How much elevation can you comfortably cover in a day?

[sdogn8]

Out of shape and my only real hike of the year came in May bear hunting. We did 7.5 miles total. Descended from 5000 to 2200 in about 3.5 miles then back up. I’d say a majority of the elevation was in the 1.5-2 mile range and the rest being relatively flat. Safe to say I was absolutely beat, but got it done. If I was in better shape I’d think it’d be relatively easy. My hunting partners were a bit more prepared for the hike lol. It was also pouring rain, muddy, and slippery so that didn’t make things easier.

 

[maxwellh86]

Just got back from the brooks. 7 miles and 3000’ on the 8th and back down on the 10th, 5 miles and 1800’ on the 11th and back down same day quite heavy, 3000’ on the 14th and down on the 15th real heavy again.

 

[S.Clancy]

Last year in NV almost every mule deer stalk was 2-3K feet. Elk hunting we have done over 5K in a day, but average 2k or a little more. Ive hauled camp in 3K with 3 days of water. Shed hunting we average around 4K, usually 2-3 days in a row. I can sustain 3K+ for a while as long as I am moderating my pace. All this is off trail, most of it real, real steep (25-40 degrees).

Edit: This is daypack elevation gain.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Last year in NV almost every mule deer stalk was 2-3K feet. Elk hunting we have done over 5K in a day, but average 2k or a little more. Ive hauled camp in 3K with 3 days of water. Shed hunting we average around 4K, usually 2-3 days in a row. I can sustain 3K+ for a while as long as I am moderating my pace. All this is off trail, most of it real, real steep (25-40 degrees).

Edit: This is daypack elevation gain.

Reading this thread I immediately thought of early season NV. Had a tag this year and last. Every stalk is 3k off trail and takes 5+hrs. Throw in the heat, it wears you down pretty quick.

 

[S.Clancy]

Reading this thread I immediately thought of early season NV. Had a tag this year and last. Every stalk is 3k off trail and takes 5+hrs. Throw in the heat, it wears you down pretty quick.

Yea, my buddy was over it after 8 days last August haha.

 

[Fjellvei]

Lots of factors.... but take all the answers here and divide by 2 if there is 1' of snow

 

[mtwarden]

Lots of factors.... but take all the answers here and divide by 2 if there is 1' of snow

good point, no one has touched on snow- a skiff can make it slippery, more than a skiff will significantly add to the elevation gain suck

 

[Clarktar]

Yea, my buddy was over it after 8 days last August haha.

8 days. I'd last two.

In general 2000-3000 is pretty good for me daily. A spot I used to hunt regularly (and thus served as a baseline test most years) was 3100 ft. over 3 miles with the middle mile only have 500 feet of gain.

As long as it's 50 degrees or cooler I can plod along. As the mercury rises, my plodding pace, and attitude, plummet.

Anything over 4000 ft in a day is starting to get pricey for me. If it's a repeat affair chances are I'm camping where I glass and trying my damnest to not drop down elevation to get water.

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[S.Clancy]

good point, no one has touched on snow- a skiff can make it slippery, more than a skiff will significantly add to the elevation gain suck

A foot of snow makes 2000 ft of gain a max effort!!! Never again....

 

[amassi]

On trail no problem doing a couple k gain and loss.
In blow down roughly 95 feet of gain, 87 feet loss

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[cnelk]

In 2019, Sept 6, I climbed 1000’ from 10,000 to 11,000 in a mile and killed my bull.
Quartered him up and took the first load down.
Called a buddy and we went back up and packed the rest of him down.

4,000’ up and down in a day. That was plenty

 

[Billinsd]

6,100 vertical feet. Wait, comfortable no. That was my Mt Whitney day hike 22 years ago. Not bad up to 12,000. After that real uncomfortable. 2,000 with the max altitude under 9,000 if comfortable, meaning not hard. Above 9,000 and heavily exercising for me becomes difficult.

 

[el_jefe_pescado]

This conversation is yet another reminder why it is valuable to record tracks. Not only because it’s cool to know where you saw that bull or found that wallow but also because you can get a baseline metric for “suck”. Pay close attention to climbs that you thought were “gnarly” and when you are debriefing after the hunt. Then, go back to those climbs and try to actually figure out what kind of “grade” you were on as others have mentioned.

Then when you are e-scouting something new you can use this new baseline to get a *rough idea* of what you’re up against.

CalTopo has a slope shading layer and superior topo intervals than onX or BaseMap. This has become a great tool once I identify something that looks good on the more “popular” apps. I then apply my suck metric (as stated above) and start to get a more realistic understanding of what I might encounter once I get boots on the ground. Better yet I can figure out it’s realistically doable factoring in the abilities of myself and whoever I’m hunting with.

Somehow even with all that the map still lies…


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