Several conditioning hikes; Map My Hike fails.

Today, the tenuous credibility the Map My Hike software might have had with me vanished. I hiked Rattlesnake Ledge. Map My hike said it was 2.43 miles to the summit, but only 2.07 miles coming down. At the trailhead, the distance to the top is listed at 1.9 miles. Although Map My Hike's descent was close on the descent, it was 20 percent off on the ascent. The altitudes were also surprisingly inaccurate. Washington Trails Association (WTA) lists the sumit at 2,078 feet.

Map My Hike's elevation figures for Rattlesnake Ledge

Map My Hike's elevation chart shows a gain of only 984 feet, compared to WTA's 1,160 feet. It's maximum elevation of 1,941 feet is not only less than WTA's 2,078 -- it also shows the maximum elevation (c. 1939) occurring prior to the summit.

Despite my repeated disappointment with the Map My Hike software, today's hike went well. I began sluggish and sat for a moment at the trailhead until a moment of fatigue passed. When I started hiking, my legs felt sluggish. But that diminished, although I found myself breathing heavily. But that came and went as well. Halfway through the hike I had reached a new speed limit since my medical treatments: 132 heartbeats per minute. I ascended Rattlesnake in 90 minutes, despite breaks along the way. When it came time to descend, it took me only 70 minutes. I noticed on the descent a weakness early in that portion of the hike, but that was immediately followed sweating, and I knew I was just having another "silent" hot flash.

One section of the Rattlesnake Ledge trail

Counting the distance from the car to the trailhead, and using the park's distance from trailhead to summit, I'm going to claim 4.5 miles of hiking. So here are the statistics for today:
Gain: 1,160 feet
Distance: 4.5 miles, 7.2 km
Load: 14 pounds
Stamina: Varied, but overall my timing was good.

July 12, 2017

Twin Falls Again
Statistics:
Distance: 3 miles, 4.8 km
Gain: 400 feet
Load: 13-pound pack
Stamina: Started strong, grew weary toward end of hike. Big nap afterward.

July 13

Alaskan Way via Madison
Statistics:
Distance: 3 miles, 4.8 km
Gain: at least 400 feet, given ups and downs.
Load: 10 pound pack -- carrying two water-filled half-gallon bottles
Stamina: Strong going downhill; weary going up.

July 15

To Alaskan Way and to Umpqua Bank to distribute meals
Statistics:
Distance 4.8 miles, 7.68 km
Elevation gain: 300 feet (using topo map that shows condo at 325 feet;
no elevation gain on Umpqua Bank portion of hiking.
Load: None
Stamina: Good; no hot flashes on uphill portion, but winded once.

Stats for all four hikes:
Distance: 24.48 km
Gain: 2,700 feet

States for year to date:
Distance: 218.66 km
Elevation Gain: 11,510 feet