[pct-l] Mileage

[cg at lunky.com]

>From all the different data sources I've seen over the last 15 years,
the total PCT trail length varies between about 2650 and 2670 miles.
Small discrepancies between data sources (apart from
fire/flood/environmental/etc detours) like this are pretty common but
generally not enough to worry about when it comes to food planning since
they only vary between 0-2 miles for a given section...which means you
might have to walk an extra hour or so until you reach your resupply.

For the planner, I went through all the most current editions of the PCT
guidebooks and went with those mileages for the trail (eg 42.3 in the
2003 CA PCT guidebook).  Halfmile's trail notes has Mt. Laguna at mile
42.6, postholer.com has it at mile 42.5.  Elevation gain differences
between all the data sources are another story completely though.

Here are some data comparisons and a longer explanation of what I found:
http://www.pctplanner.com/changes.php

Regardless, I setup the planner so you can add or subtract
distance/elevation gain from a section if there is a different set of
data you would rather plan off of or there are temporary trail reroutes
that need to be taken into account (such as the endangered species
detour near Wrightwood).  I didn't code these temporary changes into the
planner since they are constantly changing and I didn't want the program
to become a usability nightmare trying to accommodate for them.

Craig



>I notice that Craig's PCT Planner puts Mt. Laguna at mile 42.3, while
>Yogi's handbook and the data book put it at mile 43.

>Not that 0.7 is a really big deal in the context of a 2600+ mile hike, but,
>on the other hand, an 0.7 here and an 0.3 there WILL add up in the context
>of a 2600+ mile hike, so....

>Anyone here used Craig's planner? Thoughts?