Activities & Events

Hiking - Codes and Symbols

Here’s your secret decoder ring to all those cryptic markings that we use to describe our hikes. (In the printed bulletin, we try to be as descriptive as we can in the least amount of space.)

Symbols
miles or >	distance	total miles of the hike
ft. or ^	elevation	total vertical gain in feet of the hike
Dr.	drive	round trip driving distance to trailhead
Hike Ratings
A	easy-moderate	typically 4-8 miles and less than 1500 feet gain
B	moderate-difficult	usually 6-10 miles and over 1500 feet gain
C	difficult-rugged	generally 8 miles or more and over 3000 feet gain
+	conditioning hike	B or C level for fitness training; often done with a heavier pack
Pace
1	= 1 mph	a slow, easy pace
1.5	= 1.5 mph	a moderately easy pace
2	= 2 mph	a moderate pace
2.5	= 2.5 mph	a moderately fast pace
3	= 3 mph	a fast conditioning pace
3.5	= 3.5 mph	a very fast, highly aerobic conditioning pace
Other . . .
HK	Hike	well, a hike
SR	Street Ramble	an evening 2 hour hike in town
NS	Nordic Ski	cross country skiing
BP	Back Pack	either a backpack or car camp
SS	Snow Shoe	snowshoe trek (SS/A, SS/B, or SS/C refers to difficulty)
TT	Trail Tending	work parties to maintain or construct trails
W	Wilderness	hike in USFS Wilderness area; max group size of 12
TH Pass	Trail Head Pass	USFS NW Forest Pass required at trailhead. USFS website for the NW Forest pass. (Note: If you park more than 1/4 mile away from the trailhead you don't have to pay. See www.wildwilderness.org for some reasons why you might not want to buy the NW Forest Pass.)
X	special	anything else (snow bivouac, snowshoe weekend, etc.)
Gateway 8 am		Place and time of departure. The Gateway Park and Ride is typically used for Gorge and Hood hikes.