The Big Picture. While there were certainly younger & faster hikers and recently 2 young women RAN the entire 93+ miles of the WT in just over 29 hours to set a new speed record, the majority of hikers surprised me with how much they were in awe of my daily mileage. Traditionally backpackers took 12 to 14 days to thruhike the WT. As gear became lighter & lighter in weight & people trained more & more, many were hiking the WT in 8 to 10 days. I had planned to do it in 6 to 7 nights / 7 to 8 days. Hmn, maybe next year!