View Full Version : NOBO after Smokies any easier?
Having a great time so far, but wow, GA and the climb out of Bly Gap into NC was pretty steep! After the smokies, do things get a little more graded on trail at all before Harpers Ferry?
Any biggies to keep an eye out for......Unicoi, Wilcat and out of BlyGap definately three I will remember. Blood Mtn. turned out to be a breeze, and I had done Kelly Knob before....long but not too tough ;-)
Thanks!
Smile
There's another Kelly Knob in VA.......I hate mountains with that name.
freefall
03-24-2006, 14:58
There's another Kelly Knob in VA.......I hate mountains with that name.
And what about that one just before Brown Fork Shelter? I was looking for attatchment points for rope it was so steep!
RITBlake
03-24-2006, 16:10
We used to hear this all the time. ie 'the trail gets easier for the next 400 miles' etc. But to be honest, the trail is never easy. For example in PA the climbs arn't as big or as steep, but the trail is much rockier. There is always a tradeoff. The trail won't get any easier but you will become a better and stronger hiker. Before you know it you'll be climbing any hill or mountain w/ out needing a break
Clingmans dome is the highest mountain on the AT right. So, it figures that it must be all down hill from there, right? :p :D
Don't you believe it :eek:
Doctari.
Having a great time so far, but wow, GA and the climb out of Bly Gap into NC was pretty steep! After the smokies, do things get a little more graded on trail at all before Harpers Ferry?
Any biggies to keep an eye out for......Unicoi, Wilcat and out of BlyGap definately three I will remember. Blood Mtn. turned out to be a breeze, and I had done Kelly Knob before....long but not too tough ;-)
Thanks!
Smile
You'll eventually be passing SOBO's probably in late June or early July, and you'll probably find that what they tell you won't turn out like they said it would. The same goes for the info you tell a SOBO. One's own interpretation is so much differnet than the next persons.
All that to say, is that take it day by day and enjoy it. What you find to be hard may not be at all difficult for someone else and vice versa. That's my 2 cents. Take it for what it's worth...
Finally, congrats on your hike. Keep on a truckin'!
Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and eventually you will get to Maine - and even Katahdin.
Rule #1. There are no easy trails.
Rule #2. There are no sections of the Appalachian Trail that ordinary hikers can't surmount.
Weary
I thought the climb out of Waterville, up Snowbird Mountain was pretty killer, but that was after 2 zero's at Standing Bear Hostel. Great place to stop btw.
MileMonster
03-25-2006, 00:15
Doctari - I swore by that unitl I got to the Hudson River, the low point on the trail. Using that logic I wasn't happy to realize that it was all up hill from there!
I agree with some of the other posts. Every day was great but none of it was particularly easy unless my day was a 5-mile downhill to a town. None of it was easy, but somedays were less difficult than others. That's not to say every day was a grind and unconfortable, but you're still walking all day with weight on your back. What I'll say is that the middle is generally less difficult than the two ends.
Keep on truckin'.
If you made it this far there's no "trail hardness" reason to bail out. I don't believe any section is harder than the 1st 100 miles. However, the further you hike, the further you may push yourself, and with good reason, it becomes easier. From tiresome 8 mile days, you'll be doing 15+ with reserves to spare and be better able to enjoy the fruits of your effort.
Sure, they'll be a few more steep or rocky sections that are more difficult than in the past, but by then it's hoped you're able to adapt.
"Keep persisting" Katahdin is the most difficult climb, bar none, but by then you be flying.
Cookerhiker
03-25-2006, 07:37
I agree with all the above advice. Nothing is truly easy, some parts are just easier than others. Post-Smokies, you have lots of up-and-downs. I guess statistically Roan Mt. the the longest/steepest and this will be after you've summitted Big Bald (easy in my opinion) and Unaka. Sometimes the little steep knobs are more bothersome than the long sloughs.
Post-Roan Mt., the word is often easy trail to Damascus but don't underestimate Pond Flat. I ascended it on a warm sunny day without benefit of leaf cover and found it quite tiring. Bremer Castle hostel was a welcome sight at the end of the day.
Interesting question. People often say that Virginia is "easy", and I often think that they mean "easier." I think that every section of the AT has it's own challenges. And no doubt about it, both ends of the AT are tough. But, once past Mt. Rodgers, the trail does mellow out a bit until say, Vermont. Just look at the typical average daily miles that hikers do in the middle section of the AT in comparison with the average daily miles made on either end.
Sparkplug
03-25-2006, 09:32
Last year we found, like other have said, that people were always saying "it gets easier ahead." I mean, they said the rocks stopped in PA--they didn't. They said the Shenandoahs were like a vacation--well, there were the concession stands, which were great, but overall with super hot weather and trying to churn out 3 20-mile days in a row, it didn't seem easy to us!
I think the only "easy" part I remember from our GA > MA 'section' was the canal walk right after you left Harper's Ferry :-) And although we didn't hike it last year, but have in the past, there is one flat section in NH in the few miles before you hit Ethan Pond, up near Crawford Notch, but that's about all I can think of for "easy" in NH :-) But again, it all depends on the person, the weather and the day. There are always variables that affect you. Some days we flew over hard terrain. Other days we struggled over what should have been easy terrain. If I were you, I'd get all thoughts of it getting easier out of your head, and just try to take it a day at a time, and enjoy it!
Happy Hiking!
-Sparkplug :-)
Cookerhiker
03-25-2006, 16:16
NJ has rocks but otherwise the state is easy - only tough climb is Pochuck.
Of course the 5-mile river walk along the Housatonic in CT is easy which the hiker deserves after descending St. John's Ledges.
I found most of Massachusetts easy - the ascents up Race & Everetts mountains aren't bad. Greylock's ascent is tough for the first mile and the last - in between it's OK. I think the hardest part of Mass (perhaps because I underestimated it) was between Rt. 7 and 23 because of the rough footing and little up-and-downs.
I did Vermont so long ago the memory is dim but I recalled a 15-20 mile stretch around Little Rock Pond and Griffith Lake as not too difficult.
you should be able to do 20,25,30 miles a day in va,md,pa,ny,nj,ct,ma,vt,no problem.:cool: neo
you should be able to do 20,25,30 miles a day in va,md,pa,ny,nj,ct,ma,vt,no problem.:cool: neo
Maybe you, but not most people, at least on a consistent basis. I think very few people actually do over 100 miles per week. While my daily mileage varied, I never even attempted a 30 mile day.
you should be able to do 20,25,30 miles a day in va,md,pa,ny,nj,ct,ma,vt,no problem.:cool: neo
Maybe you, but not most people, at least on a consistent basis. I think very few people actually do over 100 miles per week. While my daily mileage varied, I never even attempted a 30 mile day. At 30 miles per day, that would be over 200 miles per week. Wow!
Maybe you, but not most people, at least on a consistent basis. I think very few people actually do over 100 miles per week. While my daily mileage varied, I never even attempted a 30 mile day.
most i have done in 7 days is from damascus to perisberg va 162.6
is 23.22 mile per day average,i travel light and alone,i am not a fast
hiker,i just start early and stay late,i prefer high miles to set around camp
i love staying in motion thats all:cool: neo
Rain Man
03-25-2006, 18:38
... the climb out of Bly Gap into NC was pretty steep! ...
Am glad to hear someone else had the same experience I did. That climb was and is the worst (to me) that I've done on the AT so far. I've done Amicalola to Hot Springs, NC and Katahdin. I thought Bly Gap was worse than Katahdin. I sure was cussing the NC trail clubs that afternoon. LOL
But I've decided much of it depends on your frame of mind and how happy the body is that day. As in, it's not objective, but subjective.
Rain:sunMan
.
I don't mind the long uphills like Kelly's Knob or Blood Mtn...it's the one that are steep, skinny, the edges drop off on either side thru the rhodos.... skinny trails down here that I am not used to....just curious about the trail ahead BEFORE Harpers....already done most of PA, CT and MA. Perhaps the cold just made it worse ;-)
I am sure I will do fine, getting back on trail shortly.....
I agree with Sly. Katahdin is the most difficult. Not the whole 5.2 miles, but there is about a mile or two in the middle that deserve the "hardest" label. The folks I hiked with that day and I gave it a moniker of "The Final Exam." It's also the most rewarding climb when all is said and done.
Cookerhiker
03-26-2006, 16:56
I agree with Sly. Katahdin is the most difficult. Not the whole 5.2 miles, but there is about a mile or two in the middle that deserve the "hardest" label. The folks I hiked with that day and I gave it a moniker of "The Final Exam." It's also the most rewarding climb when all is said and done.
Echo that. Katahdin is the only AT climb where I actually found the descent easier than the uphill. Of course, the descent still took longer.