HikeArizona.COM

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.

nonot wrote:I use the excuse that my miles and AEG is more difficult than most.

it is so true that all miles and all AEG s are not equal. My GPS unit keeps logging me off as resting on my canyon climbs... during the times when I'm working the hardest! Miles, in general, are pretty easy, as is AEG if scored below 550' per mile. Out and back route drops that into the 275' range for the average per mile. Get below 300' per mile (avg 150') and it becomes runnable... go out for a nice 30 miler and you pick up 4500' without hardly knowing you ever went up a hill. Hit that nice 1000' per mile route, and you do some impressive leg work!

joe bartels wrote:Yet it's not an exciting thing as I can barely hang with the top dogs.

Wait...I thought you were the top dog.

rlrjamy wrote:

joe bartels wrote:Yet it's not an exciting thing as I can barely hang with the top dogs.

Wait...I thought you were the top dog.

Top Dog, and yet still so Humble... you gotta admire that!

From looking at the elevation rankings, we all seem to be set in our respective ranks from 1st to 12th place. Someone would have to stop hiking or really ramp up the activity to move into a higher rank. With less than 9,000' needed to make my year's goal (as of today) of 275,000', it seems pretty likely that I will be able to meet it. I know it isn't 300,000' or more, but when not too long ago I thought 250,000' was really lofty, it is nice that 275,000' is not far off.

On the chance someone notices my total elevation jumped up over 1 million feet, I'll tell you I went back and logged (hidden) a bunch of individual hikes that I remember doing, all from 2006 and 2007 when I didn't log trips normally. I only logged those I remember clearly and it put me over 1 million vertical feet hiked. I really wanted to get there, officially. There were many more hikes I did not log as I don't remember them, so I am higher than what is record, but whatever. I just wanted to officially be over 1,000,000 feet in elevation, and I am now. I did not cheat though, as these were hikes I really did do, I just never recorded them until today (March 24, 2011).

Who knew there was a 189.3939393939 mile-high club?

In the top 5 elevation category for 2011, 3 members are getting close to 300,000 feet this year. Pretty impressive. Will we see 3 members go over 500,000' or even 600,000' for 2011? The #4 elevation holder and everyone thereafter after is so far well under 200,000' and in no danger of competing seriously with these 3 gods of elevation this year. This observer asks, where is Imike in this?

Jim_H wrote:This observer asks, where is Imike in this?

I wonder if he has been badly affected by closures. It seems like the NM forests closed earlier and stayed that way.

182 miles, 48k AEG

I told myself I would have higher numbers. 300 miles is the goal for the end of the year.

164 miles and 14k elevation. I'm hoping to break 200 miles by the end of the year. I could care less about elevation.

Ah, alas... after an injury/illness plagued 2010 I was really looking forward to going back to some all out efforts. Instead I opened the year up with a blown shoulder. Oddly, while I cannot left the arm, it is not too distracting... I could hike, but during the night it creates just enough pain to wake me up during the varied sleeping cycle; end result: I am not fully rested in the morning. Normally, I awake around 4am full of energy... and am out the door ten minutes after I get up. It is easy to hit those days of repeat efforts. Instead, I lack the energy for even a repeat day... that nice, high energy gave me those big numbers. Going into the seventh month now... shoulder not looking any better.

I did decide last week that I could at least hike flatland (I hate it!!) and score the number one slot for mileage for the year. I was supposed to start out with ten miles daily this month, move up to 15 in August, 20 in September and maybe 25 in October. I mean, how hard could it be to slog out 4-5mph miles on level ground?! But, two days ago I was feeling good and decided to bump this month up to the 15 mile per day level... and burned out the bottom of both feet!! Silver dollar sized blisters... I'm limping around... hopefully will be back on some kind of tract next week. Okay... I'm old... and dumb!!

If, when I fully recover... I'll crack 500,000' and maybe think about a round 1,000,000' year. That aint this year!

Ya'll have fun.

Just looked at my totals. I should hit one million feet aeg logged total within the next 2-3 months....

fricknaley wrote:I should hit one million feet aeg logged total within the next 2-3 months...

wow. you rock. :worthy:

don't forget to sing the song (I wanna be a millionaire... it's really a song about hiking) just before you reach the milestone

Thinking about getting up early tomorrow and hitting up the mountain for a hike - that'll boost my stats if nothing else.

The Zen hiker knows that it is not about the stats, it's about the journey and the experience. That said, I should pass 200,000 vertical this week. I have no idea where I'll end up for the year, but I do think that 225,000' is practically guaranteed and 250,000' is not out of the question. With my knee and other things I expect that 300,000' is not going to occur. Even 275,000' is not something I expect to come close to. Thats OK, though.

Spurred by someone trying to get over 100,000' this year, and the two of us discussing the top 5 to 10 elevation people, I looked at the top 5 and noticed that we all seem to do 1 hike very often. For the Phoenix people, it's Piestewa Peak, for me it's been Elden, and in Tucson it's that Tumamoc Hill. Curiously, once you leave the top 5 on elevation, the others in the top ten do a wider variety of hikes with no obvious regular hike, not a variety and a regular exerciser. Most have still gotten over 200K for the year. With Elden and Humphrey out of the picture for easy access, I expect I won't be in the top 5 or 10 in 2012. Probably will go over 100K, but 150K is not too likely. Living with lowered totals is something I'll have to learn to deal with. At least if I continue to make a modest 8,000' to 10,000' a month, I should be able to make between 250 and 260K this year. It would be a bad year if I didn't top 250. This makes me question if miles will be my focus, becuase in general, mileage is not as interesting to me as peaks and peaks with decent elevation gain.

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've done romero pools 43 times so far this year. that's kind of a lot but not over the top i guess

Thats a lot, but you seem to do a lot of other large gain hikes.

yeah, i do it when i don't otherwise have much time (before work, work/call weekends). otherwise i like to stretch my legs more a bit. actually i wish it had more of a gain to it