How many miles can one travel in a day?

[freyar]

Haven't had time to read the whole thread, so apologies if this is not what you want or has already been provided.

As a teenager, I hiked a 75-80 mile trip in mountains over 2 weeks, though a couple of days were taken as rests from hiking, putting the average at about 8 miles a day with a 30-35 lb pack (a bit more than 1/4 of my weight at the time). But we were usually done before a late lunch. Some of these days had a lot of vertical change, too.

On another trip, our group got lost due to a faulty map and ended up hiking from probably 9AM to 6PM or so with only a few short breaks, again in mountains. After we found our way back and figured out where we'd been, we guessed that our hike that day (still had a couple of miles to go the next morning) was around 20 miles, again encumbered with similar backpacks. May have been a little more or less, though. This hike also had a lot of up-and-down to it.

The other useful example from my own experience is once hiking with my family in the Rockies 9 miles each way to get lunch. It wasn't too much in the way of elevation change, though, and we weren't encumbered except with water, some snacks, and probably some guide books.

 

[S'mon]

Check your sources. Certainly wasn't the case when I was in the army.

It was in an "On War" article by William S Lind a few years ago. He was referring to assessed capacity to march with equipment, unsupported by vehicles, and fight. It was in connection with the possibility of US forces in Iraq losing oil supply in case of a Shi'ite uprising or Iranian attack severing the supply line from the Gulf, and whether they could fight their way out without vehicle support.

 

[CharlesRyan]

It was in an "On War" article by William S Lind a few years ago. He was referring to assessed capacity to march with equipment, unsupported by vehicles, and fight.

i know we're getting off topic here, but from first-hand experience I'd have to disagree with him. I was light infantry, and marching with all equipment and supplies, unsupported by vehicles, and fighting, was what we did.

 

[Bluenose]

For an extreme example of what people are capable of, see this story. Of course, that's with all their equipment being transported for them.

 

[luckless]

For an extreme example of what people are capable of, see this story. Of course, that's with all their equipment being transported for them.

And "often running relay style", meaning most of them drove a good chuck of the trip. Without a complete data set of who ran when and how far, you can't draw many solid conclusions from that article about how far a human can be pushed over an extended period.

 

[S'mon]

i know we're getting off topic here, but from first-hand experience I'd have to disagree with him. I was light infantry, and marching with all equipment and supplies, unsupported by vehicles, and fighting, was what we did.

Yes, Lind's statement didn't distinguish between different combat elements or say what level he was talking about. My guess would be he was referring to Divisional level; since he was talking about large-scale warfighting. There may also have been hyperbole. I know he claimed US light infantry wasn't really 'light' enough to act as Jaeger type forces chasing the enemy on foot over rough terrain, but I have no idea how accurate his claims are.

 

[Haltherrion]

I think that the average unburdened person walks about 3 miles an hour on a nice, flat, level surface. Assuming a reasonable travel day of 8 effective hours gives about 24 miles/day. The eight hours of travel are spread over perhaps 10-12 hours of actual time due to rest breaks, stops to eat, etc. The amount of weight carried and the roughness of the terrain could greatly reduce this, of course.

BTW, in AD&D Movement equated to miles per half day, so 24 miles per day at MV 12". Pretty much in line with the above.

That seems pretty fast for me. I'd allow that on a well maintained road but not for most other circumstances. Someone in shape on a good trail can do 3 to 3.5 mph but you need to take off for breaks. Then you also need to consider whether you are measuring trail miles versus two points on a map because almost nothing runs in a straight line and in moderately hilly terrain deviation from straight can be dramatic. If there are no trails, effective travel is much lower in most terrain (perhaps not on a dry lake bed ) and not just due to bushwhacking: you lose time due to backtracking, extra rests due to not just the bushwhack but the human tendancy to take too steep a path, etc.

So, in some terrain, you might spend all day going between 2 points a few miles apart and in others you could go 24 miles or more.

From my personal hiking experience, with good trials 3 mph is fine (for me, without heavy packs ) but remember to account for how the trial meanders. Off trail, it could be 2.5 mph for fairly open terrain to 2 miles per day in terrible terrain and point to point. But most times for off-trial, I'd probably figure it as 8-10 miles per day. I remember some places in the rockies where no one hiked in certain valleys because of all the deadfalls. Progress was horrible and it was better to go far around it. Most mountains, if you are off trail, you should expect a fair amount of backtracking. Flat woodland without a lot of undergrowth, you can zip along (if you don't get lost )