How far is "walking distance" for you?

[+critterkeeper]

When I started geocaching, I looked at the map and saw a lot of caches pretty close to my home. I'd drive to forest preserves sometimes, but I promised myself and my dog that any cache which was within walking distance of home, I/we would walk to it instead of drive. I live in an area with a fair number of suburban micros, so this made for a few nice two or three mile walks.

 

Then I signed up for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in 2008, and started doing gradually longer training walks. "Walking distance" expanded as I needed new goals far enough away to get me to walk the recommended distances. Ten miles, fifteen, suddenly being out walking all day was a weekend hobby, and I'd plan routes that included caches along the way. I did the Breast Cancer 3-Day, and then another Avon Walk, and found lovely paths to take which led to caches. It certainly slowed down my adding to my total, but I think it was a fun way to cache!

 

I missed a couple of years, but I'm back to the Avon Walk again (assuming I can reach the minimum in time), and now I'm finding that "walking distance" had shrunk on me and must be expanded again. I'd also slacked off on the caching, but now I'm starting to look for interesting routes with series on them.

 

Has anyone else either seen themselves choosing further and further distances as they got used to walking to caches, or deliberately choosing longer and longer caching routes? Or do you find that you get lazy and gravitate to Park-and-Grabs as you get older?

[+rdtorres3]

For me, it depends upon time. Sometimes I'll walk a significant distance. Last month I hiked 12 miles with significant elevation changes to get one cache. Most of my walk to caches are less than a few miles. If I had the time I would prefer the longer walks.

However, the idea of planning a day walking through a city to collect caches sounds like a good idea - more enjoyable than driving a few blocks, parking, and off again.

[+Chief301]

The farthest I've walked recently for a cache was about half a mile (round trip, car>cache>car). I suppose I wouldn't mind walking further if the cache was expected to be something above average (either the location or the cache itself), or if I were walking that distance for more than one cache.

 

I'm not in the best physical shape (is round a shape?😜), but I have little doubt I could walk at least a couple of miles if I needed to. But there really aren't that many long-walk caches in my area....few big parks or hiking trails. Besides, it's not the distance but the time....I'd rather not spend an hour walking to a mediocre cache when I could have nabbed 4 or 5 others in that time. Not that I'm a numbers hound but with the limited time I am able to devote to caching I'd rather spend it caching than just walking. Does that make sense?😏

[+lamoracke]

Yes, my distance has gone up. I now consider a 2 mile round trip nothing and have done up to 16 miles for a single cache which such a walk would have been foreign 6 years ago.

[+cerberus1]

Has anyone else either seen themselves choosing further and further distances as they got used to walking to caches, or deliberately choosing longer and longer caching routes? Or do you find that you get lazy and gravitate to Park-and-Grabs as you get older?

When we first started, we'd go after anything.

The last couple years, I've gone for caches with much longer walks and/or higher terrain.

Getting older, but not too old at 59, a rarity for me to grab a cache n dash.

Considerably younger, CJ (my other 2/3rds) even slowed down her park n grab finds, not seeing anything spectacular about a roadside/parking lot hide.

She also now prefers longer walks, often with higher terrain.

[+uxorious]

When I first started caching, I had two bad knees.(bone on bone) I struggled to make a little less than a mile. It got progressively worse, until 1/4 mile was too much.

 

A couple years ago I had two total knee replacements. Since then I have done a 5 mile hike, and several 2 and 3 mile hikes.

 

Because of my age, and how badly out of shape I got with the bad knees, I doubt I will do much better. However, I'm happy.

[+Corfman Clan]

I really wouldn't walk to far from my home to find a cache. Maybe five miles roundtrip. I'd probably ride my bicycle instead. I will go on long hikes for caches but the hike is usually after a drive. I think I did about an 18 mile hike with lots of elevation gain for five caches earlier this year. I've gone on multi-day backback trips solely to find a geocache or several. Probably the most extreme was a three day back pack into Grand Canyon along the Tanner/Beamer trails to find three virtuals. We even packed down an inflatable kayak to get one across the river. Yeah, my walking distance has increased over the years.

[+dprovan]

A few months before I started geocaching, I was way out of shape and had to take a break in order to walk as far as a mile, but by the time I started caching, I was basically only limited by time. I'd say up to 5 miles is "walking distance", and beyond that is still doable but gets to be a hike instead of a walk.

 

When I cache, it's always by picking a place to walk around finding the caches. I used to regularly find 7 or 8 in a lunchtime walk, but as I've cleaned out the area, it's been harder to find enough caches in one place within lunchtime driving distance, so I consider the 3 I found today a pretty good haul. It's not uncommon for my walks to involve picking a good place to park so I'll have a nice walk to the one cache I'm planning on looking for.

[+The_Incredibles_]

Yes, it has definitely changed. I used to run, hike and bike when I was younger, but there was definitely a lull in my activity level a few years before taking up caching.

 

I used to go out for a 'walk' and do 10 minutes each way, for a total of 20 minutes. At first, going down the block seemed like a long way and it was a very strange feeling as I was used to driving.

 

I started hiking after I took up caching and now I can easily hike 10km in one day without feeling that tired. In fact, now that my youngest is in school, it's pretty common for me to do more than 5km in 1 day. We've got retirees here who go out and do 20 km in one day. That would be a goal of mine which I think I can attain in the next few years, especially if I can find the chunk of time required plus increasing my speed a bit.

[+Touchstone]

I tend to judge walking vs. hiking as more dependent on time, rather than distance. If it's an hour or less, it's a walk. Beyond that, I usually have to carry things with me, like food and water, which requires a bit more planning.

[+uxorious]

I can easily hike 10km in one day without feeling that tired.

 

Just a side thought. After my knee surgery, one of my goals was to make a 5 mile hike. (I made it, and now wonder if I will ever be able to make 10 miles.) However, if I lived near you, I bet my goal would have been 10km. That's just a tad over 6 miles.

 

Doesn't really mean anything, but I just noticed how we think. I didn't say my goal was 4 miles or 6 miles, it was 5. An arbitrary number. Maybe if I thought in metric I would get just a bit more exercise. :)

[+mcgreggor57]

One of the reasons I became interested in this hobby was for the exercise. So far I've only dedicated a couple blocks of time this month to search a neighboring state park. Each of those treks ended up being in the 4 mile range through the woods and trails. Without having a purpose for walking my total mileage for a single day is less than 1 mile.

 

There are some cache rich wooded areas within an hours drive that I'm planning on hitting this summer when I can spend the entire day looking for them. I expect my distance will increase during those outings.

[+ras_oscar]

I don't mind longer walks, but the real drag is after walking 3 miles out to a group of caches, turning around and returning to the geomobile. The return walk is ALWAYS so much longer !!!

[+rjb43nh]

I wasn't caching when I did this but I did walk from Georgia to Maine a couple of times on the Appalachian Trail, 2180 miles per trip.

 

The saying we had was: "Anything is within walking distance if you have enough time."

[+u1bd2005]

Short Walks - 5 miles (most days)

Medium Walks - 10-15 miles (3/4 times a month)

Long walks - around 20 miles + (about once every couple of months)

 

But I go walking in general anyway, even when I'm not out caching.

 

Also most of my walks are power walks, so I tend to walk reasonably fast and don't stop for many rests (if at all).

 

Im still young though, only 24, so still improving day by day.

 

Also hoping to get more practice at walking longer distances so I can hopefully do a sponsored walk for charity, but I'm really hoping to be able to tackle 50 miles before I do it, maybe another year and I will be ready to give it a go, we'll see.

[+DanOCan]

My first cache was 600m from parking and I remember thinking "That's way too far, I'll never be able to do that."

Now that almost qualifies as. Park n Grab.

[+Ambrosia]

I've always liked to walk and hike. My family instilled that in me throughout my life. One of my earliest fond memories was hiking up in the mountains to a forest lookout at 5 years old.

 

Other than health issues, my walking/hiking enjoyment hasn't changed much over the years. The only thing I have to say for caching, is that it affects where I walk and hike. When I want to go out, I check to see if there are caches there, and if there are not (or I've found them), I tend to try somewhere else. I like to explore new areas and see new things.

 

I usually go 2-5 miles. The most I've gone while caching is around 8 miles, a few times. The most I've ever hiked is around 10 miles, before I started to cache. I'd like to go more, but at this point in my life it probably won't be happening. I'd also like to go backpacking, but I'm not sure if I could do that either.

[+humboldt flier]

I've always liked to walk and hike. My family instilled that in me throughout my life. One of my earliest fond memories was hiking up in the mountains to a forest lookout at 5 years old.

 

Other than health issues, my walking/hiking enjoyment hasn't changed much over the years. The only thing I have to say for caching, is that it affects where I walk and hike. When I want to go out, I check to see if there are caches there, and if there are not (or I've found them), I tend to try somewhere else. I like to explore new areas and see new things.

 

I usually go 2-5 miles. The most I've gone while caching is around 8 miles, a few times. The most I've ever hiked is around 10 miles, before I started to cache. I'd like to go more, but at this point in my life it probably won't be happening. I'd also like to go backpacking, but I'm not sure if I could do that either.

[+Ambrosia]

I've always liked to walk and hike. My family instilled that in me throughout my life. One of my earliest fond memories was hiking up in the mountains to a forest lookout at 5 years old.

 

Other than health issues, my walking/hiking enjoyment hasn't changed much over the years. The only thing I have to say for caching, is that it affects where I walk and hike. When I want to go out, I check to see if there are caches there, and if there are not (or I've found them), I tend to try somewhere else. I like to explore new areas and see new things.

 

I usually go 2-5 miles. The most I've gone while caching is around 8 miles, a few times. The most I've ever hiked is around 10 miles, before I started to cache. I'd like to go more, but at this point in my life it probably won't be happening. I'd also like to go backpacking, but I'm not sure if I could do that either.

Did you mean to reply to me?

[+briansnat]

I was a hiker before I was a geocacher so 5, 10 or 15 miles wasn't a big deal to me. I think my longest cache hunt was about 12 miles.

[+redsox_mark]

There seems to be two parts to his question.

 

From my home, if the cache is within a mile or so I will walk to it from home - even if it is a cache which is designed as a park and grab. (So a 2 mile round trip walk).

 

If it is much further I would most likely drive - either to the cache if it is a park and grab, or do a closer area to start walking on a trail. I live in a (small) city, and while it is a nice one the walk from one side of the city to the other is not so exciting for me.

 

In general, most of the caching I do is in the countryside and involves driving to a trailhead then walking. Most common for me would be to spend 2, 3, or 4 hours walking and do 4-10 miles - with an average of probably 5 or 6 miles. Sometimes I do much less; occasionally longer.

 

So I'll walk miles in the countryside for a cache.. but I won't walk from my home for miles to get one in the city (generally).

[+The Jester]

A few years ago we joined Weight Watchers to lose the weight we'd slowly put on. I started walking for more and more caches (and got into trail mapping for NW Trails). As my weight went down, my pack weight went up. I now carry a 60+ pound pack for many of my cache hikes - 5 to 8 miles in two to three hours. At first I'd drop the pack when at a cache, now I wear it all day. Not bad for guy in his sixth decade.

 

I don't mind longer walks, but the real drag is after walking 3 miles out to a group of caches, turning around and returning to the geomobile. The return walk is ALWAYS so much longer !!!

Unless I'm doing a loop hike/walk, I generally do every other cache on the way out, the others on the way back just so I have "something to do". Of course, if I get 'distracted' by an unmapped trail I have to come back to get the ones I missed (such a hardship... ).

[+Ambrosia]

There seems to be two parts to his question.

I forgot about that part, walking from home. I live outside of town, on a road that is 50mph with no sidewalk, just a sandy ditch. It would take me 3 miles just to get to the edge of town (although maybe a third of the way is sidewalked at some point). So no, I don't walk from my house to go anywhere.

 

The other day I had to go to PT, but didn't have a car. I went with my son who had school about 45 minutes before my appointment. So I went with him to school instead of having him drop me off, and then walked to my appointment. I did a couple caches on the way. It was just under 2 miles.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Has anyone else either seen themselves choosing further and further distances as they got used to walking to caches, or deliberately choosing longer and longer caching routes? Or do you find that you get lazy and gravitate to Park-and-Grabs as you get older?

 

All of the above. I used to be a distance hiker. Twelve miles was nothing. I've only hiked half the Appalachian Trail. (When we hit Mount Monroe in New Hampshire, we determined that we weren't having fun any more... That was my sister and I.)

My caching partner enjoys the exercise, and finding caches. But does not like distance or climbs. Lots of caches like that to find! So, we're still having a lot of fun, but I am not doing the distances. 2, 3, occasionally 4 miles. These days, we are gravitating towards cache and dashes. Sorry to say. Hopefully, that will change soon.

Went out to archive one of my state park caches a few weeks ago. (New Jersey is considering banning smoking in state parks, so I figured I'd better archive them whilst I have the chance.) Four mile hike, with 600' of climb. Found three other caches. (Including a rather nasty downhill bushwhack!) No problem! I prefer the longer hikes. But one has to deal with one's caching partner's priorities and health conditions. (Did not go geocaching at all last weekend! Oh, well.)

So, yeah. All of the above.

[+GeoLog81]

Analyzing as well historical as current data (pilgrims, soldiers, wandering working forces) a walking distance for an experienced walker is 30-50km a day.

 

Everything over 50km is a kind of extreme already

[+cdisanto09]

I cache with my two young sons (3 and 7) so we usually keep it to around .25 mile each way. Any more than that and they get too tired and cranky on the return. I just custom made them some bamboo hiking sticks which has been helping. And there is nothing cooler than seeing your boys with little kid-sized hiking sticks.

[+Andromeda321]

In my city, if it's more than 0.1 miles then I'm not walking.

 

To be fair, the city I live in is Amsterdam, and that's because I'm hopping on my bicycle- everyone here is too lazy to walk when you can bike instead, conclude what you will. I also don't own a car, mind, so cycling several hours and many miles during a day of geocaching is pretty normal for me.

 

If I'm not in the Netherlands, I've definitely gone a half mile "as the crow flies" for a geocache in some cities. Hiking is different though.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Five Miles. Uphill. Both ways.

[+K13]

Five Miles. Uphill. Both ways.

 

Barefoot. Through the snow.

[+SLACKR_]

I've been a runner for years, and used to doing short 2-5 mile runs. Lately, I'm out of shape and not been running. Summer usually gets me ready to run again, and I'm looking forward to it.

 

That being said, the farthest I've walked for a single cache is probably half a mile. I'd certainly go farther, but am usually limited by either time or company.

 

Also, I'm currently on a mission to clear out all the caches within a 5mi radius of my house. I'm starting with all the park & grabs, and doing some others when I can.

 

I'm looking forward to some Indian Jones expeditions after I cut my teeth on these easier finds.