How fast do most of you travel paddling? 3 mph? 4 mph? Faster? Slower? I'm trying to do some calculations on how far we can get a day. I know it's not an exact science and there are lots of variables, just an average.

It's my 18 year old son and me. We're both in good shape and this is his third trip to the BW. Heading up and hitting the water on May 18 for eight days. I'm at least hoping we can do this in eight days. I don't know if I can make it nine days.

I would use 3 mph as a steady, easy paddle speed. Portage time, of course, depends on length and number of trips. Can't wait to see the various answers you are going to get.

I agree with 3 mph.

I usually just figure I'll average 2 mph solo - just moving along, neither pushing nor dallying.

I figure 12 miles a day over a week or two. Probably average five hours of travel each day, but there are 20 mile days and 0 mile days.

I believe my GPS unit has a speed on it so I'll try to take notes about speed and see. I'm just curious because 3 mph doesn't seem that fast. According to Google, the average walking speed is 3.1mph. I have calculated for 3 and 4 mph with a 2 mph portage walk. I guess we'll see.

I've seen this different places, but just confirming what others have said: 3 mph paddling and 2 mph portaging. When on the water, a headwind can slow you down and a tailwind can speed you up. There are all sorts of variables for portaging, too.

At the end of the day, though, 3 mph and 2 mph are close enough for estimating purposes.

MY speed is usually around 70 mph in the truck on the way up, Once I hit the water it is what it is and it aint what it aint.....

bombinbrian: "I believe my GPS unit has a speed on it so I'll try to take notes about speed and see. I'm just curious because 3 mph doesn't seem that fast. According to Google, the average walking speed is 3.1mph. I have calculated for 3 and 4 mph with a 2 mph portage walk. I guess we'll see. "

The fastest I've seen on my canoe GPS was 7mph. 3mph covers routine travel.

On the Appalachian Trail last week, my speed was 2 mph with no load/unload at a landing and no pack or canoe. Portaging would be about 1 mph.

It's not a race, it's a marathon... actually a vacation. I always seem to get somewhere by the end of the day.

In a tandem, we generally paddle at about 4 mph on the water and 2 mph over portages. Solo, I cruise around 4 mph on water and about 5 mph on portages as I single trip them (I cover about 25-30 rods per minute) . Sometimes I’ll stop and “smell the roses” so it’s not a terribly accurate measurement. I’ve seen this discussed in the past and it’s all a matter of tripping preference. With a group, I go with the flow, solo, I’m more willing to push farther and take more rigorous routes.

Tony

bombinbrian: "How fast do most of you travel paddling? 3 mph? 4 mph? Faster? Slower? I'm trying to do some calculations on how far we can get a day. I know it's not an exact science and there are lots of variables, just an average.

It's my 18 year old son and me. We're both in good shape and this is his third trip to the BW. Heading up and hitting the water on May 18 for eight days. I'm at least hoping we can do this in eight days. I don't know if I can make it nine days. "

3 mph on water, 10 rods a minute on land. That’s a sustainable pace for use and we are not young or in great shape.

What I never realized in the beginning was there are a lot more things that'll slow you down than there are things that speed you up. And it's a lot easier to use up extra time than it is to make up lost time.

boonie: "What I never realized in the beginning was there are a lot more things that'll slow you down than there are things that speed you up. And it's a lot easier to use up extra time than it is to make up lost time. "

Wise words boonie! It never gets any earlier.

Keep in mind that wind conditions (especially on large lakes) might compel you to tack back and forth and/or hug shorelines, which can add substantially to the distance you actually paddle.

On our first day of last years trip, my wife and went about 12 miles in 5 hours or so. That's a little over 2 mph avg and we single portaged about 540 rods total. Never in a hurry but also never really stopped. If you average 2 to 2.5 for the whole thing I'd say that's reasonable

billconner: "I figure 12 miles a day over a week or two. Probably average five hours of travel each day, but there are 20 mile days and 0 mile days."

I am also in this camp. 10 miles per day over a week is reasonable. You can spend more time paddling if you need to go farther, but you're not always in control of your speed.

gravelroad: "Keep in mind that wind conditions (especially on large lakes) might compel you to tack back and forth and/or hug shorelines, which can add substantially to the distance you actually paddle."

A very good point. Your actual speed is only useful for trip planning if you know your actual distance.

I've never worried about our actual speed when trip planning despite tracking out pace with a GPS. We schedule roughly two miles per hour over the map. It usually works out for our purposes.

That being said, paddling at 3mph with two people sounds like a good pace. With three people in the canoe we go 4mph. Faster down river or with the wind...

I fish as I travel so I average 1-2mph. Anymore I don't set destination goals. I just pack food for so many nights and go.

I use 2.5 mph on the water as a conservative number for planning.

On land, depends...but slower for sure.

That 10 rods a minute is pretty good on portages. Your not really any faster going back empty for more stuff. 3 mph is a good planning pace.

We paddled from North Bay to Prairie portage one trip. I totally miscalculated the time and distance (we did the long way around not through Burke) and the last 2 hours we were going almost 6 mph...my wife still hasn’t forgiven me. I loved it and the challenge was fun trying to meet the tow...we ended up being an hour late for the tow, I felt bad and tipped the driver 40 bucks which made his angst all good as he was heading into town to party :) as stated earlier wasn’t good for my marriage...

2.5 MPH is how I calculate travel now, 1-1.5 if fishing along the way.

T

I just measure my progress in L.P.D.'s, or Lakes Per Day. Typically 3-4 LPDs on relaxed days, 5-8 LPDs on typical day, and 9-12 LPDs on aggressive days. This usually averages out and holds up despite lake size, wind, and portage length.