Easiest Hike that you thought.....

[woodstrider]

would be alot harder?

Usually it works quite well for me if someone tells me how difficult it will be to hike something. My onery nature comes right out and I find it hard not at all.


example-
Day hike of Borah Peak, Idaho (well, can be talk of hikes outside the boundaries of the NE?). Chicken Out Ridge...not so much.

In the NE... Allen in the winter.

 

[sapblatt]

Three Bonds in a day

woodstrider - I was thinking of starting a similar thread...

I am not the fastest - or slowest - but I was utterly amazed at how easy I found a Zealand - Lincoln Bond's Traverse to be - i was expecting a death march, but perfect weather and good hiking companions (Rols and cantdog), (and a very early start) made this a dream trip!

Being so psyched to be standing on Bondcliff probably helped a lot too!

 

[Tom Rankin]

Algonquin in Winter.

It was my first winter hike, and my first 5,000'er. It was also about -10F.

It turned out to be a piece of cake.

 

[lumberzac]

Whiteface and Esther
I hiked up Whiteface first and was expecting the trail to be much steeper for a much longer time. Then the herd path over to Esther was so well defined I thought I was on the wrong trail. Maybe it all seemed so easy because I was hiking in the Santanoni Range the weekend before.

 

[MadRiver]

My wife and I had hiked Ammonoosuc in the early 80’s and were not overly thrilled with the trail for some reason that escapes me now. Fast forward to 2001 when we were going to do Monroe for our 48’s. As expected, we were somewhat apprehensive about doing Ammonoosuc remembering our earlier dislike of the trail, so needless to say we were not looking forward to the hike. Once we arrived at Lakes, we both looked at one another and couldn’t for the life of us remember why we didn’t like the trail. One explanation might be that after doing a number of death marches for our 48’s, Ammonoosuc turned out to be a piece of cake.

 

[pilgrim]

Since I started the "Hard" thread, I feel obligated to contribute to the "Easy" thread.

I expected my hike into Guyot campsite on a solo backpack last July to be tough. I was prepared for the possibility of arriving late, dead tired, and having to set up on an overflow site or sleep in the shelter. It was hot and humid, my pack was way too heavy, and the N. Twin Trail was littered with numerous blowdowns.

Next thing I knew, it was lunchtime, I was there, not overly tired, and I had my choice of platforms.

 

[marty]

Mahoosuc Notch (often considered the most difficult mile on the AT) was not nearly as difficult nor time consuming as advertised. Our group of five went north to south and did it in less than 90 minutes with full packs under semi-wet conditions. I really think one could do it in less than an hour, if one was risk aversive.

 

[CINDERSMOM]

Rocky Branch Trail to Isolation. I was worried that the 14 mile trip would be tough It ended up to be my favorite of the 48. Cinder and I had a beautiful August day with a lot of swimming for her and great views for me.

 

[slowandsteady]

Mt. Washington via Huntington Ravine. Was prepared for a more difficult climb based on the WMG description with reference to one of the most difficult hiking trails in the Whites. It was just plain fun.

 

[jbrown]

Marcy in winter. Last year in late March or early April we started about 5:00 a.m. and got back to the Loj in the early afternoon. We took our time descending too, using our pulks as the manufacturers intended.

Also easier than expected were Redfield and Marshall...

Back then I was in much better shape than I am now, or was before that...ever. Things always seem easier when you're 30 pounds lighter.

 

[Splitrock821]

Don't know about the easiest, but the hardest, hands down, was the bushwack off the backside of Iroquois. Two of us made an attempt on that despite the warnings in the trail book, and paid for it. While pushing our way through fir trees, my buddy says "Hey, did you bring that rope?"....you can take it from there. Fortunately, we found a way around the cliffs, and made it to the bottom with numerous cuts, bruises, and shredded clothes.

 

[dug]

Isolation. I knew it was a long trail, but I anticipated a bigger deal. Loved the trip, though, I just thought it was going to be harder.

 

[Mike P.]

Mitchell & Craig from I believe the Toe River Campground, about 3500 feet of gain but the trail is dirt so no rock hopping.

Collins & Clingman's From Newfound Gap was not too bad either.

Wrights in ADK Colden by Lake Arnold not as bad as I thought it would be. FInished early enough that I did Table Top also that Day & Mt. Jo.

After hating my first Owl's Head trip (okay as a day trip we went around the mountain too in order to add to our misery) I was leary of Isolation the following Spring. The first 1/2 mile or so out of the lot on Route 16 is the steepest & not warmed up, it felt like it was going to be a bad day. Once it leveled off, I flew the rest of the way & finished much earlier than I thought I would. No views that day though....

 

[David Metsky]

Washington in winter. I had a perfect day, good hiking companions, and we just cruised. Lovely trip.

-dave-

 

[jessbee]

Mt. Washington via Huntington Ravine. Was prepared for a more difficult climb based on the WMG description with reference to one of the most difficult hiking trails in the Whites. It was just plain fun.

Hey, you stole my answer!! Boy was I ready for the most grueling hike of my life. Turned out to be not so bad after all. Oh, and a perfect weather day didn't hurt either

 

[giggy]

I would agree with huntington - by some accounts you swear that was a class 5 rock climb.

I think falling waters the first time I did it - was expceting some super slick steep trail - and it is really a cake walk.

 

[NewHampshire]

woodstrider - I was thinking of starting a similar thread...

I am not the fastest - or slowest - but I was utterly amazed at how easy I found a Zealand - Lincoln Bond's Traverse to be - i was expecting a death march, but perfect weather and good hiking companions (Rols and cantdog), (and a very early start) made this a dream trip!

Being so psyched to be standing on Bondcliff probably helped a lot too!

Cut that out Sapblatt. I keep rtying to convince myself this is a crazy idea, but when you say things like this I catch myself going "Hmmmm" and the wheels of thought start turning again. But hey, if HikerBob could do it in a day........
Brian

 

[Darwin]

Washington via Ammo in winter. A little steep but not to bad.

 

[MikePS]

Last summer the new Traveler route in BSP. We had previously finished all the trailed peaks in the park, (so much for being DONE ) so we had to grab this one. Milage looked very tough, adding two miles going from the upper lean-to. To top things off, the morning sky was dubious, with the possibility of T-storms looming. While I would not call this one easy, especially that first blast up Center Ridge, it was a pleasant day that turned into a great hike, highly recomended!

 

[mtnpa]

Grand Canyon...After watching the video that came with the reservations and hearing the stories from my boss who had hiked there ("If you carry a 50 pound pack down there they'll carry you out...") I figured that I better get in shape. So I worked out for three months before the trip. When we got there the trail was like a sidewalk. In fact on the way out Mtnmama got sick from food poisoning. I ran up the last two miles, dropped my pack, then ran back and took hers the rest of the way.