[pct-l] PCTPlanner converted to Google Sheets

[Noam Gal]

I have been playing around with the PCTPlanner <http://www.pctplanner.com> web
site, and have created a nice little Google Sheet from the exported CSV
file that updates automatically to changes in different values.

Usage is quite simple - The first thing you'd want to change is the start
date on the first row, and adjust the start daily pace (in miles per hour),
hiking hours per day, and elevation gain compensation(*). Notice that
changes to pace/hours/EG Comp will also effect all subsequent rows, so when
you start hiking faster and harder, a simple change will immediately show
changes throughout the rest of the plan.

Next thing is handling the leftmost column - currently the spreadsheet
contains all the stop locations available on the PCTPlanner web site (some
mile points have several town options, the spreadsheet arbitrarily picks
one, currently). on every row you *don't* want to stop (according to
the *Section
End Point* column), just change the first column to *FALSE *(or, actually,
anything different than *TRUE*). this will update the next row to include
both sections of the trail, and update all the dates and times accordingly.

I have also added the Exit Walk and Exit Ride columns (data from the
original Exit Distance column of the PCTPlanner). The Exit Walk distance is
being added to sections where you decide to stop, and to the next section
(There's a small bug there, if the next section is marked as "FALSE", the
distance currently does not add to the following one).

Another small thing - whenever a section end, I added the rest of the day
off in town, assuming most people will not just pass through after buying
supplies. That can be changed by editing the *Town Layover Days* column of
each row.

All of the data (mileage and elevation gains) came from the PCTPlanner
site, and was collected by Craig Giffen (Thank you, Craig)

The link is for a read only view of the spreadsheet, but feel free to
import it into your own Google Drive account, or as an xlsx (Microsoft
Excel) file, to play around with, improve, and use to plan your coming PCT
hike.

Link to the PCT Planner Spreadsheet <http://goo.gl/KmS1nJ>

Share and enjoy,
 Noam Gal

* - Craig explains it on his site:
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*"**Elevation gain compensation*
The average hiker slows down an average of 30-60 minutes for every 1000
feet of elevation gain. Use the pull-down menu to indicate the approximate
amount of time 1000 feet of elevation gain will slow you down. This setting
can be changed on a section by section basis also.

*Example:*
It takes you 20 minutes to walk a mile on flat ground, but it takes you 50
minutes to walk a mile up a 1000 foot tall hill; you would want to select
"30 Minutes". "
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