Читать книгу Top Trails: Lake Tahoe. Must-Do Hikes for Everyone онлайн

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Best Time

Time of year and current conditions can be important factors in selecting the best trail. For example, an exposed grassland trail may be a riot of color in early spring but an oven-baked taste of hell in midsummer. Other trails may be cool and shady all year. Where relevant, Top Trails identifies the best and worst conditions for the trails you plan to hike.

Difficulty

Each trail has an overall difficulty rating on a scale of 1–5, which takes into consideration length, elevation change, exposure, trail quality, and more to create one (admittedly subjective) rating.

The difficulty ratings assume that you are an able-bodied adult in reasonably good shape using the trail for hiking. The ratings also assume normal weather conditions—clear and dry.

Readers should make an honest assessment of their own abilities and adjust time estimates accordingly. Also, rain, snow, heat, mud, and poor visibility can all affect the pace on even the easiest of trails.

Vertical Feet

When gauging the difficulty of a trail, hikers and bikers often underestimate elevation change. Vertical feet accounts for all elevation change, not simply the difference between the highest and lowest points, so that rolling terrain with lots of up and down will be identifiable.