Always thought the Appalachian Trail was mostly flat in the middle section... boy was I wrong

I was planning a section hike for next summer and started reading about elevation profiles. Found out that the entire trail has something like 515,000 feet of elevation gain total. That is basically climbing Mount Everest from sea level 17 times! I just assumed the part through Pennsylvania and Maryland would be easy rolling hills. Guess I need to step up my stair climber training, has anyone else been surprised by a trail's real stats when they looked closer?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason36111d ago

Read that same stat and it blew my mind too, @ivan_perez.

ivan_perez11d ago

Whoa, that stat is wild, but honestly the real shocker for me was how much of that elevation gain is just from all the PUDs (pointless ups and downs) that don't even lead anywhere scenic! I mapped out a 10-mile section in Virginia and it had over 2,000 feet of gain from tiny bumps that barely count as hills. Makes me wonder if trail designers just really hate switchbacks.