“By the time humans first walked their slopes, the Appalachian mountains had worn down from prehistoric peaks over 16,000 ft (5,000 m) high to 6,500 ft (2,000 m) today. “
460 million years of erosion kinda does that to you.
I know that after three score & two, I ain’t of the same stature that I was at, say, 21...
You must have stood out in the weather too long.