Time & Distance Planning:

Its difficult to estimate hiking time accurately but you can adapt this method to you own pace over time and its a helpful starting point.

For Hiking & Lightweight backpacking you can assume each mile you travel on the flat will take about 30 minutes allowing for occasional short rests and adjustments to equipment.

Each 500ft of elevation gain will add an additional 15 minutes and you should assume downhill sections will take approximately the same as on the flat.

Going uphill consumes more energy than on the flat and as your pack weight increases to medium (~30Lb) to heavy (40+Lb) you will need to slow your rates particularly for uphill sections. You can probably add 5/10 minutes per 500ft for Med/Heavy packs.

For a 10 mile hike with a 20-25Lb pack and 1000Ft elevation gain you will need to allow 5 hours for the distance and further 30 minutes for the elevation for a total of approximately 5.5 hours hiking time. 

All these assume you are of normal fitness and fresh, on a very extended days hiking (>6 hrs) your rates will slow down and if you are hiking successive days your rates will also be slower.

Other considerations:

Your speed is affected by your physique, fitness and strength (and by that of your hiking partners!).

Rough terrain will also slow you down, this could be sandy/rocky or muddy/slippery surfaces or could be overgrown brush & undergrowth that slows/blocks your path - try to know what to expect. 

Rapid elevation changes will slow you down more - scrambling up scree or climbing very steep sections or even climbing down very steep sections will be both slower and consume more energy.

When the elevation gain approaches 1000ft / mile the ascent will be challenging and slower.

Energy use on your hike is related most directly to distance, weight and elevation gain/loss, using more energy may not slow you down if you are strong & fit but it will tire you more and steep uphill and downhill sections or carrying heavy pack weight will be more likely to give you aches & pains and tiredness the next day - a factor to consider on long hikes. Try to avoid back-to-back challenging hiking days.  

Hiking at higher elevations is also more tiring and slower due to less oxygen in the air - above 4000 feet above sea level most people will begin to slow down some will be affected at lower elevations.

Trying to hike faster or slower than is a natural fit for you (e.g. to stay with a group) will also be more tiring for you. Sometime you will do better to set meeting points for regrouping and pair with hikers of your own pace. if you do this make sure you allow the slower hikers to take a break when they get there - don't move off immediately when they arrive.

ACM 1/2007

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