UKC

Why, when hiking do so many people always seem to want to go as fast as they can to the evening's campsite and then stop and sit around? I go to the mountains to appreciate them. Surely that's the whole point. So if there's time I want to be able to stop during the day and take photos, look at any wildlife and arrive at a sensible time like 5 or 6 pm, but not 3 or 4. This always seems to create tension. It's got to the point where I prefer to just go on my own, although of course in some circumstances this may not be safe. Anyone else feel like this?

In reply to Arbu:

Different strokes for different folks I guess. You enjoy and perceive the outdoors in a different manner to those who you have been hiking with so there will no doubt be contention. In my experience a majority do want to arrive at camp at a quicker clip, with the main reasons being (of course this is dependent on the circumstances) getting camp set up in time (before dark etc.), getting food prepped etc. and generally enjoying camp without the rush. As you point out, there are safety issues sometimes attached to this, as mentioned before dark, not getting lost, maintaining pace to achieve mileage etc. (again, circumstance dependent). I would be in this group myself, though I am flexible to requirements of the members. If it is an alpine or mountain setting, then I would be stressed to unneccessarily lag behind.

If you wish to hike at your own pace, I am afraid to say that you have to either go by yourself or hike with like-minded people instead

In reply to Arbu:

Depends when dark is - I would want to be in camp a couple of hours before night fall to give time to cook/wash/pitch/kit sort in the light.

In reply to Arbu:

I’m with you there. I like to make the most of the weather and daylight so camping and bothy trips can result in long days. In winter I’m often up in the dark and heading off before first light. It can be challenging finding a camping pitch in the dark!

In reply to Arbu:


When you think about it, there really isn't a "point" to it. People get out of it what they want to get out of it.

In reply to Arbu:

The feeling of being at the camp (or the hut), having done literally everything you needed to do that day - is for me one of the only times I can truly relax. There's literally nothing left for you to do except breathe air and drift to sleep in a few hours - how great is that? Hope that helps explain some people's viewpoints (and that there are different ways of relaxing).

In reply to SenzuBean:

I agee entirely, when out on a trail and looking for a wild camp spot I like to find it in good time, wash, cook, eat in daylight........and then nothing. Complete relaxation, I can lie in my tent, doors open and totally zonk out to my surroundings.
But all this only works when alone on a wild camp, if i was on a campsite with others I fidget all the time to see what's going on.

In reply to Arbu:

Because they find it hard to walk at a slower pace, yet had to plan in time for unforeseen circumstances? OK they could stop to take photos, look at the views, but lots of stopping means getting cold.

In reply to Arbu:

"I once met a man who told me, at 11 a.m., that he had just been up the Charmoz. He seemed mightily proud of his performance, and undoubtedly had gone with extraordinary speed. "But why," I asked myself, "has he done it?" Can any one with eyes in his head, and an immortal soul in his body, care to leave the rugged beauty of the Charmoz ridge in order to race back to the troops of personally-conducted tourists who pervade and make unendurable the mid-day and afternoon at the Montenvers?

And this is not exceptional; at Zermatt one may frequently meet men, early in the day, who have wantonly left the most beautiful and inmost recesses of the Alps, the Gabelhorn, Rothhorn, or other similar peak, to hurry back to the brass bands and minstrels of that excursionist resort. The guideless climber does none of these things; rarely is he seen returning till the last lingering glow has died out of the western horizon. It is night, and night alone, that drives him back to the crowded haunts of the tourist. This love of living amongst the sunshine and upper snows is the true test of the enthusiast, and marks him off from the tribe of brag and bounce and from all the "doers of the Alps."

It must not be assumed that the love of mountains is to be regarded as the first of human duties, or that a man's moral worth can be determined by the usual time of his arrival at a mountain inn; but merely that the mountaineer, the man who can sympathise with every change of light and shadow and who worships the true spirit of the upper world, is distinguished from unregenerate imitators and hypocrites by these characteristics".

- A.F Mummery "My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus" - 1865

In reply to Fredt:





Bollocks. I've got a load of emails to deal with when I get down

In reply to Arbu:

I like to get the days walking done reasonably quickly if I can. Then I have time to find a camp site with an excellent view, cook my food at leisure and relax.

In reply to davidbeynon:

How many of you folks go bothying or camping in Winter? Arriving a couple of hours before sundown is a bit of an ask in January

In reply to Siward:

Winter is different. Then I expect everyone to move like they have a purpose in order to keep warm.

Different excuses, same result

Thanks, some good answers, particularly the quote. I suppose it might be a matter of experience too. I've done so much hiking that I'm very confident of what I can do in a day, and if there's something I want to stop for I have a good idea in my head about how much time I have left. So I'm happy to stop if I think I can. I suppose I can see the appeal in relaxing around a camp at the end of the day, but to me that's not reason enough to hurry there.

In reply to Fredt:

Well sometimes I like to do it like Mummery, but mostly I like to start really early, and be at my high point by midday (2 pm at latest) and get back early and relax. I most certainly do not like being caught in late afternoon thunderstorms.

In reply to John Stainforth:


would agree, nothing better than sitting in a valley bottom, brew in hand watching clouds bubble up where you were previously. It feels like you beat the weather.

In reply to Arbu:
I got back into walking about 20 years ago and set about visiting as many areas of the UK as possible. I only did day walks but always wore a watch and set times to be at certain places as well as a finish time target.
Then I attended a stress management course and described this to the tutor. He suggested trying a walk with the watch in the rucksack and only checking it at the end of the walk (I chose one that wasn't likely to get me benighted)
It transformed my enjoyment of the day - I took more pictures and saw more things - it was a complete revelation and I felt so much more relaxed afterwards.
I don't take a watch at all nowadays - just a mobile that I switch on to ring home and say I am down - Oh and note the time to see if the pubs are open.

In reply to Arbu:


What time do you start your walks?

If you set out at dawn you get to enjoy the best of the day, travel at a steady pace and complete your walk by mid-afternoon.

In reply to timjones:

It depends on circumstances, but regardless, if I got back by mid-afternoon I would feel that I was wasting too much of the day. If I know it's going to stay light until late I'm quite happy to get back at 8pm really. Late afternoon/early evening is good for photography.

I climbed Ben Lawers once and it was cloudy at the top. So I found a sheltered spot and went to sleep for a good hour. When I woke up the sun was coming out and I got some great views. I didn't get down until quite late but it was OK - I wasn't at all tired. Good job I was on my own - probably no-one else would have put up with that.

In reply to Arbu:

I guess it depends on where you're camping and the weather conditions, we recently got trapped in a storm shelter for (<1 hour), having taken a leisurely pace, a detour to see some ice caves and generally been enjoying the day, we were just approaching a mountain pass for lunch when storm clouds rolled in behind us. Despite legs being knackered from the day before, there is something remarkably refreshing about a wall of black clouds closing in on you.
After legging it over the pass and trundling down the scree/snow slope, we thought we might have dodged the worst of it, right on cue, the lightning started right above our heads and we dived under the storm shelter. An hour later, we started walking out in the drizzle and walked solidly for 2 hours to reach a bivvy (arriving at 6pm). Fortunately the rain had stopped, so we pitched, ate, fetched some snow and slept. If the rain had persisted, we would have had another 3-4 hour walk to town.
We probably could not have avoided the storm, but had we been less leisurely, we might have been further down from the pass and found a more comfy spot to sit out the storm, and not been on boulders in a scree slope that rumbled with the thunder.

In reply to Arbu:

The have been many times when going solo I've woken up with the sun and been on my way by six am. This gets me to the planned camp by mid afternoon so I can just chill or even nap.
I love the mountains and relaxing at camp is bliss.

In reply to Arbu:

Go hard or go home, mate.

Usually I just keep going until I realise that the next mountain/ridge would be too much. That way I can get more distance covered.

In reply to Oliver Houston:

Apparently sitting on a scree slope is a good place to be when lightning happens.