Length of Firewarden's Trail on Mt Hale??

[Eric Savage]

The 5/4 Rule

I noticed this problem long ago when taking distances off of topo maps. Topo maps definitely give a horzontal distance and as much as one might attempt to simulate the twists and turns of any typical trail (much less a bushwhack route), one will also underestimate the length of the extra "wiggles." I was not at all surprised to find that GPSs and computer topo packages suffered from this same underestimation problem (see for example the discrepancies between the BRATT map of the Belknap Range and the Southern NH Trail Guide).
I came up with the "5/4 rule" as a simple but surprisingly effective correction for flat map distances, i.e. simply multiply the map/GPS/topo program distance by 5/4. This might be too much for those who carefully use a GPS to map every turn in the route, but works fine for the less obsessed.

I still want to get myself a measuring wheel. Any ideas where to find one and how much they go for?

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

I still want to get myself a measuring wheel. Any ideas where to find one and how much they go for?

Here is a selection:

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/drilldown_pages/view_category.asp?cat=813

 

[RoySwkr]

Dr.D beat me to that link, I note that none resemble the one that Gene has and you might ask him where he got it. The NH AMC bought a second one at the same time and you might inquire where it is, perhaps the trail crew.

One guidebook writer I know just took one wheel off a bicycle and mounted a bicycle odometer on it, not accurate to the foot but good enough for his purposes.

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

One guidebook writer I know just took one wheel off a bicycle and mounted a bicycle odometer on it, not accurate to the foot but good enough for his purposes.

I'm not sure that would be allowed in Wilderness areas.

 

[DougPaul]

I'm not sure that would be allowed in Wilderness areas.

Might be ok as long as you don't sit on it or claim any 4K peaks...

Doug

 

[Ed Poyer]

Rule of thumb

I use a process similar to Eric's. I've found that when I increase my Topo! mileage estimates by 20 % (somewhat less than Eric's), my results generally match to the mileages published on maps and in guidebooks. So, I'll use my Topo! plus 20% for routes not covered in guidebooks or on maps with stated mileages. As to how these estimates compare to actual distance...
Ed

 

[albee]

I estimate that trail mileages are usually at least 90 percent longer than what the maps, trail signs, and Taw-poe software indicate. This makes me seem that much more impressive when I tell people that I routinely do 30 to 40 mile dayhikes. But I have long legs, so when I step over rocks the trail is actually shorter... so make those 29.96 to 39.96 +/- 0.01 mile dayhikes.

All of you must know by now that I am smarter than each of you combined because I can argue about esoteric concepts that have no bearing on the topic at hand, as well as no use to the original person asking the question. If you don't believe me, I'll keep posting until each of you succumbs to my pedantic mastery of all things Google-able.

 

[MichaelJ]

To resurrect this ancient thread ...

I just did the Twins - Guyot - Zealand - Hale loop carrying an AMOD AGL3080 tracker. I got interesting results.

First was that the GPS only came up with 16.9 miles. When I used the simplification functionality of GPS Babel to eliminate weak or erroneous-seeming points, it dropped it further to 16.5 miles. I'm not sure where the missing mileage, given the known 17.9 mile distance, went, especially since I included several diversions: the North Twin outlook, Zealand summit spur, and a water stop at the hut. It basically means, yeah, there are ... discrepancies.

The other is that the GPS managed to find 7,036' of ascent. That's purely radio-based, no barometric altimeter, and of course subject to plenty of error. No surprise that it's so different from the 5,300' calculated by the WMG. That said, my legs believe the GPS over the book.

 

[stede]

Mt Hale Fire Warden Trail

Attached is a map I found on line for this trial. I hope this helps you.