south lake north lake loop question

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Hobbes
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Re: south lake north lake loop question

Post by Hobbes »

I'm planning on doing it in 3 nights in a few weeks. Actually 4 if I count the first night just getting up to N Lake, shuttling my car to S Lake, and making it to the the upper Larmarck lake (2.5 miles) by late afternoon:

D1: Larmarck - Wanda 12 miles, 8-9 hrs @ 1.4-5 miles per hour
D2: Wanda - LeConte, 11 miles, 6-7 hrs @ 1.7 mph
D3: Dusy - S Lake, 13 miles, 7-8 hrs @ 1.7-8 mph

On all my trips, I carefully track my time (mileage is already plotted on maps), not just for the day, but for each particular section. After building up a pretty good reference base for all kinds of x-c terrain & tails, I have a pretty good idea of what it takes for me to get somewhere.

For instance, my estimated D1 avg of 1.4-5 mph is actually composed of two sections:
Lamarck @ .85 mph
Evo - Wanda lake @ 1.8 mph

These time estimates are actually all padded - in reality, I generally keep going, oftentimes walking 20 miles on the last day to just get out.
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Wandering Daisy
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Re: south lake north lake loop question

Post by Wandering Daisy »

I have a spreadsheet that calculates estimated travel time given miles, elevation gain, and my own personal travel rate, based on previous experience with trail, off-trail, etc. I know it sounds kind of geeky, but it does answer the question of how feasible a proposed route is. I too "pad" my rate - would rather overestimate the difficulty than underestimate and get stranded. For everyone with a spreadsheet software and especially if you have a map program that easily does profiles, this is something you can easily do. In order to refine my personal travel rates, when I return from a trip, I then adjust the travel rate to match the actual time it took me for each segment of the trip. Over time you get a really good idea of how far you can go. In fact, for shorter trips, I often can skip the actual calculations.

As I get older, I find that daylight hours usually exceed my energy! So I no longer can "plan" a 12 hour day. My old body just does not do this very well anymore. If I want to enjoy a trip I plan to stop at 3-4 in the afternoon so I can explore without my pack on, wash up and photograph in the good late afternoon light. (I am an early riser so can easily get on the trail by 7-8AM).
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Hobbes
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Re: south lake north lake loop question

Post by Hobbes »

Wandering Daisy wrote:I have a spreadsheet that calculates estimated travel time given miles, elevation gain, and my own personal travel rate, based on previous experience with trail, off-trail, etc. )
LOL - we should exchange spreadsheets. Mine also have elevations, gain/loss, etc, broken down & subtotaled by day and detailed individual sections. Like you said, if you're really honest with yourself & conservatively pad it on the down side, you can be fairly confident of what you can accomplish and where you should be at the end of the day.

It's funny when you see/say something like walking out 20 miles on the last day, but it really is true for certain trails. A great case in point is heading north over Donahue with a planned stop by the bridge. If you've already done 10-11 miles, and for some reason blew over the pass and find yourself sitting there @ 2-3pm, the idea of humping it quickly to TM becomes pretty alluring. Easy slight downgrade, maybe get up to 3mph, and you could find yourself back in civilization in under 4 hours.

Shepherd also falls in this category, as does Cottonwood (pass) from Rock Crk: 10-12 miles of down/flat/semi-grade trail with visions of car, food & shower @ the LP hostel beckoning you forward. Even if you roll in around 8-9pm, it's all gravy when you turn the engine over.
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