Day 2, for example, lists seven miles and 1,200 feet of elevation gain.
The community borders the Sitgreaves National Forest, at 6,800 feet of elevation.
That route would translate to some twelve thousand five hundred feet of elevation gain — a little less than on Aconcagua.
I saw why: The final day included 107 miles of cycling with nearly 5,000 feet of elevation gain.
You won't get altitude sickness in Sacramento, where 20 feet of elevation is considered high ground.
"The experience was not physically pleasurable," Mr. Soderlund said of the precipitous mountain course, which gains and loses more than 40,000 feet of elevation.
Descending the final 4,800 feet of elevation to Mweka Gate, we found a clamorous gaggle of local entrepreneurs hustling T-shirts, souvenirs and services.
But as soon as they gained a couple of thousand feet of elevation, they noticed what first appeared as haze or fog.
As Kitchen Creek drops over the steep cliffs of the Allegheny Front and over the edge of the Allegheny plateau, it loses nearly 1,000 feet of elevation in 2.25 miles, creating the series of picturesque waterfalls.
I settled on the Black Butte trail because of the promised panoramic views, though the ranger warned me I'd be puffing from the nearly 2,000 feet of elevation gain in two miles on this "moderate" hike.
