How long are your day walks?

[FatCanyoner]

we haven't studied in Sydney Uni, myself - UNSW and my wife is UTS, so I hope this is not going to be a problem

Not a problem at all. I am ex UTS. At least half the club members are no longer students. Most of them either went to other uni's or didn't go to uni at all. The club is actually set up as two legal entities, one for students, and one for everyone else.

I don't think it is too hot now for bushwalking

It isn't just about it being too hot for walking, rather that canyoning can really only be done in the warmer part of the year, so for people like me who love this particular off-shoot of bushwalking summer is all about the canyons. A lot of bushwalkers seem to end up being a bit seasonal, with serious multi-day walks in spring and autumn, canyons in summer, XC skiing in winter.

[igor]

Yes, I understand the terrain plays a major role in day distance. Therefore I have corrected myself earlier saying that we were looking for 8+ hrs walks. Longer hrs, i.e. more than 8 if the walk is mostly on very well defined trail - like 6 Foot Track. and shorter hrs if there are a lot of climbing, hoping, or going sharp up or down hill. Kanangra to Katoomba walk is the one that we wanted to do in a day for a long time, just didn't know how to get to the beginning of the track after completion. We only have one car.

[north-north-west]

The time I walk depends on the time of year (and amound of sunlight). In winter it is often not possible to walk more than about 10hrs, although I will do more by planning to finish on tracks / firetrails. I would say a solid day walk is 10 - 12 hours, while a really big day can be 14 plus hours (you really feel those the next day!).
In many places there are footpads, such as along ridges etc. Where there is an obvious route almost everyone will use it, so it makes things simpler. There are many places where there is no sign of foot traffic at all. In these places it is simply a matter of physically pushing through the bush. You will get scratched up. You can avoid some thick sections, but in many cases there is no choice but to push through (like a wombat!)
........
And you know where to go by looking at maps. Look for interesting features. Talk to other walkers about nice spots. Read trip reports for inspiration. My favourite thing is to look at old sketch maps, which carry a wealth of historic interest. There are amazing place names and navigatible routes shown that can be great fun to explore.

Well, that's covered pretty well everything I wanted to say. Thanks for saving me the trouble of writing it all myself, Fatty.

[igor]

step over, around or go under rather than making a clear track for 'everyone else'.

Totally agree!

Igor, I do most of my walking with the Sydney Uni Bushwalkers - http://www.subw.org.au/
Check out the email list for a list of what is on. Although at this time of year my focus is more on canyoning. I save the long bushwalks for the cooler months.
Many of my longer, harder walks are also run through the club. For these it is simply made clear the level of difficulty. We keep the group size small and restrict participants to people we know are physically capable. There are also some walks that are run 'off-list', which are not advertised publicly, which can include the most difficult trips.

Just a quick question if I may. How frequently you send around emails to the email list recipients? It's just that I've sent the request to join the list and didn't get any response back...

[bauplenut]

Our club walks are about 8 hours walking per day. Distance is not important, as most walks are off-track. Some walks will not cover that much distance in 8 hours, but the sights we see are worth it. Bugger all tracks in North QLD. So we do a lot of creek scrambling and some cross country. Size of the group can affect how much distance is covered too, the larger the group, the slower it is.

[corvus]

I am of an age where some of us had no choice as to length of walks/forced marches you did it because you had no option, be on a charge for malingering ,derided by your mates for being big woos or worse getting picked up by the medics in a blood wagon
My question is why on earth would you want to walk for 10 hours+ and up to 40+km just for pleasure like others I love to stop and smell the roses however to each their own and I guess I am just getting soft in my old age
corvus

[Leppy]

I like to get out most weekends early in the morning and cover 8 to 12 k's. A couple hours each way and some lollygaging around with some gear and a cup of tea halfway. Gets me my weekly fix and home in time for lunch and a happy wife!!

[igor]

I am of an age where some of us had no choice as to length of walks/forced marches you did it because you had no option, be on a charge for malingering ,derided by your mates for being big woos or worse getting picked up by the medics in a blood wagon
My question is why on earth would you want to walk for 10 hours+ and up to 40+km just for pleasure like others I love to stop and smell the roses however to each their own and I guess I am just getting soft in my old age
corvus

Many our friends are asking the same question I am not so young. I am in my late forties and my wife is 30. But we both exercised a lot since early childhood and both used to compete in various sports until university age. Now it is simply a pleasure of feeling of a total exhaustion by the end of the walk plus some curiosity to see how far we can push it. I frequently walk with the special vest weighing about 18 kilo plus a quite sizable backpack. Going though the rocks and creeks especially in the rain or knee deep snow in the Snow Mountains makes us understand the life and feeling of former explorers. We too love the smell of flowers and beatuful views. And we too stop every now and then to take pictures and the like, it is just our walks are longer cumulatively so we are actually spending the same time enjoying nature. It is just we do it in small portions during the whole 110-12 hours walk. The only problem is we can't find like minded people to join us. A few of our friends have tried and never walk with us again. One got into to emergency hospital (young man les than 30 years of age by the way) that is why we've started worrying of legal implecations taking some other people with us.

[igor]

Our club walks are about 8 hours walking per day. Distance is not important, as most walks are off-track. Some walks will not cover that much distance in 8 hours, but the sights we see are worth it. Bugger all tracks in North QLD. So we do a lot of creek scrambling and some cross country. Size of the group can affect how much distance is covered too, the larger the group, the slower it is.

How do you define off-track? Native un-touched bush or rain forest without any trace of trail. Because it is not what I've discovered while searching for clubs in Sydney that are doing long walks. Noone is actually walking off-track the way I understand it - right through the total wildness. Rather it is a walk still following the trail of sort, that just happens to have rocks, bolders, some tree trunks and such but it is still a trail and is mapped on most GPS devices and frequently has a name. So how it is then off-trail? The speed on the track like that with some up and down climbing is on average 3.5 km/h. So 8 hrs gives you 28 km. But the clubs schedules I've seen so far are seldom advertise "off-track" routes more than 10-15 km.
So where are all those clubs? From what I am getting reading people responses those who DO walk longer (8-12 hrs or 25-40 km) walk are all doing them on their own or with a group of mates, not as part of the club program walks.

[stoogest]

I consider myself a reasonably fit 34yr old (more from sports than bushwalking though...so different kind of fitness) and I find that 20km or less to be a decent day walk. Any more and fatigue (sore feet) starts to take some of the shine off the experience. I suspect it's partly due to my boots being in imminent need of replacement, but more than 20km over hilly terrain still takes it out of you. I'm constantly stopping to take photos, often with a tripod, so what might take your average walker 8 hrs normally ends up taking me 10!

Andrew.

[davidmorr]

Igor, if you don't mind me asking, are you from Europe?

From what I understand, walking in Europe is quite different to walking here. It is almost all tracks in open country, and distance and speed are the focus. Probably something like powerwalking. I have seen this with Europeans in Nepal and in New Zealand where they walk past the most amazing sights without really looking at them.

Here, as you can see from the postings above, there are different reasons people go bushwalking. For many it is just the experience of being away from civilisation that they are after. Others want to look at plants, birds, waterfalls, aboriginal art, etc. Some want to photograph things. Some just like a nice day out with close friends.

Nothing wrong with any of these reasons. What is common to them all is an awareness of the bush, the risks, and the skills needed to be safe, such as knowing how to navigate without tracks.

[davidmorr]

Sorry mate, what a silly notion Serious walkers are still heading somewhere, i'm sure they wouldn't walk parallel to a track?
Tracks are formed as (usually) the logical route to somewhere worth visiting, why not use them? One could always leap into the scrub as others approach

One prominent club in Newcastle was reported to walk in the bush next to tracks because they regarded themselves as *bush*walkers not track walkers.

Don't know if it was true.

[Chris]

walking in Europe is quite different to walking here. It is almost all tracks in open country, and distance and speed are the focus. Probably something like powerwalking. I have seen this with Europeans in Nepal and in New Zealand where they walk past the most amazing sights without really looking at them.

Here, as you can see from the postings above, there are different reasons people go bushwalking. For many it is just the experience of being away from civilisation that they are after. Others want to look at plants, birds, waterfalls, aboriginal art, etc. Some want to photograph things. Some just like a nice day out with close friends.

Nothing wrong with any of these reasons. What is common to them all is an awareness of the bush, the risks, and the skills needed to be safe, such as knowing how to navigate without tracks.

At last! I was wondering when someone would mention that it's the journey that counts, not just the destination.
As one of those who appreciates and enjoys the country I walk through, I still believe we qualify as bushwalkers.

[davidmorr]

For a discussion of what bushwalking is, this part of Roger Caffin's FAQ on the NSW Confederation website is a good start.

http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_General.htm

The whole FAQ has a lot of useful information which may be of interest:

http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/

[davidmorr]

At last! I was wondering when someone would mention that it's the journey that counts, not just the destination.

I have walked with people whose goal was to get to places, and in so doing they missed the wonder of what they were walking through. If I stopped to take a photo, they would be out of sight.

So I chose to walk with people who enjoyed the journey as Chris says.

One of the first walks I ever did was Devine's Hill on the Great North Road at Wiseman's Ferry (NSW), a walk of no more than a few kilometres. I never knew we had real history in Australia until that walk. We emerged from a cluster of young casuarinas near the gate to see monumental stone structures winding up the side of the mountain, as if they had not been used since they were constructed in the early 1800s. This has led to a lifelong interest in Australian history, and numerous bushwalks to see or look for historical sites long forgotten.

[mikethepike]

So the question was phrased incorrectly. It is more correctly to ask how many hours a day you normally walk during a single day or multi-day walks.

Yes that is the question to ask I think Igor. But just on distance, 30 km is a very long distance for a day walk even on good track especially if there is a fair bit of hilly country involved. Doing the approx 68 km hilly Victor Harbour to Cape Jervis (Heysen Trail) stage involved two very long April days, away very early and finishing in the dark on both nights and with minimal rest stops and 8-10 kg packs. Even with a light day pack and good track, I think that most bushwalkers would regard 30 km as a long or even a very long day. With an 12-14 kg pack (pack weight on last days of an 8 day walk on the Bibbulman Track in August), 32 km was a long wearying day and it equates to a 'two huts day' - the sleeping huts are generally 16 km apart and most walkers do the huts one day at a time, not two.

How many hours of walking in a day? Day walks can be what ever you want them to be of course - e.g. a relaxed walk with 'non-bushwalking' friends or a training day for a 12 hour rogaine and that might involve some running - but extended bushwalks (6 overnights for the sake of the discussion) require a more considered response. I was surprised to look back on extended walks in my younger (university) days when rucksacks were an instrument of torture and lightweight meant leaving stuff at home or not carrying your fair share of food or tentage, to find that we walked on average a 6.5 hour day. I was surprised because, while the hours seem fairly short, you always ended the day thinking and feeling that you'd done a full day of bushwalking and basically, you had.. These walks were in mid May and mid August so we're not talking about the long daylight hours you get with summer walks in Tassie but nor where they mid winter short days. The walks tended to start at 0830 and end at 1600-1630 hours - that's 7.5 -8 hours less probably 1.5 hours total stops = 6.5 hours walking time. People generally liked to stop by 4.00 pm or not much later which left a minimum of 1.5 hours to mess around. The odd day could be longer of course due to need to get to a distant campsite or waterhole. Depending on the terrain, 6.5 hours won't necessarily equate to that many kilometers but distance in my experience is often not that relevant a measure of the worth of a bushwalk.

With regards to the walking club scene, if you want much longer days than 6.5 walking hours on the average day on extended walks, then I think that you'd have to seek out like minded people within the club and you will find them I'm sure. My club for example did a 10 day South Coasts Track walk in summer that included two rest days. I just couldn't cope with so much laziness but it's horses for courses of course!

[mikethepike]

So looks like I was right - the clubs are more oriented towards older people doing socializing rather than hard walking, while most people answered so far are doing their walks outside clubs. Ok we'll keep looking for people going for long and exhaustive walks.

Yes I think that's partly correct according to my experience with my present club but plenty of the not so old members seem to have the same approach. That's obviously what these people enjoy but I sometimes find it a bit disappointing. I am well aware though that many of the older members who now probably walk as much for the social aspect as anything else (and we all eventually wear out) were once very hard walkers - think old gear and Prince of Wales Range. In fact, even just 25 years ago, I had a friend leave the same club after only a year because he thought that there was just too much emphasis on kilometers and his main interest was day walks! Obviously clubs need a mixture of the two types of walkers/walks! I love the idea of the Tiggers in the Sydney Bushwalkers and perhaps other clubs should think of adopting the idea. That would certainly cater for people like Igor.

[Miyata610]

I would conclude from this discussion that people are different.

I recently enjoyed a longish day walk from the arm river track carpark to mount ossa and return. A little under 40km. It is mostly on well formed tracks, and I would describe it as a challenging walk because it makes for a fairly long day and not because it requires any great skill or fitness. I was still able to "smell the flowers" on the way. I know others on this forum disagree with my assessment. That's fine because we are all different.

I like to walk alone, so I'm likely to cover more ground than if I travel with others, not because I'm any faster or fitter but simply because I'm the only person that makes the decision about where and when I stop and for how long.

On a day walk I tend to be more goal oriented. I set a target. I think this is normal. I'm also wise enough to know when to change my target. On a multi day walk this is less important and I like to "see what happens". Sometimes that means a short day, sometimes I slog on looking for a more interesting camp site.

I've always operated this way. I'm now in my fifties and I don't go walking for social reasons. Hey we're all different.

I still do some off piste walking, maybe less than I used to. It doesn't make me feel more like a real bushwalker, mostly it just satisfies my curiosity.

Terrain, climate and water availability are so varied that the original question can possibly never be answered satisfactorily anyway.

[MrWalker]

I would conclude from this discussion that people are different.

I recently enjoyed a longish day walk from the arm river track carpark to mount ossa and return. A little under 40km. It is mostly on well formed tracks, and I would describe it as a challenging walk because it makes for a fairly long day and not because it requires any great skill or fitness. I was still able to "smell the flowers" on the way. I know others on this forum disagree with my assessment. That's fine because we are all different.

I agree that it's clear that different people bushwalk for different reasons. I recenly walked from Arm River to Pelion Gap and back in 8hrs but I decided I do not want to climb Mt Ossa as a day walk even though I could probably complete it in 12 hrs. Personally I enjoy views of mountains rather than from mountains.

[Timbo1472]

How long are your day walks?

About a day usually.

[davidmorr]

So looks like I was right - the clubs are more oriented towards older people doing socializing rather than hard walking, while most people answered so far are doing their walks outside clubs. Ok we'll keep looking for people going for long and exhaustive walks.

Yes I think that's partly correct according to my experience with my present club but plenty of the not so old members seem to have the same approach. That's obviously what these people enjoy but I sometimes find it a bit disappointing.

Mike, do you offer to lead longer and harder walks? Often there are people who would love them, but for whatever reason do not feel confident enough to lead that sort of walk. Or perhaps like you, think people would not be interested.

[Lotsafreshair]

Thanks,
I've left a request on the site to join your email list (we haven't studied in Sydney Uni, myself - UNSW and my wife is UTS, so I hope this is not going to be a problem). I don't think it is too hot now for bushwalking. Just last sunday we did Hornsby to Brooklin walk - 42 km in about 11 hrs and it was quite reasonable. Up in the mountains the temperature is even lower right now

Hey Igor, along with SUBW above, you might also want to check out http://www.sbw.org.au as Tom mentioned. We run a really broad range of trips from easy day walks, mid-week (traditionally run by the older members of our club), to some seriously ludicrously difficult trips, run by some new 'Tiger Walkers' (not to be confused with The Tiggers. (We have 2 club members who have sumitted Everest, along with a whole bunch of people who would never want to, and everything in between).

Generally though, we like 'interesting' walks with off-track components, exploratory walks (where no tracks/track-ettes/known routes exist), plus a stack of canyoning trips in Summer.

If you're interested in going 'off-track', but asked the questions above that you did, I'd strongly suggest you join a club (pick one... there's a bunch out there) and go with people experienced in this type of stuff. You'll find that no machete is required. Although, long sleeves, gaiters, gloves and full-body armour is sometimes appreciated!

[corvus]

I would conclude from this discussion that people are different.

I recently enjoyed a longish day walk from the arm river track carpark to mount ossa and return. A little under 40km. It is mostly on well formed tracks, and I would describe it as a challenging walk because it makes for a fairly long day and not because it requires any great skill or fitness. I was still able to "smell the flowers" on the way. I know others on this forum disagree with my assessment. That's fine because we are all different.

I like to walk alone, so I'm likely to cover more ground than if I travel with others, not because I'm any faster or fitter but simply because I'm the only person that makes the decision about where and when I stop and for how long.

On a day walk I tend to be more goal oriented. I set a target. I think this is normal. I'm also wise enough to know when to change my target. On a multi day walk this is less important and I like to "see what happens". Sometimes that means a short day, sometimes I slog on looking for a more interesting camp site.

I've always operated this way. I'm now in my fifties and I don't go walking for social reasons. Hey we're all different.

I still do some off piste walking, maybe less than I used to. It doesn't make me feel more like a real bushwalker, mostly it just satisfies my curiosity.

Terrain, climate and water availability are so varied that the original question can possibly never be answered satisfactorily anyway.

Congratulations on your power walk most folks take around 5/6 days to do the overland track you have done around half the equivalent of it of it in one day and you claim to be not especially fit but I suspect you must be fitter than most eh!
Good luck to you if that is your want however I do have one relevant question did you camp overnight at Arm River car park or drive from home and back to add a minimum of 1.5+ hours each way to your day .
corvus

[igor]

On Australia Day my wife and I are going to walk Overland Track. We plan to do the whole length including walking along the lake St Clair and not taking ferry in 2 days. I've studied the description of OT and think that the recommended 6 days walking time is WAY OVER what is really needed to walk this track comfortably. Walking with the average speed of say 4 km/h for 8-9 hrs a day (which is not much) plus say 1-2 hrs rest time gives maximum of 11 hrs of active time. Plus we need to carry much less food and a little water - my understanding there are plenty of creeks and little lakes there. So with the 15 kilo backpack it shouldn't be that difficult to keep the intended scheduler. We must anyway otherwise or return tickets to Sydney will be wasted.

[Nuts]

2 days is Way too much lol, try 7hrs (+an hour or so for LSC)? That way you may not need to contribute a track fee as well?

[Miyata610]

Congratulations on your power walk most folks take around 5/6 days to do the overland track you have done around half the equivalent of it of it in one day and you claim to be not especially fit but I suspect you must be fitter than most eh!
Good luck to you if that is your want however I do have one relevant question did you camp overnight at Arm River car park or drive from home and back to add a minimum of 1.5+ hours each way to your day .
corvus

Come on, its not that big a deal, I left home at about 5am, got to the carpark at about six, three hours 15 mins passed new pellion, passed it on the return at about three thirty I think, got home after eight but it was still light. Didn't carry much, but I did have a bivy and top bag as well as the usual stuff.

[tom_brennan]

On Australia Day my wife and I are going to walk Overland Track. We plan to do the whole length including walking along the lake St Clair and not taking ferry in 2 days. I've studied the description of OT and think that the recommended 6 days walking time is WAY OVER what is really needed to walk this track comfortably. Walking with the average speed of say 4 km/h for 8-9 hrs a day (which is not much) plus say 1-2 hrs rest time gives maximum of 11 hrs of active time. Plus we need to carry much less food and a little water - my understanding there are plenty of creeks and little lakes there. So with the 15 kilo backpack it shouldn't be that difficult to keep the intended scheduler. We must anyway otherwise or return tickets to Sydney will be wasted.

Which day are you going to climb Ossa, visit Cradle Mountain, head to Fergusson and D'Alton or Hartnett Falls, walk up to Pine Valley and the Labyrinth or climb the Acropolis?

If your objective is simply to clock up the 73km or whatever it is end to end, you may as well save your return tickets and do laps around the local oval! There is much interesting stuff to visit along the OT, but most of it is not on the track itself. The point of taking say 8 days is to allow time to take in some of those interesting features. You could probably even spend 10-12 days and still find new things to visit every day.

[MrWalker]

Congratulations on your power walk most folks take around 5/6 days to do the overland track you have done around half the equivalent of it of it in one day and you claim to be not especially fit but I suspect you must be fitter than most eh!
Good luck to you if that is your want however I do have one relevant question did you camp overnight at Arm River car park or drive from home and back to add a minimum of 1.5+ hours each way to your day .
corvus

Come on, its not that big a deal, I left home at about 5am, got to the carpark at about six, three hours 15 mins passed new pellion, passed it on the return at about three thirty I think, got home after eight but it was still light. Didn't carry much, but I did have a bivy and top bag as well as the usual stuff.

You obviously live a lot closer to Arm River than I do (Launceston). For my walk to Pelion Gap and back I left home at 7am, but took 1:45 to get to Arm river, started walking at 9am and returned by 5pm. When we packed up and left the car pack by 6pm (other family members took a while to get ready) it was getting dark there since it is in shadow despite not being sunset for another couple of hours. Personally I wouldn't plan a walk that required leaving home before 6pm, or finished close to sunset. If I left home at 6am I would have a planned walk finish time of 8pm which is possible but not ideal coming down a steep descent. So I agree it is do-able but does not leave any margin for problems on the return trip.
Of course I could just drive faster.

[igor]

Which day are you going to climb Ossa, visit Cradle Mountain, head to Fergusson and D'Alton or Hartnett Falls, walk up to Pine Valley and the Labyrinth or climb the Acropolis?
If your objective is simply to clock up the 73km or whatever it is end to end, you may as well save your return tickets and do laps around the local oval! There is much interesting stuff to visit along the OT, but most of it is not on the track itself. The point of taking say 8 days is to allow time to take in some of those interesting features. You could probably even spend 10-12 days and still find new things to visit every day.

Yes I get your point, our objective is to walk the whole track, and to get some experience bushwalking in Tasmania. We intend to repeat the walk again in winter time when we are not obliged to walk north->south but have more freedom. Still what would you say about the people who RUN the OT? Or run 6 foot track for example. Why can't they all run circles around the oval?

[MrWalker]

On Australia Day my wife and I are going to walk Overland Track. We plan to do the whole length including walking along the lake St Clair and not taking ferry in 2 days. I've studied the description of OT and think that the recommended 6 days walking time is WAY OVER what is really needed to walk this track comfortably. Walking with the average speed of say 4 km/h for 8-9 hrs a day (which is not much) plus say 1-2 hrs rest time gives maximum of 11 hrs of active time. Plus we need to carry much less food and a little water - my understanding there are plenty of creeks and little lakes there. So with the 15 kilo backpack it shouldn't be that difficult to keep the intended scheduler. We must anyway otherwise or return tickets to Sydney will be wasted.

You're right that it is possible. I have walked (not run) over 40km on separate day walks at each end of the track (averaging about 4.1kph, so consistent with your planned speed). However, I would not want to do that much two days in a row and some sections near the middle may slow you up a bit. My day-pack is about 8kg to your 15kg since I carry enough spare stuff so that if I am caught out overnight I'll survive until the next day, but I don't need a sleeping bag and two days food. Water can be collected at the huts or streams but you still need to carry a couple of litres to get you between watering points. You'll be walking down the lake in the dark, since Mt Olympus blocks the sun from about 6pm.

The question is whether you might better spend your two days somewhere else. A day trip to Walls of Jerusalem, Mt Field or the Tasman Peninsular Capes would be better value if you want to walk fast but see some great scenery, without being locked into a schedule that could not easily be modified.