The late start I swore I'd never do again
We've spent this whole course on the stuff you plan for ahead of time. Water, socks, the pack list, the map. Today's about a different kind of planning: what time you actually leave the house.
Here's the thing about start times. Most people plan the hike and forget to plan the morning.
What happened to me
I got a late start one Saturday. Nothing dramatic caused it, just the normal Saturday drag. Kids needed breakfast, somebody couldn't find their other shoe, I hadn't packed the night before like I usually do. We didn't hit the trailhead until 11.
It was a mountain hike, the kind where you're exposed on a ridge for a good stretch. And from about 11:30 on, I wasn't looking at the wildflowers. I wasn't really hiking, if I'm honest. I was watching the sky the entire way, doing math on how far we still had to go and how fast those clouds over the ridge were building. We got down fine that day. But I promised myself I'd never do a mountain hike with a late start again, and I mostly keep that promise.
That's the whole story. No hail, no drama. Just a morning of feeling like I was racing something I couldn't see yet, and not liking it one bit.
Why the clock matters more than the map
I've said this before and I'll keep saying it: canyons build thunderstorms almost on a schedule from July into September. Warm air rises off the valley floor, hits the peaks, and by early to mid-afternoon you've got buildup. Some days it's nothing. Some days it's the fast, ugly kind of storm that goes from blue sky to hail in twenty minutes.
You can't control the storm. You can control what time you leave the house.
The math, worked backward
This is the part I actually teach, not just complain about. Before you leave, figure out:
- Your turnaround time. Pick the time you need to be off any exposed ridge or summit. In summer I use early afternoon, meaning I want to be heading down, not still climbing, by around 1:00.
- Your pace. Look at your gain-per-mile from the elevation profile (we covered this a few lessons back) and be honest about how slow that makes you. Steep miles take longer than flat ones, every time.
- Your total time up. Add margin. I always add more than I think I need, the same way I do with water.
- Your leave-the-house time. Count backward from your turnaround. If the math says you need to be on the trail at 7, that tells you when to get up, when to eat breakfast, when to load the car.
Do this the night before, not the morning of. That's the actual fix. A late start almost never happens because someone decided to start late. It happens because nobody did the math until it was already 9 a.m. and the shoes were missing.
What to do at home this week
Try this with a trail you're actually planning, even a made-up date:
- Write down the mileage and total elevation gain.
- Divide to get gain per mile.
- Estimate your pace on that kind of terrain (slower than you think, especially early season).
- Pick a turnaround time based on the season.
- Count backward to a leave-the-house time, and add 30 minutes of buffer for the shoe that's always missing.
Put that time on your calendar like an appointment, not a suggestion.
A plain caution
If you're already running late the morning of, that's information, not just an inconvenience. A late start on a flat neighborhood loop is a nonevent. A late start on an exposed alpine trail in July is a different kind of decision, and it's worth asking whether the hike needs to become a shorter one instead. I'd rather shorten the route than shorten my margin on the ridge.
Your mileage may vary on how much buffer you personally need. Mine's about thirty minutes past what feels reasonable, because I know myself and I know Saturdays.
Before next time
Pick a real trail you're interested in and do the turnaround math above. Bring your leave-the-house time to class, even if it feels absurdly early. We'll compare notes.