Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a vigorous or laborious walk; a tramp or march, a long journey by car.

1865		S. Hale letter 10 Nov. in Atkinson Letters of Susan Hale (1919) 15: I’ve been engaged this week in a pecunious heik; to wit, getting money from the ladies of the Parish to get a new gown for Dr. Hedge.
1902		H.I. Hancock Life West Point 224: There are many marches—‘hikes’ the soldiers call them—where the pursuit of the enemy may require five days [DA].
1919		H.C. Witwer Smile A Minute 220: After a twenty-minute hike we turn into a terrible-lookin’ street.
1926		J. Black You Can’t Win (2000) 168: We traveled on foot, on horseback, or on trains as the occasion required. A hike of twenty, thirty, or even forty miles was not rare.
1939		R. Chandler Big Sleep 176: Forty miles in the rain is a hike, and I hoped to make it a round trip.
1945		(con. 1928) R. Westerby Mad in Pursuit 112: A two mile hike will do me good.
1953		W.P. McGivern Big Heat 42: It was a long hike back to the Hall.
1973		J. Sharkey in Heller In This Corner (1974) 153: He was a physical culturist [...] well known for his long walks, hikes.
1987		(con. 1967) E. Spencer Welcome to Vietnam (1989) 89: We either catch rainwater or take the long-ass hike down into the canyons.
1996		(con. 1949) G. Pelecanos Big Blowdown (1999) 122: Floreck reckoned he could use a cup of hot coffee before the hike.