Читать книгу Afoot & Afield: Orange County. A Comprehensive Hiking Guide онлайн

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Capsulized Information

Each trip begins with capsulized information, including distance, hiking time, elevation gain, difficulty, trail use, best times, and agency. If you are simply browsing, these summaries alone can be used as a tool to eliminate hikes that are either too difficult or too trivial for your abilities or desires.

DISTANCE

An estimate of total distance is given. Out-and-back trips show the sum of the distances of the out-and-back segments. After the trail distance, I’ve noted whether the trip (as described) is a loop, an out-and-back route, or a point-to-point trip, requiring a car shuttle. There is some flexibility, of course, in the way in which a hiker follows a trip. Distances beyond 5 miles are rounded off to avoid suggesting a false level of accuracy.

HIKING TIME

This figure is for the average hiker and includes only the time spent in motion. It does not include time for rest stops, lunch, etc. Fast walkers can complete the routes in perhaps 30% less time, and slower hikers may take 50% longer. The hiker is assumed to be traveling with a light daypack. (Important note: Hikers carrying heavy packs could easily take twice as long, especially if they are traveling under adverse weather conditions. Remember, too, that a group’s progress is limited by the pace of its slowest member or members.)