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.

Jason Cleghorn wrote:
Have a goal of taking at least 1 Fri-Sun trip up into California if someone's interested in a backpacking trip in '16.

I couldn't make any promises because of how booked my summer in 16 already is, but Rae Lakes Loop has been on my list since I first saw the Sierra Nevada in the summer.

Highly doubt I will break 300 miles this year and my AEG is half of what it was in year's past. But was able to sustain a personal relationship for almost 10 months now, so will take that over mileage and AEG any day.

SpiderLegs wrote:...was able to sustain a personal relationship for almost 10 months now, so will take that over mileage and AEG any day.

I'll takes miles and AEG over a personal relationship. Especially at this time of year, and in about 7 week in middle February.

Now that there is snow I'm getting as much reverse AEG AS POSSIBLE! I might even be able to get below 100,000' for the year by next week if there was a way to log it. It's 10 degrees with a wind chill of -10 I should be able to take a big chunk out my totals today.

@MtnBart01
No less than -30K per day or you're spending too much time sitting on a lift!

@joe bartels Amy (Uphill Junkie) and I were discussing on T Hill this morning, about 2015, the work and miles. I blame it on Jim_H; he suggested about me hitting 3000 mile for the year in April. I really didn't give it serious consideration until the end of June when I realized that I was on track to do it. So game on, right?

I can tell you, as I did to her this morning, that my legs are, and have been heavy (since August) I am not as strong as I had been, I am tired. Have lost muscle mass (GF and massage therapist comment frequently). However I am within goal and should reach goal. I looked back at my year, I had 7 "rest days". Two were from being ill, two were from back issues ( almost chronic from AEG) , two were from hangovers and one was a travel day. This was the year of "over-training". Looking forward to some weekly easy and rest days.

Gonna be scaling back a whole bunch in 2016

MrBadBern wrote:Looking forward to some weekly easy and rest days.

Well deserved! Of course you still gotta get out on occasion to enjoy a great conversation with f-bomb Amy

@joe bartels
She was on her very best behavior.

MrBadBern wrote: Gonna be scaling back a whole bunch in 2016

Are you planning to do what Johnlp did a few years ago?

I couldn't help but notice that the hiking elites of HAZ, or those who hike and log consistently, are hogging all the AEG for themselves. This oligarchy of top 3%ers who are mostly in the top 8 or 9 spots, are well, well above those below this level, and there is a substantial gap of AEG forming between these elitists, and those who are in the bottom 97%, or so, certainly the hiking middle class, who are struggling to make AEG goals meet, and are often happy to achieve a mere 150k or 225k, but usually far lower.

In 2016, will there be any improvement in this, or will the the growing divide between those who achieve 300, 400, 500, 600, or even 700,000' of AEG or more, and those who struggle to get out and summit a slope, grow ever more apparent?

Jim_H wrote:I couldn't help but notice that the hiking elites of HAZ, or those who hike and log consistently, are hogging all the AEG for themselves. This oligarchy of top 3%ers who are mostly in the top 8 or 9 spots, are well, well above those below this level, and there is a substantial gap of AEG forming between these elitists, and those who are in the bottom 97%, or so, certainly the hiking middle class, who are struggling to make AEG goals meet, and are often happy to achieve a mere 150k or 225k, but usually far lower.

In 2016, will there be any improvement in this, or will the the growing divide between those who achieve 300, 400, 500, 600, or even 700,000' of AEG or more, and those who struggle to get out and summit a slope, grow ever more apparent?

Occupy HAZ! Fair distribution of AEG for all!!!

Feel the Bern!

@Jim_H Jim, unsure as to what he did.

He is one of several people who have put up big numbers in some years, only to fall off radically the next year or so.

After a chance display this morning, I saw he switched to bike riding, and has done over 10,000 miles this year, and 20,000 miles in the last 3 years.

@Jim_H Clearly, he has a monkey on his back.
Me too

Well, that is fine, as along as you aren't hurting yourself. How Joe, You, BobP, JJ3, Dave1, and a number of others have managed to hike as much AEG as you have in some years, but also without injury or damaging yourself, is something that I find very impressive. Even a flash in the pan 1 big year total is impressive, but year after year, after year! Maybe it is because of my flat feet, and that my feet, ankles, back, and knees can hurt after the downhill on a big hike, but I just can't sustain those sort of numbers. A few months in spring or fall, sure, but not year round. Plus, if you work, that makes it all the more difficult.

Not too long ago, people didn't seem to log every minor hike they did. I started to do that in 2008, and then the next year either others did, or they just started hiking more. 2010 and 2011 were pretty reasonable, with some people logging very sizable numbers, but aside from Joe and 1 or 2 others, nothing ridiculous. Then, all of the sudden, 2012 comes, and people start logging ridiculous numbers. For a couple of the last few years, 700,000 feet was getting to be normal. You've really come up a lot this year, but some people are starting to drop off. Will we ever see 1 million feet? Is it even reasonable to think we can?

There are people on listofjohn (pay $ite) that are over a million feet every year. Of course they live in Colorado, etc.

Jason Cleghorn wrote:There are people on listofjohn (pay $ite) that are over a million feet every year. Of course they live in Colorado, etc.

Back when I read the 14ers website forum, I recall someone claiming a similar thing. However, I doubt this. Colorado is really not a place to live to achieve 1 million feet of AEG a year. Not in my opinion, unless spending a lot of time traveling to achieve it. The reason is weather and terrain dependent, and there is always accuracy vs a claimed number, as most people also lived hours from the mountains, in the flat urban corridor of the front range urban nightmare.

It takes a lot of effort to consistently achieve that figure and with snow, monsoon storms, avalanche conditions in winter, spring corn and slop in the mountains, early fall snows, winds and poor hiking or climbing conditions at various times, and so on, the higher terrain is not actually as good as it is assumed to be, by many. If you can go on it slowly and safely in those conditions, it takes longer to achieve. Lower and mid-level terrain might be used, but much of that is affected by the same conditions.

1 million feet a year is 19,230' a week, or 2,747' a day, but there can be extended periods with little to no activity for just weather, alone. Taking in to account life's other factors, it takes real determination to pull off. Badbern is out just about daily beating a fairly dull and very safe (paved ) hike to death, and still he reports his body taking a hit from this. He is living in a climate far more favorable, but is still far from 1 million. No, I call BS on those CO people claiming 1 million a year. I could see a southern Californian, a NW Baja Mexican, or an Arizonan doing it, but not many people in CO. There is an exception of some guy doing the Manitou to death, but that was a daily and exceptional achievement. So while a complete reversal of what I wrote in the previous statements, I still doubt the claims of numerous people summiting mountains to the level of 1,000,000' a year.

@Jim_H
There are people that do the incline daily and that dude that did all the 14'ers in record time this year probably would be able to do 1,000,000' I mean he did a minimum of 150'000'+ in less than 10 days. He also had to be in shape to do that so I doubt there is a huge amount of people in Colorado or any other place doing a million AEG a year, but there are more people in the incline club doing daily multiple laps up the incline than there are Haz people doing Piestewa, camelback, flatiron and T hill daily. 250 multiple trips in a year would yield 1000000' 300 sunny days a year. So I agree to an extent people summiting peaks are probably not getting 1,000,000' but although I don't do the incline regularly each time I've done it I have seen 2 or three of the same people on that pumpkin stairway no matter when I have done it and some of the people training for the PP Marathon run up to the Barr Camp and back pretty regularly.The woman that passed me running when I did Barr trail said she ran the marathon route 1x/ week which would be 395,000' for just that weekly run so I suspect the ones that approach or could achieve the 1000000' mark in my area don't give a feces about logging stuff on 14ers or the incline social website. Even my best month of April was done in a month when we got over 40" of snow so I doubt weather would play as big of a factor as you would think. Of course I was off for the entire month and if I would not have been anxiously awaiting the birth of our boy I no doubt would have been enjoying fresh tracks rather than hiking in powder. Not everyone is a cold a phobe in Co. as most Az hikers seem to be. The thing that might put a kink in my views of which I'm guilty is that a lot of people I meet in my area hike to to stay in shape and once ski/snowboard season hits I could give a feces about hiking and since I don't do the incline this time of year maybe all those regulars disappear for the slopes. I didn't log a single hike last year until the end of March.