Everyone has their style for trip planning. Some play it fast and loose, some plan down to the minute. I think there is an in between for everyone that suites them well. My personal planning style is to take care of all the known quantities and reasonable eventualities and then do my best to allow the schedule to "happen". That having been said, I am a little obsessed with the numbers.
Case in point, here is a worksheet I put together for weights
| - | Units | Road weight | trail weight |
| vehicle listed weight | 4850 | 4850 | |
| GVRW | 6470 | 6470 | |
| CCC | 1620 | 1620 | |
| Fuel (7) | 25 | 175 | 175 |
| UPGRADES | |||
| tires (16.8 over stock) | 5 | 84 | 84 |
| sliders | 1 | 150 | 150 |
| Rack | 1 | 20 | 20 |
| Awning | 1 | 40 | 40 |
| SUB TOT | 294 | 294 | |
| PEOPLE | |||
| people (180) | 2 | 360 | 360 |
| Water | |||
| Gallons (8.34) | 15 | 125.1 | 125.1 |
| GEAR | |||
| Tent | 1 | 40 | 40 |
| Recovery gear | 1 | 80 | 80 |
| clothing (15 lbs bag each) | 2 | 30 | 30 |
| Box (cooking) | 50 | 50 | |
| Box (dry food) | 40 | 40 | |
| tools | 50 | 50 | |
| Cold food | 50 | 50 | |
| Hilift | ` | 25 | 25 |
| bag/pad/pillow (15 each) | 2 | 30 | 30 |
| Bikes | 2 | 60 | 60 |
| sub total | 415 | 415 | |
| TOTALS | |||
| Total vehicle weight | 5319 | 5319 | |
| GVWR | 6470 | 6470 | |
| CCC | 1211 | 1211 | |
| Total gear/persons | 900.1 | 900.1 | |
| CCC at or over gvrw | 311 | 311 | |
| Total Loaded weight | 6219.1 | 6219.1 | |
| GAWR front | 3305 | 3306 | |
| GAWR rear | 3970 | 3971 | |
| Combined GAWR | 7275 | 7277 | |
| Combined at or under GAWR combined | 1055.9 | 1057.9 | |
| % GVWR (Goal 95% or less) | 96.12210201 | 96.12210201 |
This helps me understand where I sit for GVWR for safety sake. I also have detailed fuel maps
| FUEL | |||||||
| Leg | average mpg on leg | miles traveled | gallons used | per gallon cost | Fillup cost | Tank level from last fill | Notes |
| Home to Fruita | 13.5 | 260 | 19.26 | 5.74 | Empty light is on | ||
| FILLUP - Fruita | 19.26 | 2.5 | 48.15 | 25 | |||
| fill up to castle rock | 10 | 25 | 2.50 | 0 | 22.50 | ||
| Castle rock to TOW trailhead | 10 | 60 | 6.00 | 0 | 16.50 | Just over half | |
| To Moab | 10 | 75 | 7.50 | 0 | 9.00 | less than 1/4 indicated | |
| Total Leg | 160 | 16.00 | 2.8 | ||||
| FILLUP - MOAB | 16.00 | 2.8 | 44.80 | 25.00 | |||
| Moab To Home | 14 | 220 | 15.71 | 9.29 | |||
| FILLUP - Home | 220 | 15.71 | 2.5 | 39.29 | 25 | ||
| TOTAL Gallons | 50.97 | ||||||
| Total Cost | 132.23 |
To make sure I don't run out of fuel on the trail, and to figure out how much extra I should bring. I hate carting around extra fuel.
I also have checklists for Mechanical on the vehicle, personal gear to pack, documentary gear to pack (hey, im a video producer) as well as food and food prep lists.
To be honest, I really love the pre-trip planning stages. I LOVE day dreaming away my hours thinking about not being in front of this computer by doing virtual loadouts, itineraries with mileage, menus, etc. I realize Its not for everyone but it is for me. What about you guys? how do you plan?
Links to these spreadsheets here