View Full Version : Compare AT with Grand Canyon
I live in Arizona and am planning a section hike of the AT from Springer to perhaps Damascus. I have never hiked in the East but have done the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim twice and train on a small mountain near my home that is 3 miles round trip and has an positive elevation change of 800 feet and 800 feet down. Most of the trails in Arizona are rocky and sunny but I have no way of knowing what it is like on the AT as far as difficulty. Please help
Blissful
01-27-2009, 15:34
Much damper here, more humid in summer or colder/raw feeling in winter. Prepare for rain. Don't know if you have joint problems but you'll definitely feel it more here.
Sounds like your hiking skill is fine.
bigcranky
01-27-2009, 16:29
We did a day hike down to Roaring Spring and back to the South Rim a couple of years ago. In late June. So it was 35 degrees at the parking lot and maybe 105 at the springs. Nice hike, but odd temperature conditions. Not what we're used to.
The AT doesn't have that kind of weather change, since it's not that high anywhere. Depending on when you want to hike in the South, you'll find it to be more consistent in weather (if it's cold, it's cold, and vice versa). Your mountain training will very much come in handy, since there is plenty of elevation change. It'll be much more humid in every season, and you'll find more water along the trail except in serious drought years. Not many views except at the top of peaks and ridgelines, and then in summer a lot of that fills in with trees.
It's totally different here. Not better or worse, just different. I've enjoyed my hikes out West, but there's something very satisfying about the A.T. Hope you enjoy it.
The views are completely different, AT is more of a 'closed in' type of hike, depending of course on where you are ( like the Whites are ridge hikes, nice balds in the south and views/firetowers along the way). I like to hike around Flag. :)
garlic08
01-27-2009, 16:42
Funny, I'd hiked rim-to-rim shortly before hiking the AT, and there was one stretch on the AT that I thought was pretty close to that. I hiked down into Nantahala Outdoor Center and back out, about 20 miles, in one day. That's about 4000' down and back up. I was as beat as anywhere on the trail, and I felt like I'd just gone rim-to-rim, minus 1000' elevation. That being said, there is a highway, lodging and a restaurant at the bottom.
Since I finished the AT last summer, I've been living in Arizona. In general, I've found the AT is as rocky as many of Arizona's trails, and similar in steepness to many of Arizona's trails that are not developed for horses and bikes. Imagine going cross country through lots of steep washes, minus the cactus and thorns. You seldom have to carry more than one liter of water on the AT.
Spirit Walker
01-27-2009, 16:45
Western hiking tends to have long steady climbs and descents. Eastern hiking has lots of short steep ups and downs. It is easy for a western hiker to underestimate eastern hiking because the mountains are so low, but if you go 500 up, 500 down, 500 up, 500 down, 600 up, 700 down, 300 up, 400 down -- after a while it really can add up.
As others have said - long green tunnel vs. open desert. I was from the desert and loved the variety of forests and ferns in the east and completely different kinds of flowers - but some western hikers get bored at the infrequency of open vistas. \
And on the AT, one day in three is likely to have some precipitation, on average. That can mean rain, snow, fog, sleet, etc. That kind of hiking can take some getting used to. When I lived in Arizona, I didn't generally hike if rain was forecast - but it wasn't forecast very often. On the AT I had to get up and don wet clothes, socks, and shoes on many a morning and then hike in all day drizzle. Some people can't stand that aspect of hiking on the AT. You need to be prepared to do it though. The humid heat wasn't as much of a problem as I expected though because of the shade and ridgetop breezes. There were a few days that were miserably hot - and of course it affects the views - but it was no worse than hiking in 100 degrees. Water is generally plentiful on the AT so at least you're not carrying a gallon of water when you hike. That helps a lot.
Leaves of three, leave them be.
Poison Ivy. Can be found as a climbing vine, also.
No cholla, so you come out ahead.
fiddlehead
01-27-2009, 20:22
No need for sunglasses, sunscreen, cotton, chapstick, or carrying more than a litre of water.
Will need: good raingear, tent that keeps you dry in a rainstorm, get used to feeling clammy and always damp (sweat doesn't dry as easily), dew in the morning if you sleep without a tent or tarp (not recommended), don't expect to be able to dry things out.
Have fun.
If you can hike the Canyon, you can do it anywhere. On the AT you go up and down, up and down. In the Canyon you go up and up one day and down and down the next. Have fun.
MedicineMan
01-28-2009, 06:30
4 years ago we went down and back up the Bright Angel in a day...I'd compare that to any typical 20 mile section of the AT in how tired I felt (I think the Bright Angel down and back is close to 15 miles???). The next day we started at the Havasupai Trail head and camped near the falls and back the next day. I'd compare those two hikes combined with two fifteen mile days on the AT. Any trail I've done in the west has had these things in common-relatively smooth, relatively wide and dry. The AT will give you trickier steps with the addition of more wet mossy rock and roots and stubs.
DuctTape
01-28-2009, 07:08
Ditto on all the above posts, especially regarding precipitation and humidity.
As far as "difficulty" - if you can hike up and down the canyon you ought to have no problem hiking up and down the Appalachians.
If you're planning to do a 500 mile section, it seems to me that the most difficult factor would be the physical and mental game of hiking day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day if you've never done it before. Take it easy and start slow... but at 60-years-wise, you probably know that already.
Montana Mac
01-28-2009, 08:02
No need for sunglasses, sunscreen, cotton, chapstick, or carrying more than a litre of water.
Depending on what the start date is. If it is pre-leaf season he may want sunscreen - I know I carry and use it, but I also burn easily.
I've hiked up/down the Hermit, Bright Angel, Old Bright Angel, S. Kaibab, N. Kaibab, Grandview, and Nankoweep trails at Grand Canyon NP and thru-hiked the AT. Don't quote me exactly because I don't have the topos in front of me, but the S. Rim goes from about 7000'(GVTH 7400') down to the Colorado River at less than 2000'(actually I think it's much less than 2000' at the river) in 7 miles or less. The N. Rim is at about 8000'. The AT is not going to have as steep of a sustained elev. change as the GC on most of the trails I listed for the GC. For the most part the AT is a wooded at ridgeline, or near ridgeline, hike with much higher avg. annual rainfall. Think GREEN! paricularly if U R used to much of the southwest's trails! Much of the AT tread is narrower than what U will find on the GC corridior trails, like what U find on a Rim to Rim hike. The AT is not designed or maintained for stock. If U can hike the GC U can certainly hike the AT, but just as others have pointed out if U do a long section of trail anywhere it's a bit different than going out for just 3-4 days. Realize this going in and plan accordingly for a possibly longer duration on a trail than what U R used to. If U have the option of when to go try to co-inside it with the bloom times of the Rhodendron, Azaleas, and Dogwoods. I would think U would enjoy the fresh colorful aspect of life emerging during springtime on the eastcoast.
I have done down South Kaibib and up Bright Angel in the Grand Canyon the same year I did a five day section on the AT. Hands down, the AT was harder for me. I did that AT section first. The canyon hike was a cake walk.I loved both. Both are incredibly beautiful. I know I learned and carried far less weight in the Canyon. I think that made the difference for me. And I think I was in better shape for the Canyon. I am thinking if you can hike the AT, you can hike the Canyon. One big difference in the canyon, if you screw up on hydration, you can die.
I live in Arizona and am planning a section hike of the AT from Springer to perhaps Damascus. I have never hiked in the East but have done the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim twice and train on a small mountain near my home that is 3 miles round trip and has an positive elevation change of 800 feet and 800 feet down. Most of the trails in Arizona are rocky and sunny but I have no way of knowing what it is like on the AT as far as difficulty. Please help
When you have climbed north out of Stecoah Gap, you will remember it.
And after you have completed the section of the AT you have named, it will be forever remembered with affection and you'll want to come back. I don't know of anyone who has hiked the lower Appalachians that don't feel this way. My personal favorite time to hike from Springer to Damascus is before the green up. The limestone bluffs, cliffs and open woods give the mountains their character.
Enjoy. :sun