Ken Powers and his wife Marcia have done all four: Appalachian, Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and — a weak fourth — the American Discovery Trail.
Having done none of the four myself, I was interested in their answer to this question:
Which trail is the hardest, best, prettiest, most fun?
This is a difficult question to answer. The Appalachian Trail is usually considered the hardest because of it greater (and steeper) elevation gains.
But many things on the AT seem easier because of its proximity to civilization. Sometimes it is too easy to go off-trail to get pizza and ice cream.
Best, prettiest, and most fun becomes a subjective question. We usually say the Pacific Crest Trail is the prettiest. It seemed to have the most views per mile. But the Continental Divide Trail also had great views and was our greatest accomplishment. The constant focus on navigating the CDT was an additional challenge.
The western portion of the ADT also has incredible views. The red rock areas of Utah are incredibly beautiful, but bring your own water.
We felt the Appalachian Trail was a more social trail. There were many more hikers and the frequent shelters became a gathering place for hikers every night. The trail passes through hardwood forests for most of the trail. The views are limited by the constant cover of leaves. Our AT hike was very different than hiking in the western states.
(via Two-Heel Drive)
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