Two questions for thru-hike alumni ... regarding the physical trail?

[BCPete]

Hi Everyone,
Question for people who have hiked the entire AT ...

I read "Then the Hail Came" when someone here posted a link to it the other month, and I made the mistake of letting my somewhat "narrow-ridges-with-steep-dropoffs" phobic wife read it also. Yikes - now she wants to know just how crazy some parts of the trail might be! Not enough to stop us for our planned thru in 2015, but enough to ask me to do some light research. :D

So ...
a) Are there any portions of the trail that are less than 5' wide and have steep drops on both sides of the trail?
b) Any idea how many very steep portions (or total distance) of the trail pretty much requires both hands & feet to climb up or down safely?

Thanks!
Pete in BC

[jbwood5]

I don't quite meet the requirement of your first sentence (a few hundred to go yet), but I recall Dragon's tooth when it was wet and slippery and the rock climb around Lehigh Valley (Palmerton area) being a bit scary in high winds. There are lots more, but those seemed to be burned into my mind as unforgettable days. Some parts are scary but it could be by the time you get there, the phobia may not be an issue since there is so much more to focus on. You just deal with it and remember that thousands of people have passed by before without issue.

[Kaptain Kangaroo]

Unless I missed it somehow (or my memory has totally failed me), there are no parts of the trail less than 5' wide with steep drops on both sides.
There are many places where you need both hands and feet to climb...but none that I would call dangerous....never felt the need to be roped up !!!

Let your wife know that a blind guy has thru-hiked........ http://www.billirwin.com/ so it can't be too hard to stay on the trail ;)

[BCPete]

Thanks guys ... this really helps!

She's acutally not too bad with hand assisted climbs & descents (just a fair amount of swearing & cursing!), but it's those ridge walks that get to her brain. Good to here that none pop to mind that are less than 5' wide with both sides dropping away - that's what really does it for her. We've done some pretty funky routes here in the Cdn Rockies over the years, and have some methods to get her through the worst of those narrow ridge walks that pop up from time to time - but she does like to know what to expect.


Let your wife know that a blind guy has thru-hiked........ http://www.billirwin.com/ so it can't be too hard to stay on the trail ;)
She might say it's easier for a blind buy to traverse a narrow ridge with steep drops on both sides ... as he can't see the view that's causing the phobia! :cool:

[mother goose]

Make sure to go north bound UP Webster cliff, coming south and down sure is a heart stopper

[ChuckBrown]

In NH, above the tree line , between lafayette and linclon it gets narrow but not less than five feet narrow. But you are on the top of the ridge with not much on each side.

[swjohnsey]

In the vicinity of Rocky Top it is like that.

[Carry-On]

The only place I can think of that specifically fits the 5' with dropoffs on both sides thing is maybe the Knife Edge in Pennsylvania. I was only scared there because I did it in the rain. The Knife Edge on Katahdin is not actually part of the AT, so can be avoided and no need to go there at all. People in their 80s, kids, a blind man, and thousands of hikers every year hike it. There is a lot of the using both hands and feet kind of climbing in NH and especially Maine, but that can be fun. Here are some of the parts of my thruhike that made a big impression on me.

Mt. Moosilauke in NH going northbound was my absolute worst descent of the whole trail. I describe it here and if I ever do it again, I will hike it southbound, no matter which direction my actual hike is going.
http://carryonadventures.blogspot.com/2013/02/7-27-12-nh-mt-moosilauke-chets-place.html

Hiking up Goose Eye Mountain in southern Maine was a pretty scary climb and descent mostly because of the weather, I think. Though certainly the terrain was extremely tough.
http://carryonadventures.blogspot.com/2013/02/8-10-12-nhme-border-full-goose-shelter.html

Katahdin, the northern terminus of the AT was probably the toughest climb of them all, and can have some pretty scary moments, especially coming down, dealing with the heights. If you plan to make room in your schedule so you can hike it on a day with good weather, you will enjoy it much more, though the heights issue will be more pronounced because you'll be able to see the drops.
http://carryonadventures.blogspot.com/2013/03/9-8-12-me-katahdin.html

[BCPete]

Again, thanks everyone!

Carry-On,
Thanks for the links to your blog ... that is exactly what my wife was hoping to find for information. Looks like she'll have lots of reading to do over the next while!
Cheers,
Pete

[Ox97GaMe]

Pete,
You will not see any of the severe mountain hiking like what you have in British Columbia or the Canadian Rockies. None of the AT requires technical climbing skills. If you are used to hiking in your local mountians, the AT will not be an issue for you.

[Carry-On]

Again, thanks everyone!

Carry-On,
Thanks for the links to your blog ... that is exactly what my wife was hoping to find for information. Looks like she'll have lots of reading to do over the next while!
Cheers,
Pete

Sure! I'm happy if my blog and pictures are helpful to somebody planning their hike. I know how obsessed I was with reading everything I could find about the trail for a couple years before I could go. I'm still updating it for the last leg of my hike, which ended on Dec. 9th, 2012, so those entries will all be there. I'm trying to work on it a little every day.

[kidchill]

I second what Carry-on said. Coming down the Hunt Trail/AT on Katahdin was pretty steep, and could definitely lead to injury. On the plus side, you leave your full pack at the rangers station and just carry enough food and water to get up and back down. I can't comment on climbing that section as I went up Abol trail, and then came down the AT. Another question, are you going North or South? I definitely think Moosilauke would be sketchy going north...But, here's the thing. If I remember correctly, there's Moosilauke and Kinsmen. To me, these were probably the 2 most pain in the ass areas in the Whites. For me going south, Kinsmen was long and not steep going up, but super steep down...and Moosilauke was super steep up, and long not steep going down. If you're going North it will be reversed for you. I would recommend just taking your time, especially if it's been raining, and try to maintain 3 points of contact. Also, Mahoosuc Arm (spelling) going south was steep...Mahoosuc notch was dangerous the way I did it...I found it easier to climb up about 10-15 feet and shimmy around. Most people I saw were climbing up, climbing down, climbing up...etc. Also, I refused to take my pack off and crawl like a dog through those sections...I climbed over them instead. If you stay high and jump around the rocks like I did, it's not so safe. I too had rain in PA for knife's edge. It's not bad, but I had horrible-grip shoes at the time and it was flat out pouring rain on me...so it was a slippery mess. Overall, there's not a whole lot of places with sheer drop offs on either side...That's not to say you can't get hurt or there's no dangerous places, but you won't be balancing across an 18" wide boulder bridge.