The SoCal Hike Project

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 3:03 pm

I have a little project going. I want to have a simple website that makes it easy to search / sort through all the brazillion hikes in socal. Give basic important info and link to the website url for that trail / trip report.

For instance, this is what I have so far

http://socalhikereference.blogspot.com/p/hikes.html

Right now I've included a bunch of mine and added Modern Hiker's. Of course there are plenty more ranging from easy to extreme.

I've also added the 'Add a Hike" tab so that anyone can contribute to the database. That way all the unique hikes that people do and maybe only refer to based on a trip report here can be referred to.

The key is to deciding on what are all the important "measures" to include that can be sortable and are pertinent. For instance, adding the amount of off trail being done would be an important one to let people know of, as well as sort by.

That's where I need help. What do you think are the most important factors to add? You can see the ones I came up with under the Add a Hike. Suggestions?

It would also be good to have links to ACME mapper url for the trail as well as a google map url for the trailhead. Separating by mountain area probably would help alot (at least one page separated by area). Ideally I'd like to add a column of estimated driving distance, but that may be too complicated by different origins.

Let me know 8)

simonov · Post by **simonov** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:15 pm

These are all just pages in blogs, right?

What would be really cool is if this was all backed by a database, so that quantitative information (length of hike, elevation gain, difficulty rating, etc) can be captured in fields and you could build custom, sortable tables of hikes.

Like what this guy has done with peaks:

http://www.peakbagger.com/

Rename it eispiraten.com and attach this forum to it and you will kick ass.

mve · Post by **mve** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:53 pm

I think Zé's page is driven by Google Docs.

A database backed/driven site is the way to go for sure for this.

So what's the holdup with eispiraten.com?

simonov · Post by **simonov** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:57 pm

mve wrote:I think Zé's page is driven by Google Docs.

A database backed/driven site is the way to go for sure for this.

So what's the holdup with eispiraten.com?

No holdup: http://www.eispiraten.com

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 5:17 pm

simonov wrote: What would be really cool is if this was all backed by a database, so that quantitative information (length of hike, elevation gain, difficulty rating, etc) can be captured in fields and you could build custom, sortable tables of hikes.

yeah that is what I was thinking. It is backed by a "database" (initially started in Excel, but user additions automatically put into Google Spreadsheet), but not directly "driven" by it. Right now I can run some code I made that will generate the html code from the spreadsheet...but I still have to copy and paste it. Once I figure out how to embed sortable google doc spreadsheets, then it could be automatic, but I don't think that's a huge deal.

But I like the custom tables. Just trying to think of which ones? Don't want to get too complex.

As for the blog, yeah its just a simple way to start. An individual webpage would take more work; for now I think using the pages on the blogsite would work well. It's not a blog per se.

mve · Post by **mve** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 5:17 pm

I meant, when's the migration from myfreeforum.org to eispiraten.com taking place? Do you guys need any help?

simonov · Post by **simonov** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 6:13 pm

mve wrote:I meant, when's the migration from myfreeforum.org to eispiraten.com taking place? Do you guys need any help?

There are no plans that I know of. The eispiraten.com domain is there just in case.

Any migration to a different forum on a new site (which I think would be awesome) would first require the migration of the MyFreeForum database, which, I believe, can be done, but at a price.

Post by **Taco** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 6:23 pm

I guess so.

PackerGreg · Post by **PackerGreg** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 6:24 pm

Why not a wiki?

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:13 am

i dunno, authoritarian tendencies?

simonov · Post by **simonov** » Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:29 am

Okay, so maybe we should get back to answering the request in Ze's original post.

Off the top of my head, quantitative information to capture:

o Destination (name of a peak, etc)
o Route (eg: via would be the title for the entry; loops and shuttles would have to be handled a little differently, maybe with a separate field denoting the hike type, as below)
o Hike type (there-and-back, loop, shuttle)
o Hike length (miles)
o Season (most of the hikes in the San Gabriels, for example, could have two entries, one for winter and one for the rest of the year, since they are different hikes at different times)
o An objective difficulty level (scale of 1 to 5, etc)
o Overnight?
o Maximum Yosemite Decimal System conditions encountered
o Starting elevation (in feet)
o Starting elevation (in meters)
o Ending elevation (in feet)
o Ending elevation (in meters)
o Max elevation gain/loss (in feet)
o Max elevation gain/loss (in meters)
o Cumulative elevation gain/loss (in feet)
o Cumulative elevation gain/loss (in meters)
o Date of most recent hike
o Date of entry
o Date of last edit

. . . just to get the ball rolling. I'm sure there's more.

It probably sounds like a lot, but I have found that when you have a form in front of you or a spreadsheet, capturing data like this is easy; just fill in the blanks (and with a spreadsheet, some of the entries, like metric conversions and elevation deltas, are calculated for you).

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:50 pm

great tips! thanks.

the database accumulation is not a problem like you said...there's only space for so many columns on the screen, so I'm thinking to have a few different pages that differ in some of the sortable elements displayed. Make sure to keep the basics and important ones on each, but switch up the more unique measures.

simonov · Post by **simonov** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:03 pm

Is this similar to what you are trying to do?

http://nobodyhikesinla.com/

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:35 pm

not descriptions...there's plenty of that out there already (including my own socalhikes.com). I just want to have the tables / maybe map for searching / filtering through all the possibilities based on different criteria. nothign that special really, but a way to simply document all the potential hikes. links would go to write ups such as on that site.

simonov · Post by **simonov** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:30 am

What caught my eye about that site is how every hike includes a listing of quantitative information that might serve as a partial model for what you are thinking of doing.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:49 am

Zé wrote:not descriptions...there's plenty of that out there already (including my own socalhikes.com). I just want to have the tables / maybe map for searching / filtering through all the possibilities based on different criteria. nothign that special really, but a way to simply document all the potential hikes. links would go to write ups such as on that site.

Oh, I get it. Sort of like Cliff's notes for hikers.

HJ

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:41 am

simonov wrote:What caught my eye about that site is how every hike includes a listing of quantitative information that might serve as a partial model for what you are thinking of doing.

yeah that's true. I was planning on adding objective / subjective ratings for difficulty and "scenery". I'm a bit wary of suggested times but if they are overestimates that could be okay.

Hikin_Jim wrote:
Zé wrote:not descriptions...there's plenty of that out there already (including my own socalhikes.com). I just want to have the tables / maybe map for searching / filtering through all the possibilities based on different criteria. nothign that special really, but a way to simply document all the potential hikes. links would go to write ups such as on that site.
Oh, I get it. Sort of like Cliff's notes for hikers.

HJ

pretty much!

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 1:27 pm

http://socalhikereference.blogspot.com/p/hikes.html

so I added some avg grade and total "equivalent miles" stats. this helps give a feel for the overall exertion, what steepness and how much energy. it will need some explaining but it will be a good stat IMO

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 2:51 pm

Two thumbs up.

I wonder if the % of XC hiking would be a good stat to post?

HJ

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:24 pm

absolutely. i want this to be a reference for the whole range of 'hikes' including the extreme ones, which need to be displayed in the right context, i.e., people need to know that the hike is no joke and may pose danger to them.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:56 pm

I can see it now:

Disclaimer: If you're not an hard core, experienced hiker, then you're a flippin' moron if you go on this hike. Make sure your life insurance is all paid up. Please leave a note in your pocket describing where your valuables are so that others may enjoy what you leave behind.

HJ