Long live switchbacks!
Who would have thought it?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/...yuphillszigzag
If not NOW, then WHEN?
ME>GA 2006
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=3277
Instagram hiking photos: five.leafed.clover
a new study confirmed it? well i'll be g*****ed!!
Last edited by attroll; 02-23-2008 at 20:21.
HEY!..I was just in the process of copying that article to post it on here myself.......But that is one of the major advantages of the modern AT...You can tell in threads where people debate what section of the trail is the toughest and they rarely mention the Stekoah region much..Once upon a time it was brutal as the trail just went straight up and down the side of all the mountains..Even something smaller like the Weaverton Cliffs in Maryland; Back in the mid-70`s the AT crossed Rt 340 (I mean it just went right across the road not up under that bridge) and then it shot straight up to the cliffs....Plus this helps with errosion problems and makes the trail more accessible to those not in perfect condition or longer in the tooth like yours truely
Sometimes you can't hear them talk..Other times you can.
The same old cliches.."Is that a woman or a man?"
You always seem out-numbered..You don't dare make a stand.
...and Microsoft wants to buy this cutting edge reporting?!
Cabin Fever
You need God—to hope, to care, to love, to live.
Hmm....
Wonder how much that study cost?
I wish they'd paid me to help!Originally Posted by Ghosthiker
If not NOW, then WHEN?
ME>GA 2006
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=3277
Instagram hiking photos: five.leafed.clover
I recall a study published a year or two back confirming that handsome, good-looking people are more successful in life. Who knew?
hmmm. i'm not very successful
That's pretty doggone cool.....I'd like to take part in a study like that anytime!
"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl
Uh, no. The climb out of Sweetwater Gap was one of the nastier grinds of my 1990 hike. I've mentioned it a few times. Vivid memories. Being short of H2O didn't help. Effing miserable. I hear they've mellowed it out somehow, I'd guess that means with switchbacks.
Oddly, the climb out of NOC (the day before?) wasn't as tough... Not easier, but better weather, better views, better mood.
Can someone forward that report to the MATC?
Kirby
I too used to bitch about some of the A.T. going straight up...hard...out of breath...teeth getting caught in your shoelaces...etc.
then I went out west on the PCT...talk about useless walking!...1 1/2 mile switchbacks to gain or lose 100' of elevation...I'll stick to straight up everyday!
geek
Heh. I'm not sure who'd earn the prize, between MATC, AMC, RATC and all the rest. I mean, OK, it was no big deal, but who exactly chose the AT route down off the north side of Dragon's Tooth, or the north side of Lehigh Gap?Oft times I felt like the creators of the trail were toying with me. In the beginning, this kinda sh.it would make me angry. Eventually I realized it was part of the game.. just shrug it off and deal with it... (I raise my fist to the sky and scream, "You bastards!" This makes me feel better.
)
So instead of PUDs and MUDs, PCT'ers complain about "useless miles." Interesting !!!
I have read so many posts lately about that north side of Dragon's Tooth. Would ya'll just knock it off!!! I'm doing it my first day out this year......Heh. I'm not sure who'd earn the prize, between MATC, AMC, RATC and all the rest. I mean, OK, it was no big deal, but who exactly chose the AT route down off the north side of Dragon's Tooth, or the north side of Lehigh Gap?
good grief
"It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America." - Daniel Boone
You'll have fun. Just take it slow. If you have poles, fold them up and strap them to your pack. The really steep stuff only goes on for the top-most 500 feet or so.
Just make sure that you get a lot of time in on the StairMaster and you'll be fine.
GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014
not all PCTersSo instead of PUDs and MUDs, PCT'ers complain about "useless miles." Interesting !!!
Sadly. If you follow the paper trail, it's Yahoo printing a story from Space.com written by LiveScience summarizing an technical article in Journal of Theoretical Biology... published four months ago. (Oooh! Breaking news right there!) Ever play that game where you line people up and have them whisper a message down the line, and see how by the end it loses half the words and the other half are almost completely different? That's what most science reporting (and some would argue all reporting) is.
One neat thing (in the original journal article) was that the best use of switchbacks is different going uphill and downhill. If you do the best for one, you do worse for the other. So before anyone changes any PUDs on the AT, we really should have the NOBOs and SOBOs duke it out for who gets the optimal switchbacks! Of course, a steep hill without switchbacks is, as we know from experience, simply bad for both. So maybe we can leave things fair like they are now where everyone's got problems
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