Toughest Trail

“I was wondering what were some of the toughest trails y'all have done on the East Coast?
I have heard that the unmaintained trail from Porter's Creek to Charlies Bunion in the GSMNP was pretty rough - that it should only be ascended never descended. I was going to try it, but I figger I git more experience and wait til late summer to beef up my leggies, and of course, for dry weather.”

“ive never met a trail i couldnt do yet........”

“my favs so far are the john muir trail and the tahoo rim trai”

“Make Yer Own!

You Can Call it Thunder”

“How to narrow it to one?

Lesseee...
Panther Falls trail in Cohutta Wilderness, GA. 1200+ elev gain in a couple miles or so, much of it scrambling and boulder hopping. The route includes climbing a cliff or two, unless one elects to hike around'em.

AT from Wesser, NC to Cheoah Bald. 8 miles. 3000 net gain, prolly 4500-5000 gross change. A hard day, indeed.

Cumberland Island, GA. Flattest, straightest trails in the Western Hemisphere, but twelve miles in 112 degree "humiditure" rivals any trail's difficulty. Prolly the most exhausted I've ever gotten in a single day.


Enough blowdowns and deadfalls can make the easiest trails difficult.”

“A section of the Sheltowee 2 days after a tornado came through.”

“hMmm.. have done some REALLY tough sections.. but no ONE trail really stands out.”

“Near the end of the Great Gulf trail off Mt. Washington in NH. It is a long gradual meander until it hits Spaulding Lake. Then it climbs straight up the headwall of Mt. Clay. 1500 feet of elevation gain in 1 mile. You are bumping your forehead on your next hand and foot hold the whole way up.

I have yet to do Huntington's ravine, but will someday. Supposed to have a couple of nasty sections.”

“The Tosohatchee State Reserve is in interesting hike during the rainy season. Over half of it was under water. Nice swampy, black water. Hiking through water with mosquitos and the occasional gator in 90 degree heat is Florida's way of kikcin' your butt.”

“The Pinch-In trail in Linville Gorge is pretty slick --- they forgot to put in switchbacks.

Yeah, Gojo, Panther Creek is fun. Even More Funner going downhill with 60 lbs (ah, the good ol' days). The first time I went up Panther Creek, I was just dayhiking from a campsite by the river. I misread the map (dur). I thought it was 400 ft up in less than a half mile but it was 800.

I'm thinking This is about the time of year to do Cumberland, *G*.”

“jo and i almost slept in the middle of the trail, near cheoh! LOL!!!!”

“The trip to Cheoah was the only time I've seen Belle lie down straight away upon reaching camp. We kinda slept in the next morning, too (though we were a little excited about getting out in the snow storm).”

“I dug that section of the AT going up to Cheoah Bald. It was a little bit of a workout but I very much enjoyed it.

The Presidential Range of the White Mountains in New Hampshier is prolly the toughest thing I've done.”

“LOL @ WD. What a day that was dude!! From waking up on the side of the mt to swollen feet at the end of the day.

Lee I love looking down into the Great Gulf from the top of the Sphinx trail there, that is just an awesome sight

To date though it has got to be the path from my couch to the frig on a lazy Sunday afternoon!!”

“On a solo trip, with a full pack, through Indian Pass in the Adirondacks. I hiked it about 7 years ago but my knee reminds me often.”

“Sick on the side of Rich Mountain-GSMNP- had a bunch of guys laughing as I puked my guts in the snow.”

“Ho Chi Mihn Trail. There were a helluva lotta VC on that one.”

“VC=vasiline cream?”

“Various Crumbs?”

“Vanilla crumbits”

“Haven't done any on the east coast, but I would say Taboose Pass. 8 miles / 6000' el gain from Taboose Trailhead (5,445') to Taboose Pass (11,500'). Straight up and it never lets up. We met Mel up there while doing our resupply.

I think it took 11 hrs r/t the first time we dayhiked it (not acclimated). The second time (picked up our canisters from the resupply) was not as bad, but we were wishing we paid Mel to take the canisters out when we talked to her. The third time was a one way trip (down) and did it in 3.5 hrs. Even tho its gnarly, its worth the trip.”

“Taboose is in the Sierras, CA.”

“Well I haven't been very many places, but I thought the climb up Mt. Washington via Tuckerman Ravine was pretty brutal. It is ALL rocks, and unrelenting uphill. Elevation gain is 4500 feet over four miles.

Question for Dude and Pete...when you guys did your Presidential Traverse, what was the greatest altitude gain in any two-day period?

I definitely want to go back there next fall.”

“Well their not all on the East Coast...

Manadnock (Sp?) for a day trip is not nice. Straight up at some points.

Rawah Wilderness in Colorado has major altitude gains.

And Isle Royale east of Daisy Farm has horrendous ankle twisting trails along the shore. I think my wife just about divorced me on that leg of the trip!”

“We were there the first week of September. We went from Appliachia to Franconia Notch. Took us 6 days and covered 55 miles. I recon out biggest altitude day was the first two days. Pedxing was on the 1st half of the trip .His car was waiting at Crawford Notch.
I flew back home out of Newark Sept 8. Sirpete was kind enough to take me out to Statue of Liberty State Park. I even got pictures of the Twin Towers from there. Who'd of known they wouldn't be there 3 days later.”

“that is still very weird!”

“heading straight up the side of linville gorge can get your blood pumping.”

“This morning; from the Walmart parking lot to the toy department.

Almost didn't make it!!”

“The trail to the top of the Sleeping Giant in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park near Thunder Bay, Ontario. It's about 1100 feet of elevation gain in less than a mile. But the view of the entire length of Isle Royale NP is incredible.

The Bruce Trail in Bruce Peninsula NP near Tobermory, ONT is also pretty rugged.”

“I agree with the noted Nymph that Taboose Pass in the Sierra is a grueling, unrelenting, switchback-spiraling #&%!$mo' of a hike. When I started (almost 30 years ago), it was over 100 on the baking plains east of the mtns. Climbed through some literally hair-raising thunder enroute.The drainage (don't recall the name) on the other side of the pass was a mosquito factory at the time.

Another tough trail, which I happen to have revisited after 26 years this past summer, is the Monument Creek Trail from near Mazama, WA. For 5,000 vertical feet to Pistol Pass (in about 7 mi.), one not only has to contend with lung-busting ascents which turn out to be false summits, but lack of trail maintenance over the last coupla decades means surmounting numerous bayonet-limbed blowdowns: There are times when the trail is distinct, and others where it fades for half a mile or so at a time (through concertina-wirelike second growth).

The original submission on this subject pertained specifically to the East, and I am, after all, an East-Coast guy. But I challenge any designated trail in the West, to contain a section as rugged as the 2 1/2 mi. or so from Panther Gorge to Haystack Mtn. in the Adirondacks. The literature wisely advises the hiker to leave the full backpack back at camp.”

“Definately the "Pinch IN Trail" of the Linville Gorge!”

“After spending the night on top of Dix Mtn in the Daks, I dayhiked down Hunter's Pass Trail to Dix Pond and back up to Dix via the Beckhorn Trail. I could go into detail of how hard it was, but I won't. All I'll sy is thank goodness I didn't decide to bring my pack and camp beside Dix pond, cause I'd've never gotten it through all the blowdowns...or back up the mountain.”

“so, the dix is hard?

bizarre!”