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.

...my mountain biking miles/elevation have not been adding into this month's totals on the Annual Analysis... and biking is what I'm mostly doing June and July. I switch back to long, steep hikes in August. I'd be about over 200,000' if those added in... instead of the 176,000'... the miles on the bike are easy; the elevation gain is another issue. I think I prefer to keep the biking miles/elevation off the comparative, or have a selection to include it as an optional review.

Its funny that way, miles on a bike are easy, but elevation gain can be hard if its really long. On foot, I find miles to be annoying or hard, but elevation to be easy or rewarding and fun.

Alright, it's been revamped to

Hiking
Backpacking
Canyoneering
Running

No need to check your History anymore, it's automatic when posting.

I recalculated this year.

jhodlof wrote:Its funny that way, miles on a bike are easy, but elevation gain can be hard if its really long. On foot, I find miles to be annoying or hard, but elevation to be easy or rewarding and fun.

Whoa, I find it totally the opposite. I can book 20 miles a day, no issue. But throw in more than a little gain a day, and I start huffing. I'm okay on shorter slopes, but if it is constant throughout the hike, it becomes less fun.

joe bartels wrote:Alright, it's been revamped to Hiking/Backpacking/Canyoneering/Running.

Sweet, now us hikers aren't going up against bikes.
Poor Randal got bumped from like #3 to #54...
Now who's that grandcanyon dude in #3 with only 4 hikes for the year.

Thanks Joe

Hooray, I'm #61! Got a few trips that I haven't posted yet though. Might move me up to...#60. Maybe.

Wow, private logs are not shown, excuse me while I go log my hike to Mt Everest and back, beginning from Phoenix of course. Since this post yesterday at least two people gained magically a hundred miles or more...

Yea, some of those guys mileage calculations are a little off like grandcanyon and lb4449

Vaporman wrote:Yea, some of those guys mileage calculations are a little off like grandcanyon and lb4449

I think they just have hidden hikes.

You can tell if someone has hidden hikes. On their profile the total hikes number may say 90 but only 5 hikes will be listed.

Gotcha, that make perfect sense...

In the past stats were calculated by viewing History. When I recalculated the 2009 totals there was about 200 members that had not viewed their History. As Wally said you can see how many hidden hikes they have simply by looking at their profile. If anybody wants to be concerned or rant about anything I would look at those that post GPS AEG. However there's little to be concerned about anyways. Generally people at the top of the list are more interested in recording true information than those at the bottom of the list. I'm not going to check a zillion members triplogs but I can assure you those in the top 10 are kosher.

Is GPS AEG that far off? Seems more accurate than someone just guessing that their supes (or anywhere) hike felt like a lot of ups and just guessing.

the aeg for any given hike is usually automatically calculated at time trip is submitted. for most hikes i do, that follow the described trip about 75%, i'll go to a MAP for the 25% off-trail or additional hiking i did during the outing. then, just add that extra distance/aeg to my triplog when i create it. im not too caring of the distance, elevation changes, or whatever else matters while keeping track of ones "history" but i was curiously trying to see if i would break 500 mi. this year. doesnt look like im gonna. the nice thing tho, is the majority of my backpacked miles are new territory, which i think, is the point of hiking in the first place, to see what AZ has to offer. Im not the guy who will hike a mountain 36 times in a row just to rack up elevation or to stay in shape or whatever. i think the secret, hidden canyons and peaks in AZ are worth a 1 hour drive!
enjoy Italy dude.

My watch actually does a better job of estimating total elevation gained and lost over a trip than my GPS in almost all circumstances.

te-wa wrote:the majority of my backpacked miles are new territory, which i think, is the point of hiking in the first place, to see what AZ has to offer. Im not the guy who will hike a mountain 36 times in a row just to rack up elevation or to stay in shape or whatever. i think the secret, hidden canyons and peaks in AZ are worth a 1 hour drive!
enjoy Italy dude.

I'll drink to that. Except I'll drive more than 1 hour. And I'll do a mountain many times, I just don't post every time unless I have something to say about it.

And definitely -
buon fortuna
sta brava

davis2001r6 wrote:Is GPS AEG that far off? Seems more accurate than someone just guessing that their supes (or anywhere) hike felt like a lot of ups and just guessing.

It depends on how you post-process it. There can be momentary glitches in the 100s of percents. If you filter those out, the best you can hope for is about 10%. You can get much closer by using a hand-corrected GPS track on a topo map.

te-wa wrote:the aeg for any given hike is usually automatically calculated at time trip is submitted. for most hikes i do, that follow the described trip about 75%, i'll go to a MAP for the 25% off-trail or additional hiking i did during the outing. then, just add that extra distance/aeg to my triplog when i create it. im not too caring of the distance, elevation changes, or whatever else matters while keeping track of ones "history" but i was curiously trying to see if i would break 500 mi. this year. doesnt look like im gonna. the nice thing tho, is the majority of my backpacked miles are new territory, which i think, is the point of hiking in the first place, to see what AZ has to offer. Im not the guy who will hike a mountain 36 times in a row just to rack up elevation or to stay in shape or whatever. i think the secret, hidden canyons and peaks in AZ are worth a 1 hour drive!
enjoy Italy dude.

You do have to differentiate between people who go hike something like Camelback every day just to show off and people who are severely restricted by schedule, family commitments, etc. I might only have three hours to hike on a given weekend. Two hours of driving are out. I have a coworker who goes and runs the same three trails every couple of days because they're conducive to running. Based on that he wouldn't be taken for a "hiker" though he just went up Denali this year. Both of us probably wish we could go and do what te-wa and others with more flexibility do on a regular basis, but I refuse to accept my average experience in the outdoors as less rewarding, regardless.

I actually don't think there's anything wrong at all with going and hiking something like Blackett's three times a week for a few months to get into shape to go do a longer hike or just be stronger outdoors. The vast majority of the people we hike past on the popular trails who never go beyond the first mile or so are just there to get a little exercise in the outdoors.

I just have to chime in with a laugh at how y'all have made hiking a competitive sport 'roun here!

One of the main reasons I like hiking so much is because the only one I even feel the need to compete with is moi. She's a tough girl to beat, but I keep trying! I think everyone who logs hikes here is awesome - we're out there, appreciating our recreational lands, making a stronger argument for their value every day. KEEP IT UP!!!

I have to admit, however, that I was a bit tickled just to find myself on the first page (for mileage and elevation at least).

I try and log every time I hike, raft, ride, etc., because I am curious how much I end up doing a year, and this is a great way to keep track of it, as well as discover new trails and great people of course.