What's the difference between a walk and a hike?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - What's the difference between a walk and a hike?

Posted: 10/13/2018 6:24:59 PM EDT

Reading up on the 100 mile challenge thread I am curious what constitutes a hike and what is merely a walk.

Posted: 10/13/2018 6:51:57 PM EDT

[#1]

Is there a real chance of dying?

No?

It's a walk.

Posted: 10/13/2018 7:40:47 PM EDT

[#2]

I would say that the terrain dictates. If you're walking around the block, it's a walk. If you're out for multiple miles over several hours, on trails with elevation changes, there's a better chance that your activity could be termed as being a hike

Posted: 10/13/2018 8:00:42 PM EDT

[#3]

Last weekend I took a hike. About six miles with 300 foot elevation changes, several times over. Up, down, up, down, up, down. I’m a regular runner and that hike was moderately hard for me; worked different muscles and was worth the time.

Another way a walk can earn the title “hike” is speed. If you can average around 4 mph on level ground - that’s a hike.

Posted: 10/13/2018 10:28:21 PM EDT

[#4]

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Quoted:
I would say that the terrain dictates. If you're walking around the block, it's a walk. If you're out for multiple miles over several hours, on trails with elevation changes, there's a better chance that your activity could be termed as being a hike

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This is how I feel as well.

Posted: 10/14/2018 5:16:45 AM EDT

[#5]

Definitions will vary, but I also agree much has to do with distance, terrain, difficulty, and duration. A walk can be as simple as a "walk through the park"; I've done day-hikes including getting up to 3/4 the side of Mt. Rainier (took about 16 hours). I've hiked in several miles and set up a base camp for just chilling and I've done 100+multi-day backpacking trips (which is more of what I enjoy doing).

For me, if I'm hiking, it's usually just a day, but into locations that could turn into an over-night trip. I almost always carry a day-pack when hiking. Simply walking is where I know I'm minutes from my vehicle or trailhead.

ROCK6

Posted: 10/14/2018 12:51:42 PM EDT

[#6]

I think the difference in terms is more front country vs back country. Like where I live I would walk to my house from the store roughly 3 miles. I also have a remote cabin that is three miles from the trailhead it has less elevation than from the store to my house but only 2/3 of it has an actual trail. I would say that I hike in to my cabin.

Posted: 10/14/2018 1:24:06 PM EDT

[#7]

Quote History

Quoted:
I think the difference in terms is more front country vs back country. Like where I live I would walk to my house from the store roughly 3 miles. I also have a remote cabin that is three miles from the trailhead it has less elevation than from the store to my house but only 2/3 of it has an actual trail. I would say that I hike in to my cabin.

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I think Alaska has its own unique challenges to differentiating between the two terms.
When I was a kid I'd roadwalk with my younger brother to the nearest grocery store, which was about four miles one way.
Didn't think anything of it.
If we wanted our monthly comic book and filled fruit pie fix, there was no other way to get there.
Not like our parents would load us up in their car, and if we went into town with parents it was a multi-task trip centered on stuff my parents needed accomplishing, not stuff the kids wanted to do.

Additionally, I don't think that non-hikers/ backpackers understand the difference between the terms front country and backcountry.

Trails in my local state parks, which I haven't generally done since I worked in those parks as a teen and walked the trails every day dragging chain saws and hand tools to worksites, can still give you a pretty good work out even though they're what I refer to as "civilized trails", with retaining walls, stairs on hillsides, wide maintained trails where three or four people could walk abreast, etc. That may differ from other parts of the country where things are flat as a pancake

Posted: 10/14/2018 3:09:57 PM EDT

[#8]

They way it was defined in last years thread was it counts as a hike if you are going out of you daily routine to be in nature.
ETA
When my wife makes me walk around our neighborhood it is a walk. If I go down to the river for a walk it’s a hike. It’s about being in nature and not on roads.

Posted: 10/14/2018 3:12:26 PM EDT

[#9]

If I walk on the road, it's a walk. If I walk in the Forest, with predators that can kill me, it's a hike.

I live in adjacent to Manistee National Forest

Posted: 10/14/2018 5:36:30 PM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:

I think Alaska has its own unique challenges to differentiating between the two terms.
When I was a kid I'd roadwalk with my younger brother to the nearest grocery store, which was about four miles one way.
Didn't think anything of it.
If we wanted our monthly comic book and filled fruit pie fix, there was no other way to get there.
Not like our parents would load us up in their car, and if we went into town with parents it was a multi-task trip centered on stuff my parents needed accomplishing, not stuff the kids wanted to do.

Additionally, I don't think that non-hikers/ backpackers understand the difference between the terms front country and backcountry.

Trails in my local state parks, which I haven't generally done since I worked in those parks as a teen and walked the trails every day dragging chain saws and hand tools to worksites, can still give you a pretty good work out even though they're what I refer to as "civilized trails", with retaining walls, stairs on hillsides, wide maintained trails where three or four people could walk abreast, etc. That may differ from other parts of the country where things are flat as a pancake

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True Alaska does have some differences we will go for 30 mile walks to hunt sheep.

Instead of front country or backcountry works better than civilized vs wilderness

Posted: 10/14/2018 6:32:58 PM EDT

[#11]

Really there isn't much of a difference between hiking and walking.

At least for me a walk is more for enjoyment then a hike is. When I hike it always includes a pack of some sort and it's usually weighted with 40 lbs + 3L of water.

I'm a city dweller now so many of my hikes are on improved surfaces. I have to drive 40 minutes or more for a hike in the woods.

Posted: 10/14/2018 7:45:47 PM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:
Really there isn't much of a difference between hiking and walking.

At least for me a walk is more for enjoyment then a hike is. When I hike it always includes a pack of some sort and it's usually weighted with 40 lbs + 3L of water.

I'm a city dweller now so many of my hikes are on improved surfaces. I have to drive 40 minutes or more for a hike in the woods.

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I wouldn't live anywhere that far removed from nature

Posted: 10/14/2018 7:48:26 PM EDT

[#13]

You guys argue like bored lawyers

Posted: 10/14/2018 7:50:03 PM EDT

[#14]

I tend to look at is as walking is anaerobic activity, hiking is aerobic activity.

Posted: 10/14/2018 7:53:40 PM EDT

[#15]

hiking is a more physically strenuous activity...usually on trails rather then logging roads etc. If I need a pack, and poles its a hike.

if I can wear shorts and flip flops, its a walk.

Posted: 10/14/2018 8:18:28 PM EDT

[#16]

Quote History

Quoted:
I wouldn't live anywhere that far removed from nature

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Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Really there isn't much of a difference between hiking and walking.

At least for me a walk is more for enjoyment then a hike is. When I hike it always includes a pack of some sort and it's usually weighted with 40 lbs + 3L of water.

I'm a city dweller now so many of my hikes are on improved surfaces. I have to drive 40 minutes or more for a hike in the woods.

I wouldn't live anywhere that far removed from nature

Well that's awesome.

Posted: 10/14/2018 8:31:17 PM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:
hiking is a more physically strenuous activity...usually on trails rather then logging roads etc. If I need a pack, and poles its a hike.

if I can wear shorts and flip flops, its a walk.

View Quote

The hardcore hikers in my main group are still wearing shorts and only change into long pants once the snow flies. I don't know anyone who packs flip flops as anything other than camp shoes......
Edit. Sure seems like shorts are the preferred clothing of through hikers

Posted: 10/14/2018 8:31:55 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
You guys argue like bored lawyers

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What do bored lawyers argue about

Posted: 10/14/2018 8:36:36 PM EDT

[#19]

Well, next time you go for a walk, take a rucksack weighing 100lbs+

....then it's a hike!

Posted: 10/14/2018 10:38:32 PM EDT

[#20]

Quote History

Quoted:
hiking is a more physically strenuous activity...usually on trails rather then logging roads etc. If I need a pack, and poles its a hike.

if I can wear shorts and flip flops, its a walk.

View Quote

One of the teens in my youth group hiked Resurrection trail in shorts and flip flops this summer. Of course he had a pack and poles as well.

Posted: 10/15/2018 10:19:06 AM EDT

[#21]

Quote History

Quoted:
hiking is a more physically strenuous activity...usually on trails rather then logging roads etc. If I need a pack, and poles its a hike.

if I can wear shorts and flip flops, its a walk.

View Quote

Same here.
Any sort of pack or gear- hike.
Just a short 2 mile trail. Walk
Strap on the pack and bust out miles- hike.
Plus the can i die,be rescued. Kinda helps figure it out lol

Posted: 10/15/2018 3:57:51 PM EDT

[#22]

I "go for a walk" quite a bit more often than I "go hiking". Walking with my friends after work, or around the block at home (rural, so that's still close to five miles

)...those don't go in the hiking thread. If the destination is in the All Trails app and I have to drive to get there, it's a "hike".

Posted: 10/16/2018 6:23:04 PM EDT

[#23]

Quote History

Quoted:
True Alaska does have some differences we will go for 30 mile walks to hunt sheep.
Instead of front country or backcountry works better than civilized vs wilderness

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Not what I saw on that hit show, 'Buying Alaska.