Nastiest Mountain Ranges in North America

[ttltown]

Bitteroots...west of Darby. Steeper than the back of God's neck. FML.

 

[SoDaky]

The Frank,parts of Crazies,Beartooths

 

[lak2004]

Not going to claim roughest in North America, but the San Juans reign supreme in Colorado.

I 2nd the San Juans, not much that isnt steep. Also, the coast ranges in OR and WA are pretty gnarly.

 

[elkduds]

I 2nd the San Juans, not much that isnt steep. Also, the coast ranges in OR and WA are pretty gnarly.

Plus the San Juans are way up in the sky, ditto the Sangres. Climbing @ 13-14K is much harder than climbing the same slope @ 11 or 12K.

 

[kibe]

Frank Church

 

[robtattoo]

Maybe not as bald & high as the Rockies, but sections of the Appalachians in east TN, VA & NC will utterly try to kill you. You get the steepness (if not the altitude), then add in the humidity, underbrush, overgrowth of timber, heat, rain & mosquitos & it may not be the hardest climb, but in my experience it's certainly among the most miserable

 

[FLAK]

Yep, throw some snow on those Appalachians and it gets real, real quick.

 

[Chordeiles]

Maybe not as bald & high as the Rockies, but sections of the Appalachians in east TN, VA & NC will utterly try to kill you. You get the steepness (if not the altitude), then add in the humidity, underbrush, overgrowth of timber, heat, rain & mosquitos & it may not be the hardest climb, but in my experience it's certainly among the most miserable

Mountain laurel is the spawn of the devil....

 

[AlwaysForward19d]

I’ll be in the sangres in 3 weeks..... I was wondering if they’d be mentioned on here. I only camped in them for a night and it turned into almost a survival situation lol

Me too; are you headed down there for first rifle elk?

 

[timekiller13]

Maybe not as bald & high as the Rockies, but sections of the Appalachians in east TN, VA & NC will utterly try to kill you. You get the steepness (if not the altitude), then add in the humidity, underbrush, overgrowth of timber, heat, rain & mosquitos & it may not be the hardest climb, but in my experience it's certainly among the most miserable

Yep, some of those places in the Appalachians will truly challenge you. They may not have the elevation, but trying to gain 3000' vertical feet bushwhacking through laurel, ferns and briars will make a man out of you real quick. Add in the fact that many of the higher peaks have some crazy weather. It can be sunny and 80 degrees at my house, at 5000' it can be 30 degrees and sleeting sideways. I was hunting in the NW corner of NC last week. Elevation about 4800'. Beautiful blue bird day, then fog rolled in so thick you couldn't see 10 feet. It took nearly 2 hours to navigate 1 mile in that fog.

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

Yep, some of those places in the Appalachians will truly challenge you. They may not have the elevation, but trying to gain 3000' vertical feet bushwhacking through laurel, ferns and briars will make a man out of you real quick. Add in the fact that many of the higher peaks have some crazy weather. It can be sunny and 80 degrees at my house, at 5000' it can be 30 degrees and sleeting sideways. I was hunting in the NW corner of NC last week. Elevation about 4800'. Beautiful blue bird day, then fog rolled in so thick you couldn't see 10 feet. It took nearly 2 hours to navigate 1 mile in that fog.

That sounds amazing

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

Me too; are you headed down there for first rifle elk?

2nd Rifle Elk/Bear

 

[sram9102]

Go watch the documentary on the Barkley Marathon to get some perspective of the ruggedness of some areas of the Appalachians.

Barkley Marathon

 

[MuleDeerMike]

The Idaho Sawtooths are gnarly. So are the North Cascades in WA.

 

[timekiller13]

That sounds amazing

I have off trail hiked in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Arizona, Alaska, Virginia, NC, Tennessee and West Virginia. The elevation out west is one of the most difficult parts, at least in the places I have been. There are some spots in NC that I hope I never have to bushwhack through again. And like I said, the weather. I have a picture, somewhere, of me standing in 2 feet of snow in NC in June! That snowstorm blew in and dumped 2 foot in the less than an hour. It went from 60 and sunny, to below freezing and whiteout blizzard conditions in 30 minutes! Don't sleep on the Appalachians, they may not be as tall and rugged looking as many western ranges, but they will surprise you.

 

[Blockcaver]

The Needles area of the San Juan’s were a rough goat hunt in Colorado. Sheep hunting around the 14ers between the Sand Dunes and Westcliff in the Sangres was rough too.

Up here in BC there are plenty of steep and tough ranges with nearly impenetrable brush then extreme terrain when you get above tree line. I just don’t go there even though the goats do. Also some decent spots to hunt high.

 

[idahohikker]

This is interesting because extreme means different things to different people as illustrated my comments pointing to the brush issue and steep terrain. In my mind both can be equally taxing, though brush doesn’t kill people like the near vertical rocky areas do.

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

This is interesting because extreme means different things to different people as illustrated my comments pointing to the brush issue and steep terrain. In my mind both can be equally taxing, though brush doesn’t kill people like the near vertical rocky areas do.

Any rough terrain I enjoy learning about

 

[Kootenay Hunter]

Coast Range in BC, much like Alaska is pretty gnarly. Mountains go from sea level to +10,000 ft they're beasts, then throw in moist systems from the Pacific, and temperate rainforest at the base.

 

[TravisIN]

Yep, some of those places in the Appalachians will truly challenge you. They may not have the elevation, but trying to gain 3000' vertical feet bushwhacking through laurel, ferns and briars will make a man out of you real quick. Add in the fact that many of the higher peaks have some crazy weather. It can be sunny and 80 degrees at my house, at 5000' it can be 30 degrees and sleeting sideways. I was hunting in the NW corner of NC last week. Elevation about 4800'. Beautiful blue bird day, then fog rolled in so thick you couldn't see 10 feet. It took nearly 2 hours to navigate 1 mile in that fog.

You guys are definitely peaking my interest. I need to find a critter to hunt down there.


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