[pct-l] Downhill sections nobo vs sobo

[greg mushial]

> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 15:44:08 -0700
> From: Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <diane at santabarbarahikes.com>
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Downhill sections nobo vs sobo
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
> <A0B76465-F9DF-483F-86C4-907ED8542308 at santabarbarahikes.com>
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>
> One thing to keep in mind is that for sections where the trail trends
> N-S (some trend E-W), you will have more sun in your face hiking
> SOBO. But, you will also climb in the shade more often.

>>>  the sun in the face is a given...  but the climbing in the shade I 
>>> hadn't considered

>
> I think in the end, it more or less evens out, especially if you're

>>>  I asked scott parks, given his data if he had an uphill miles count vs 
>>> downhill...  turns out to be within 5 miles of even 1330 vs 1320

> hiking a long distance. To a long distance hiker, it really makes no
> difference. I met someone in Section M who warned me about a (*gasp*)
> 1200 foot climb coming up. She was resting up for it with her
> buddies. I thanked her but thought to myself, who cares? I have to
> climb it anyway. And then I'll have to go down. Downhill sucks most,
> in my opinion.

>>>  why (downhill sucks most)? I know that uphill gives me more time to 
>>> look around and appreciate where I'm walking; downhill I'm more focused 
>>> on my footing and not ending up on my butt...   is that what you were 
>>> thinking? Conversely, if I'm in mileage mode - got to do 35 today - 
>>> uphill always pisses me off, in that "it" throws me off "my schedule"... 
>>> some days I think of the pct as an aesthetic hike, where it's a sequence 
>>> of footsteps and a collection of views; some it's a walk to monument 
>>> 78....  or is downhill sucks in that it's a waste of all that uphill 
>>> energy?

>
> Same thing happens with gear, by the way. I remember meeting a
> section hiker in Oregon who was so excited to see someone with
> ultralight gear. He really really wanted to talk with me about
> ultralight gear. All I cared about was food. Gear is gear. Now food,
> on the other hand. That's IMPORTANT!
>
> Same thing happens with the views, too. Met Billy Goat on the trail
> and we talked for 5 minutes about the beauty of the trail and for
> half an hour about food. The ratio of adjectives about food to
> adjectives about views was very strongly in favor of food.

>>>  I wonder if this is a function() of the miles since last town day, or 
>>> number of days since last town day...  I know on my longer treks, the 
>>> last week can be painful - damn I can smell that hamburger 
>>> (buf-burger??) from 90 miles away...  but then all too quickly I wish I 
>>> was back on the trail again.

>
> Diane