When you know how long your stride is, it becomes easier. There are 5280 feet in a mile. I have a 2 foot stride. It takes 2640 normal steps to walk a mile. It takes 1320 steps to walk a quarter mile. I take steps in time with a song in my head. There are 1320 steps in this song, so it becomes easy for me to calculate approximately 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 1 mile by how many times this song plays in my head while I walk. At first it was most distracting, but soon it became second nature to start thinking of the song when I started walking. Now I hear it everywhere I go. I am seeing a doctor about it Friday. Whatever you do, don't do this. . ., no, I'm kidding. That is what I do, and it seems to be accurate to within a few feet. I would tell you the song, but your steps may not be the same as mine and everyone needs there own song, huh?

Quote

Is there something that you all use to measure the distance of a hike?

I have used my dh's "wheel" , I'm not sure what they really call it. It's surveyor's use to find distance. He used to use it to find the distances between power poles for his drawings. Now he doesn't do that any more, I figured I could use it:)

Quote

Or, does a pedometer really work for this?

I haven't found a pedometer yet that works consistently. I have tried many(like 10- 12) expensive and cheap, and still not one has worked very well. Or maybe I'm just a weird shape or don't walk correctly or something;)

Good Luck:)

Trish:)

Quote

Any tips?

I find using time is a fairly reliable estimating tool. In other words, how far can you walk over similar terrain in 15 minutes. Then you can figure out the distance by tracking the time. The only drawback is the stopped time, so you may need to retrace your steps.

The terrain really has an affect on ditance as well. Lots of roots and rocks makes each step shorter and will throw off even the best pedometers.

GPSRs loose the signal (or partially loose it) occasionally and can think you are 50 feet to the right for a brief second and then pick you up in the correct spot. The distance gets calculated as 100 extra feet so even they can be unreliable at times.

Basically, it is all an estimate and with time you should get better at estimating. You can ask for help from the finders. Some, like myself enjoy estimating how far the hike was and will be willing to share with the planter, if asked either in the clues or after I contact them with my notification.

Larry

Quote

Or, does a pedometer really work for this?

Using a pedometer for accurate distances does take practice. *nodding* Your stride will vary depending on the terrain and you need to adjust for that. Steep hills use shorter steps than level ground. Level ground allows you to take larger steps than bumpy ground.

With a little experience, though, you can make them work on almost any terrain. But you'll have to use it quite a bit on different types of terrain with known distances before you'll get accurate measurements out of it.

Most people seem to measure their stride on the sidewalk outside their house then expect it to be accurate on the trail. That's not going to happen. *shaking head*

-- Ryan

Quote

I find using time is a fairly reliable estimating tool.

This is such a strong idea that I'd suggest that He Of The Green Persuasion make time an option in the "hike length" field. Sometimes a trail is flat and easy, sometimes it's more of a climb or a struggle than a hike, sometimes distance doesn't convey enough information. But if you can stipulate that it's a half hour round trip (not including stamping-in time nor time spent trying to locate the box), that not only would be easier for the planter to provide a reasonable guesstimate (he can time his hike out after planting and double it), but it also probably would give most finders a better idea what they're in for.

Quote

(Did I just say that?)

You DID! And I caught you saying it too!! LOL

But you're right....that is the perfect answer!

D5 Mama

Quote

This is such a strong idea that I'd suggest that He Of The Green Persuasion make time an option in the "hike length" field.

Except that everyone hikes at different speeds. A trail that's 4.2 miles is still 4.2 miles regardless of how fast someone can hike it.

I'm rather fond of the 'time' idea for measuring distance, though, and can do a pretty good estimate of it. While on the AT and hiking a lot every day, I could tell Amanda to pick me up 20 miles down the trail at a certain time and arrive within 10 minutes of the time I specified. Spooky! (Of course, all bets are off if you're wearing new shoes. *thinking of one particular day in the White Mountains when I arrived at the destination an hour late*)

For those who want to measure distance based on time spent hiking, most people tend to hike at about 2 miles per hour on relatively level ground. If you hike fast or take lots of breaks, adjust accordingly. Then put the distance traveled rather than the time spent traveling for the letterbox. ;o)

-- Ryan

Of course...the "time" should be..."how long an average generally fit person" would take! Then I'd know to add 15 minutes to get the troop out of the car...ready to go....another 15 min for snack break....15 minute potty break....15 minutes of retracing steps to find the "insert any item here" that my daughter dropped 50 yards back! Oh...and the extra 15 minutes it will take because I'm carrying one of the troop the last half of the return trip! LOL

D5 Mama
Ain't kids great?! *GRIN*

Mama, have you been watching us on the trail? We went recently to get a box nearby that was not a long hike and part way into it my 9yo had a shoe blowout. So we had to carry her. It was hot & we couldn't go very fast. The boys became grumbly. We had to take a break in the middle. It should have taken a half hour max. Nope. Much longer :).

TD

It takes 2 times through the song to make a mile.

Quote

You could also try pace beads to keep track of your steps

Hey, you learn something new everyday!

Thanks for the information,
~SHH :-)

Quote

You could also try pace beads to keep track of your steps, the military uses those on occasion. Every one hundred paces, pull a bead down and when you get to 1000, repeat the process backwards.

This is really fascinating and I think could work for us when we're figuring distances on the trail. Here at the Rosary Shop we make a St. Therese "pull-bead" chaplet of just 10 beads that is meant to help you keep track of ten small sacrifices you make each day. It would be so easy to make a pull-bead step-counter with a set of ten beads and a set of five beads - for the 100 and 1000 paces respectively. Then I could figure out roughly how much distance we cover for each 100 paces. Thanks for a great idea!

Murray7

Being an old fashioned Airborne Infantryman...when GPS's were just coming into fashion...I found that on 1 night mission w/ me as the lead scout...one of my bottom beads had busted off...needless to say, as a PFC who realised that my pace was off(it was a 2700 M movement w/ doglegs and turns around danger area's). I was glad that the ASST. TM SGT was behind me with the back up pace. To make a long story short, I made my own set of Ranger Beads from 550 cord...which never broke and I still use to this day in Iraq...
Be Safe...
BR1