Can someone who knows Excel better than I do tell me why the formula in cell M2 does not work? It is supposed to sum up the values in column L where the corresponding cell in column D says either "Rest Stop" or "Snack Break" or "Trail Maintenance". (The cells it should sum are highlighted in blue in column L.)

The value in cell M2 should be 0.11, not 0.00.

I won't bore you with trying to explain what this spreadsheet does, other than to say that in combination with my Master Database it allows me to preview a hike and have a very close idea of expected elapsed time, total distance traveled, and total elevation gain. The cells highlighted in column L are to compensate for what I call odometer creep: stand perfectly still with your handheld GPS and it will accumulate distance at about 13 feet per minute as satellites come into and out of range. There is no averaging out of plus/minus because distance traveled is cumulative as an absolute value.

Oh, and the reason the "Difference" column is so far off of expectations at the beginning of the hike is because I got involved taking my notes for the Master Database and walked off without my hiking poles for the first leg of the hike and had to rush back and get them and then go like hell to catch the group.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. The question is: Why doesn't M2 work properly?

tanstaafl.