Got told my 3 day loop in the Smokies was too aggressive for beginners, so I cut it down to 2 nights.

Posted my usual route from Clingmans Dome to Newfound Gap, thinking it was a solid intro. A guy from Asheville messaged me saying the mileage and elevation on day two would wreck someone's first trip. He was right. I looked at my old logs and that middle day was 14 miles with 3,000 feet of climb. Swapped out a section for the quieter Fork Ridge Trail to spread it out. What's a better way to judge if a route is truly beginner friendly?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah53121d ago

Honestly, that 14 mile day with 3k of climb sounds brutal for a first trip. Good call listening to the Asheville guy. I usually just try to keep daily mileage under 10 for beginners, with a lot less up and down.

baker.eva21d ago

Remember my first crew lead trying to run a full exterior paint job in one day, total beginner move. Sarah531 is right about keeping it simple to avoid wrecking people.

leej5216d ago

Yeah, that paint job story hits on something bigger. It's like people get so focused on the end goal they forget what the actual day-to-day work feels like for the crew, or in Sarah531's example, for the hikers. This push for speed over doing it right just burns everyone out and wrecks the quality of the work, every single time.