike area selection, and accommodation.
Planning what to do on the hike: Identifying points of interest, understanding the big picture, deciding hike distance and duration, and mapping alternative routes.
Planning how to do it: Managing food and water, final route selection, daily distances, rest days, and fine-tuning.
I’ll explain what we do so you too can tailor a hike to your own slower needs, remembering it’s what we do: it may not suit you exactly, but we hope to give you confidence to plan your own multiday hikes and experience some of the fabulous rewards by being self-sufficient and taking time to enjoy the journey.
Hike Objectives
This sounds basic, but it’s important to know what you really want to achieve from a hike. Is it scenery, culture, personal challenge, or to see how far and fast you can hike – all good reasons, but being clear about your primary focus will guide your planning. It helps if you are both on the same page!
You might find it funny to hear that neither Helen nor I love walking per se, but we love experiencing wilderness and journeying through different country, rather than destinations or box ticking. For us, the journey is only fully experienced by taking time to appreciate our surrounds, from tiny orchids to vast vistas. So we look for hikes that maximise landscape and/or cultural experiences. That’s not to say we aren’t prepared to do long days or big elevation gains in a day – we will – but they are not the primary reason for the hike and are a means to a goal, such as an amazing view or a special campsite.
Your priorities might be different.
Track and Location
Our next planning stage assesses track and general walking conditions, which in turn influences daily distances. Consider your own preferences as you read the list below, because there will be differences, and add extras if you think of them. Considerations include:
Well-marked tracks – these are easy navigating and often well-trodden, and easier underfoot.
Unmarked or poorly marked routes - are our navigation skills sufficient? How much extra time to route-find?
Rocky or uneven ground – how demanding on feet, ankles and knees?
Vegetated – are you pushing through heavy scrub a lot of the time?
Snow – for us a little is fun, but we have no deep snow experience or snowshoes so too much gets stressful.
Soft sandy beaches – our bodies aren’t fond of hikes that are primarily beach walking without breaks, but other people love them.
Extremely steep climbs or descents and those that require a lot of scrambling – for us ok now and then but day in day out is demanding!
Climbs that require technical skills – beyond us.
Remoteness – we love remote areas, but they come with additional risks not everyone likes.
Climatic conditions – temperature, wind, rain, snow. Heat is a showstopper for us – we’d much rather walk in rain! So climate heavily influences the season we hike in different places.
Exposed areas – Helen is not keen on highly exposed tracks although a little is okay
Looks can be deceiving - the views are stunning but fortunately this track is not as exposed as it might appear.
This information then filters out certain hikes. For example – we love Tasmania and although a particular Western Arthurs hike looked amazing, the exposure and scrambling/climbing are just too demanding for us. But there are still many other options – so many that we can’t possibly do them all!
Also, in many cases, parts of a longer hike can be done as a series of day walks or several shorter multiday walks. You can often skip or reroute around sections if they are too demanding or don’t interest you: you don’t have to abandon the whole hike from your wish list. Our recent Investigator Trail hike is a simple example where we cherry picked the best bits.
Hike Selection and Route
Don’t be put off by impressive but somewhat daunting feats of others. Take advantage of and be guided by other people’s experiences – but make your own decisions!
We look at a range of hiking web sites and blogs to get a sense of terrain and options. Early research into the Walls of Jerusalem suggested that most people do a three-day jaunt into the Walls and out again, or a three-day circuit. Some do the lot in two or even one day. It seemed rushed for slow hikers like us, we’d be pushing the entire time. So we developed a much longer but expanded circuit in the area. At first, we were a little embarrassed to share our itinerary – so many days for such a short distance! – but to our amazement everyone we came across – even young, fit, 6 km/h hikers - drooled at our itinerary. An itinerary that can be altered to suit even shorter daily distances!
Soon after stopping at Trappers Hut in the Walls of Jerusalem for a rest and snack, another couple came along. They were doing the 3 day hike and asked what we were doing. When I told them, the chap paused and then responded with a wistful look in his eyes, “I don’t mean to sound rude but that sounds a bit indulgent!”
Similarly, the Investigator Trail near Port Lincoln is advertised as a 90 km, four-to-five-day hike. We did it in seven but also dropped some of the less interesting parts and split it into two: one three-day hike followed by a four-day hike separated by a rest day. We did this to manage pack weights, water availability, maximise enjoyment, and allow extra flexibility to avoid bad weather if need be, or a group member could bail if they wanted to.
Use various blogs, web sites and publications for information, ideas and guidance, but don’t let them proscribe what you do.
Accommodation
We figure that where and how you spend your nights and sleeping is also important. So it’s good to know for how long you’ll be in a:
Tent - bush camp? designated site?
Hut?
Rifugia?
Caravan Park?
Hotel?
B&B?
We much prefer bush camping in our tent than sleeping in huts, even for extended periods – but that’s us. We obviously stay in other places as well, but like to know the mix for our hikes.
Staying in rifugias in Europe involves trading off personal space for a much richer cultural experience, which we’ve always found worthwhile.
You get a feed of local food and glass of wine in the evening, so eating at a shared table and sleeping in a mixed dormitory is fine for a few days. And everybody usually respects each other’s space as best they can. You’ll also find that some more upmarket ones have separate twin share rooms that can be booked.
But it pays to learn some of the basic language.
Per favore una birra !
There are times in extreme weather when a hut is preferable over a tent. When we’ve been hiking for a few days we quickly fall asleep: where we sleep doesn’t seem to matter much.
It’s also important to respect local rules. For example, we had planned on the Hellismannaleid track to stop short of a protected area and wild camp, just as we did the day before, but there were no sheltered camp sites, and the weather was worsening. So we pushed on and, although we passed a number of nice camp sites within the protected area, we knew they weren’t legal. Sure, we could have got away with stealth camping but, if everybody did that, the exceptionally sensitive wilderness we were walking through would be no more! Instead we had an extra-long day and a comfortable warm hut for the night. No damage done to us or the environment! Win-win: have a plan A and B.
Wild camping in Iceland allowed us to get away earlier and wow, what a remarkable place to sleep.
Hike Destinations and Points of Interest
From background research we identify the most interesting places and then also second tier spots. We then prioritise these shortlisted destinations within the hike when considering potential routes.
Understand the Big Picture
We still like to use large paper topo maps as well as aerial imagery to get a whole of hike perspective. A tiny screen or turn by turn navigation line provide no context particularly in poorly marked, untracked and remote areas, where context and handrails are more useful navigational aids.
A decent scale helps visualise the hike in the context of the whole landscape: elevation, terrain and vegetation. We usually buy 1:50,000 topo maps to identify alternate routes.
Data layers at that scale are also often available through Government websites – particularly for overseas countries.
I also use satellite imagery and Google Earth to gain a big picture insight – particularly for vegetation density and landcover characteristics.
How long a hike?
You have two variables: time and daily distance. Try not to squeeze one into the other. One will be the limiting factor so let it be – and just let the non-limiting factor go up or down to suit.
From experience, in “easy” walking conditions, 15 km per day is a nice upper distance for us that is readily repeatable with the odd 18-20 km day thrown in. We can do more but the enjoyment wanes towards the end of the day. We always aim to enjoy our hikes, not endure them!
So what distance will you be comfortable with?
If you are unsure, go for a long day walk in a nearby park, and record it on your phone/watch/GPS.
What is your normal hiking pace? We normally walk at least 20% faster during our training walks, because we’re not stopping to enjoy views, and Helen isn’t taking photos.
Anyone who comprehensively documents hikes – whether through videos, photos, even pen and ink or watercolour – knows just how much time this takes. If you’re taking time to document your hike, it probably comprises an important part of your enjoyment as well. I enjoy reliving wonderful memories through Helen’s photos, and photographing wildflowers comprises a significant part of Helen’s enjoyment during the walk itself. Make sure to allow time for the activities you love.
What are the available daylight hours? We plan to get to camp at least one hour before sunset. That gives us an hour to set up camp and organise dinner. We also allow an extra hour during the day for distractions, delays (eg we may shelter during a storm) or simply to make sure we have time to enjoy special spots we come across. If none of those eventuate we have an hour spare for a small exploration walk around camp. So in winter in Australia, we may only have 6 - 7 hours effective walking time (allowing time for breakfast, packing up etc). Hence for us, 15 – 18 km is a practical upper daily limit in winter. We could easily cover much bigger distances in the Icelandic summer, when the sun didn’t set till 11pm!
But irrespective of how much light you have, it’s a good idea to limit the normally daily time spent actually walking to six or seven hours.
Make allowance for time to stop for rest breaks and lunch – we normally stop every hour for a short break – about 5 to 10 minutes and every second hour includes a snack so a 10 – 15 minute stop. Having a decent stop for lunch also helps to refresh the body – we normally stop for about 30 - 45 minutes, sometimes longer. What ever your individual regime preference is try and stick to it. It is a false economy to skip breaks to save time - you will quickly become fatigued, end up walking slower, which will result in a longer day than if you had stopped anyway. And I guarantee it will be less enjoyable!
How will track and terrain conditions impact on your normal daily hike distance?
This last point is so variable between hikers it is hard to provide guidance. But the following provides some insight to the impacts of terrain and track conditions and how we consider them.
Naismith’s rule: it will take 1 hour to walk 5 km. See, we think he already doesn’t suit us: we would never plan to walk 5 km/h on a multiday hike in the kinds of places we go, plus an extra hour for 600 m elevation gain! That’s a 12% climb so I’d suggest the rule is for very fit people, without a pack, walking a relatively short distance. Or for people who walk everywhere, as they did in the 1800s when Naismith was alive. But you get the idea.
It took us a little longer than Naismith might have predicted… but we got there and had plenty of time to enjoy the views of Skaftafellsjokull
Trail Hiking Australia offers the following, more realistic, outlook:
1 km/h : Climbing up a steep sloping spur with thick scrub
2 km/h : Scrambling over large rocks along a steep sloping creek
3 km/h : Walking down a steep sloping spur
4 km/h : Walking along a flat track (this pace can be maintained all day)
Throw in some boulder hopping, soft sand, or pushing through scrub and you can see things can change quickly. And when you are in terrain that is slowing you down, it’s important from a safety as well as pleasure perspective NOT to try and RUSH.
The guidance from Trail Hiking Australia is still, for us slow hikers, a little optimistic, particularly in harder walking conditions. So as a guide:
I work on a “normal” walking speed of 3 km/h
I reduce our expected walking speed down by 25% for each 200 m of climbing that we will do during the day – in other words, allow an extra 20 – 30 minutes for each 200 m elevation gain, assuming the gain is not a steep climb (I reckon anything over 10% is steep), in which case I allow for a walking pace of 1.5 km/h (ie 50% slower than normal).
For soft sand walking research suggests a 10% reduction in speed and a 10% increase in steps taken. So, for us 2.5 km/h is about as much as we can comfortably manage .
If we are bush bashing, 1 km/h would be our upper limit.
And of course, these are all just guides and things always vary in the actual environment, depending on a whole range of factors that you can’t always tell before you make arrangements for the hike. For example: an unseasonably hot day will slow us down a lot, or sections of inundated track or fallen timber across the track as a result of recent storms will be another slowing factor when you actually start hiking.
Note to self:
add ladder category to hiking speeds list!
And it’s not just about the extra time: you are taking at least as much energy to walk the shorter distance as it would to walk a much longer distance in better terrain faster. So try not to use extra time in the day to get the longer distance. Plan for your normal walking time, and accept you’ll be covering a shorter distance. ENJOY the day!l
A couple of examples:
From various blogs about tracks beyond the main walk in Walls of Jerusalem, most people commented on track conditions being overgrown with a lot of fallen timber to clamber over. Many people reported losing tracks and needing to re-find them, or having to push through dense vegetation. Navigating some sections would be tricky and we could expect delays so, even though elevation gains were modest (after the first day), we set our target average daily walking distance to 10 km rather than our usual 15km.
We are planning to walk the Bibbulumun Track. Most of the days are around the 15 km range but there are periods of 20 km or a little more per day, with no camping allowed between huts. Our average daily distance is 16 km. We know the track is relatively flat and in good condition and will walk the longer sections in mid spring so we will have 10 hours or more walking time each day, which is plenty. We also both expect to get significantly fitter and stronger during such a long walk, although plentiful wildflowers mean we may not cover more ground!
Consider Rest Days and/or Contingency Days.
We allow a rest day every 5-6 days, or at least one per week: ie we add one extra day for every 5-7 days of walk time.
Rest Day
Time for a swim and a soap-free wash
For our Walls of Jerusalem hike we could carry eleven full days of food, but would need a rest mid-way. We allowed for a rest day in the middle of the hike plus extra time at the end so we weren’t running for the bus and could absorb a lost day due to severe weather or extra slow walking due to injury. If we stayed on schedule, then the extra day at the end could be used for a day walk so we chose a pickup point with that option.
For us this meant a travel distance of around 90 km +/- 5 km, over eleven days (nine days of actual walking at an average of 10 km per day, and two ‘spare’ days).
How much Water and Food?
We know our base weights (without consumables) and maximum comfortable pack weights (with consumables) so we can calculate the weight of consumables we can carry. For me I can carry an extra 8 kg above my base weight for extended periods, for Helen it is 3 kg. Both of us can cope with an extra kg for a day or two – but usually only at the start of a hike leg. So effectively we have 11 kg of food and water capacity.
The killer is water. If only it could be dehydrated! Secure water available at the end of each day simplifies matters. You can then, through route planning, ensure that water is available at the end (and therefore start) of each day, even with low daily distances and a slow pace. In Europe you often only need to carry a small amount of water with regular safe watering points along the trail. In Tasmania we allowed for 4 litres of water per day between us. I still carry more water than we need even when there is water enroute because it’s amazing how quickly it gets used – growing up in a semi-arid environment with only 250 mm annual rainfall might have something to do with it too!
So our food and fuel weight capacity at day 1 is typically 11 kg all consumables – 4 kg water = 7 kg food and fuel.
7 kg of food and fuel – that will ordinarily give us enough for eleven days plus a spare in case we get delayed (see Helen’s blogs on dehydrated food and menu options).
Where access is possible beforehand, food and water drops can be placed out of sight near intended camp sites.
Ensure they are sealed and vermin proof.
If water can’t be secured at the end of each day then food carrying capacity drops quickly. For our Gammon Ranges hike, we determined that water would only be available every second day. So overall hike length was reduced accordingly to reflect the reduced food we could carry.
Food - Where is it?
Do you need to be completely self-sufficient? If so:
Do you need to resupply?
Where can you resupply?
Do you need food drops?
Resupplies add an extra complication, but they are not that difficult so don’t be put off. It can be done through volunteers, commercial operators or yourself if you have access. Rest assured that if it’s a long multiday hike, and not in an extremely remote location, then at least one of these options will be available. For example:
Bibbulmun Track – Visitor Centres supported by volunteers and local Councils store your resupply boxes for you.
Larapinta Trail, (Northern Territory), and Wilderness Trail (Kangaroo Island SA) – Commercial operators help for a reasonable price.
Investigator Trail, Australian Alps Walking Trail – self-placed drops.
Can you purchase meals along the way? Buying food enroute is great if you can afford it. We planned our hikes in the Central Highlands of Iceland to take advantage of a couple of cafes. We didn’t have to, but we could lighten our packs (always welcome), enjoy some local produce and culinary culture, and contribute to the local economy. We figure if you want basic infrastructure around to support you, then you need to support it!
Local cafes along the way (here, Mont Blanc) can be a great way to sample local produce, experience cultural differences, support the local economy, and also add variety to daily meals.
Map Routes of Interest
The first thing to do is get a map. It doesn’t matter if it is electronic or hard copy. We are old school and always buy hard copy maps of the area – and actually find them more useful for getting a good overview of the hike. When you are a slow hiker, common itineraries will likely be too fast, so you will need tools to tweak routes to better suit.
I use open source QGIS package to fine tune distance and elevation gain calculations if we are visiting areas not already well documented. But you can use any other spatial software, even Google Earth. Or, if you prefer, just stick with hard copy maps; make a few photocopies so you can write or draw routes on them. But be aware though that information on hard copy maps is not being updated as regularly as it once was (ie before digital mapping products became widely available) and so some of the finer details on the maps might be outdated.
If you’re going electronic then data layers can be found in Google Satellite, Open Street Map, government spatial data sites, Parks web sites. These all help build a better understanding of options. Commercial packages we’ve used include Avenza Maps, All Trails, Wiki Loc, Mapy.cz and Guthook. Many people use only one app for certain trails.
We mark on these maps (either hard photocopy or electronic) camp sites, water supply, food supply points, tier one and tier two points of interest, as well as access and egress points to the hike.
We then highlight/draw on the maps trial routes using existing tracks that connect camp sites and points of interest, and estimate distances between camp sites, water and food sources. If designated camp sites seem too far apart, consider wild camps if it’s legal in the area to create shorter days.
Once you have a first draft of your route you should then identify potential escape routes. It is always good to have a Plan A and a Plan B. If something goes wrong on the hike: eg an injury or track/weather conditions become unexpectedly bad then you need to know some options AHEAD OF TIME for how and where to abandon the hike. A couple of examples:
In our Walls of Jerusalem hike, even though we got into some remote areas we still planned the route so that we always had an alternative exit route which meant we were always within one days walk of getting down from the plateau if we needed to. Fortunately, we didn’t.
For the Gammon Ranges, the weather was unseasonably hot, so we reviewed our Plan A and Plan B when we arrived which meant we were able to develop Plan C on the fly and were able to still hike and have a much less demanding walk than it otherwise would have been.
For well-known hikes (eg Overland Track, Bibbulmun Track, Wilderness Trail, Larapinta Trail), main track location and distances between camp sites or huts is published and readily available online. Similarly, in National Parks, park brochures provide information on trail routes and distances in popular walking areas. You can also try local hiking groups as they are normally helpful and informative.
If this information is not available, then I use the maps we have and any reliable recorded GPS data sets to estimate distances. If you’re downloading tracklogs, use reputable websites and be aware that other hikers might lose the track or go on side trips along the way!
This is a base map for our Investigator Trial hike planning. Blue lines are walking trails associated with the standard 4-5 day 90 km hike. Yellow stars are potential camp sites, green triangles possible water points (assuming rainwater tanks have water in them), pink dots Parks designated waypoints associated with the walking trail. Numbers along the blue lines are distances between waypoints in metres. I used this information along with Park brochures to develop our 7 day hike plan for our 70 km with rest day version of the Investigator Trail in Lincoln National Park.
Elevation gain and loss information is also usually available for popular hikes through friends groups, commercial packages, or tracklogs posted online. Similar warnings apply regarding reputable sites and side trips.
If not, they can be estimated by counting contours on hard copy maps. Or, if you’re going electronic (you by no means need to be an expert) you can use Google Earth, or you can download digital elevation data yourself. Most governments have central national elevation data sets available free online (for Australia via GeoScience Australia web site). These data sets are usually sufficiently accurate to support hike planning. You can then use QGIS or similar spatial packages to extract information along your intended hike route.
Create a Table of your Hike
The trial route is then put into a table with distances between camp sites and elevation gains for each day (if you have it). That is easily done in excel or similar, or just on paper. The information lets you estimate the duration of each day – based on your assumed walking pace.
I then adjust the route to keep the total daily walking time within the time set aside for walking. I check water and food availability, and highlight access and egress points – that helps identify bailout options if you need them during the hike. I’ll then adjust the route again if need be.
An example hike planning table
The above table is an extract of the first 7 days from our Larapinta Trail planning. Unfortunately for a range of family reasons we are yet to do this hike but it illustrates the planning process nicely. To the left of the table is the information available through the Northern Territory Government web site. The elevation gain data in the table was taken from freely available track logs published on the Wiki Loc web site.
Many tour groups spend one day to a section of the hike, but there are designated campsites mid-way through each section. So we avail ourselves of those to keep daily distances down. We’ve also allowed for a rest day after 6 days at a well-known resupply point (shaded green in the table). The other colour coding in the planning table is blue (water available at the camp site), or orange (no water). That means we need to carry two days water at the end of the first six-day segment. That is ok because our combined pack weight at the start of day 5 (when we will need to load up with extra water) will be around 22 kg, so we have capacity for an extra six litres of water. Whilst elevation gains on these last two days are significant, the distances are short, particularly on the last day, where we should easily reach our destination by lunch time.
The end result: our total planned hike over the entire Larapinta would take 23 days including rest days to do the 220 km hike, while some commercial groups power through each section in a day for a total of 14 days with no rest day. Good on them… but not for us!
We like to take our time to absorb and enjoy views.
You can also highlight access and egress points – that helps identify bailout options.
Daily distances and elevation gains can then also be used to estimate the relative difficulty of each day. That can be done intuitively with the tabulated data… but I’m an engineer, so I’ve developed a formula based on some online searches, adapting the information to better reflect our profile.
I use the difficulty indicator to finetune hikes by ranking the days in a hike, and try to avoid clustering harder days together by adjusting campsites to vary daily distances. If that isn’t possible then I plan more frequent or multiple rest day(s) within or around the clusters.
Fimmvorduhals trail Iceland
Sound daunting? It’s actually pretty simple, so just start with a shorter multiday hike and see how you go! Or practice in your local area with day walks. You’ll be surprised how easy it is and how much more enjoyable the experience is walking to your own schedule and objectives. And all that background planning will help you make adjustments as you will always need to, and good decisions during the hike.
