View Full Version : Hardest (most fun) 2 miles of the AT
Everyone knows that Mahoosuc Notch is referred to as the hardest and most fun 1 mile of the AT.
What do you think is the hardest and/or most fun 2 mile stretch?
Last week I hiked the section in NH from Pinkham Notch, up to the top of Wildcat D (going by the ski lift). That was a consistently challenging couple of miles.
joshuasdad
06-08-2016, 15:35
Do it SOBO down the mountain, at dusk, when the winds start picking up, and it looks like it is going to rain. "Fun" was not the adjective going through my mind then...
The cliimb up from Pinkham to the top of Wildcat is, I believe, one of the steepest anywhere on the AT.
I did it southbound (downhill) and it was brutal. I stood at the Wildcat gondola lift station, thinking, on skis, I'd be at the bottom in about three or four minutes. (I've skied it often.) On foot, with a pack, it was more like three or four hours. It seemed to go on forever.
Everyone knows that Mahoosuc Notch is referred to as the hardest and most fun 1 mile of the AT.
What do you think is the hardest and/or most fun 2 mile stretch?
Last week I hiked the section in NH from Pinkham Notch, up to the top of Wildcat D (going by the ski lift). That was a consistently challenging couple of miles.
how long is the notch plus the arm?
i hate questions like this because its entirely possible that the "most fun 2 miles" is a spot with a super fun .5 mile stretch surrounded by 1.5 miles that are just ok. do all 2 miles have to actually be especially fun to qualify? if there is a really awesome spot that it 2.2 miles in it's entirely, does it not qualify, or ae you allowed to count the 2 best continuous miles?
Most fun? For reals? Franconia Ridge (Haystack or Lincoln to Lafayette) on a perfect day. I like skywalks. High ridges, balds, cliff edges.
IMO the trail on K contains the most technical 2 mi of the AT
but weather on mt W (or many other exposed ridges) could commonly make for the most challenging 2 mi at that particular time
rocketsocks
06-09-2016, 03:16
The last two, NoBo, Sobo or sideways, makes no difference.
Teacher & Snacktime
06-09-2016, 10:02
The most wonderful 2 mile stretch I've ever hiked, and what has become to me an iconic section of the AT, is the area from Massie Gap toward Thomas Knob Shelter in Grayson Highlands, VA. The unspoiled vistas reminiscent of John Wayne movies and variety of terrain gave me a sense of "away from civilization" that I experienced nowhere else....so far. On top of all that.......the ponies. This is my idea of heaven.
35140
rocketsocks
06-09-2016, 10:16
The most wonderful 2 mile stretch I've ever hiked, and what has become to me an iconic section of the AT, is the area from Massie Gap toward Thomas Knob Shelter in Grayson Highlands, VA. The unspoiled vistas reminiscent of John Wayne movies and variety of terrain gave me a sense of "away from civilization" that I experienced nowhere else....so far. On top of all that.......the ponies. This is my idea of heaven.
35140what a fantastic picture that is of you, beautiful teach!
rocketsocks
06-09-2016, 10:24
...some say babe ruth apple pie, and chevrolet...I say Corn Dodgers, Horses and John Wanye.
colorado_rob
06-09-2016, 10:24
Hands down, the most difficult for me was the ~2 miles from the Osgood tent site to maybe a half mile before Mt. Madison! Yikes. They call that a "trail"? (I flipped in the whites, and went SOBO). Nothing else along the AT was quite as difficult, IMHO. Mahoosuc Notch was just pure enjoyment, and not really difficult.
Teacher & Snacktime
06-09-2016, 14:12
what a fantastic picture that is of you, beautiful teach!
Thank you Socks! (blush) Snacktime and I made that trip accompanied by a pair of young men who were riding their bikes from KY to FL. We arrive in Damascus at the same time, repeatedly bumped into each other, chatted each time, and the inevitable trail-friendliness saw us all off to see the ponies together :)
LIhikers
06-24-2016, 22:21
Kathy and I got to the top of Wildcat D with our 90 pound dog, going sobo, and decided to hike down the ski slope.
We'll have to make up those couple of miles someday without a dog.
Puddlefish
06-25-2016, 10:08
I had a blast on Big Firescald Knob. I was exhausted from the previous climb in the morning, and my feet hurt... but somehow that rock scramble along the ridge just became a challenge, and I loved the rugged beauty of it.
mainebob
06-25-2016, 18:13
Hands down, the most difficult for me was the ~2 miles from the Osgood tent site to maybe a half mile before Mt. Madison! Yikes. They call that a "trail"? (I flipped in the whites, and went SOBO). Nothing else along the AT was quite as difficult, IMHO. Mahoosuc Notch was just pure enjoyment, and not really difficult.
I just got back from hiking from Crawford notch to pinkham notch. I have hiked all of the a.t. except Mass and Vermont. I thought the 3 miles from Madison hut up Madison and down to osgood tent site was the hardest I have hiked yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuhnO8d0nIo