Trail Statistics Explanations
TT Score: Terrific Trail Score on a 1-100 scale. Higher number indicates more "interesting" trail. Park specific and not intended to be used for comparing trails in different parks. Obviously a subjective measure but I keep the scoring as consistent as possible, within the same park. So, if you hike a trail that I scored at 50 and then you browse the list of trails in that park and see a trail with a score of 80 then you might find that trail also more interesting. I score the trails with view, creek, lake, and river access higher than trails without any of these characteristics.
TT Rank in Park: Terrific Trails ranking of this particular trail compared to all other trails that were reviewed in this park. It shows if the trail is ranked in the top 5 or top 10 among all trails reviewed in the park. "5" means that the trail is ranked in the top 5 of all reviewed trails, in that park; "10" indicates that the trail is ranked in the 6-10 top trails in the park. No ranking is given to trails that are ranked lower than the top 10.
Trail Length: From trailhead to end of trail (turnaround point) one-way distance. Hiking distance in mile, as I measured it with my GPS. Many times this distance is much longer than the official distance given by signs at the trailhead. However, I usually use two separate GPS receivers (Garmin and phone-based) on each trail and although they never show the same distance, they are not much off. On the other hand, they almost always show a longer, and sometimes much longer distance than the official signs. Some of the discrepancy is related to me taking photographs and constantly hunting for the best point of view for a particular image. On longer trails when I take 500 or more photos, the constant stepping back and forth, stepping left, right and left again, when multiplied by 500 times, add up. I stay on the trails while hiking but when I add just four extra steps on average for each trail feature (wildlife, rock formation, etc.) that I photograph and I do that 500 times then sudenly I add 2,000 extra steps to the trail's total distance. Not to mention, many times I realize that I should have taken a photo earlier and I walk back to the same spot a few hundred feet. Most of the times, the distance that I measure with my two GPS receivers is only about 10-20 % longer than the distance indicated on the posted sign. In a few cases the difference is much bigger but that is the exception. Again, this is ONE-WAY distance.
Total Ascent: Measued in feet and one-way. Obviously, unless the trail is a loop, the reverse of the ascent has to be walked the way back to the trailhead. This time it will be descent.
Total Descent: Measued in feet and one-way. Obviously, unless the trail is a loop, the reverse of the descent has to be walked the way back to the trailhead. This time it will be ascent.
Highest Elevation: Highest point of the trail measured in feet.
Lowest Elevation: Lowest point of the trail measured in feet.
Average Grade: Calculated in percent. Total ascent divided by the legth of the trail and multiplied by 100. A one hundred precent grade would mean that the total ascent in one way is the same as the total distance traveled and the slope would be 45 degree.
Maximum Grade: Measured in degree.
Dogs Allowed: Usually, this will be a "No." Most of the time, dogs or other pets are not allowed on trails in national parks because they might chase and scare wildlife. Most parks limit dogs to the immediate vicinity of public roads and campgrounds, and only on leash. In some parks dogs are not allowed to stay alone in the car, for example, because of high temperatures. In that case, if you take a dog to the park, then you will not be able to do any hiking.
Solitude Score: This is a subjective measure of my experience of solitude, as of peace and quiet, on that particular day on that hike. Ten indicates a trail where I met no people at all. One indicates that the trail resembled a day in a crowded shopping mall. The higher the score the less people I met on the trail. This score clearly depends on the day of the week, season, holidays, etc. However, I think it is still a useful measure. To provide a little more information, I indicate the day of the week when I hiked the trail. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are usually more crowded in the parks. For example, 10/Su means that I had the trail to myself on a Sunday. I usually do my hikes in the main seasons or the shoulder seasons of the park.
Difficulty Rating: There is no easy way to convey a trail's difficulty. Usually, the scores in various websites and books are rather subjective. Fitness level, weight of the hiker and weight carried, weather conditions on the day of hiking, etc all influence the subjective feeling of difficulty. The best, and as objective as I think is possible, measure that I found is the "Energy Mile" theory of Paul Petzoldt. I am using his modified theory, with an additional modification. Every mile of the trail counts obviously as one energy mile. For every 1,000 feet elevation gain I calculate four additional energy miles. According to this formula, a trail that requires five miles walking (either in a loop or out and back together) and has 2,000 feet total elevation gain (either over the length of the loop or total ascent plus total descent between the trail-head and the end of the trail) will require 5+(2x4)=13 energy miles to hike. Based on the calculated energy miles, I score the trail difficulty as follows:
- 0-3 Easy
- 4-10 Moderate
- 11-20 Hard
- 21-> Very Hard
Craziness Score: On a scale of Low-Medium-High, I show a subjective measure based on my experience and my brain's very subjective response to threat. "Low" means nothing more dangerous than being in the wilderness. Being in the wilderness is dangerous on its own but if I did not experience anything inherent to that trail that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck then I assign "Low" as the score. "Medium" indicates that I experienced something innate to the trail that spiked my perceived threat level for the trail. For example, the trail leads on the side of a cliff but my subjective determination is that the path is sufficiently wide and although it causes some concern but my level of concern is not too high. On the other hand, the score "High" indicates that walking on a section of the trail made me seriously concerned for my safety. For example, the trail leads on a very narrow and/or unstable edge above a cliff. That is, my perception was that if I took a wrong step then I could seriously injure myself. A few notes are necessary. First, as I mentioned, this is a VERY subjective score. Second, I only consider terrain related danger that is an innate and permanent "fixture" of the trail. For example, just because I ran into a bear on a trail, I will not score a trail higher than "Low".
Captures Essence of Park: Yes/No label based on my subjective determination if the experience hiking that particular trail in that particular park accurately represented the park. A very subjective score and usually works better in smaller parks. For example, in Crater Lake National Park, there are some trails that are very interesting but they do not provide a view of the lake. Consequently, when I hiked on those trails there was no indication that the trails were located in Crater Lake National Park. A very similar hiking experience could be had in many other national parks in the Pacific Northwest. They were still beautiful hikes but they did not capture the essence what the park is most famous about, the Lake. On the other hand, both of the two trails on Wizard Island captured the essence of the park because I had to use a boat shuttle just to get to the trail-heads.
Unique Experience in Park: Yes/No label based on my subjective determination, if hiking that particular trail in that particular park provided a unique experience. Park specific and not intended to compare trails across parks. For example, the two trails on Wizard Island in Crater Lake National Park are reasonably unique because no other trail in the park requires a boat shuttle to access the trails. Similarly, the Scott Mountain trail in Crater Lake National Park is unique because no other trail in Crater Lake will provide the same vantage point. In most of the parks, most of the trails are unique, because of one or other reason. The National Park Service does a great job to develop unique and interesting trails.