Steepest Section?

imported
#21

There is a very cool three dimensional model of the Appalachian ranges with the AT overdrawn on it at the ATC headquarters in Harpers Ferry. It was really eye opening to see the climbs, and the “big picture” of the geography of the trail.

When we were there some tourists were chatting with an ATC employee. As we walked in, he was telling the tourists that “some people walk the whole AT, and look, theres two of them now!” So of course we got the regular twenty questions, but the tourists also brought us over to the 3D trail model and tried to guess where our toughest climbs had been. They guessed Shuckstack. It was fun hearing them guess how tough each mountain was.

I recall the climb down after Beaver Brook shelter (going nobo) to be very steep. That was at the beginning of the White Mts, going down to Kinsman Notch. Mahousic Notch and Arm were really tough for me because it was pouring rain and I got crabby. So yeah, attitude & weather probably has a lot to do with how difficult a section seems!

jitterbug

#22

Three Ridges Mountain 25 miles south of Waynesboro is the nastiest climb for hundreds of miles around. Besides that, the nastiest ups are Cheoah Bald, the Stecoahs, Moousilauke, Kinsman, every climb in the Mahoosucs, and Katahdin. I didn’t think that Southern Maine was in the same league of difficulty as New Hampshire and the Mahoosucs.

Bankrobber

#23

Isn’t it Goose Eye Mountain in Maine that has the ladder on it? So, that’s probably the single steepest section, but not a long one.

Peaks

#24

I really cant say what the steepest climb was. People have mentioned Wildcat, Katahdin, Whites, Southern Maine and there were tough climbs in all those areas. I just remember climing out of the Noc as being MY hardest climb of the trip.

Yo-YO

#25

Did you flip flop in 2001??? I’m sure i met a guy named Yo Yo about 15 miles south of Hot Springs. Yo Yo camped outside the shelter, we camped in it. It was cold and it snowed during the night.

Just a long shot.

Ross - London,England

#26

aw heck, they were all easy. trust me.

S.w.i.f.t.

#27

I have rarly agreed with Baltimore Jack on anything, but here i will have to agree. South Kinsman is a hum-dinger, glad i was nobo. i few tough ones in the whites, but they were a bit easier because the ego boost. but, by far, no other section of the trail compares to the “Mahoosuc Arm in Maine.” It is bloody hell! it’s not so much the elevation change as the difficulty of terrain. there are miles of boulders, that are too big to rock hop, they slant into large crevices, they have gnarley roots everywhere, trees act as human velcro, and as a nobo you look ahead and think “i’m in the middle of nowhere and headed only deeper” the mental edge is aginst you. the AT was tough for me like most, i had good times and i had hard times, but the mahoosuc range will top my memory as the “Grit” of the AT.

magic

“(from kinsman,NH nobo) you may have done 80% of the trail, but you got 80% of the work ahead of you”
-local from NH-

magic_game03

#28

by far the steepest stretch i have ever climbed is Mt marojejy in Madagascar. had to use my hands to pull myself up just about the whole way, it was so steep. lots of mud to slide on too. and leeches. fun, fun.

hy

#29

I descended Katahdin on the Abol slide. Holy Christmas it is steep. It is a bunch of loose rocks that drops straight off of Katahdin.

Bankrobber

#30

Ross,
No flip flopping here GAME all the way in 2003!

Yo-YO

#31

Georgia to Maine is a GAME, Maine to Georgia is a MEGA hike!

joe bones

#32

You SOBOS made a MEGA mistake. Its just a GAME guys…

A-Train

#33

I remember Sweetwater Gap, NC as the steepest. I think it was because it as early on. 4 years ago it was ridiculous steep. I think they might have relocated some of this.

Anybody know? Jack you out there? It was a day south of Fontana Dam. Before Brown Fork Gap Shelter.

ZipDrive

#34

Benny:
i guess we all have our “steepest climb” memories…& they seem to vary quite widely.

since i havent completed a thru-hike…i can only relate, my experience thus far…Albert Mtn, was a steep climb for me…&…agreeing with you…SHUCKSTACK was especially hard for me (that climb came at the end of my day).

Jaybird
www.trailjournals.com/JaybirdandJigsaw

Jaybird

#35

zip drive,

The short, amazingly steep climb out of Sweetwater Gap was made easier sometime between 1994 and 1998. The last one tenth of a mile was switchbacked. I think the thing that made it so hard was the fact that there were no trees or rocks to pull you up like in the North and it was so stepp that it seemed your nose was almost touching your feet after each step.

tenderheels

#36

Sweetwater Gap, just a bit past Stecoah Gap, is still one of the toughest climbs in the south, switchbacked or no. Luckily, once you’re up and over it, you realize it wasn’t very long, but it’s still a buttkicker. And be happy…a few years back, it was even worse.

B. Jack

#37

Climbing up onto Franconia Ridge after drinking beer and eating hamburgers all day in Woodstock NH was quite a trip.

mindlessmariachi

#38

I remember being poured and hailed on while going up Sweetwater Gap.

It was challenging, but I thought it was just because of the weather.

It’s odd how you don’t notice climbs as much when you’re dodging the elements!

bearbait

#39

For some reason many of the mountains mentioned didn’t seem to be that steep to me. I think Wildcat was one of the top ten steepest if you factor in the length of the climb. I also had a bear of a time trying to get up Katahdin with a full pack. There was a nasty rock over hanging the iron hand holds that was extreamly difficult with a full pack.
I thought Kinsman was relatively easy, but I climbed it in the dark so my perception may not be that accurate.

Rick The Lone Wolf

#40

Wildcat? Hell I remember the days when we hiked the road down to the ski area and rode the lift up. Blue- blazing at it’s best!:cheers

Wolf