View Full Version : Comparison of A.T. to Grand Canyon
Hi y'all. I've never hiked on the East coast, and was wondering if anyone had hiked from say Indian Garden in the GC to the top of the south rim, and how it compared to the A.T. Particularly the Georgia section. Cheers. Tony.
IVe not hiked the entire AT but I have not experianced anything more difficult than the hike to Plateu Pt and back anywhere on the AT
GoldenBear
06-03-2012, 16:09
But I have hiked
1) The Canyon down to Phantom Ranch one day and back out the next.
2) several hundred miles on AT.
3) up Mount Whitney.
Each are different challenges. Not necessarily that one is HARDER than the other, just different.
The challenge of The Canyon is the heat (no surprise) and the steepness. The former can be overcome with some half-way decent planning (and humility), the latter requires a bit of body preparation. Most people in reasonably good shape who do these two steps can handle the hike in one day -- from Indian Gardens to the Rim can "easily" be done in a day. The reward is extreme beauty, and an understanding of just how BIG the GC actually IS.
The AT is like a hike that never ends. It will never be as hot as The Canyon, and you'll never have to go up 1476 meters (4780 feet) in elevation in one day; but, unless you are TRULY insane about hiking it, you'll never reach "the end." You just go on hiking, day after day, week after week, as the Trail begins to consume you. Either you run out of resources -- time, money, your body -- or you just give up, or you just decide you're just going to endure the pain because you've decided to do so. Beating this challenge won't get anything remotely like the scenery in The Canyon, just a sense of pride that you have DONE IT. It can be done -- if it couldn't, this site wouldn't exist -- but it requires a different kind of planning and preparation. Browse the site to get more details on what you will need.
If you can't guess, I hike because I LOVE to do so. Each hike offers a different challenge and a different skill set. If you were smart enough to handle the challenges of a GC hike, you most likely could do the same with hike on the AT. But you'll need to find out how the two are DIFFERENT.
Cookerhiker
06-03-2012, 17:18
But I have hiked
1) The Canyon down to Phantom Ranch one day and back out the next....
I did this also. It was early March so heat wasn't an issue. The canyon bottom was Spring, the South Rim was winter with about 8" snow.
Anyway, hiking up from the Grand Canyon is certainly not easy but as hard as it is to make an apples-and-apples comparison, I felt the GC was easier in 2 respects:
1. Footing and grading
2. I liked that it was simply up, up, up whereas so much of the AT is intervening PUDs. You rarely just hike up, you hike up, down, up, down, up, down etc. etc.
Certainly there are specific parts of the AT e.g. the Whites and most of Maine that are unquestionably harder than the Grand Canyon.
Hi y'all. I've never hiked on the East coast, and was wondering if anyone had hiked from say Indian Garden in the GC to the top of the south rim, and how it compared to the A.T.The last 3 1/2 miles up are, in terms of relentless up, tougher than all but a very few spots on the AT. Also, you rarely encounter anything on the AT like the crowds of clueless tourists walking 3 abreast that you have to fight your way through to get to the Rim.
OTOH the Bright Angel Trail up from Indian Garden is well-graded, wide, with lots of switch-backs. So the steepness is never "climbing" like so many shorter stretches of the AT are, with the use of hands and scrambling over boulders required.
Overall I find that section of the Grand Canyon much tougher that typical hiking the AT. But, as others have said, it's _different_ more than tougher/easier.
ChinMusic
06-03-2012, 18:35
I've done both the Grand Canyon and GA.
Taking the heat out of the equation I found the Grand Canyon significantly easier. The GC is just so smooth walking and so well graded. You don't have the uneven footing as is common on the AT. The AT seemed steeper on its ups as well. Once near the bottom, looking up at the rims is daunting, but in this case "it's just walking".
Feral Bill
06-03-2012, 18:53
Hiking up from Indian Gardens you can just throttle back the speed and walk out without a break. At least I could when I was much younger, and it was not too hot. Parts of the AT are much steeper, with poorer tread. With proper pacing, if you can do one you can do the other.
the main or "corridor" trails in the grand canyon are many times easier than most of the AT. especially the areas where there is piped water every few miles. the only possible difficulty is the unrelenting up (or down, for that matter) nature of it, but as someone else said, i find that much easier than constantly switchign from up to down. and the trails are in such great shape that footing is a non issue. youll never come anywhere close to thinking about using your hands, youll never have to take a funny or awkward step, you wont have to hop over and around rocks and boulders or tree roots. these are all things even many of the easier parts of the AT will from tiem to time involce. and forget about it if youre talking about the whites (never been on the AT in GA really)
IVe not hiked the entire AT but I have not experianced anything more difficult than the hike to Plateu Pt and back anywhere on the AT
youve never been to the white mountains.
plateau point in back, if you leave early and sit out the mid day heat, is not hard at all.
ChinMusic
06-03-2012, 20:41
..........
If taking Bright Angel that would be about 24 miles rounds trip and a bit over 3000' of gain/loss. That is a hell of a day.
Going from Springer to Lance Creek is TONS harder than that with more gain/loss. It's not even close. Not many folks choose to go from Springer to Lance in one day. Lots of folks hike down to the bottom of the GC and back.
I don't think I could hike from Springer to Lance right now. I KNOW I could hike to Plateau and back.
not true, from the trail head of bright angel on the south rim to plateua point is 6 miles one way.
ChinMusic
06-03-2012, 20:55
not true, from the trail head of bright angel on the south rim to plateua point is 6 miles one way.
I was looking at a link that stated that distance. I thought it was off after thinking about it and killed my post.
The hike down to Plateau and back is only 12ish. I knew it was easy.
http://www.arizona-leisure.com/hiking-bright-angel.html
The Bright Angel Trail hike to Plateau Point at the Grand Canyon South Rim (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/south-rim-grand-canyon.html) is a 12.3 mile, 3,216 feet altitude gain hike
I suspect they meant round trip.
wteason2
06-03-2012, 22:10
I can't speak for Georgia, but I've hiked a bit in the GSMNP, and done a 30 day canoe expedition with Outward Bound in Minnesota. Nothing has been harder than hiking down the South Kaibab Trail to Phantom Ranch in 2005. 120 degrees at the bottom. Here's a picture from my trip (that has actually been reused by other sites!) Granted I'm probably not the best reference point for a grown man.
http://fritzdooley.com/canyonpictures/images/south_kaibab/south_kaibab_trail0008.JPG
I can't speak for Georgia, but I've hiked a bit in the GSMNP, and done a 30 day canoe expedition with Outward Bound in Minnesota. Nothing has been harder than hiking down the South Kaibab Trail to Phantom Ranch in 2005. 120 degrees at the bottom. Here's a picture from my trip (that has actually been reused by other sites!) Granted I'm probably not the best reference point for a grown man.
and the most miserable hike ive ever been on was when i was 12 and in boy scouts, but if i were to rehike that hike today i'm sure i'd think it was easy. 120 i'm sure wasnt fun, but that stuff they say about dry heat is true and i'll take 100 in the desert over 95 with 98% humidity any day.
One reason I remember the GC to be so difficult is that i went in July and the heat kick my tail like a mules that walk the same trail
this is what a hard hike looks like : )
16187
yes it does... Is there a trail somewhere in all that? Where is that?
and the most miserable hike ive ever been on was when i was 12 and in boy scouts, but if i were to rehike that hike today i'm sure i'd think it was easy. 120 i'm sure wasnt fun, but that stuff they say about dry heat is true and i'll take 100 in the desert over 95 with 98% humidity any day.
Yep, but 120 is no fun even in zero humidity
yes it does... Is there a trail somewhere in all that? Where is that?
in the middle youll see an odd pile of rocks that looks bigger a little more perfect than the rest of the random jumble.... thats a cairn marking the "trail." thats the AT on the trail north side of mt monroe in NH.
in the middle youll see an odd pile of rocks that looks bigger a little more perfect than the rest of the random jumble.... thats a cairn marking the "trail." thats the AT on the trail north side of mt monroe in NH.
i mean mt madison. duh... too many presidents to keep track of.
the AT is a whole lot wetter than the Grand Canyon!
sits-in-car
06-05-2012, 18:45
You owe me a keyboard. Or at least a replacement of the coffee I just spit.
I currently live in mid-coast Maine. My partner section hikes and I usually shutle with the occasional hike. (Thus my handle). We've had about 7 inches of rain this past week. We really call this 'mud season'.
We used to live and work at the grand canyon. My partner worked at the ranch for 2 years. We've both worked and hiked on both rims. Yes it was a bit less humid there.
We refered to the Bright Angel trail as the highway. We prefered the south kaibab trail. steeper, but shorter.
The main difference to me is the view. Every trip into the canyon was awesome. It never looks the same.
I'm not a fan of hiking in 'the green tunnel'. Mold should not be a food group.
fredmugs
06-06-2012, 06:56
First time I hiked the GC it kicked my @$$. 2nd and 3rd time too. 4th time was better. The last time I hiked the GC it was about two weeks after doing a 170 mile section on the AT from Standing Bear shelter to Dennis Cove Rd. I went down the Kaibob trail, thru Phantom Ranch, and up the Bright Angle trail (16.6 miles) in 6.5 hours. It was cake. The AT in Georgia will definitely be tougher.
fiddlehead
06-06-2012, 08:04
Lots of different trails in the Grand Canyon system and the Bright Angel Trail is about as easy as any.
It's all downhill heading down to the river and all uphill coming back.
GA has ups and downs with probably some steeper grades at times, has shade once there are leaves on trees, has water available (at least in the spring and winter when I've been there).
The footing is different, grade not steady like the GC.
If you want a better comparison, try the Boucher trail down to the Tonto rim and hike a bit parellel to the river and then back up the Bright Angel.
I think it would give you a better idea of what GA AT is like (but add trees, road crossings, and way different kinds of rocks)
And everything is a different color.
Hard to compare really.
Hike them both and tell us what you think is the difference. (at least you don't need a permit in GA or need to carry too much water)
bigcranky
06-06-2012, 08:53
The AT is like a hike that never ends. It will never be as hot as The Canyon, and you'll never have to go up 1476 meters (4780 feet) in elevation in one day;
Hmm, this is only true if you mean 4780 feet in one single climb -- there are plenty of places where you'll climb that in a day. And much more. You'll just have some steep downhills in between the uphills.
My memory of the GC is the temperature difference: 37 degrees (F) at the parking lot on the North Rim, and 105 at Roaring Springs. The hike back up was well graded but we took it very slowly. I honestly think the hike up The Priest southbound is comparable, and I did that after hiking down Three Ridges, then had several more climbs that day, then a steep steep steep down into Montebello. That day was more exhausting than the GC hike.