Toughest trails in northern NE

[dvbl]

Do you suggest that if my opinion is different than most of the people I should shut up so no clouds will darken the sky ???? Just take it or leave my friend !

I'm sorry if you got me wrong. I'm not a macho woman (!), it's just that ''tough'' means something else to me, that's it. I rate hikes as ''tough on the mind'' before ''tough on the body''.

In my original post I was finishing with ''Of course, that's only my opinion'' but I thought it was so obvious I erased it. Next time I will leave it.


-Julie

Julie, I should've made it more clear from the start...when I said "tough", I meant physically tough. Next time I'll try to be more clear.

No, you shouldn't "shut up". Please continue to speak your mind.

By the way, I didn't include the ADKs because I'm not familiar with them, and I started this thread so I could gather info on tough NE trails. No offense to the ADKs.

Go Habs!

 

[timmus]

Go Habs!

Meet the man

 

[giggy]

Meet the man

as a bruins fan - this offends me - do we have a sorry excuse for hockey team or what - no trail anywhere is tougher than being a bruins fan.

go sharks!!!

 

[markv]

Hiker traps

I recommend against descending it...(so does the guidebook, which I read after the fact)

Sometimes when reading New England trail books i can't find a trail that IS recommended for descent. This leads me to believe that if i hike to the summit i will find scores of abandonded hikers idling about who, having summitted, are forever unable to descend.

Anyway, from my limited experience, the Great Gulf trail with snow and ice on it was kind of epic and time-consuming, but for what i would call "tough," going DOWN the Cathedral Trail was the hardest NE hiking i've done.

 

[w7xman]

My 2 toughest are up here already, but to reiterate...

Six Husbands...Awesome trail.
Ice Gulch Path...this was a suprise challenge!

 

[LivesToHike]

King Ravine

King Ravine gets my vote. Probably Followed by almost anything out of the Great Gulf wilderness.

LTH

 

[Jkrew81]

Lincoln Brook/Wilderness Tr combo

Great Gully, Flume slide and King Ravine trails are all really difficult, but the Wilderness Tr and Lincoln Brook trail after a Pemi traverse always bring me to my breaking point. They are soo long and flat and seem to just go on forever and will magnify any little ach and pain you after after a long trip.

 

[sweeper]

Zealand Cut-Off, Dry Rvr Headwall, Hopefully Madison Ravine, (on this years list), Flume Slide.

 

[TDawg]

For me the "tough on the body" part reminds me of my trip up Flume Slide Tr. (90+ degree day and sunny) and Osceola Tr. from Greeley Ponds to East Peak.

Huntington was tough too, but so exhilerating I think I was running on pure adrenaline. Therefore maybe it didn't seem as hard at the time.

 

[Onesong]

-Six Husbands
-King Ravine
-Flume Slide
-Osseo (back side of Mt. Flume)
-Bunnell Notch (Mt. Cabot-hadn't been traveled in years...overgrown)

 

[pilgrim]

I don't know if any of these would be the toughest, but I'll contribute three challenging trails that I haven't seen mentioned here yet:

1. Garfield Ridge Trail: Nothing technically challenging; it just wears you down.
2. Wildcat Ridge Trail: Steep on the Pinkham side, rough ups and downs on the rest.
3. Carter Ledge Trail: I came down this trail on Saturday. Steep, ledgy, bad footing in the upper part. A good candidate for the "not recommended for descent" club.

 

[weatherman]

Mahoosuc trail- not the Notch, so much as climbing the Arm after the Notch. Big pack, but no tuba. The adrenaline was gone by the end of the Notch which made it that much tougher.

 

[dug]

For me, it varies by conditions of the trail and myself. I've been in and out of good "hiking shape" over time. Picking the wrong trail in the wrong condition will mean hell.

The toughest hike I was ever one was on a Kilkenny hike. The stretch from Cabot to Unknown Pond it normally a piece of cake. But, one Memorial Day weekend at the trailhead, I made my now famous "Snowshoes, we don't need no stinking snowshoes!" comment to my wife. Well, coming down Cabot I hit three feet of rotten snow that some inconsiderate moose had just gone through. He postholed all over, and I did as well. It took me almost six hours to finally get to the pond. I crashed for the night, and cramped up all night. It was the most worst experience I ever had. I ended up at the Hatchery the next day calling and saying "I'm coming out a day early, and five miles shorter than planned."

That was the toughest trail I was ever on, but it was all conditions/gear based not the trail itself. If I'm prepared, they all seem the same to me.....

 

[expat]

Toughest per mile

The trails mentioned here are good responses, but for the toughest trail per mile, I'd have to say it's the Link trail, the one that goes from the Tuckerman Ravine Trail up to the Boott Spur Trail. Short, but all up.