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  1. #81
    LT '79; AT '73-'14 in sections; Donating Member Kerosene's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Symbol View Post
    Stecoah Gap is legendary. Looking forward to that in March!!
    Stecoah Gap (actually Sweetwater Gap a mile or so in) is certainly steep, but it is relatively short. My newbie daughter didn't have a problem with that climb or Albert Mountain.
    GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014

  2. #82
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    Although not on the AT but just off of it, are two of the steepest trails in the Northeast. Huntington Ravine is considered to be the toughest non technical trail in the US. It ascends from the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to the Alpine Garden on Mt. Washington. The steepest section ascends 1,400 feet in .75 miles on a sheer granite face. Here is a passage from the White Mountain Guide official trail description: "This is the most difficult regular hiking trail in the White Mountains. Many of the ledges demand proper use of handholds for safe passage...the exposure on several of the steepest ledges is likely to prove extremely unnerving to novices and those who are uncomfortable in steep places. The use of this trail for descent is strongly discouraged"

    The Six Husbands Trail connects the Great Gulf to the cone just below the summit of Mt Jefferson and intersects with the AT. The steepest section ascends 1,520 feet in .8 miles. Here's a passage from the Guide: "...soon (the trail) begins to attack the very steep main buttress, the north knee of Mt. Jefferson, passing by one boulder cave and through another. At 1.0 miles it ascends a steep ledge on a pair of wooden ladders, then climbs under an overhanging ledge on a second pair, with a tricky spot near the top that can be quite dangerous if wet..." also there is a sign posted at the beginning of the trail that reads: "Warning, do not attempt this trail unless you are in top physical condition".

    Enjoy!

  3. #83

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    also in nh,not on the at itself, is the madison gulf trail up the headwall thats just as steep as the other two.

  4. #84
    CDT - 2013, PCT - 2009, AT - 1300 miles done burger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hikerboy57 View Post
    also in nh,not on the at itself, is the madison gulf trail up the headwall thats just as steep as the other two.
    I thought about taking the Madison Gulf trail down from Madison Spring Hut, but the AMC guide basically said something to the effect that you would die doing this downhill with a full pack. I took the AT instead.

  5. #85

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    Mad gulf trail is not as bad as the guide describes but given that its adjacent to hut and looks like a nice option for descending, I expect AMC exercised a bit of hyperbole. I still wouldn't recommend it with a pack on or if there is any dampness in the air.

  6. #86
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    The hike down into the NOC is a knee slayer.

  7. #87

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    Quote Originally Posted by peakbagger View Post
    Mad gulf trail is not as bad as the guide describes but given that its adjacent to hut and looks like a nice option for descending, I expect AMC exercised a bit of hyperbole. I still wouldn't recommend it with a pack on or if there is any dampness in the air.
    never did 6 husbands but ive done m.g and huntington ravine. the amc guide is definitely overly cautious in their descriptions, but i wouldn't want to downclimb either one unless i absolutely had to. i carried a daypack both times on each route, never with a full pack. there are some equally steep routes on the n. side of adams, like the great gully trail, but not as exposed as the east side of the gulf.

    the climb down to noc, was steep, but as id just finished hiking through an ice storm, practically ran down. the mountains down south have some long uphills ,but generally skirt the summits. in the north the trails go straight up and over, with a minimum of switchbacks. i found the south much easier with nothing as steep as nh and w.me.
    Last edited by hikerboy57; 01-03-2014 at 23:32.

  8. #88
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    Quote Originally Posted by chinook View Post
    Based on GPS track and USGS elevation data, here are some calculations for steepest sections of AT ...
    http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~dunigan/at/atelev.html
    Chinook, I've been thinking of doing this for a while, and your link pushed me over the edge-- with the elevation data from my apps, I wrote a little program to calculate steepest sections of the trail for a given length of trail segment. In case anyone's interested in this, the calculation skips overlapping trail segments (ie, if 1.0 to 2.0 is slightly less steep than 1.5 to 2.5, the former segment is discarded), and measures segments that are exactly 1 trail mile long, grading them by the steepness of that 1 mile. I went through afterward and added info for the full climb, rather than just the 1.0 mile.

    Here are the results for top 25 steepest 1 mile segments on the AT*
    1 - 1794.1 to 1795.1, 1760': Asquam Ridge Trail to Kinsman Notch (2180' in 1.7m)
    2 - 2181.6 to 2182.6, 1640': O Joy Brook to The Gateway (2120' in 1.4m)
    3 - 1858.6 to 1859.6, 1640': Mt Madison to Osgood Tentsite (2850' in 2.3m)
    4 - 1865.6 to 1866.6, 1500': Pinkham Notch to Wildcat E (2000' in 1.5m)
    5 - 1869.9 to 1870.9, 1430': Carter Notch to Carter Dome (1530' in 1.1m)**
    6 - 1813.4 to 1814.4, 1420': Liberty Brook to Franconia Ridge Trail (2180' in 1.8m)
    7 - 1880.1 to 1881.1, 1360': Just north of Mt Moriah to First Crossing of Rattle River (1600' in 1.3m)
    8 - 1930.8 to 1931.8, 1340': Hall Mtn Lean-to to Sawyer Notch (1530' in 1.3m)
    9 - 1823.8 to 1824.8, 1330': Galehead Hut to South Twin Mtn (1130' in 0.8m)
    10 - 1907.8 to 1908.8, 1330': Mahoosuc Notch to Mahoosuc Arm (1600' in 1.4m)
    11 - 1839.6 to 1840.6, 1250': Crawford Notch to Mt Webster (2650' in 3.2m)
    12 - 1585.6 to 1586.6, 1230': Mt Prospect to stream at base of Greylock (1450' in 1.4m)
    13 - 1985.3 to 1986.3, 1200': Crocker Cirque to South Crocker (1330' in 1.1m)
    14 - 1982.9 to 1983.9, 1200': South from Carabassett River (1020' in 0.9m)
    15 - 1932.0 to 1933.0, 1200': Sawyer Notch to Moody Mtn (1300' in 1.3m)
    16 - 1789.9 to 1790.9, 1180': Last mile to South Peak Moosilauke (total, 2920' in 3.0m)
    17 - 1918.5 to 1919.5, 1170': North from East Peak Baldpate (1070' in 0.9m)
    18 - 1804.0 to 1805.0, 1170': Eliza Brook to South Kinsman (1310' in 1.4m)
    19 - 1964.6 to 1965.6, 1160': Moose & Deer Stream to Saddleback (1480' in 1.9m)
    20 - 1818.5 to 1819.5, 1150': Lafayette to Garfield Notch (1460' in 1.5m)
    21 - 1701.2 to 1702.2, 1130': North from Thundering Falls Road (1300' in 1.2m)***
    22 - 1934.5 to 1935.5, 1090': South Arm Rd to Old Blue (2180' in 2.6m)
    23 - 1788.7 to 1789.7, 1080': Bottom of S. Moosilauke (total 2920' in 3.0m)****
    24 - 1830.0 to 1831.0, 1070': Zeacliff to Zealand Falls Hut (1070' in 1.0m)
    25 - 2000.9 to 2001.9, 1070': Bigelow Avery Peak to Safford Notch (1860' in 2.0m)

    Notes:
    *: the mile numbers are not an exact match for the Data Book, since I haven't adjusted it from my GPS tracks yet.
    **: Wildcat to Carter Notch is 1120 in 0.8m, but the calculation missed because the entire climb is less than 1 mile. Maybe I'll try half-mile segments next time.
    ***: This is the most surprising to me. Who remembers this climb? Not me!
    ****: This is from the field near Glencliff Road, so Moosilauke shows up three times on this list, once for the north side, and twice for the south side.

    ME: 10
    NH: 13
    VT: 1
    MA: 1

    I was kind of surprised by the results, which is why I'm sharing them here. I hope some of you think this is as entertaining as I do

  9. #89
    Registered User wcgornto's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Just a Hiker View Post
    Old Blue is one of those Mountains that doesn't get talked about alot, but it's definately a hard one whether you are climbing it or going down it. It's a steep climb going NOBO, and if you're coming down it SOBO, your knees are shot by the time you get down to South Arm Rd.......then you have to cross the road and climb Moody Mt. Definately a tough little stretch of trail that I always dread.
    Hiked Old Blue, Moody and Hall on the same day going SOBO. That last climb up hall at the end of the day was tough. The wash outs on Moody didn't help matters any.

  10. #90
    Registered User Papa D's Avatar
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    Maybe Mahoosuc Arm or the north side of Moosilauke.
    Smarts Mountain and a lot of stuff in the Whites are
    steep and Rocky - north side of Mt. Guyot for example.

    Sorry Big Dawg - I know that the section North of Stecoah
    is sort of steep and folks huff and puff going up to Brown Fork Gap
    but it is not even close to the sustained difficulty and steepness of (for example)
    the miles of steep hiking for a Sountbounder up Moosilauke or others I have
    mentioned and plenty I have not - heck, St. Johns Ledges in CT is steeper and it
    wouldn't make the top 25. That hill where it's steep is only about 1/2 mile, right?
    It might be one of the steeper little stretches in the South but
    I would say that Albert Mountain is about equal.

  11. #91

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    Quote Originally Posted by guthook View Post
    Chinook, I've been thinking of doing this for a while, and your link pushed me over the edge-- with the elevation data from my apps, I wrote a little program to calculate steepest sections of the trail for a given length of trail segment. In case anyone's interested in this, the calculation skips overlapping trail segments (ie, if 1.0 to 2.0 is slightly less steep than 1.5 to 2.5, the former segment is discarded), and measures segments that are exactly 1 trail mile long, grading them by the steepness of that 1 mile. I went through afterward and added info for the full climb, rather than just the 1.0 mile.

    Here are the results for top 25 steepest 1 mile segments on the AT*
    1 - 1794.1 to 1795.1, 1760': Asquam Ridge Trail to Kinsman Notch (2180' in 1.7m)
    2 - 2181.6 to 2182.6, 1640': O Joy Brook to The Gateway (2120' in 1.4m)
    3 - 1858.6 to 1859.6, 1640': Mt Madison to Osgood Tentsite (2850' in 2.3m)
    4 - 1865.6 to 1866.6, 1500': Pinkham Notch to Wildcat E (2000' in 1.5m)
    5 - 1869.9 to 1870.9, 1430': Carter Notch to Carter Dome (1530' in 1.1m)**
    6 - 1813.4 to 1814.4, 1420': Liberty Brook to Franconia Ridge Trail (2180' in 1.8m)
    7 - 1880.1 to 1881.1, 1360': Just north of Mt Moriah to First Crossing of Rattle River (1600' in 1.3m)
    8 - 1930.8 to 1931.8, 1340': Hall Mtn Lean-to to Sawyer Notch (1530' in 1.3m)
    9 - 1823.8 to 1824.8, 1330': Galehead Hut to South Twin Mtn (1130' in 0.8m)
    10 - 1907.8 to 1908.8, 1330': Mahoosuc Notch to Mahoosuc Arm (1600' in 1.4m)
    11 - 1839.6 to 1840.6, 1250': Crawford Notch to Mt Webster (2650' in 3.2m)
    12 - 1585.6 to 1586.6, 1230': Mt Prospect to stream at base of Greylock (1450' in 1.4m)
    13 - 1985.3 to 1986.3, 1200': Crocker Cirque to South Crocker (1330' in 1.1m)
    14 - 1982.9 to 1983.9, 1200': South from Carabassett River (1020' in 0.9m)
    15 - 1932.0 to 1933.0, 1200': Sawyer Notch to Moody Mtn (1300' in 1.3m)
    16 - 1789.9 to 1790.9, 1180': Last mile to South Peak Moosilauke (total, 2920' in 3.0m)
    17 - 1918.5 to 1919.5, 1170': North from East Peak Baldpate (1070' in 0.9m)
    18 - 1804.0 to 1805.0, 1170': Eliza Brook to South Kinsman (1310' in 1.4m)
    19 - 1964.6 to 1965.6, 1160': Moose & Deer Stream to Saddleback (1480' in 1.9m)
    20 - 1818.5 to 1819.5, 1150': Lafayette to Garfield Notch (1460' in 1.5m)
    21 - 1701.2 to 1702.2, 1130': North from Thundering Falls Road (1300' in 1.2m)***
    22 - 1934.5 to 1935.5, 1090': South Arm Rd to Old Blue (2180' in 2.6m)
    23 - 1788.7 to 1789.7, 1080': Bottom of S. Moosilauke (total 2920' in 3.0m)****
    24 - 1830.0 to 1831.0, 1070': Zeacliff to Zealand Falls Hut (1070' in 1.0m)
    25 - 2000.9 to 2001.9, 1070': Bigelow Avery Peak to Safford Notch (1860' in 2.0m)

    Notes:
    *: the mile numbers are not an exact match for the Data Book, since I haven't adjusted it from my GPS tracks yet.
    **: Wildcat to Carter Notch is 1120 in 0.8m, but the calculation missed because the entire climb is less than 1 mile. Maybe I'll try half-mile segments next time.
    ***: This is the most surprising to me. Who remembers this climb? Not me!
    ****: This is from the field near Glencliff Road, so Moosilauke shows up three times on this list, once for the north side, and twice for the south side.

    ME: 10
    NH: 13
    VT: 1
    MA: 1

    I was kind of surprised by the results, which is why I'm sharing them here. I hope some of you think this is as entertaining as I do
    Cool info, I like to see half mile calculation and see where the north side of Blood Mt GA stacks up against some of the others.

  12. #92

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    Quote Originally Posted by Yahtzee View Post
    Stecoah Gap, for sheer surprise. Short but calf-busting. The climb up Webster Cliffs is brutal. Funny, I don't remember any part of Katahdin being steep at all. This is northbound, of course.
    Webster Cliffs gets my vote

  13. #93

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    Before I did the climb out of NOC, I kept hearing how hard it was. When I finally got there and did it, I thought to myself "You guys haven't hiked in Maine or NH yet have you? This is nothing".
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  14. #94
    Registered User ChinMusic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    Before I did the climb out of NOC, I kept hearing how hard it was. When I finally got there and did it, I thought to myself "You guys haven't hiked in Maine or NH yet have you? This is nothing".
    Truth. Stuff like Jacob's Ladder may not even have a name up north.
    Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.

  15. #95
    Registered User Kingbee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sharky View Post
    Descending Garfield on a rainy morning! Webster Cliff wasn't too steep (I didn't think) it just kept going on forever.
    I second this, although I haven't hiked Maine yet. It was rainy when I went down as well. Scary stuff.

  16. #96

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    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    Before I did the climb out of NOC, I kept hearing how hard it was. When I finally got there and did it, I thought to myself "You guys haven't hiked in Maine or NH yet have you? This is nothing".
    i met a guy at the georgia/nc border, said "thank god its done. I heard its the second hardest state after nh and me."
    I laughed, told him it was nowhere near anything he'll see in nh and me.

  17. #97
    LT '79; AT '73-'14 in sections; Donating Member Kerosene's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hikerboy57 View Post
    i met a guy at the georgia/nc border, said "thank god its done. I heard its the second hardest state after nh and me."
    I laughed, told him it was nowhere near anything he'll see in nh and me.
    I think GA/NC is viewed as difficult because a large majority of hikers have never hiked elsewhere and are not yet in hiking shape. By the time I sectioned GA I had already covered most of the AT from central VA to VT, plus the LT. GA was a pleasant surprise, and the smooth trail you typically encounter down south makes for much faster walking. Of course, the climb out of Bly Gap up Courthouse Bald was still a b!tch on a warm-ish day in April, even though I had re-fueled and rested after a quick climb up from Dicks Creek Gap that morning.

    I've covered everything up to Rangeley, but I still think that my hardest climb was South Kinsman NOBO. I was just glad that I hadn't attempted it late the prior afternoon from Beaver Brook Shelter on my 2nd day out.
    GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014

  18. #98
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chair-man View Post
    Cool info, I like to see half mile calculation and see where the north side of Blood Mt GA stacks up against some of the others.
    Chair-Man, I'll run those calculations sometime soon. It will probably take a while, because I want to make sure it doesn't end up counting certain sections three or four times (like Katahdin or Moosilauke), and I'll spend some more time adjusting data once it goes through. I'm very curious to see where Lehigh Gap and Roan Mountain show up on the list.

  19. #99
    Registered User ChinMusic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by guthook View Post
    I'm very curious to see where Lehigh Gap and Roan Mountain show up on the list.
    Roan Mountain is so gradual now. It will be on page 6.
    Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.

  20. #100

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    the biggest steep i remember in the south was albert mtn, and it was too short to be that much of a challenge. a lot of long hills, but very few real "steeps".
    Last edited by hikerboy57; 01-05-2014 at 20:16.

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