Date: 2015-04-29
From: Hot Springs, North Carolina

To: Hot Springs, North Carolina
Miles today: 15.0

This is a new post, triggered by questions from my Superior Hiking Trail companion. ¢¦.From Dave B-- As to AT vs SHT. How much harder are the up and downs on the AT? Just a curious question. On the human side having a room and real meal every week or so sounds good. Are these places convenient, ie. close by or possible because of trail angels. Heck the only trail 'angel' we saw was the guy who dumped a chipmunk in my lap.So this is how the Appalachian Trail compares to the Superior Hiking Trail.At least some Minnesota readers might be familiar with the SHT, a 250 mile trail paralleling Lake Superior, from the Canadian border to Duluth, Minnesota (or thereabouts), my hometown. Most obviously, the SHT is 250 miles. The AT is 2280 miles, or roughly 10 times longer. Here are the other differences.Number of People: The AT has 50+ times more.   You would think the ¢easier/shorter¢ trail might have more people attempting it, but it¢s not so. Apparently most people want to challenge themselves by doing a hard thing (the AT), not doing an ¢easy¢ thing (the SHT).   The most recent whiteblaze.net website said that 2500 people start the AT each year.   This year I was told the best guess is about 4000 northbound starters. The crowds at the beginning were huge.   The SHT has almost no thru-hikers.   I asked people on the SHT where they were coming/going to, and I counted six (6!) thru-hikers going south to north.   There were days that Dave & I saw almost nobody on the SHT. I see dozens of people everyday on the AT, and dozens at the shelters.   If I got seriously injured, unless it¢s past 6PM, somebody would soon come by and at least see my distress (& hopefully do something about it)Trail conditions;   That actual trail conditions on the AT are MUCH better than the SHT.   By that I mean the AT trail is wide, there is very little brush in the way (to get me wet when it rains), and there are almost no treefalls.   The SHT had substantial treefalls (especially on the Canadian end), had brush close in that kept us wet even after the rain stopped, had probably more mud to walk through, and had much more boardwalk.   The AT has almost no boardwalk.   The AT DOES have its share of muddy trails, due to the rain.   But the AT wide trail can be very pleasant at times. I would say most times the AT trail is a joy to walk.   Both trails have their share of rocks and tree roots. I¢m told Pennsylvania has miles of bounders to walk through, very tough.   But that¢s a few months from now. Up and Down: This is the AT killer.   The AT is famous for having vertical change of 90-94 miles, or 15 times climbing from sea level to the top of mount Everest (6 miles), 15 times!And I can verify it is true.   I read one book where the hikers guessed that each of the AT trail clubs went out of their ways to make their section of the trail the most difficult.   So the trail is often one mile up, then one mile down, then one mile up, then one mile down.   Constant up and down.   The semi-level parts of the trail are a true joy to walk. If only there were more level parts.   I think I mentioned in the GSMNP post that that ~65 mile part of the trail is graded for horses, 15% grade maximum. I could tell a big difference compared to the rest of the trail. I¢m further told that the Pacific Crest Trail (of the Wild/Cherl Strayed/Reece Witherspoon movie) also has the same 15% grade maximum, so the PCT is considered by most easier than the AT, even if the PCT is at far higher altitude. The most depressing part of the AT up and down is when we have rain/fog.   You will spend considerable energy walking up the hill, to the ¢bald¢, only to see¢¦..Nothing. Completely nothing.   One of the most scary parts was a couple days ago, in the fog, on the ¢bald¢. I thought I might lose the trail.   It was just grass.   But there were enough posts to keep on the trail. I was thankful for those posts.   Otherwise I could get lost. Sometimes you wish they took the AT trail around the mountain top, not over it.   But much of the time, the AT goes to the top of the hill/mountain, then back down. Town Stays/Restaurants/Motels/Nero Days/Zero DaysThis is completely different on the AT versus the SHT. The SHT has almost none of that. It is completely a part of the AT. Makes the AT much more of a social adventure. Probably makes it much more fun, so that¢s why many more people do the AT versus the SHT, PCT or Continental Divide trail. Those others, including the SHT, are pure hiking. The AT includes motels, restaurants, and drinking beer. Towns can be on the trail, but are not often. Most often they are 2-10 miles away, and AT hikers have no intention of adding that extra mileage on a 15+ mile day.   Early on, there has been shuttle service to town, typically provided free or low cost by the motels.   Eventually we will have to hitchhike, but I¢ve not done it yet. Trail Magic is also unique to the AT. Never heard of any of it on the SHT. On the AT it is expected.   I have been the beneficiary of trail magic on the AT 3-4 times, including hot dogs in the rain during a depressing afternoon, fruit and candy and pop given to us also in the rain, and a full spread of nearly everything a hiker could want to eat, also in the rain.   Does Trail Magic always occur during rain, or does it just rain a lot on the AT? Not sure.   But trail magic is wonderful when it happens.   Be thankful for small things. Hey, I said I was going to do a long post on Why I am hiking the AT, but this is enough posting, probably for a few weeks.   I hope these posts have given you a better sense of what it is like to hike the AT.   I will do the Why I am hiking the AT in a few weeks.   Maybe my reasons will change, but I doubt it.   I will attempt to post my pictures of the last week now.