by zippetydude » Sun Jun 10, 2018 7:53 pm
Speaking of uphill/downhill, I have found a very consistent ratio between my time going down a given trail and the time it took to go up the same trail. The steepness does not appear to affect the ratio, it always seems to be roughly the same as long as the trail is a long, sustained uphill like San Gorgonio, San Jacinto, Skyline, or even Mt. Whitney. Downhill time is almost always 60% of the uphill time. That helps me calculate round trip. For example, if Skyline takes me 10 hours going up, it will take me 6 going down. If it takes me 8 going up, it will take me 4.8 hours (or 4:48 in hours and minutes) going down. It's a surprisingly consistent ratio. It is a little depressing on a long one like Whitney, though, because I'm at the top, exhausted, and then think, "Oh no! It's going to take THAT long to get back down?"
z