Article: AT thru-hikers can't handle the PCT

[Pencil Pusher]

Maybe she can think of other things to spend four or five months doing. This was a big article with an ever-so-slight mention of the AT.

[chris]

What makes the AT more difficult mentally?

EDIT: I should have explicitly stated that these are my reflections for what I want out of a hike. Other people want other things and so might find the AT easier mentally.

Briefly, the PCT rewards highly, all the time. At least, I thought it did, although some don't really like SoCal or NorCal. The trail goes up and down for a purpose (something scenic) rather than simply to make you sweat. You have a lot of solitude and wildness at hand. It isn't crowded. Not everyone in town asks you if you are a thruhiker. Having all these benefits helps you mentally. Why get up and hike 30 miles? Because those will be 30 gorgeous miles. Because there is a diversity of terrain that makes each day unique and special. Although blazingly hot, the weather is usually good. Of course, the main PCT hikers got shat on most of the way through Oregon and Washington, so this doesn't always happen.

On the AT, there isn't much that I've seen (south of VT, some of the Whites) that I would put in the same category. Scenically, the AT doesn't compare with some interstate rest stops in Utah, let alone the PCT. I've seen some nice pictures of Maine, though. The AT is crowded, not only with other hikers, but because it passes through mostly urban (comparitively) land. I can't think of too many vistas that did not look into towns. I've come up with three, in fact. Again, I haven't done much north of Manchester, VT, so maybe things are different in Maine. It rains alot. It is humid alot. You are never out of earshot of a road (ok, there are a few places). Wildlife means tame bears and plastic deer. There is a lot of trail snobbery (this happens on the PCT too, but the fewer number of hikers make it seem prevalent). For example, Brian Robinson seemed to catch a lot of flak from hikers in the shelter registers. Why? His entries were neither boastful nor disparaging. But, he wasn't hiking like others, and this seemed to arose their ire. So, in short, the AT is more difficult mentally because it lacks the rewards that the PCT does. Working hard for scant reward is not much fun.

So, for me the AT felt like work. The PCT felt like pleasure.

[SavageLlama]

As to comparing the trails - the CDT was definitely the most consistently challenging of the trails. The AT was my first long trail and it seemed difficult at the time. Part of the challenge was physical - steep ups and downs that damaged my knees, rock climbs that challenged my nerve, constant rain that made the tread eroded and hard to walk - and part of the challenge was mental as I learned the realities of long distance hiking - living with pain, day after day exhaustion, PUDs, etc.

For me the PCT was not that challenging, once I was out of the Sierras. It was just long easy hiking day after day dawn to dusk. The AT was more of a challenge, because of the rock climbs and the weather and because it was my first long hike.

Then there's the CDT. I really recommend hiking the other two trails before you hike the CDT. You will already know about snow travel, long miles, water management, long distances between resupply, etc. Add to that navigation issues, the need to create your own route in some places, a wide variety of trail types -- from bushwhacking to jeep track to paved highway walking -- long distances off trail to towns, few other hikers, dealing with cold and serious snow falls, etc. But the CDT is also the most beautiful of the three trails, the most remote, the most wild, with a lot of wildlife.

Great post. Thanks for the insight.

[Tater]

I'd rather carry the extra H2O than put up with the cold rains of the AT. It's all a series of tradeoffs and depends on your own makeup as a hiker. Good thing there's more than one LD trail in this country.

[U-BOLT]

That's easy to fix. Tighten a screw here, torque down a bolt there, and the PCT hiker is as fit as any AT hiker.