I got this from a book on llama packing written by a woman who'd been in the business for many years. Do you agree?
It said that when calculating distance to add 1 mile for every 500' in altitude gain. If you hike 5 miles but gain 1000', add 2 miles so in effect you're hiking the same as 7 miles on the level. Don't subtract any distance for downhill because you expend extra energy holding yourself back going down. I can agree with that, at least on the steeper stuff. Downhill can be a killer sometimes. OTOH, if the downhill is fairly mild, I get into a long sweeping stride and can go a LONG way at higher speed.
I think the downhill part might apply to the llamas more than to the person. A llama carries most of the weight on it's front legs. Coming down, that throws even more weight forward and puts more strain on the legs. A person carries the same weight on 2 legs no matter what the terrain.
