Data Analysis for easy hiking

Moving speed for Little Lakes Valley Hiking

Moving speed for Point Reyes Hiking

Today, I analyzed data from easy hiking with kids.   Hiking to Little Lake Valley, which is a round trip to Morgan Pass is about 13km and hiking to Mt. Wittenberg in Point Reyes is about 11km.   I just focused on ascending portion, the average moving speed is something around 1 [m/sec].   It seems the speed for Little Lakes hiking is a bit slower.

 Average Heart Rate for Little Lakes Hiking

Average Heart Rate for Point Reyes Hiking

 The heart rate during ascending for Point Reyes hiking is less than 120 [bpm].  On the other hand, the heart rate during the Little Lakes Valley Hiking is above 120[bpm] and it sometimes more than 140 [bpm] 

Elevation profile for Little Lakes hiking

Elevation profile for Point Reyes Hiking

   Then, I focus on the elevation, about 250m elevation gain with 6km total distance for Little Lakes Valley hiking.  On the other hand, about 400m elevation gain with 6km+ for Point Reyes hiking.   It is obviously Point Reyes hiking trail is steeper than the trail in Little Lakes Valley.

   The both hiking, I tended to walk slowly due to kids and people who does not hike so often.  As a result, walking pace for Point Reyes Hiking was faster and lower average heart rate.    Regarding the slope, the trail in Point Reyes is steeper than Little Lakes Valley.  The other fact is Little Lakes Valley Hiking is more than 3000m elevation during the hiking.  Based on the past hiking data, it is very possible to limit to get oxygen in such elevation and the heart rate could be higher due to limiting to get the oxygen and food.  I was walking with really slow pace with a similar weight of the backpack.  However I felt the both hiking was very easy.  Probably Little Lakes Valley would be a bit harder and I was a bit tired.

    Since I felt hard above 3,200m elevation on Mt. Whitney Trail and it is a fact of the Little Lakes Valley shows some impact for the elevation.    The other fact is the weight of the backpack for Little Lake hiking is much lighter than my past hiking to Mt. Whitney.  Also, the walking pace was much slower than hiking to Mt. Whitney.

Here is my conclusion:

1. The heart rate could be getting higher when people hike above 3,000m elevation
2. If we can limit the amount of oxygen a person consume for walking, we might be able to limit the amount people consume during hiking.
3. If the weight of the backup is not much, then, the heart rate would be getting higher, but people may be able to walk as similar as what we hiked lower elevation if the distance is not so long.

Based on this conclusion, slower pace might help to minimize the impact of high altitude sickness.