Northern Presidential Range

[dvbl]

Sitting on Jefferson this past Saturday, eating lunch, eavesdropping on conversation nearby. Gentleman says to his buddy, "Man, I've been hiking out west so long, and we look down on these puny 5,000 ft mountains back east. I forgot just how rugged these peaks are. This mountain is kicking my butt..."

My lunch tasted better after that.

 

[dentonfabrics]

You betcha. I've done a lot of hiking out west and I'd say that the average 10 mile hike in the Whites is A LOT tougher than the average 10 mile hike in the Rockies. True, 10K+ altitudes can be tough to deal with but the terrain out west is nowhere near as rugged as it is here.


bob

 

[audrey]

I've run into a numbers of hikers from out West whose butts were being kicked by our mountains.

One guy on the trail to Kearsarge North called them "mere goosebumps" compared to the Alps and then told us he hadn't been able to make the summit because of an ice wall, which turned out to be a 6-foot ledge, easily bypassed with a 15-foot detour.

4 people from Colorado were doing some huts in the same direction as us. On the Greenleaf to Galehead section, they crawled in as dinner was ending: "We've hiked a lot of trails out West, but they are nothing like that!"

Another guy came up the Ammo and complained about how the AMC should be ashamed of itself for calling that a trail. We just remarked that we sort of like it that way, and off he went muttering.

Makes you kind of proud.

 

[sapblatt]

It sure does make us proud!
I could not get over the trails in CO - sure I was in some degree of Oxygen debt, but the grade and lack of boulders made me feel like I had not been hiking all day after my hikes!

 

[WhiteMTHike]

Well said everybody. I felt the same way when I was hiking out west in Nevada.

 

[David Metsky]

I love New England, and the peaks here can really kick your butt. Still, there's nothing here like the Knife Edge on Capitol Peak. That's the only non-technical route up that mountain.

The trails are generally easier out west, but a lot of the hiking is on routes, not trails.

-dave-

 

[giggy]

think a few peple here have small man syndrome

our mtns are smaller - but tougher!

my guess is a jaunt up north marroon would be tougher than ole mt jefferson. !

the whites are what they are, they are awesome, they are fun, I love em - but they ain't the alps, cascades, or rockies and don't kid yourself they are!

 

[Jay H]

I've found the same conclusion from a mtn biking perspective. Out west, you deal with cacti and thorns more often than the rocks and roots of east coast riding.

Jay

p.s. where's the avatar pic Giggy?

 

[albee]

Oh come on, now... what in the Cascades is more difficult than Galehead Direct??

 

[giggy]

IThe trails are generally easier out west, but a lot of the hiking is on routes, not trails.

-dave-

dave sums it up perfectly here.



galehead direct!!!