View Full Version : Fear of Heights on the AT
2009ThruHiker
11-08-2005, 11:02
Will a fear of heights be a major problem on the AT... I read of a place called Tinker Cliffs in VA I believe where it speaks of a long cliff walk. Can any thru hikers tell me if there are any areas along the trail where this could be a problem?
fiddlehead
11-08-2005, 11:06
I guess it depends on how big your fear is. Yes the Tinker cliffs go next to some cliffs that are about 25 feet high. Probably not enough to kill you if you would fall. also there's some similar cliffs in NH, PA, ME. I don't think very many people have fallen from them though. Just don't go near the edge and hope it doesn't get icy. good luck, have fun
"ME & U"
11-08-2005, 11:07
No! Push thru it, you'll get there.
tinker cliffs is a flat bluff about as dangerous as walking thru a walmart greenhouse....climbing out of palmerton PA is pretty steep for a few hundred yards, as well as several other ridge lines where the trail just goes right along a 1000 ft section with more potential for danger. Those sections are aft6er 501 shelter...only been there once and by then it was no biggie. i think you'll find the trail quite safe even with a fear of heights. you're more likely to twist yer ankle on a small stone on flat ground than fall off the dangerous spots along the AT.
Whistler
11-08-2005, 11:35
Being a little scared is part of the fun! I say this because it usually takes me a few minutes to get used to exposure. Perhaps the AT will give you some good chances to deal with those fears slowly, surely, without any pressure or people around.
Dragon's Tooth in VA offers some unavoidable minor heights, but it's a nice scramble. Tinker Cliffs aren't bad though. You could walk through the woods there just a little off trail if it freaked you out that much. But it's also one of the cool, rare times that you can see clearly where you've come from and where you're going.
-Mark
....climbing out of palmerton PA is pretty steep for a few hundred yards, as well as several other ridge lines where the trail just goes right along a 1000 ft section with more potential for danger. Those sections are aft6er 501 shelter...only been there once and by then it was no biggie. ...
Agree. I get queasy when I'm more than 10 feet up a ladder, and the only place on the Pa. AT I have ever been nervous was climbing out of Lehigh Gap near Palmerton, and it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Just don't look down.
Footslogger
11-08-2005, 12:35
Will a fear of heights be a major problem on the AT... I read of a place called Tinker Cliffs in VA I believe where it speaks of a long cliff walk. Can any thru hikers tell me if there are any areas along the trail where this could be a problem?
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There are generally things you can grab and hold onto when you are climbing, descending or up high on a summit or spine. You do quite a bit of ridge walking in parts of NC, TN and VA, where the ground falls off on both sides but if you focus on the trail and look ahead rather than sideways I doubt if the height will be an issue for you. Tinker Cliffs is wide enough that you don't need to hike near the edge. McAfee's Knob, just south of Tinker's is a popular photo spot and many hikers (myself included) go right out on the edge to capture a memory. That's probably one you will want to skip.
'Slogger
The Old Fhart
11-08-2005, 13:04
Burn-"tinker cliffs is a flat bluff about as dangerous as walking thru a walmart greenhouse...."That isn't very reassuring, this is the local NH news today (from CNN, emphasis mine):
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (AP) -- A small plane with only the pilot on board crashed into a Wal-Mart Tuesday. The pilot was pulled from the wreckage badly hurt, but there were no reports of injuries on the ground.
"I just saw a huge ball of smoke go up," said Maria Kosmakata, who was driving to her job at a nearby car dealership.
The Embraer cargo plane had just taken off from Manchester Airport, about 1 mile from the store, when it hit the Wal-Mart garden center at 7:20 a.m., said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Murray.
Kerosene
11-08-2005, 13:11
Now that is a hoot...
lol...i saw it on the news...didn't realize it hit the garden center....too funny...let's see....tinker cliffs could be compared to hiking in the center of a football field with trees to yer right if yer nobo....
footslogger reminds me of the time i fell just south of NOC....just after i said to myself, don't fall here, no one would find you after a 1500 ft fall.
even there, i coulda grabbed several trees before i hit hard.
Wanderlost fell off of that spot just north of dragon's tooth. he broke several ribs.
Stoker53
11-08-2005, 13:37
If you have a fear of heights I suggest to take the trail AROUND Charlie's Bunion in the GSMNP.
D'Artagnan
11-08-2005, 13:52
The only times I have trouble with my fear of heights is with firetowers or similar man-made structures. The cliffs and McAfee didn't bother me. I really enjoyed climbing the rocks at Grayson Highlands, too. The observation decks like the one south of Wesser made me weak in the knees though. I guess my fear is linked more to structural failure than anything else. I see things like that and just imagine the worst.
2009ThruHiker
11-08-2005, 14:01
my fear is a vertigo type where you are standing at the edge of a sheer drop-off and you feel as though you are losing a sense of balance... but there is no way i'm letting it stop me from chasing this dream... i'm just glad to know what i'm up against.... how about Katahdin... is it bad... it looks like where the famous wooden sign is right behind it would drop right off???
Footslogger
11-08-2005, 14:28
.... how about Katahdin... is it bad... it looks like where the famous wooden sign is right behind it would drop right off???
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Nah ...you're standing on scattered boulders near the sign on Katahdin - No drop-offs there. The sign is on a pile of rocks that are a bit higher than the surrounding surface but nothing steep.
On the way up to the summit there are a few places where you'll sort of lean into the rocks and coming down there are a few spots where you'll want to sit and fanny scoot rather than standing.
'Slogger
The Old Fhart
11-08-2005, 14:46
Maybe this should go under favorite quotes, but comic Steven Wright said: "I'm not afraid of heights, I'm afraid of widths." When I was on Mt. Whitney looking straight down, I had a healthy respect for the sheer drop but it didn't bother me that much. On the other hand, you can't get me on a ferris wheel! We all have something we fear and those sections of the A.T. where there is some vertical exposure aren't that bad. Maybe it would help if you had someone you were hiking with go thru these areas with you for encouragement so you could see it is o.k..
I had several "vertigo moments" in the mountains in the south. Right at the top of the first ridge at Lehigh Gap looking WAY down at Palmerton it hit me again. Each of those times I just had to gaze fixedly at the rock wall next to me and avoid looking down until the feeling passed.
It was worse at Wildcat Cliffs just north of the Whites. My nerves were pretty much frazzled and I had to force myself onto each new pitch by sheer willpower. Then one rock face had a stretch with no handholds or footholds, no way up except by the friction of my body against the rock and pray I did not slip! :eek: I nearly lost my last meal at the top from sheer fright. It would have been SOOOOOO easy to die there. There was one bad spot after another after that; none quite so bad as Wildcat but still too much for my jangled nerves. More than once at the middle of a rock face if I could have been magically transported home I would have in a heartbeat. Fortunately the roads were always far enough beyond the bad spots to let the "This is too dangerous to be worth the risk" feeling fade just enough to keep me going.
Katahdin worried me to a frazzle as soon as it became clear I'd probably get that far. I even seriously resigned myself to skipping it and going home at the foot of the mountain. But when it finally came into view I really wanted to do it. The "If you are afraid of heights this ascent will be a frightening experience" sign at the foot worried me but not enough to stop. But the actual climb was an anticlimax. Sure it was on a ridge right into the sky, but there were no sheer drops like the ones that had bedeviled me earlier. So I really enjoyed the trip up and down.
RockyTrail
11-08-2005, 18:27
my fear is a vertigo type where you are standing at the edge of a sheer drop-off and you feel as though you are losing a sense of balance... but there is no way i'm letting it stop me from chasing this dream... i'm just glad to know what i'm up against.... how about Katahdin... is it bad... it looks like where the famous wooden sign is right behind it would drop right off???
There is a name for this type of self-induced vertigo...it's called "the vertigo of possibility". It's when you realize there are no boundaries, nothing to prevent you from falling off if you had a muscle spasm or something. There are some people who get this feeling when passing an oncoming semi-truck on a 2-lane highway; they think "what if" my hand jerked 2 inches to the left and caused a head-on collision? I know of a couple of pilots who developed fears like this this after an accident or close call. The key to overcoming this fear is deciding YOU are in control and commanding/training your body and mind to behave itself. Take baby steps at first, then ease into it; it's a mental discipline. YOU CAN DO IT! Happy hiking!
fiddlehead
11-09-2005, 09:40
How about for the pct?
I'm sure there's others but the one that comes to my mind the most is (an it's officially not the trail but almost everyone takes it for it's beauty) "The Eagle Creek Trail" in northernmost Oregon just before the Columbia river gorge. It is truly spectacular and there are cabled railings so you don't fall over the side.
There is a name for this type of self-induced vertigo...it's called "the vertigo of possibility". It's when you realize there are no boundaries, nothing to prevent you from falling off if you had a muscle spasm or something.
Very interesting, have heard this expressed before, but I didn't know there was a name for ir, or that many people had ir, must be somewhat common.
I've heard of another type of heights 'fear' but wonder if it falls into this category; the urge to 'fly' - not jump - but being drawn into open spaces when up high......no desire to hurt oneself, but fear that you will not be able to resist the urge to 'jump' or 'soar' off the edge.
If I recall there was a brief story about this in a back issue of BackPacker Magazine, a story about two friends who were hiking, AZ I think, and one craved this feeling and would stand on the very edges of dangerous places for a rush, he eventually fell and caused a major rescue situation - can't remember if he lived or died, but the gist of the story was that if you have 'this' to tell your hiking partner. It may only be for places like the Grand Canyon, who knows, anybody else heard of this?
I know personally that the first time I was at the G.Canyon I loved it, but the immense space created a feeling of the air being pulled out of my lungs for a few seconds, just awesome!
D'Artagnan
11-09-2005, 10:39
Has anyone here done the cables up Half Dome in Yosemite? I've only seen pictures, but they scare the **** out of me. Just the idea that if you slip, you die. Dang, my hands are sweating just thinking about it. :eek:
IMHO Mahoosuc Notch and about a mile or so of the climb up Katahdin (AT route) are a lot worse for folks with a fear of heights, or balance issues, than Tinkers Cliffs or Lehigh Gap.
I'm in the "balance issues" category due to the residual effects from a (benign) brain tumor I dealt with via gamma knife radiosurgery in 2001.
My $.02: Don't rush it--or let anyone else rush you--and take places like this very carefully and methodically. Stop for a few minutes when you need to so you can regroup if you're experiencing problems. Allow extra time. Try not to do these kinds of places during bad weather. It helps to have a patient hiking partner who will let you do it your way, but will be there "just in case." In the Notch I did, on Katahdin I did not.
Oh, and try not to look down!
PartnerShip
11-12-2005, 15:04
Nice to know someone else gets the vertigo off balance feeling
It happened to me this past week on a small portion of the AT trail in Hot Springs near Lovers Leap and I know that little climb is nothing compared to what lies ahead so I have a lot of work to do but am determined. I go on the Blue Ridge Parkway a lot and can even feel it in my car sometimes how high I am so this will be a challenge.
So I have 4 months to work on my fear of heights and snakes and welcome any advice
thanks
I figured out a while back that my veritgo is caused by my vision and not by a true vertigo. I am very nearsighted and have a wicked astigmatism as well - if I don't look directly out of the center of my glasses I can get vertigo on a flat surface. Sometimes if I get new glasses and they aren't "perfect" I will have really bad vertigo.
I've learned to typically look out as opposed to down. Helps me :)
lover's leap could be one of those spots everyone talks about. it does seem to go straight up at times. definately the look down is eye catching. i could think of the walk down from no business knob....nice little spot to slide all the way to the nulichucky, if ya stepped wrong....i actually slid on scree in front of a local taking photos...hehehe...nice smile when i didn't go over the edge. oppps.
Spirit Walker
11-12-2005, 18:03
I have an exaggerated fear of falling - not quite a fear of heights per se, I can stand on a cliff and enjoy the view without any fear at all, but narrow trails or icy ones or rocky ones where the footway is narrow or log bridges, etc. all scare me. Talus is not my idea of fun. On the AT there were a lot of places that were a problem - but I kept going by just looking a few feet ahead of my feet and focusing on going one step at a time. I kept thinking of Bill Irwin, hiking blind, and all the others who had managed to get through despite much worse problems than I had, and I kept on hiking, despite moments where I was really scared. With time and experience, it does become easier, though I still have my moments. (An icy log across a stream on the PCT had me frozen for about ten minutes before I worked up the nerve to continue.)
To answer the PCT question - you aren't on narrow ridgeline type trails very often - mostly it's a wide wheelchair trail - so fear of heights isn't much of a problem for most people. If you fear falling, the snowy stretches can be a problem though. And Mt. Whitney gets some people, but it's not actually on the PCT.
I also get vertigo occasionally - not on high places, just my balance gets funny sometimes. It's one reason I have the fear of falling, I don't entirely trust my balance to work right. Using a hiking pole has helped a lot. Having that 'third leg' helps keep me spatially oriented. Crossing log bridges or narrow rock ledges, holding my husband's hand will do the same thing. I don't expect him to keep me from falling, but it provides that extra clue I need to keep myself oriented.
Will a fear of heights be a major problem on the AT... I read of a place called Tinker Cliffs in VA I believe where it speaks of a long cliff walk. Can any thru hikers tell me if there are any areas along the trail where this could be a problem?
i'm scared to be 10 feet up a ladder... putting up christmas lights on the house is a major hurdle... boarding up my windows for Rita was even worse. yet i've jumped out of an airplane a couple times... go figure... it's not scary that high up... that said, i'll echo someone's comment on charlies bunion in the GSMNP... there are points where the trail gets close to an edge, but there are always trees nearby... you never feel like you're on a cliff... and as someone else said, sometimes it's the only way to see a beautiful view... well worth it... btw, charlies bunion is one of my top five favorite sites in the smokies, and i climb down off the trail to a certain spot to sit, scared or not... it's worth it for the view...