[Bill]

Hey folks, I'm new to this site and forum, hopefully I can get some useful advice and information.

I'm a California native and plan to visit out East later this summer. I'm wondering what are some good hikes/trails that would be comparable to the Half Dome hike in Yosemite National Park? I did that hike and want something of similar caliber/challenge.

Any advice or recommendations would be great. Thanks.

My experience with Half Dome is documented in the following blog for those who are interested: Yosemite Half Dome HIke

[dudley]

Hi Bill
Welcome to the group
I'm sure we can hook you up with some worthwhile and challenging hikes
Where will you be staying this summer?
That will help us out with sudjesting some spots.
New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and the Adirondacks of New York all have mountains that might fill the "Bill"

[Stickball13]

I have hiked the Half Dome, well from Yosemite Valley to the Half Dome and about 500 yard up the dome.

It depends what you are really looking for. If its the long hike that has some challenge, there are plenty of these type of hikes in New Hampshire as well as Maine. If you are looking for something like the last part up the Dome, there aren't many like that.

The closest I believe that comes to the Half Dome is hiking up Mt Katahdin in Maine. There are a couple trails that are pretty steep where you will need to scramble over rocks. But to get to that point you need to hike for 2-4 hours depending on which trail you take.

[Ben Smith]

I've hiked both the Cascades and the White Mountains, and have come to learn that the east coast poses a different kind of challenge than the west coast. Challenges on the west coast tend to be technical out and back hikes up a single peak with lots of elevation gain. On the east coast, the challenge comes from navigating whole ridges (Carter Ridge, presidential range, etc.), or linking up several peaks in a single hike (bagging as many peaks in one day as possible, etc.). Also, east coast hikes often can be done as loops, which is a ton more fun.

For just a hard one-off summit, I'd suggest Osceola via East Peak. It climbs very fast up east peak, then dips into a deep saddle before climbing a chimney and then hiking over to the summit.

For a more ridge like hike I'd suggest traversing the Carter Ridge, or if the weather is extremely nice, the Presidential Range (again only if the weather is super nice).

For technical hiking/climbing and butt-puckering exposure, you're going to have to rope-up and find a local who'll take you up the classic Whitney-Gilman Ridge. This route is a museum of old climbing technique, including the famous "pipe pitch" which has a metal pipe hammered into a crack as pro from the 1930's.

In Maine, it's either going to be Katahdin, or a long distance hike in Acadia (there are a few iron works trails you could incorporate into the hike such as Beehive and Precipice to make things a bit more fun). In fact, one of my favorite things to do is speed climb the Precipice...it REALLY gets the heart going with since the trail goes right up the face of Champlain.

[NEPilgrim]

Bill, welcome to the site. Ben pretty much said it all, so I'll just repeat the White Mtns. Lots of good hikes in the Whites. Washington is always a good challenge, but mostly because of the weather.

~Steve.