Ask HN: Are you hiking? How old are you and how many kilometers can you Hike?

I think you can get better quickly. Do it regularly. A small walk everyday would be perfect, but if you can't, a few times a week would work too.

I bet you'd be able to walk until you are bored instead of tired soon enough (unless you are never bored, but if you can be, listening to podcasts could be a way to go).

Walking in a city can be exhausting because of the concrete, the noise, the heat and the traffic.

I can walk for hours no problem. Elevation gain or loss and the sun counts more than simply the distance.

Being hydrated helps a lot. Good shoes too.

Good walk!

my age still starts with a number less than 4.

To me, hiking means self supported long travel, possibly with an overnight and certainly with a pack that has food and supplies for a day. Daypack weight no more than 5-6kg, multi-day pack under 14kg if i can manage it (but will depend on if i've topped up on water recently)

That’s not the same as waking around a city, which usually involves much less stuff on your back, and sneakers not more technically-oriented shoes.

i’m good for about 20km/day in wilderness (class 1/2), substantially farther on class 0 (gravel paths, dirt roads,habitable places…), substantially less on class 3,4. (and i climb at about 5.9 lead/.10a follow)

https://www.sierra.com/blog/hiking/hiking-classes-defined/

I tend to prefer a bicycle to walking in towns and cities, so I don't really know how far i can walk, but it's a ways.

Like anything, routine practice and habit get you a long way. My parent is in their seventies and walks 10-15k around the neighborhood every day after breakfast. Goes through shoes pretty fast!

I don't think about hiking purely in terms of kilometers. I try to enjoy the views, the food break, some good audiobook, sometimes a swim break if it is coastal or by a lake. It is not just about stats, but more about how it makes you feel during and after.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of good shoes!

My 80 year old father regularly hikes, 4 hours is his minimum. Up hills too. Its very healthy, low impact, burns calories, cardio and hills for strength.

Much. Form gets better when you start walking more often.

Remember to not overdo it and to take breaks; hikes don't have to be long.

Get good shoes, this can make a huge difference. Apart from that it's just staying consistent and walking as much as possible and you'll be able to do over 20km pretty soon (depending on your current fitness ofc)

You will, as with any new exercise have a fast development the first few months. First the nervous system will just spin up and figure out what you are doing and that will and allow you to walk more, then your cardio will improve and lastly you muscles will adapt.

The beginner gains are the most fun :)

Walking in a city you can easily do 5-7km/h but when hiking in a forest or mountains your speed will be more like 2-4km/h.

Keep walking

I'm up to 8 miles of what they call moderate hikes and it tires me satisfactorily.

Between 2008 and 2012 I had gotten extremely lethargic and sedentary. In 2012 I started walking - could do 2 miles at best. I gradually got up to doing 5 miles and easy biking over those years. After that I started hiking in the mountains - long easy ones first and now I'm up to easily doing 8 miles moderate ones. (Heat makes it more miserable for me than anything else so I go early in the mornings.)

I am 50 and don't look at it as a competitive thing - just something to stay active and feel good.

Also 100% agree with the comment below on getting good shoes that fit you well. You do not want to get foot or back pain. Also avoid walking on concrete pathways.

You will get better pretty quickly if you keep at it. Hopefully you live near a place where you have a bit of elevation gain for your hikes. Another thing that I’ve found helps a lot is squats and deadlifts. I would say the main thing that sets my hiking ability apart from my friends is I have much stronger legs.

I'm a desk jockey in my late 50's, and have fallen in with other 40- and 50-somethings who will do multi-day 8-12 mile hikes on the Appalachian Trail. I am, by far, the slowest of the group and depend heavily on their experience and support.

I'd say working your way up, a little at a time, is essential. Have a look at this recent article by another walker of cities, Chris Arnade:

https://walkingtheworld.substack.com/p/how-to-walk-12-miles-...

40+, a bad knee (I think I will need a cleaning of my meniscus soon) and enjoying hiking. Tomorrow we are leaving for a nearly 100km hike between 900 and 2900m with the complete family, our sons are 9, 13 and 15, done over a week, sleeping in Hütten/refuges.

It means that you too can do it, but start slowly. Simply start walking[0] and ensure that you reduce your overweight if you have some. Combine it with regular strength workout, maybe 30 minutes 2 or 3 times a week.

The most important part is that you must find your fun in walking. Find something interesting you (mapping, birds, architecture or simply thinking about stuff) while you walk.

Reinhold Messner used to quote one of his good friends: "Hiking is the art of suffering". So yes, you suffer a bit on the way and some people cannot stand it, some enjoy it.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31250001

I'm 58 and my wife is two years younger. We do a few short hike each month, maybe up to 6km about 3 hours (often with our dog). We also do longer ones 3 or 4 times a year, maybe 10 to 15km, 300m ascent in about 6 hours. We just enjoy the scenery and identify plants, enjoy rock formations and the occasional run into fauna. Just take your time and maybe a friend to keep you motivated.

The physical side of things does improve as you learn about muscles you didn't know you had. Before we started doing it more regularly, I complained a bit about my knees and ankles - not so much now. Also get appropriate footwear - we've been pretty happy with what Merrell and Keen have on offer (and also Teva Sandles for summer walks)

With practice, I’m sure you can become as good as you can imagine. Habit forming is the trick, in my experience, prioritizing it and sticking to it. It might help to focus on ways to enjoy hiking, by starting small and having goals. Do easy 2km hikes somewhere beautiful or fun once a week until you’re longing to go harder and further, and then increase your length & difficulty slowly. You can set a destination. In the city, maybe your destination is a new sandwich shop across town, and you can enjoy some lunch and be less exhausted.

I’m also in my 40s. My typical day hikes are around 10km in the mountains, but I like to walk around in the city as well. Some hikes are shorter (~3km), and some are occasionally longer (~20km) if I have all day. On summer nights, instead of sitting on the couch, I like to download a movie and take a “Netflix walk”. In the mountains, I like exploring and seeing new places. My longest hike was about 80km through a mountain range. I went with a friend and it took 3 days because our packs had about 20kg of camping gear and food. That’s more backpacking than hiking, but I guess I’m saying that once you’re hiking a lot and you really enjoy it you can hike as far as you want, the limiter might be more time & motivation than distance.

Hiking is good exercise, and an exercise that you can continue to do throughout your lifetime.

I distinctly remembering as a sixth grader camper watching in utter disbelief as a 70 yo man charged up the mountain ahead of us while us kids lagged behind, and whined how tired out our legs were.

As for age ... I can hike better and further now as a non-smoker in my later forties than I did when I was in my twenties and smoking a pack a day.

I hiked the pct, 4000 km.

58yo and walk around 5km daily with the wife on trails. (We're in SoCal, so it's always sunny.) Sometimes I tack on another 5-10km jogging.

Very good for physical and mental health.

Im quite young(under 21) but hiking as been a huge outlet for my stress. During the first lockdown, weekly hiking was my time of self care. Its also super good for your cardio vascular system. My Vo2 Max raised around 10-15 points from hiking alone along with my overall speed. Hiking is also one of those thing where it indirectly teaches you life skills; sometimes zigzags are the fastest route or slow and steady is faster then going fast and taking breaks.

In my 30's. I do roughly 30-40km a day with around 20kg pack.

If you want to get better, load water or any weight into a bag and walk around hilly areas.

You can certainly do 20-25 kms/day if you work on it for 6-12 months.

50km is achievable in a day.

You can get a lot better at it, if you want. Start slow and ramp up slow or you will end up with foot and leg issues. In a few years you'll be walking over mountains.

I’m an avid hiker , but I’m also 44. I can hike 8k on a daily basis but occasionally do longer backpacking trips where I hike 20k a day for a few days. These trips tire me out though and it takes a few days to recover. Keep at it. It’s a great way to see Nature

I'm in the middle between forty and fifty. I hike a lot, all year around (winter preferably), mostly in mountains. I do up to 40 km (it gets tiring above 30) per day with a backpack, around 30 km per day on skis with a pulk.

To get better - just hike a lot. And consider running to improve your legs stamina and cardio fitness.

My father's 87 (born 1935) and walks at a stiff pace roughly 8 to 10 km every morning (leaving at 4 am) on a varying route sometimes with or without farm dogs.

He also maintains a section roughly 20 km in length of a 1,000 km long walking track here in Western Australia. That's edge cleanups, fire safety, hut upkeep, occassional footbridge construction, etc.

I hike a bit (I've done a few big walks in Tasmania and New Zealand, here in Australia .. and various parts of the world in a job related capacity (mapping, suryeying, geophysics, etc)) .. but I'm strictly small beer next to the old fellow.