[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Summits
>But the north half of the AT - the one I haven't done - has more exposed
>rock than the south half, particularly in New England. One place you
>_don't_ want to be is the knife-edge on Katahdin, but the AT does not go
>there, if memory serves.
Yes, the Knife Edge is not a place to be if you're afraid of heights,
although the same could be said for much of the AT's approach up Katahdin
(it's the most elevational change in the shortest linear distance over the
whole of the trail, as I recall.) The AT doesn't hit the Knife Edge,
however, and the summit of Katahdin feels pretty flat once you get to it,
actually.
>There are also some - again, not many - rocky scrambles, where you have to
>climb up or down near-cliff-like features.
The only one I remember down south is the climb up Albert Mountain, which I
did at nightfall. In New England (specifically New Hampshire and the
southern section of Maine, through the Mahoosucs and Chairbacks) you're
above treeline quite often, and there are quite a few very steep scrambles
(the climbs out of Mahoosuc Notch and Franconia Notch are prime examples.)
However, the number of "problem spots", where you'd be the tallest thing
with nothing but drop around you could probably be counted on one hand over
the course of the trail. If you don't leave fairly early, most of the views
on the southern half will be of the trees around you.
-- Dennis