[pct-l] Reality Check on Craig's PCT Planner

[cg at lunky.com]

The default values are somewhat conservative to try and keep people from
planning a hike that is unrealistic unless they specifically change the
values.  One problem I've had over the years are people planning their
hikes from a comfortable office surrounded by motivational posters who
write me asking questions and don't like it when I tell them back to
back 40 mile days really are not practical.  Hence, I've always kept the
defaults pretty low.

The comments here have all been good.  The planner isn't really intended
to get things absolutely perfect, just within the ballpark.  I set
things up the way I did since people have different ways of hiking and
whatnot.  You can customize each section as needed, such as if you have
a friend hiking with you for a section and you'll be hiking less.  I
left it with the pace * hours formula since people like to determine
their pace and hours hiking differently.  (some people include their
rest breaks as "hours hiked" and have more hiking hours and a slower
pace, others figure it the opposite)

For me, I probably hiked about 2-2.5 mph, but would do it 12 hours a
day.  When I hit the Sierra's I dropped to 15 miles a day, but then was
doing over 30 a day in Oregon.

-Craig

>Is 2.25 or even 2.75 mi/hr still too slow? Anybody know the pack's average
>hiking speed (or does that vary considerably)? recommended hours hiked per
>day to make it to the border? recommended max zeros?? Are the defaults for
>Craig's PCT planner tortoisely conservative?