Appreciation post: I finally stopped planning my miles by the map and started planning by the climbs
I used to route every trip around hitting a set mileage, like the 14 mile day I forced on the Timberline Trail in Oregon that left me wrecked by 2pm. Now I add up elevation gain first and let the miles fall where they fall, which meant a 9 mile day with 4,200 feet of up that felt way harder than any 14 mile day. Does anyone else plan routes around gain instead of distance, or am I the only one who had to learn this the hard way?
Man that Timberline day sounds brutal, getting wrecked by 2pm is the worst feeling out there. I made the same switch after bonking on a "short" 8 mile day in the Whites that had like 3,800 feet of climbing, now gain is the first thing I check. A 9 mile day with 4,200 feet will humble you way faster than a flat 14, so you're not alone in learning it the hard way at all.