The Pisgah Ranger District comprises the portion of the 500,000+ acre Pisgah National Forest south of Interstate 40. In a sense, this is my home forest. During my years in North Carolina it is through the peaks and hollows of this district I most often find myself wandering...and it's not just because this forest is literally out my back door...a look through these albums and you'll understand why...
Adventure Log: 703.8 miles
Each of the galleries below have two numbers in parenthesis alongside their name. The first is the TOTAL MILEAGE of the route, the second is what I’m calling the “Petzoldt Rating” of DIFFICULTY. Developed by Paul Petzoldt, founder of NOLS, this rating system is the best I’ve found for standardizing the difficulty of hikes. It works as follows: One ‘energy unit’ is given for very mile travelled on flat terrain. You then add one more ‘energy unit’ for every 500-feet of elevation gain. For example, a one mile hike with 1,000-feet of gain would give you a rating of 3.00. Consequently a two mile hike with only 500-feet of gain would also give you a rating of 3.00. Please note, however, these ratings do not take into account weather, rough terrain, fitness level, etc. I’ve divided levels of difficulty into five levels, based on the following Petzoldt difficulty ranges:
0.00-2.49=EASY;
2.50-4.99=MODERATE;
5.00-7.49=CHALLENGING;
7.50-9.99=HARD;
10.00-12.49=VERY HARD;
12.50 & up=EXTREME
CLICK HERE for a Google map of hikes in these albums...
