Adirondacks vs Appalachians

Despite Popular Belief the Adirondacks are not part of the Appalachians. They are a much older Geological different mountain chain. The Rocks contained in the Adirondacks are among the oldest on earth.

Here are some of the differences in no particular order.

Geological

	Adirondacks	Appalachians
Age	1 Billion Years	250 Million
Common Rock	Metamorphic	Sedimentary
Geological Status	Rising 3 mm per Year	Eroding Down
General Shape	Peak, Shield, Ridge & Irregular, Each Mountain Different	The Mound (Large Base + Gently rounded summit). Basically the Same
Water	Soft (Acidic)	Hard (Basic)
Slide Formation	Usually 3 to 4 a decade. We have had over 12 in the 1990's	No
Looks their Best	Close up	Far Away
Most Common Descidous Tree	Birch	Maples
Most Annoying Trail feature	Lots of Mud	Little Stones All Over The Place
Fossils	Eroded Away	Mostly Invertabrates

Highest Mountain

	Mt. Marcy	Mt. Mitchell
Height	5344'	6680'
Vertical Drop	3700'	3300'
Vertical Cliffs	Yes	No
Slides	Yes	No
Road to Top	No	Yes
Longest Trail	9 miles	2 miles
Shortest Trail	7.6 miles	0.2 miles
Degrees of horizon in View from summit	360	90
Treeline	~4000ft	None. Trees on Top of summit
Ulgyest Man Made Object seen from summit	Ski Jumps in Lake Placid (10 miles away)	lookout tower  (on the summit)

Mountain Best

	Adirondacks	Appalachians
Largest Vertical drop	Giant 4,050	Adams ~4,500
Largest Vertical Drop mountain under 3100'	Bald Peak 2403'
Largest Vertical Drop mountain under 2000'	Raven Hill 1600'	Catallac Mt. 900'
Steepest Mile (trail or path)	Macomb 1800'	Katadin 1437'
Vertical Cliffs above 1000'	5	1
Highest Vertical cliff	Wallface 1200'	Seneca Rocks 1,000
Highest Vertical drop Skiing	Whiteface 3,012	Mt. Mansfield 2,614

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