Long distance no camp hiking

Back in 2012 i solo hiked from Henry's Fork TH to Kings Peak and back to Henry Fork TH in 11hrs 15min. Im preparing to do it agian and I would like to beat my time.
So I'm curious to know what other people do to prepare physical for long distance hikes like this or even more challenging ones like the WURL? Also what do you guys take for gear?

You don't have to spend a lot of time on this just share your top thoughts. I love details but i know that can take a lot of time to write down.

Thanks in advance!

One thing I've learned from marathon and ultra-marathon running is to hydrate like crazy in the last week(s) when I'm tapering. I'll drink Gatorade (or similar) once a day (16 oz at least) four-five days before the race. I also don't "carb-up" anymore; a big meal the day before an event just invites a trip to the Port-o-let.

I think this is applicable to any long-duration event.

Good luck! Can't wait for the TR.

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Originally Posted by whansen

Back in 2012 i solo hiked from Henry's Fork TH to Kings Peak and back to Henry Fork TH in 11hrs 15min. Im preparing to do it agian and I would like to beat my time.
So I'm curious to know what other people do to prepare physical for long distance hikes like this or even more challenging ones like the WURL? Also what do you guys take for gear?

You don't have to spend a lot of time on this just share your top thoughts. I love details but i know that can take a lot of time to write down.

Thanks in advance!

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Like you, I'm planning on doing the full WURL this late August (or September).

I've done a lot of studying and looking at the trail on Google Earth, reading successful attempts and failed attempts and am trying to get a list ready.

However, I did find one inconsistency with Jared Campbell's WURL. He claims it is approximately 36 miles. I retraced his route and only counted 31.6 miles. I may be a half mile off just do the contrainstants of Google Earth mapping, but that leaves 4 miles to make up for.

Either Google Earth is wrong (and it is.....sometimes....but typically, it is spot on. I've drawn over 300+ routes for Google Earth for Canyoneering paths and hiking paths all over Utah, but I haven't seen a discrepancy this high before though), or Jared Campbell didn't calculate distance exactly, or something else.

Attachment 83647

Attachment 83648


Attached is my Google Earth KMZ that you can look at it and use as a visual aid. It's not exact, but it's quite close. It uses the 'actual' trail on the mountain rather than just an estimate of where the trail is.

Very interesting jman. I wonder what is causing the delta? Good luck with your hike. I was looking from across the valley the other day at the WURL's grand entrance and exit and then I thought about all the knife ridge to ridge navigation and it gave me the shivers.

@jman: any chance the original route is a complete loop? If you hiked back along Wasatch Blvd then through the neighborhood back to the trailhead, that's 34.8 miles.

Edit: If you look at Jared's WURL blog post, he has a CALTOPO link showing his path (click the map image). The WURL path is measured at 32.19 miles

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Originally Posted by Glenn

@jman: any chance the original route is a complete loop? If you hiked back along Wasatch Blvd then through the neighborhood back to the trailhead, that's 34.8 miles.

Edit: If you look at Jared's WURL blog post, he has a CALTOPO link showing his path (click the map image). The WURL path is measured at 32.19 miles

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I was looking at that too, and yes the 32.19 is what his path is measured at.

I do see a GPS inconsistency with his route on the distance between Thunder Mtn and Bighorn Peak, but that mess-up probably threw it off by 1/4 to 1/2 mile or so.

The issue that I see is that his math was off on his chart:

Attachment 83654

So the actual path shows 32.2 but his chart shows 35 miles. That's not just a 1/2 mile or even a mile off but close to 3 miles off!

Anyway, it looks the like *ACTUAL* WURL path is between 31 and 32miles; not ~36.

Now you could walk back to your car like you were saying for additional mileage, but I don't see any mention that Jared did that or other successful WURL Champions did that.

Kinda of interesting. And actually kinda nice. 32 miles seems more manageable than ~36 does. My feet will definitely notice that difference. ha

(Nice sleuthing, btw)

WURL -

The Strava on this guys successful attempt was 38 miles. https://www.strava.com/activities/4178280790. I don't know how it got that long.


But, the route on the All Trails page is 32.

So it's been 4 years since my last WURL attempt and while we did 3/4 of it, it was a beat down.

The distance wasn't the problem but elevation. I was getting major leg cramps around pfiefferhorn and turned back around and came down red pine lake and called a friend to pick us up.

I was climbing devils castle with my brother and friend this last weekend and we were talking about doing it this year in late august year but do it 2 days (camp near devils castle or pfeiffehorn) and finish it the next day.

A one day push is very tough, so we are now going to take a little more time to do it in two days. But that's the plan but who knows how reality will be.


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