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[pct-l] trail grade of PCT affecting milage wrt AT

I've been reading the posting by Jeremey Rice with great interest and am
wondering about the comparison to thru hiking the AT in regards on how the
trail grade affects your daily distance.  While completing my AT thru hike
in 97 I've talked with several people who had done the PCT and the general
impression that i have is that the majority of the trail is graded very
gently thus allowing greater milage days ie 20+ on average than the AT.   I
must say that I would be embarrased at the shape I was in when I started the
AT but for the first 45 days I averaged just over 10 miles a day carrying
bigger than lighter weight hiking pack :)  Granted the terrain was
relatively tougher.  Once the relatively flat land of northern VA to
southern NY was
reached I found that it was relatively easy to do 20 mpd with a lighter pack
and more experience until the harder terrain of NH and ME where it took more
time effort do 20 miles.  In a way I enjoyed the very short but steep climbs
of 1000-2000 ft elevation gains but
doing several climbs of this short every day tends to make your milage go
down.
Coming off Mt. Moosilauke into Kinsman Notch and going up the other side is
a good example.

I figure that I would need several weeks to get into thru hiker conditioning
again same as the AT.  So my question is if it is possible to do 10-12 miles
per day along the beginning of the AT would that be similiar to a 20 mpd
along the southern PCT given the difference in terrain grading and
difficulty?  I would be starting with a lighter pack than when I started the
AT :)  I know it is hard to make trail comparisons since much of it depends
on the person but any infomation is appreciated.

Thanks
Fire Marshal






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