[at-l] Thru-hiking Car Following

[rjturbot at cfl.rr.com (Jackie Turbot)]

Kelly--
You could contact Heather's Mom, Wendy...she was doing the van support thing
for the hike.
http://www.heathershikinghiatus.homestead.com/TrailMagicMomma.html  her
email link is at the bottom.
Jackie


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Bullard" <jbullar1@twcny.rr.com>
To: <KellyGoVols@aol.com>; <at-l@backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 8:13 PM
Subject: Re: [at-l] Thru-hiking Car Following


> Pittsburg is the guy you should ask. He used to run support to thrus with
> his van. You might also contact Warren Doyle who has coordinated supported
> thru-hikes. I'm sure he could offer advice.
>
> Have you read "The Dream Trail" by Mary Twitty? She started out hiking
> sections with her husband who has a wooden leg (something she reminds the
> reader of frequently). Early on he broke his leg (the wooden one) and
> decided to run support in their Jeep instead of hiking with her. It is not
> the best journal out there but it is the one that I've read in which the
> circumstances are closest to what you propose. What other ones have you
read
> where they did that?
>
> Mary Twitty didn't discuss the cost. Would your guy get lost? Maybe in
some
> places. Having no sense of direction is not a promising start. Even Mr.
> Twitty got lost a few times. Buy lots of road maps and send The Boy to map
> reading school. Could you communicate by cell phone or walkee-talkee?
> Sometimes. In some areas there would be no cell phone service. My cell
phone
> has no service in my own house and yard and I'm no where near as remote as
> Maine. Two-way radios are only effective for a mile or two and then only
if
> there isn't a mountain between you. As I recall even the Twitty's Jeep
> couldn't handle some of the "roads" that went through the 100 mile
> wilderness in Maine and that had nothing to do with weather. It was the
> normal state of the road. Most of the time the roads weren't that bad.
>
> >----- Original Message ----- 
> >From: KellyGoVols@aol.com
> >
> >Here's a question for you folks, and it will just KILL the purists, but,
> this question is hypothetical at best.
> >
> >Say for example when I hike the Appalachian Trail, and I wanted the boy
to
> follow me along in the car.  What are >the road blocks (pun intended)?
This
> is something I am SURE he would do, if we could afford it, so I reckon my
> >first question is:
> >
> >1.  How much would we need to save up?  We need to take into
consideration
> (We, hell, I ain't even talked to him >about it, but I can talk him in to
an
> ything.) our Mortgage, insurance and taxes on the house $2100 a month.
Keep
> >in mind, we could rent it out (maybe). Plus other minimal expenses.  He'd
> get about $7500 from dividends from the >restaurant in that six month
> period.
> >
> >2.  How hard is it to navigate such an adventure by car?  Are the roads
> treacherous during the colder months?  >Will he be able to stay at hiker
> hostels too?
> >
> >3. He has NO sense of direction, bless his heart, so would he be forever
> lost?  Finding himself in Arizona when I'm >in West Virginia?
> >
> >4.  Could we communicate by (Oh my God, hang on to your hats) by
cellphone?
> Two way radio?
> >
> >5.  I've read journals of people who have done this.  Are there any
listers
> who have, and what's your take on it?
> >
> >6.  Lastly, if the above is not doable, then where would the boy fly into
> and then drive to so he could hike the last >leg, that last day, up to
> Katahdin with me?
>
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