[at-l] Hikes & hiking

[Arthur Gaudet]

HI, I think you're right about those two pieces of trail. 

Before I did the AT I had hiked/backpacked all over the Whites and it was well
known that down the Osgood trail & up Wildcat were two trails that no one wanted
to carry a backpack. Since I was a purist in '97 I had to suck it up & carry my
pack over them, saying to myself "at least I'm in shape for it". The other
legendary sections of (non-AT) trail were the 6-Husbands trail, Huntington
Ravine trail and the aforementioned East Peak. For AMC trip leaders the general
rule was to avoid these trails as well...

Some other AT pieces that are steep but not as long: Mahoosuc Arm, Dragon's
Tooth, Beaver Brook trail (sobo heading up Mt. Moosilauke) and of course
sections of the Abol trail on Katahdin. In general everywhere where rebar is
needed for additional safety <g> --RD



-----Original Message-----
From: camojack at comcast.net [mailto:camojack at comcast.net] 
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 8:07 AM
To: rockdancer97 at comcast.net; 'AT-list'
Subject: Re: [at-l] Hikes & hiking

"Today's hike was the East Peak of Mt. Osceola. It's a 4000-footer for those who
are peakbaggers, and it's a tough mountain. Trip time was 5:00 for 5.5 miles
roundtrip. Yep, just a little bit faster than 1 mph. That's because you hike in
for about 1.5 miles gaining very little altitude and then you ascend 2000 ft in
the next 1.25 miles! I believe that's steeper than any stretch on the AT (even
the rough parts in Maine)."

Sounds about like the Wildcats out of Pinkham Notch...a mile (or so) of
(basically) flat terrain, followed by an altitude gain of approximately 2,000'
in the next 1.5 miles, give or take. I remember it well.

Or going South out of Pinkham Notch, after the Osgood tent site, there's a
similar pitch; that might be about the same as the East Peak of Mt. Osceola,
with a 2,000' gain in a mile or so. I remember doing that was rather strenuous,
too.
(And it kept on going for almost another 1,000' to the top of Mt. Madison)

I guess what you described might be a *little bit* more difficult.

Anyway, have a great hike! I'm jealous...

-"Camo"

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Arthur Gaudet" <rockdancer97 at comcast.net>
> Well, it's off to the AT once again. This time I'll start at Kincora 
> and hike north, until about Harpers Ferry I think.
> 
> Today was my last "training hike", a half-hearted attempt to tell my 
> self that I can do the 500+ miles. My three hikes in last 5 days were all in
the Whites.
> Today's hike was the East Peak of Mt. Osceola. It's a 4000-footer for 
> those who are peakbaggers, and it's a tough mountain. Trip time was 
> 5:00 for 5.5 miles roundtrip. Yep, just a little bit faster than 1 
> mph. That's because you hike in for about 1.5 miles gaining very 
> little altitude and then you ascend 2000 ft in the next 1.25 miles! I 
> believe that's steeper than any stretch on the AT (even the rough 
> parts in Maine). There are a couple of tricky chutes where the rocks 
> have tumbled through leaving little to grab onto or step on securely. 
> The uppermost chute was still filled with snow & ice. Yep, the Whites still
have plenty this year, generally above 4000 ft.
> 
> My other two hikes were Mt. Whiteface & Mt. Crawford in Crawford Notch 
> (in sight of the AT but not on it.)
> 
> So in the next couple of days I'll close up the place here and get 
> myself down to TN. If it works out I'll be on the trail this time next 
> week, heading to Damascus. I'll sign off the list on Saturday I think. 
> Maybe I'll see some of you out there! --RockDancer
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> at-l mailing list
> at-l at backcountry.net
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l