Can we talk about how people plan 20 mile days on the AT without checking elevation first?

Ngl, I watched a guy break down near Roan Mountain last week because his GPS said 18 miles but the map showed 4,000 feet of climb. He didn't even look at the contour lines until he was halfway up the first hill. Has anyone else seen folks just trusting distance over actual terrain?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_robin12h ago

Wait, doesn't the Guthook/FarOut comments section usually warn you about stuff like that before you even leave that morning? I feel like people skip reading the comments and then act surprised when the trail throws a bunch of rocks and elevation at them.

thomas_martinez10h ago

That guy near Roan Mountain probably skipped the Carver's Gap to 19E section comments because I saw three separate warnings about the balds and the false summits in that stretch. Did he actually have FarOut pulled up or was he just looking at mileage stats from some generic planning page? I feel like the people who get in trouble are the ones treating the AT like a flat rail trail instead of a roller coaster.

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