Hiking Planning Guides
Short, specific, and numerate — every guide pairs with a calculator so the reading turns into a plan.
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How Accurate Is Naismith's Rule? We Checked the Corrections
Naismith's rule handles distance and climbing well. The descent correction is where it — and our calculator — quietly runs short. Real numbers, real trail.
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How Much Should a Day Pack Weigh?
A day pack rarely comes close to the 20% body-weight safety ceiling. The real math on what belongs in it, and why heavier is not the risk you think it is.
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How Many Miles Can You Actually Hike in a Day?
Daylight, elevation gain, and footing set your daily mileage more than fitness does — the math behind a 21-mile flat day versus a 13-mile mountain one.
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How Much Food to Bring Backpacking, Per Day, By the Numbers
The flat 1.5 lb/day rule averages two very different days. See the effort-based math that shows why a summit push needs 3x a resupply-town day.
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How to Read an Elevation Profile Before You Commit
Two routes can share the same total elevation gain and feel nothing alike. The line graph tells you why — once you know what shape to look for.
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Temperature Drop With Altitude: The 1,000-Foot Rule
A 55°F trailhead can be 23°F at the summit with zero wind involved. How the lapse rate works, and why "it was warm at the car" means nothing.
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What's a Good Average Hiking Pace? Real Benchmarks
Average hiking pace runs 2 to 3.5 mph depending on fitness — see the real speed bands, how terrain cuts them, and how to convert pace to a route time.
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How to Pack Light for Multi-Day Backpacking (Without Guessing)
Base weight, season, and the 20% body-weight ceiling: the real math for packing a multi-day trip light, with a worked example where the two numbers collide.
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Water Intake at High Altitude: Why You Need More
Altitude strips water from every breath and dulls the thirst that would normally tell you. The math behind how much more to drink, with a real summit-night example.
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How to Measure a Hiking Route on a Map (and Get Real Numbers)
Search a trail online and the mileage never quite matches. Why hiking distances disagree by source, and three ways to measure a route yourself and trust it.
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Backpacking Food: Weight vs. Calories, By the Ounce
Ounce for ounce, food density decides your pack weight more than the menu does — the real kcal-per-ounce math behind lighter food bags.
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How to Calculate Elevation Gain (Three Ways That Work)
Elevation gain decides how hard your hike is — more than distance does. Three honest ways to get the number before you go, and why sources never quite agree.
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How Long Does It Take to Hike 10 Miles?
Somewhere between 3.5 and 10 hours — and the spread is the whole story. What actually sets your time, with honest numbers for flat, rolling, and mountain routes.
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How Much Water Do You Need for an Overnight Backpacking Trip?
Day-hike water math stops at the trailhead sign-out. Overnight math has to cover dinner, coffee, and tomorrow's first mile too — here's the full accounting.
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Wind Chill Safety Rules for Mountain Hiking
A 40°F trailhead can feel like 6°F on the summit. The wind chill math behind that drop, and five rules that keep exposed ridges survivable.
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Does Elevation Gain Make Hiking Harder? (Yes — Here's Exactly How Much)
Every 1,000 ft of climbing adds about 30 minutes to your hike, regardless of distance. The 130-year-old rule behind that number, and when it breaks.
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How Many Calories Does Backpacking Burn? The Army Formula That Actually Knows
Backpacking burns 400–700 kcal per hour — far more than fitness apps guess. The Pandolf equation shows why pack weight and grade change everything.
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How Much Water Do I Need for a 5-Mile Hike?
The short answer: 1–1.5 liters for most people in mild weather — but heat, climbing, and altitude can double it. Here is the math, worked through.
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Naismith's Rule: How to Calculate Hiking Time (With the Corrections That Matter)
The 1892 formula for hiking time — 3 mph plus an hour per 2,000 ft of climb — and the fitness, terrain, and break corrections that make it accurate.
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What Counts as Ultralight? Base Weight, Explained Without the Dogma
Ultralight means under 10 lb of base weight — gear minus food, water, and fuel. What the number includes, why it matters, and how to actually get there.