[at-l] Walking the Walk.........

[RoksnRoots@aol.com (RoksnRoots@aol.com)]

In a message dated 7/27/01 3:31:08 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
yumitori@montana.com writes:

<< Looking at his schedule, Brian is planning on continuing his 30+ mile
 days. It's possible, but it will be hard. Some of the folks familiar
 with all three trails have said that the PCT is the easiest to hike long
 miles on, so I don't know how much one can infer from his success there.
 And once he's completed the Continental Divide Trail, he'll have to try
 and finish the AT while the weather becomes steadily worse.
 
    Still, I hope he can pull it off. It's a heck of a challenge he's
 taken on, and I wish him the best of luck. >>


  ***R'nR:  Of course, it all depends on his body holding up. But even with 
your added curve for technical difficulty of the CDT, he is still well within 
reach of the task.

  Roughly: 7,500 miles for all three. 4,233+ done so far. 5 months to go. PCT 
1/3 of the distance done in less than 1/4 of the deadline.
   Remaining AT portion: roughly 600 miles. Doable by a hiker of Brian's 
level in 1 month.
   R'nR's assessment: Done Deal!
 
    He has less than 2000 miles to do on the CDT and he is already going down 
it. If you interpret your added difficulty factor for the CDT and roughly 
estimate that he will do the 2000 miles of remaining CDT in the same time as 
the longer 2,600 mile PCT (around 84 days!) He will then have a full 2 months 
to do Maine, Hew Hampshire and Vermont on the AT. This is a gimme at his 
hiking rate. 

    The SI article commented that he lost the through*hike claim to the AT 
because of snow. I disagree, though, because he was stopped by weather. Since 
he is doing the 3 trails as one giant hike, he is technically through*hiking 
whenever he is walking. The only thing he lost was continuity. 

    I think the only question will be an early winter when he gets to Maine. 
Even with the early snows of last year (which makes a repeat unlikely this 
year) I think with his wherewithall he could easily snowshoe (or even crawl) 
the remaining AT section in 2 months. My money is on this Trail hero.

    Yes, speed hiking should be discouraged because it is more of a sideshow 
than soaking in nature on a hike. And, most agree a slower hike gets in more 
of what the Trail is * but, I think we who have done long distances 
appreciate more the superhuman ability it entails to take on such feat. I 
mean, geesh! most of us had to struggle just to do the AT in a year! To 
non*hikers it is impressive, followed by the predictable "he must be crazy" 
that should be included on the FAQ AT T*shirt.

    I would put my money on the boy.