Significant Hike

[+carleenp]

"So what do you consider to be a "significant hike", worthy of using the significant hike attribute on the cache page?"

 

For me personally, the icons mean very little. Less than 5 miles is not significant for me, but for someone else it might be epic. For that reason, on my cache hide, I clearly state the length of the hike, condition of the trail, type of terrain, etc. Rather than using an icon, this gives everyone the "facts" and allows them to decide whether or not to attempt the cache.

I do the same. Here in Nebraska where things are generally flat and easy, you would think that there are few "significant hikes." But I know that some see a terrain with some hills or ravines and a .5-1 mile hike as just that. So I tend to set it out on the cache page text. Then they can decide for themselves and not be surprised.

 

BTW, what is cruddy about eastern NE is that everything tends to be in one mile sections, even many public areas. It is very hard here to get a hike over .5 that can't be cheated somehow by parking on a road that intersects. Not impossible because there are a few areas where it can work, but it is hard to find them!

[+evergreenhiker!]

can I have the coords a link to a trip report of that evergreen?

 

Thanks

I think I'll be planting a box up there this summer. Stay tuned! It's in the Olympic peninsula area. It is brutal from what I hear.

 

Also Little Shuksan Lake is of similar distande and elevation gain. I think an older edition of North Cascades hiking book will have that one. And the Oly hiking guides will have Constance. Both are legendary for their steepness.

[+justybug]

if it's a couple miles one way, i'd consider that significant, and i don't usually just go out and grab those on a whim, i tend to plan a trip for them, unless it's in town and just a long walk through a park or something. hike to me denotes elevation gain being involved or other types of terrain issues. in town? make it a couple miles on a flat trail, not a big deal.

i prefer destination type hikes though. a nice fat cache at the end of a good hike, nothing better..

[+New England n00b]

My half-pence, without reading the thread all teh way through:

 

A signifigant hike should not only include length, but also consider incline. A one mile rail trail hike (which I've done) is hardly signifigant to me, as it is all relatively flat.

 

However, that same 1 mile hike up a hill where the contour lines are so close together that they are nearly indistinguishable would kill me.

 

So I guess I'd say signifigant would be a ratio of distance vs average grade of said distance. However I am neither smart enough nor experienced enough to give you a number.

 

If you want the other half of the pence, you'll have to seek elsewhere.

[+AtoZ]

Okay what is the point of telling some one what a signifigant hike is. I mean some one said a 20 mile hike on flat ground is not signifigant. Well it is, it would take the average person about 6{ hours to do this hike. If they were caught at say 10 miles in a thunder hail storm then they could be in serious trouble.

So what is the puripose of telling someone a hike is signifigant? I feel it is to tell them to take more then just their GPSr with them. Okay we have a lot of rugged out doorsman in this group that can survive with just a T-Shirt and a pocket knife, or think they can. But Geocaching is drawing a crowd of people that have had basically NO outdoor exeriance. When I learned to rock climb I did it by learing from some of the best climbers in the area, the same with mountaineering. But thought a stroll down a trail may seem insignifigant it can turn bad. If you going to make a hike signifigant then state the distance in you cache page or maybe GC.COM will make a field on the cache page.

I don't know some times how responsible we are for each other. I know I feel a responsiblility for someone doing one of my caches that they do not get into trouble so I try to make it so some obvious situations are obvoided but then you cant be there there to hold their hand all the time. We are a community and I think should take an interest in everyones well fare to a point.

cheers

[+StarBrand]

I agree with many - terrian plays a huge role in the "significant" designation. If the round trip is .5 miles but has an elevation change of 400 feet over rough rocky ground - it is significant. If it is a generally level, paved path that is 3 miles long - then I would say no. I generally say it is significant if it will take a person in average to slightly lower physical shape around 1 hour or more to complete. (lets face it - many cachers [like me] just aren't up to a 4-5 mile trek over even midly rough terrian without setting aside a few hours to do so). Also many of us bring young children along and a hike of just 1 - 2 miles over even terrian gets difficult when carrying a 25 pound fussy 2.5 year old. Different standards for different situations.

[+GEO.JOE]

I consider a significant hike any hike where at any time during or at the end either myself or Fairy Flirt have our hands on our hips and make a breathy Woo sound or comment about being tired and the other person responds with a loving "WIMP".

Last weekend I did 6 miles on Saturday and 4.75 on Sunday and was fresh and eager for more, however, this past Saturday I did 4 miles that whipped my butt and had me feeling like I had been beaten on Sunday there was a definite significant difference in the two areas.

 

Around my area there are barely a handful of cachers that will tackle 1 mile hikes. I have been amazed at the comments on caches barely .33 from the car. I try to keep them in mind when I describe my caches with "easy walk in the woods" "Easy .50 mile to the cache". I try to give a pretty good description of what to expect so no one is surprised.

We try to gage the difficulty of hikes based on what we think certain friend's and family's reactions would be if they took the hike. We have taken friends on hikes and while still in view of the car gotten questions such as "Is it going to be like this all the way" and we get a kick out of assuring them that "Oh, no it gets worse!"

 

So far I have only used the Significant Hike icon on 2 caches that require at least 2 miles round trip on shared hiking/Equestrian trail with muddy areas, creek crossings, trees down across the trail, no trail markings and minimally maintained trails. This is as much to indicate that the person needs to prepare for the hike as anything. Those that are weary of such things can avoid the area and those that long for such an adventure will seek it out. I have 1 cache that is 2 miles down a forest service road and there is nothing significant about it, with a high clearance vehicle you can get to 150 ft. from the cache. Another cache requires 1.5 mile round trip on manicured trails with bridges, it is just a walk in the park.

 

Significance is in the eyes (and legs) of the beholder as we have seen in the responses to this thread. That is why I prefer to include a description of the terrain and if there are alternatives to the approach that are closer, easier(use of bike, horse, vehicle), more scenic etc. That way each person can decide how they want to approach the cache and if they want to attempt the cache at all.

[+Tonsil]

I agree with some of the other posters in that the significance of a hike is relative to the cache location. The main reason I use the attributes is to give cachers an idea of what to expect. If a cache involves a steep 1 mile hike in a residential area where you would not expect it, I might consider using the attribute.

 

However, keep in mind that people may eventually use your attributes to filter pocket queries. If you made a query of 'significant hikes' in a region, you might be disappointed to find anything too short or easy.