The 2023?!?! Cyclical totals discussion thread.

[Jim]

How are things progressing this year? In keeping with the idea that you are only as good as the numbers you post, I'm up to 61,436' of elevation for the year and a modest 132 miles.

Added August 2019: Looking back 10 years later, I honestly can't think of anything more offensive or unhealthy to say about one's hiking, than the above statement. Thats was my OP in 2009. Hiking should never just be about the stats recorded.

January 31, 2023: Have at it.

[Jim]

Why not do Pusch Peak then? Thats a lot like Elden.

[Tough_Boots]

I would imagine all those people live very close to those trails and do them as part of their daily/weekly exercise routine. I might do the same thing if one of those places were convenient. Instead, I've recently taken up neighborhood runs and started logging them (mostly to keep that pesky Bart01 behind me ). To be honest even if I lived close to Piestewa or Camelback, I don't think you'd find me hiking them very often. There's something about crowds that really ruin hiking for me. Also, on another note... I know a few HAZ folks that do both these hikes a couple times a week and do not log them just as quite a few HAZ folks don't log anything. For some of us, the totals push us to do more and for some it wreaks of competition. Personally, I probably wouldn't have dropped 45 lbs in the last year without it.

[Jim]

Hmm, I'd still want to know what i was doing even if it wasn't public. Competing? I guess that's perspective. I don't think you would call me a competitive guy, but I could be wrong. OCD is more like it. ;)

For me, it started when I realized I wasn't logging all of my hikes and I saw that if I did, I could easily break 100,000'. Miles were never very high or big to me. When I passed, 200,000 with ease, I wanted to keep going, so to speak. It's like any of the stuff here, from a thread you don't like to a photoset you don't care about: if you don't care you can choose not to pay attention.

[fricknaley]

i probably should do it more. two major reasons i don't..

1. i find it unbearable in the heat (although romero is probably just as bad and i do that routinely)
2. the descent can be a real pumpkin on my knees

[Jim]

That descent is really rough. And when I did it in the low 90s,I thought the heat too much.

[imike]

tracking elevation, and mileage to a much lessor degree, gives me an indicator of what shape I am in... and also dictates what shape I am progressing for... I know if I log a 60,000' month I'm in decent shape; If I take the time to log 100,000' I have a chance to progress to an upper level of conditioning that would allow me to enjoy some of the harder hiking challenges. I know in 2009 when we hiked Mt. Whitney we had a crazy easy day of hiking and shared the trail with hundreds of others who were in serious hurt... those logged miles that summer made for that level of conditioning.

I train by progressive hours and progressive elevation gains... logging them on the site keeps me honest on the training.

[uphill_junkie]

I wonder what the other top 5ers, who are all well above me in both elevation and mileage, would do if they found themselves with out their regular hike?

I would have to re-join a gym, and count the floors of stairs I climb with the dogs in the summer at the high rise...........?????!!!!!

[imike]

Geez... just noticed that Joe went out and beat out my 2009 elevation totals... by 1,000'!! ...and in a year when I'm sick and injured... now, is that sporting? What would it take to set the mark high enough so that I could kick back and rest for a few years? 700,000'.... 900,000'... 1,100,000'? 4,000' feet per day has a certain alluring ring to it...

[Jim]

Make a cool mile a day. Guarantees a deserved rest for a year after that kind of gain.

I expect to be kicked out of the top 5 in the next month, and I wonder if the top 5 slots will all end up belonging to people who hiked over 300,000' in 2011. Looks to be that way.

[imike]

Make a cool mile a day. Guarantees a deserved rest for a year after that kind of gain.

..

Mile per day... maybe with one rest day per week? That does have a nice ring to it. Gives a shot at a 1,500,000 year total. That should do it... unless it over inspires some youngun's out there...

[Jim]

Maybe some of the other folks, but 5000' is my upper limit on a big hike, usually for a week, and definetly if going down is involved. No way I can make that much elevation. I nearly made 300,000' last year. That was hard at times.

[azbackpackr]

I agree, I hate going down if it's a long way. It kills my feet. I liked your idea of shuttling that car to the top of the Lemmon, so you could hike up it, and not have to hike down it. I'm working on that for later this fall. I think I can get someone to pick me up on the top of Mt. Lemmon.

[Jim]

If I lived down there, I would buy a pass to the State Park and try to hike that as an uphill shuttle once a month or so. Nothing is better for the body than a relatively low impact, uphill hike over a decent mileage. You still get some downhill, so you do use those muscles and stress your joints a little, which keeps them in some shape, but you aren't going to need a new knee in 5 years like I would if I went down that elevation 9 times a year or so.

[PaleoRob]

Not that I care much about elevation, nor are my stats terribly exciting, but it is looking like I'll break 200 miles sometime in October. This is good, because it gives me a shot at putting in more miles than I did last year, and I told myself I would get myself something cool if I broke 200 miles this year.

[azbackpackr]

Not that I care much about elevation, nor are my stats terribly exciting, but it is looking like I'll break 200 miles sometime in October. This is good, because it gives me a shot at putting in more miles than I did last year, and I told myself I would get myself something cool if I broke 200 miles this year.

Good! But everyone wants to know what cool thing you are going to buy...

[Jim]

A Segway?

[PaleoRob]

A tattoo of a dinosaur skeleton that I have wanted for years.

[azbackpackr]

A tattoo of a dinosaur skeleton that I have wanted for years.

Ah. And, dare I ask where this will be placed?

[PaleoRob]

Across my shoulders on my back. Hidden from general view, just like the rest of mine.

[imike]

You still get some downhill, so you do use those muscles and stress your joints a little, which keeps them in some shape, but you aren't going to need a new knee in 5 years like I would if I went down that elevation 9 times a year or so.

...way back in the mid 90's everyone told me I was going to blow out my knees if I continued to do multiple loops on Finger Rock trail (8,000-12,000' in a day), and eventually I did quit, thinking that age has to be a factor... but later, reviewing the science that I thought might apply, I came back to that pattern again, and from what I can tell, my knees are stronger and more resilent now than 20 years ago... it is probably an individual issue, but I don't think I'm all that unique...?