Idk, as she can keep up (shown by the distance not increasing), it's probably up to the wifes to answer this one.
This is something my husband and I have observed countless times on the trail and we’re genuinely curious about the dynamic.
Across all age groups, we frequently see duos where the man is walking significantly further ahead of the woman. We're not talking about narrow trails where you have to form a single line, but open trails where one person is consistently dozens of yards ahead. And the gap will stay the same, so it seems like the man isn't actually hiking faster, but rather setting a gap and maintaining it.
My husband and I personally prefer to stay close enough to converse, so to us, hiking that far apart feels like it defeats the purpose of going together.
For the women who experience this or men who hike this way, what’s driving this dynamic?
Idk, as she can keep up (shown by the distance not increasing), it's probably up to the wifes to answer this one.
They're fighting or are incompatible.
Yep, those are the only possible answers. Fitting name tho.
some people have a “we all hike on our own and meet up at the destination” mindset, which works out fine for a lot of people. personally though, i think it’s rude to do that to people you’re close with unless you’ve communicated expectations beforehand
This is patriarchic in it’s basic form
Conversely, why do women walk far behind men on hikes?
My wife and I hike at different paces. I have longer legs and my natural pace is just a bit faster. She doesn’t mind and goes at her pace. I stop and wait for her every so often and we take a break together. Sometimes I hike behind her and let her set the pace, but she often just tells me to go ahead because she knows I like to hike a little faster. It’s a non-issue for us.
See you are talking about a healthy pattern were your not just running off and leaving her to chase you. that's what normally happens if there is a big difference in pace. op is triggered because there are some guys just dragging their partners way behind them as a show of superiority or something, and we have millions of years of group dynamics making those flags go up for everyone man and women alike when we see this on trail. its crazy I have had a guy pull that a couple times and every other person on trail picked up on it right away and made sure to keep an eye out for me. its instinctive behavior for sure.
Why do couples have to ‘converse’ while hiking?
OP never said couples have to, just that they themselves enjoy it.
My fiancé always walks behind me. And makes comments on how great his view is from there lol
Smart man :)
This behavior is patriarchal and subjugative I also see this a lot on trails
Lol you guys are slow, and it's uncomfortable to keep your pace. Also I just finished a couple of treks in Peru, and women ask their husband to pick something from their bag every two minutes, so at some point the guy gets annoyed at constantly stopping so they get in front.
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We each walk at our own pace. We both find it the most comfortabel and don’t feel the need for constant coversation.I wait often
My wife prefers me to lead the trail and she follow, not too far behind but follow, she leads on the way out. It just sorta happened between us and has been that way unless there is a scramble or climb.
I don't. Whenever I hike with people who are slower than me, which is almost always, I'm always pacing myself to stay with the group, or even putting the slower ones in the front.
Username doesn’t check out
If they are hiking so far apart how do you know they are always a couple? Couldn’t they be hiking solo? My husband always likes me to hike in front of him. He likes me to set the pace and we like to stay close.
They're faster.
Why do women walk behind men on a hike? This question is pointless
More often it’s that the man’s pace is faster and as the gap widens, slows down so she isn’t left too far behind and takes off again at his natural pace.
Hike your own hike
My boyfriend is much taller than I am, and tends to think of hikes as some sort of speed contest. After many years of unintended trail running, and falling over tree roots, I let him go at his own breakneck speed.
My fiancé can outpace me on flats (if he wants to) because of his long legs. But I am more of a hiker than he is and can leave him in the dust on steeper inclines if I want to.
My wife would prefer that I catch all the spiderwebs and scare off the snakes. Otherwise we hike together.
See I walk ahead of my fiancé. He is seven inches taller than me. So we both get the spiderweb to the face experience.
OP isn't asking about who's in the front. OP is asking why some men walk dozens of meters ahead of their partners.
Happens to me all the time and I hate it. Now I go alone.
We usually stay pretty close together. If there is any sketchy terrain I’ll go first. Then fall to the back after everyone has gotten past it.
What? This is a thing? My wife would be pissed if I did this.
I'm a slower hiker and don't like to hold up faster hikers, no matter who I'm hiking with. I also like to hike at my own pace, stop when I want, enjoy the view, take pictures, whatever. I don't feel the need to talk constantly during a hike. That said, whoever I hike with we communicate. I've hiked with people and we stay together. I've hiked with people and I've been in front because I'm faster. Sometimes we switch places. A friend of mine likes to power up hills. I like to take hills slowly. If I'm ahead at the bottom, I'll wait and let them go ahead. As long as everyone agrees on the plan and people are safe there are a variety of options. And if you don't like the options and can't agree with your hiking partner that's a whole different sub.
My ex would do this all the time. He is significantly taller than me and would naturally walk faster than me. Sometimes he would walk so far ahead that I wouldn’t be able to see him on the trail. I told him multiple times that I didn’t like that but nothing changed.
We have different gaits. She doesn’t want to feel rushed and I don’t want to feel held back. We’ve been hiking together 25 years and it’s never been an issue.
My wife and I have adjusted our natural pace to match each other. I slowed down some and she sped up some. Every hike is a great way for us to talk and keep getting to know each other, even if it's an all day thing. If we set different laces, we probably wouldn't have made it through some difficult patches we faced throughout the years.
This is actually a thing, sometimes its a pace thing. but every once in a while I will get a date who really needs to be in front to show how strong he is or something. I prefer to hike alone in general but if I'm giving up a solo hike to hike with you I actually want to spend the time with you, not just watching you run away from me for miles. I will note too that for all those women who's partners abandoned them on top of mountains. it was about showing their physical superiority and rejecting those women before they could be rejected. in every one of those cases the women talked about the guy running off ahead on previous hikes. any normal guy who has hiked with women would find abandoning them to be completely inconceivable. get a little ahead maybe but we are talking about big distances etc. we walked in groups for millions of years. your partner being ahead of you is natural in some respects. they are naturally checking for the best path, for dangers on the trail and looking at the conditions ahead. its instinctive, women also have an instinct for when that is not what's happening. like I said most guys who hike can also spot the problem dudes and more than one bad date ended with me walking with other people because the guy I was with was way ahead. lady's hiking is a great date to see where the rubber hits the road with guys. but definitely listen to you gut and choose busier trails/times for the first time you hike with someone. also if your guy does this and it gives you an off feeling, listen to your gut.
I think maybe you’ve needlessly made this about couples because you hike as a couple and notice it. This happens with friends that hike as well. I generally hike alone but sometimes with friends and there is always a stretch we separate a little and its because if you are gonna hike for 3-4 hours it’s nice to have a little solitude time. Its never far enough that if someone got hurt we couldn’t hear them and after awhile the person up front waits and everyone catches up and we go back to talking.
Everyone has their own most comfortable speed. Yup, I'm the guy in front. If I attempt to follow my wives pace I feel like I stand on one foot most of the time. It's tiresome, especially on descents. So I just walk in bursts, 50m of my own speed, then wait for my wife. She hates it and the moment is near when we won't hike together anymore.
This behavior is patriarchal and subjugative I also see this a lot on trails with older couples. It’s weird
Didn't know this was a thing. My partner and I switch off leading
Yikes, there's a lot of judgement and projection of feelings going in the comments... On fire roads my wife and I will walk side by side, but when we have to go single file, we have two patterns. I can follow behind, because I'm much bigger and can look over the top of her head. I'm also the better navigator and also more comfortable in the wilderness with all things wildlife related. So she often wants me out front in those situations. She also doesn't like having her field of view filled with my bulk, and doesn't like to breath dust kicked up by my shoes, so she asks me to get further ahead when I'm running point. If I slow down to try to stick closer together, she snaps at me to either move ahead again or drop behind her if she's comfortable leading in that area. It's a whole dynamic that we've been perfecting for about 30 years ;-)