the appalachian mountains they haven’t changed. Well not enough to notice so another facts about the well for two reasons first the is amazing and that so many people contributed additional facts and the information we received the is that i’ve learned so much about the since 2017.
See our channel is sort of a travel nature and Carolyn and i have made about in the Appalachian mountains so I want to share what I’ve learned with you and clarify some of the ankle deep information in that last Appalachian facts but this isn’t all about facts.
there is some breath taking all over the chain so be sure the very end also keep in mind that these are debatable facts so this isn’t your normal run-of-the-mill generis so go ahead and pack a lunch because we’re going exploring.
10 debatable facts about the number ten how do you pronounce appalachian it depends i pronounced appalachian appalachian and boy did i get lit up in the comments people were demanding that i pronounce it the right way well i’ve spent most of my life in the appalachian mountain region and i was really embarrassed that according to many people in the comments i was saying it wrong i even made a silly.
But heart felt apology but i kept asking myself where did i come up with appalachia well it turns out despite all the comments correcting me and despite the fact that i wasn’t really wrong there’s an ongoing regional debate as to how one should pronounce appalachian strictly speaking if you’re from the southern region of the.
You pronounce it just like that appalachian and this pronunciation is common throughout much of the mountain chain however there are other mountain regions in which appalachian is more common still there are some other mountain folk.
who pronounce it appalachian and that’s not all one website claims that there are at least six different ways to pronounce appalachian.
You know one would think that this should be a live and let live kind of thing but trust me it’s not like everything else these days it’s a pretty heated debate i’m stuck pronouncing it appalachian because i’ve already retrained my brain.
How do you pronounce Appalachia? Let us know in the comments number nine what’s in a name speaking of names one of the facts in the I made was about the naming of the Appalachian mountains that Hernan do de so to or a surviving member of his expedition named the mountains after an indigenous American tribe.
The apalachees the problem is that the home of the apalachee tribe during the time of de soto was in florida nowhere near the appalachian mountains and everyone knows florida only has one mountain am i right though variations of the story about desoto naming the are repeated on numerous websites and youtube videos.
There’s no evidence to support the claim that desoto or anyone else on his expedition designated the mountains of the east appalachian the first time the mountain range was designated appalachian on a map was back in 1564 by an artist who traveled with a french huguenot expedition by the name of Jacques le Moyne de Morgues. i wish to apologize to the good people of france and all french-speaking people.
Everywhere for the way i butchered that name anyway saying that there’s no proof that desoto or anyone else on desoto’s expedition named the for whatever reason is one of those but actually kind of statements that make people think there’s a deeper hidden truth that’s only now being revealed but actually.
It’s not that big of a deal let me explain so let’s agree lemonime’s 500 year old map is the first time we see Appalachian designated on a map that still doesn’t explain why Lemoyne used that name he had to get it from somewhere the Huguenot expedition was after Desoto’s expedition so it’s likely that Lemoyne used Appalachian.
because it had already been designated during Desoto’s expedition there was also something in the comment section of the facts video I made back in 2017 about Apalachee jewelry found in the therefore during th16th century.
the Appalachees operated in the mountains of northern georgia and that’s why the name appalachian ends up on a map.
But this idea has never picked up any steam across disciplines even if it is true one argument against this idea is that the Appalachees were a pretty big deal where we now call florida if they were operating in the we’d have a lot more evidence than just a few pieces of jewelry it’s likely the appalachian jewelry made its way into the mountains through trade.
But honestly i don’t know and you don’t reall know either because it’s all speculation here’s the real fact neither de soto or lemoine’s map named the chain you’ll see what i’m talking about in the next factnumber eight appalachian or allegheny regardless as to who named the appalachian mountains or.
When the appalachian mountains were designated on a map the mountains of the east weren’t officially called the appalachians for another 300 years there were several competing names the mountains to the north were called the alleghenies and in the south they were called the appalachians but.
If you were referring to the entire mountain chain from north to south they were called both the alleghenies or the appalachians and it was perfectly okay to use both in the same conversation so the two names were interchangeable because why i have one name when you can have two early on allegheny was picking up steam as the one named to name them all.
For example in 1810 john norton used allegheny mountains while referring to the mountain chain as far south as tennessee and georgia and by the middle of the 19th century allegheny was the front runner as.
it was strongly favored over appalachian and then this guy happenedgeographer arnold geo geo published an article in 1861 called on the appalachian mountain system.
Now here’s what’s funny he refers to all of these mountains as the appalachians but on the map he prepared he still referred to the mountains as the allegheny mountains so maybe he couldn’t make up his mind either.
but geo’s article was a pretty big hit because he was extremely informative so everyone was like this guy knows what he’s talking about maybe.
appalachian mountains THE HIKING LOVER HIKE THE APPALACHAIN MOUNTAINS
We should listen to him and do you know who did listen to geo john Wesley Powell who also studied and wrote about the mountains of the east he had an even better idea Powell called the mountains on this side of the great valley the Appalachian mountain ranges and he called the mountains on this side of the great valley the Allegheny plateaus and honestly.
That really makes a lot of sense for more reasons than I can get into right now but no that’s not what happened nevertheless this is when Appalachian began winning the name war and even then it wasn’t like someone declared all of these mountains the Appalachians decades passed before these mountains were consistently designated the Appalachian mountains number seven.
Where are the appalachian mountains this seems like a straightforward question right wrong you’ll find all kinds of answers to this question definitions provided by authoritative sources vary on the precise boundaries of the appalachians yes.
you heard me right authoritative sources say different things a lot of it has to do with the parameters of the discussion are we having a geological discussion or are we talking about hiking the appalachian trail.
If you’re planning to hike the Appalachian trail it doesn’t do you a lot of good for someone to say well actually the Scottish highlands were once a part of the Appalachian mountains more on that later one’s existing world view plays a role too as well as where one is educated not how much education but where colleges and universities are not necessarily in agreement.
When it comes to many different aspects of the Appalachian mountains some universities are still teaching early 20th century stereotypes of the people who lived and live in the Appalachian mountains and.
these stereotypes have long since been debunked one thing is for sure the boundaries of the Appalachian mountains have always been confusing and controversial and listen i love geology you can’t spend as much time.
In these mountains as we do without learning a lot of geology but when it comes to designating the boundaries of the Appalachian mountains I’m not sure geologists are helping the public’s understanding as much as.
they’re muddying the waters historically speaking the Appalachian mountains are here or the mountain chain that runs north and south close to the east coast of the united states.
But the appalachian mountains are also in canada but the adirondack mountains are not included in the appalachian mountain chain because geologically the adirondacks are a part of the great plateau of the canadian shield that.
is unless you have an atlas like this or countless other maps or visit one of hundreds of websites which don’t even include.
The name adirondacks rather the adirondacks are included with the appalachian mountain chain now here and there a website will include the adirondacks with a note saying that technically.
they’re not a part of the appalachian mountains for most people this is no big deal but it kinda is not necessarily with the adirondacks sadly i don’t know much about the adirondacks.
I want to visit there soon but when it comes to expanding or changing the boundaries well there are political applications don’t worry we’re not going there in this video anyway here are the real facts so far just so.
you’ll understand how muddy the water is the origins of the name appalachian are mysterious we really don’t know how it happened.
It’s pure speculation and it always has been and second despite the fact that people living in different regions of the appalachian mountain chain pronounce appalachian differently everyone thinks their way is right and they will tell you all about it and finally the boundaries of the appalachian mountain chain are somewhat debatable and just wait it gets better.
Number six appalachian mountains in arkansas missouri and oklahoma okay let’s pretend you’re from the appalachian mountains and for your birthday you want to go skydiving let’s also pretend that you’ve been sky diving many times and just to prove your skydiving skills you want to be blindfolded okay this seems to defeat the purpose of skydiving.
But just go with it so i can make my point for some strange cosmic twilight zone kind of reason your plane is wildly off course by almost 800 miles but the pilot thinks you’re right over the drop zone with the blind fold on you jump.
the parachute opens and you land safely you immediately realize you didn’t land at the designated drop zone you know you’re in for a long hike but that’s no big deal after all you know the mountain ranges in the appalachian mountains.
Like the back of your hand naturally you don’t have cell service because you’re in the middle of the mountains and you’re used to that after hiking to a small farmhouse you find someone that might be able to help and as the conversation begins you’ve exchanged similar salutations and common colloquialism.
Like a feared meaning afraid as in i’m a feared i missed the drop zone and aim or getting ready to do something as in the farmer telling you that he don’t mind helping you at all he was just aiming to eat and fur as in the farmer telling you.
you can wait here for a while and eat dinner with us and you say yes because culturally you understand that he’s supposed to offer and it’s rude to say no and you feel at home right when you walk in the door.
Because you smell fried chicken okra corn beans cornbread and sitting on the table is a pitcher of iced tea and there’s no artificial sweetener anywhere to be found because this is a gallon of wholesome wonderful southern sweet tea.
that might have as much as four cups of sugar of course you feel at home this is the culture of the appalachian mountains right but right as you’re walking in the door you notice the farmer’s license plate and that’s when you realize.
You’re not in the appalachian mountains or are youthe washington mountains in arkansas and oklahoma are a lot like the appalachian mountains in almost every possible way aside the fact that they might be connected geologically.
the washidas are generally grouped with the arkansas river valley an area between the ozark and washida mountains the river valley is characterized by flat low lands covered in fertile fame land and lakes with occasional high peaks sound familiar.
Here’s how similar these mountain chains are since this segment began you’ve been seeing video from the alleghenies in the appalachian mountains and even some video from the blue ridge mountains and if you live in or near.
the ozarks or washida mountains tell the truth you had no ideathe ozark plateau or the ozark mountains and the washida mountains formed.
The u.s interior highlands a small and often overlooked mountainous region between the appalachian and rocky mountains geologically the connection between the appalachian ozarks and washida mountains go back to the supercontinent pangea.
i’ll say more about pangaea and how the supercontinent theory may connect mountain ranges.
All over the world in the next chapter but there’s more to this connection than what’s underneath the surface culturally these two regions are extremely similar as well as people in the 19th century from the appalachian mountains known as hillman migrated to these interior mountains bringing their culture as wellhey let me take just a brief second we’re so grateful.
When would really appreciate it if you we read and respond to every comment so please leave a comment a let’s get back to the mountainsnumber five scottish appalachian mountainsand.
if defining the boundaries of the appalachian mountain chain isn’t already confusing when in 2017 there were several viewers who believed that i should have included the scottish highlands and even the atlas mountains of africa let me explain many scientists believe.
That a little over 300 million years ago there was one super continent called pangaea and during this period the scottish highlands appalachian mountains and the atlas mountains were all one enormous mountain chain with peaks higher than the himalayas maybe.
that’s why so many people are wearing kilts while hiking in the appalachian mountains.
So i see a connection but just because these three mountain chains have some history together and occasionally share fashion trends doesn’t mean they share anything in common today now this dude is debatable.
because what is the best way to designate the boundaries of any region do we use topography geology or do we use the shared culture of the people.
Who live there in other words do we look at what’s on top or underneath the surface or do the people of that region define the boundaries for themselves.
but here’s why the scottish highlands in the atlas mountains cannot be included in the appalachian mountain chain first the scottish highlands and the atlas mountains were named long before europeans explored.
The appalachian mountains and before anyone designated the name appalachian on a map based on an indigenous american tribe that didn’t even live in the appalachian mountains second these three mountain chains may share some geology but the topography and the cultures are strikingly different and finally did you miss the part.
Where these mountain chains are separated by thousands of miles and a very deep dangerous oceanso no even though i’m very grateful for all the comments on that video and i’m hoping you’ll comment in this video the scottish highlands and the atlas mountains should not be included in the appalachian mountain chain that is unless.
You’re specifically talking about what the earth may have looked like 300 million years ago but that was then and this is now and i know what you’re going to say but bill culturally there is a huge connection considering.
that the scots helped settle the appalachian mountains well that’s true the scots were a part of the great westward migration into the appalachian mountains in the early 19th century.
But the scots migrated all over the u.s and their descendants continued to migrate contributing bits and pieces of their culture everywhere they landed and so did the irish and so did the german and the list goes on and on but what’s so often overlooked is how much the indigenous americans contributed to the appalachian culture not to mention the fact.
That all of these influences together didn’t exactly merge into one cohesive culture there’s a lot of nuance in the appalachian mountains.
but hey it’s perfectly fine if you want to wear a kilt while hikingnumber four lost in a mountain chain of mountain ranges okay buckle your seat belts we’re going for a long drive the appalachian mountains are made of many mountain ranges.
But when it comes to drawing lines between these ranges the lines get kind of blurry for example many sources explain that the blue ridge mountains run from pennsylvania to north georgia but the mountain ranges in pennsylvania and west virginia are referred to as the allegheny mountains and they are very different than the blue ridge mountains in virginia and it’s only in georgia and virginia.
That the blue ridge mountains are commonly referred to as the blue ridge mountains unless you’re on the west side of virginia in that case at least on a map it’s the allegheny mountains or the alleghenys but sometimes they’re still called the blue ridge mountains.
by well a lot of people tourist websites and even locals will call these mountains the blue ridge mountains listen.
I live right between these two mountain ranges and trust me it really depends on who you ask officially the blue ridge mountains are a larger subset of the appalachian mountains in case you didn’t know they’re called the blue ridge mountains.
because they appear to have a blue hue and mountain ranges like the great smoky mountains are a subset of the blue ridge mountains which are again a part of the appalachian mountains officially.
This makes the blue ridge mountains the parent chain of the great smoky mountain range but even though no one calls the great smoky mountains the blue ridge mountains.
you can access the southern terminus of the blue ridge parkway in great smoky mountain national park so you might be asking yourself why is it called blue ridge parkway.
And not something like smoky mountain parkway better yet why isn’t the blue ridge parkway called the appalachian parkway maybe it’s because mile marker 1 of the blue ridge parkway is in virginia.
where the blue ridge mountains are actually called the blue ridge mountains honestly there’s a very good reason it’s called the blue ridge parkway.
We’ve made well over 100 videos all over the blue ridge parkway these videos are a lot of fun and they provide a lot of information you can check out the playlist anyway the appalachian mountains in georgia are commonly referred to as the blue ridge mountains.
There’s even a blue ridge georgia okay a little side note to develop tourism in helen georgia they came up with this bavarian theme back in the late 60s and early 70s i never really bought into it because being anywhere in georgia during the summer is like asking for a heat stroke i lived in germany and there’s no place in germany that’s as hot as anywhere in georgia.
Still helen’s bavarian alpine theme has been a pretty big success by the way we have a georgia playlist too these videos are from our first year making videos and as you may imagine they’re pretty cringe still these videos provide some interesting information so here’s another tab when you’re traveling in the appalachian mountains from one mountain.
Range to the next sometimes you won’t even know you’ve crossed into another mountain range because the scenery doesn’t really change at all so the lines on the map are just that lines on a map but sometimes there are transition zones that are entirely unique like where the alleghenies meet the cumberlands the topography.
In this region has characteristics of both ranges and it doesn’t get a lot of tourism either so it’s not as crowded during peak seasons moving on the cumberland mountains are sometimes referred to as the cumberlands just as the allegheny mountains are often called the alleghenies and by the way there are a couple of ways to spell allegheny imagine that but.
The cumberland mountains are also referred to as the cumberland plateau and yes the allegheny mountains are also often referred to as the allegheny plateau the alleghenies also include the pocono and endless mountain ranges of pennsylvania but they don’t look anything like the allegheny mountains in west virginia and.
They’re not really connected to the rest of the alleghenies not really and if you do some googling on the cumberland mountains many authoritative sources will include regions also belonging to the allegheny mountains and i’m not talking about overlapping areas it’s as if the cumberland mountain range ignores.
The alleghenies altogether and that isn’t nice north carolina is home to the highest peaks in the appalachian mountains or maybe it isn’t more on this later in the video anyway in north carolina there are several mountain ranges belonging to the appalachian mountain chain the great balsam mountains the black mountains the bald mountains.
Plot blossom mountains great craggy mountains and nancyhala mountains are all in north carolina okay ready for this also in north carolina there are some mountains that don’t belong to any local mountain range and they’re pretty significant mountains in this case they’re just called the blue ridge mountains sometimes state lines and county lines are also mountain range boundaries but not always north carolina and tennessee.
Share the unicoi and great smoky mountains which must make for some dreadful paperwork so let me explain how it works if you’re visiting the black mountains in north carolina the parent mountain chain is the blue ridge mountains and the blue ridge mountains are part of the greater appalachian mountain chain too easy right i left out the fact that sometimes.
They change the names and the boundaries of these mountain ranges yes they change the names but seriously people get triggered if you don’t call a mountain range what they think it should be called they’ll tell you about it too even when they’re absolutely wrong for instance while recording an intro to a video i stated that i was in the allegheny mountains of west virginia a viewer wrote.
Those aren’t mountains those are plateaus and this person is correct sort of these are plateaus in fact the highest plateau east of the mississippi is in west virginia but on the map this region of elevated land is referred to as the allegheny mountains but on some maps the allegheny front and yes on other maps the allegheny plateau.
I wasn’t providing a geographical description of this location i was providing my location on a map and the map i was using i bought in a store in west virginia because in case you’ve never been to west virginia it’s an amazing state and we love it but there’s no cell service there but honestly i love all comments and really appreciate them.
In fact leave a comment right now and call these amazing mountains whatever you want to call them just as long as you appreciate their spectacular beautynumber three highest appalachian peaks i thought this would be a no-brainer but one of the facts in my last 10 fact about the appalachian mountains was about mount mitchell now it’s an absolute fact.
That mount mitchell is the highest peak in the appalachian mountains but there were several wonderful viewers with good intentions who commented in no uncertain terms that i was absolutely wrong that the highest peaks were in the white mountains located in new hampshire but mountain washington isn’t even the highest peak in the appalachian mountains not only is mount mitchell taller.
Than mount washington but there are many peaks in the southern appalachian mountains that are taller than mount washington including clement’s dome in tennessee i thought that maybe some of these sincere viewers were trying to say that there might be a higher concentration of tall peaks in the white mountains i doubted that too.
But i wanted to make sure and well no these wonderful kind-hearted viewers who took the time to leave a comment are simply misinformed the highest concentration of the tallest mountains in the appalachian mountain chain is in north carolina in the southern region of the appalachian mountain chain there are 53 peaks in the southern appalachian mountain chain.
That are over 6 000 feet in elevation together these peaks have a name the southern sixers i’ve hiked many of these giant mountains even in east tennessee there are at least 10 peaks over 6 000 feet and between north carolina and tennessee combined there are over 200 mountains over 5 000 feet in elevation i’m not sure.
How anyone can arrive at the conclusion that the tallest mountains in the appalachian chain would be in the northern divisionokay seriously when i saw this i almost second guessed my sanity listen i’ve been making videos for over five years i get things wrong it happens but britannica is supposed to be more trusted than wikipedia so i kind of flipped out.
I’m almost embarrassed to tell you that i spent over eight hours yes that’s right over eight hours making sure i’m not well crazy and no i’m not crazy at least not about this so i did something i’ve never done before i submitted a correction that sounded something like this this information is correct actually the highest deletions of the appalachian mountain.
Chain are in the southern appalachian north region in north carolina alone there are three peaks they’re over 900 meters these things are called the southern sixers not mentioned is the tallest of these peaks and the tallest mountain in the appalachian chain there are 181 peaks over 500 meters tennessee has 10 60 and 900 years and dozens of peaks exceeding 500 meters parts of southern virginia also included in the southern appalachian mountain.
Region is also home to mountains exceeding 500 meters when it comes to elevation mount washington and the surrounding mountains are barely worth mentioning however the northern division of the avalanche mountain is extremely unique and quite fascinating not to mention beautiful for reasons that have little to do with their relation.
I’ve never attempted to correct information in any article before however the article is so humorously wrong that i feel morally obligated to help most of the details are correct it’s the broad statement highest elevations in the appalachians are in the north division that’s ours the rest and yes i sent that i’ll let you know in a few minutes.
How that worked out number two the trail i know you’ve probably heard all about the appalachian trail especially if you’ve been watching this channel for the past few years you probably already know it’s over 2200 miles long making it the longest hiking only foot path in the world the at follows the backbone of the appalachian mountains taking you through 14 different states.
But you might not know that if you hype the entire at the elevation gain and loss is the equivalent of hiking mount everest 16 times the at is extremely popular and it’s shared by all generations while less than 22 thousand people have ever completed a through hike on the appalachian.
Trail less than 22 000 people have completed a through hike or hiking all 2200 miles which can take about six months millions of people hiked the at annually considering its popularity it’s hard to believe that the entirety of the trail is maintained by volunteers organized into 31 district maintenance clubs volunteers do everything.
From maintaining existing trails and painting blazes to excavation along the trail they even build new shelters the at is so popular and it’s been such a success that during the summer months it gets kind of crowded this success has led to other volunteer-led multi-state trail projects in other parts of the appalachian mountain chain for example.
There’s the mountain to sea trail or mst it stretches for almost 1200 miles from the great smoky mountains to the outer banks volunteer projects like this take time the mst was proposed back in 1977 and it’s still not quite finishedthe cumberland trail in tennessee or the ct begins at cumberland gap state park on the border of kentucky.
And tennessee and it extends for 210 miles to signal mountain tennessee now this isn’t a hiking channel but we’ve made a hiking on various trails in the appalachian mountains so check this out i seldom recommend hiking websites.
Because 99 of the time they really let me down but if you’re interested in a complete website that has a lot of tools for hiking check out all trails and no this is not a paid advertisement like most of youtube they don’t even know this channel exists but seriously.
This is a great in the description number one the truth about appalachian facts including this this is new river and it flows through west virginia virginia and north carolina just like appalachian nobody knows who named new river but the name stuck even though new river isn’t new at all it’s one of five oldest rivers in the world.
It might even be the oldest you may have noticed that the debatable facts have a theme names and designated boundaries to be fair controversies surrounding the names and boundaries of any location one may find on any map can be controversial strongly debated scandalous and sometimes it can lead to war when you look at a map it’s easy to understand.
Why these mountain ranges are lumped up together into one mountain chain from above that’s what it looks like these mountains of the east are ancient but as passionate as people are about the name appalachian the name hasn’t been associated with all this mountain range very long just over 100 years in recent years the great valley is now commonly referred to as the great appalachian valley.
You know people spend their lives becoming experts at something and that includes those sneaky boundary changing pangaea loving geologist speaking of geologists in 1596 a cartographer named abraham artelius is believed to be the first to suggest the continents were once joined and later separated but no one really paid much attention centuries later in 1912 a scientist named alfred vegener noticed.
That the continents of the earth seemed to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle veganer declared that the continents move over geologic time relative to each other and appear to have drifted across the ocean bed he called this movement continental displacement experts at the time called veganer delirious a drunk and a peddler of germanic pseudoscience.
Veganer wasn’t a geologist so he didn’t fit in the club he died in 1930 and was largely forgotten don’t let websites fool you as they gloss over the fact that even 40 years ago pangaea the supercontinent was at best considered french science maybe slightly more credible than ancient aliens but beginning in the 1950s.
Evidence began piling up quietly the idea picked up steam and now modern geology has shown that pangaea did actually exist they even used the word actually every website related to the topic says the same thing it’s a fact and it will remain a fact unless.
New discoveries are made and evidence begins pointing a different direction but as one of the five oldest rivers in the world maybe even the oldest of the five it depends on who you ask it’s a fact that new river isn’t affected by the latest research opinion or ideas it flows through the shadows of these mountains regardless as to what they’re called unchanged by the ironic name it’s been givens oi bet that was the longest.
