marion mt. trail to SJ summit - how long is it really????

[johnnyb]

Hi,

Quick trip report: did this trail today, yep it beat the snot out of us as everybody warned it would, but still good training for Whitney later this summer. 5 hours up, almost 4 hours down (!)

So how long is this trail really??? I've seen various numbers on the web, and the sign at the trailhead says 5 1/4 mi. which seems way low as an estimate.

It seemed much longer - uphill naturally, but even the downhill seemed way longer than 5 mi.

Anybody got real data to share?

Thanks,
John.

[KathyW]

It might be 12+ miles round-trip with 4800 feet gain.

Here's someone's profile of the hike:

http://www.localhikes.com/HikeData.ASP?DispType=2&ActiveHike=0&GetHikesStateID=&ID=5365

[zippetydude]

I hear you johnnyb!

That trail seems to take forever.

I haven't done it with a gps yet, but I noticed that it took me almost as long as Vivian Creek (18 miles round trip) and South Fork (22 miles round trip). It's a bit steep, but not really worse than Vivian Creek, right? But it's less than 11 miles round trip?!

I don't get it.

Kathy, that profile seems a bit closer. I think gps units tend to shorten trails by 10 to 15 percent for some reason. If that profile is extended just a little, it would match my expectations pretty closely. Maybe 14 miles?

I'll be over that way this weekend, so I just might be doing the trail Saturday morning. If I do, I'll bring my gps and I'll time myself so I can compare this trail directly to other trails and get a better idea. I'll post when I get back home.

I'm glad you posted johnnyb - that question has been in the back of my mind for a long time now.

z

[Perry]

I think gps units tend to shorten trails by 10 to 15 percent for some reason.

I have suspected the same thing, especially with switchbacks. Even with waypoints, I think the algorithms are cutting switchbacks because the coordinates can be off by 30 feet in some units. On very steep inclines, I'm not sure if they calculate distance in 3D.

[Rob]

When I went up Marion a month ago, my GPS lost satellite signals at least 8 times, so if I were to splice all sections together, distance accuracy would be unreliable.

[zippetydude]

Hi Rob. That helps explain it. I don't know if mine is losing reception or not. My old one always told me, but my new one either does not lose the signal or neglects to mention it to me.

I went back and checked my ascent time. It was about 80% of my Vivian Creek time. Assuming a similar pace, that would work out to about 15 miles. Hmmm.

I wonder if there's a place to rent one of those wheel measuring things - I might be curious enough to do so!

z

[Hikin_Jim]

Anyone have a Tom Harrison map handy? Supposedly Tom goes out and uses a wheel on the trails. I've noticed the mileages on his maps keep getting better (in my opinion) over time. I'd be curious what his map says. I've got one at home, but my house has been taken over by a domestic whirlwind and I really don't know where it is.

[alleyehave]

Tom Harrison says 5.9 miles from marion mtn trailhead to the peak. The difference between Tom Harrison and most other topo maps is the first stretch from the trailhead to the first junction with the seven pines trail. Most topo maps say 2.5, Harrison says 2.8. I used my GPS when I hiked this over the weekend but I reset my values too late and didn't even bother checking once at the peak. And I can't get a good estimate since I went down wellmans divide to strawberry back to marion mtn to descend. The first few miles do seem longer than stated. But naturally that could appear that way with 200 switchbacks at 20ft each. One thing I found interesting...I would put my gps pointer on a waypoint such as a junction or the trailhead on the descent and my GPS will tell me how close I am (as the bird flies). I noticed it would stay at 1/10th of a mile for what seemed forever.

Take care,
Nate

[lee]

Newer GPS units have better receiver and don't lose signal easily. To get decent distance measurement in hiking and kayaking distances, I set my unit to sample every 3 seconds - every 1 second when I get religious about a place

[GigaMike]

I went up the Marion trail on Saturday and my GPS recorded a total of 5.95 miles to the summit. When I imported it into TOPO! and fixed a few lost signal spots, it showed a total of 5.75 miles. It didn't feel longer than 6 miles to me.

Pictures


Mike