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Hike Grading System
You'll see that each outing is assigned a grade.
The grade is a three-part code describing the difficulty of the outing. The
first part, a capital letter, refers to the difficulty of the trip. This
is a subjective score, but it takes into account things like the pace the leader
intends to set, and how difficult the terrain is. Generally, if a car
could drive the trail, it will be an E. If you need a 4-wheel drive, it's
at least an M. If no vehicle is going where you are going, it will be an H
or above. At this level, you could be using your hands to pull yourself
over features, and slipping, well, it could be bad. All of this is
subjective. A 20 mile hike, or gaining and loosing 4000 vertical feet,
isn't going to be a moderate hike, even if it's paved (and even if it's rated
that way.) Also, some leaders grader harder, and some easier. So
view the difficulty score as a guide.
DIFFICULTY
E - Easy
M - Moderate
H - Hard
S - Strenuous
V - Very Strenuous
The second part of the code is simply the
number of miles, rounded to the nearest mile, traveled on the longest day. So
say you hiked 3 miles in on Saturday, set up base camp, then did a 2 mile day
hike. On Sunday you did a 5 mile day hike, packed up, then hiked back out
the same 3 miles. This hike would get an "8".
The last letter is a code for the total amount of elevation lost or gained on
the most intense day.
A - Less than 500 ft.
B - 500–1,000 ft.
C - 1,001–2,000 ft.
D - 2,001–3,000 ft.
E - Over 3,000 ft.
Example: M8C is a moderately difficult hike
which requires going 8 miles on the longest day, and which could climb or
descend up to 2,000 ft. in any one day.
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