MEAN DAYS ON THE TRAIL
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While I find backpacking to be a refreshing experience, it isn't always relaxing! Here are a few of the tougher days on the trail, both in mileage and feet of vertical change. A simple but not universally accepted formula converts both forms of exertion to a common reference point (500' gain equals 1 mile flat); these are in their proper order using that formula. In all cases, the pack began the trip weighing 40-50 pounds; the second and last ones on the list were the last day of their trip, so that had to help...
| 1989: over Forester Pass, Bighorn Plateau to Crabtree Meadow RS | |||
| +3850 | -4350 | 8200' in 15.7 miles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989: Crabtree RS to Whitney Portal excl. Mt. Whitney summit | |||
| +3400 | -5700 | 9100' in 13.6 miles | |
| 1997: Pocket Meadow to Tully Lake via Silver Pass, Tully Hole | |||
| +4050 | -2600 | 6650' in 11.6 miles | |
| 1998: Baptiste Creek to Cross Lake via Hailey Pass, Fremont Trail | |||
| +1750 | -2050 | 3800' in ~15 miles | |
| 1997: Golden Creek to Pocket Meadow via Mono Creek | |||
| +1350 | -2850 | 4200' in 11.0 miles | |
| 1996: Marie Lake over Selden Pass to Piute Creek, JMT | |||
| +1100 | -3575 | 4675' in 10.4 miles | |
| 1996: Royce Falls camp over Pine Creek Pass to trailhead | |||
| +1450 | -4350 | 5800' in 9.5 miles | |
|
Honorable mention - longest first day! 2001: Rancheria trailhead to Chimney Lake | |||
| +2000 | -300 | 2300' in 11 miles? | |
Of course, for my absolutely meanest day ever on the trail, one must
go back to the 1993 Pine Creek Wipeout.
MEAN DAYS OFF THE TRAIL
While I know of no absolute formula for such matters, it's a fact that five miles without a trail are much more strenuous than the same number on a clear path. Not only is the physical exertion higher, but mental focus needs to be maintained to a higher degree. While traversing level ground doesn't entail much work, watching landmarks to determine the next half-hour's work is still necessary; when terrain turns ugly, every step must be placed carefully! With that in mind, the tough cross-country routes get their own place on the page. I applied a Personal Sweat Factor to each route to account for each one's difficulty, visibility (some are rough trails), and challenge to the skills I had at the time (e.g. Italy '96 has a higher PSF than Lamarck '99 because we had no path and I had less x-c experience). I discounted the weather I experienced, otherwise Lizard Head '98 would be much higher on this list!
| 1996: Upper Pine Lake to Hilgard Branch via Italy Pass (12400') | |||
| +2200 | -1900 | 4100' in ~7 miles | PSF 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000: Evolution Creek to North Lake via Lamarck Col (12900') | |||
| +3000 | -3300 | 6300' in ~11 miles | PSF 1.75 |
| 1999: Dumbbell Lakes to Middle Fork Kings via Cataract Pass (11500') | |||
| +700 | -2600 | 3300' in ~6 miles | PSF 1.75 |
| 1999: Darwin Bench to North Lake via Lamarck Col (12900') | |||
| +1500 | -3300 | 4800' in ~8 miles | PSF 1.50 |
| 1999: Lake Basin to Dumbbell Lakes via Dumbbell Pass (11700') | |||
| +1100 | -900 | 2000' in ~5 miles | PSF 2.0 |
| 1999: South Fork Kings to Lake Basin via Cartridge Pass (11700') | |||
| +2200 | -1100 | 3300' in ~6 miles | PSF 1.25 |
| 1997: Big McGee Lake to Lower Hopkins Lake via Hopkins Pass (11300') | |||
| +1000 | -1000 | 2000' in ~5 miles | PSF 1.50 |
| 1979 & 98: Lizard Head Meadow to Valentine Lake (11900') | |||
| +2000 | -1400 | 3400' in ~8 miles | PSF 1.25 |
Sierra values estimated using Mountain Images' Sierra Nevada CDs