And I don't think the record is done yet this season.
You do make a point. If you are an attractive female, blogging about you attempt to break the trail record, odds are you are going to get more magic than the avg. hiker. Fans are going to show up to root you on and of course they are going to bring food. One positive thing about Matt's stealth agenda is if he received trail magic it was organic and not white blazers showing up specifically to aid him.Originally Posted by Mikey Appleseed
Love people and use things; never the reverse.
Mt. Katahdin would be a lot quicker to climb if its darn access trail didn't start all the way down in Georgia.
Who considers the guideline of unplanned trail magic insulting?
Just a simple question, how much of the trail did Josh carry a pack?
From what I know he had a bag the whole time! His support was food. Special vegan food, and he raised 28G's for animal safety. But, hes not claiming unsupported! At times they were together and Anish had a hoard of helpers and the supported guy was alone. But, shes awesome and should not be ashamed to live up to anishabe. She has the ladys nobo record, and that's wonderful! Why tarnish a good thing? The whole finishing so close to each other really confused and upset people.
If he carried his pack the entire way there's some gray area for sure. I'm happy for both and hope not too many, that weren't even on the trail, don't get too bend out of shape. They both did awesome.
And Sly, I am insulted! I do trail magic! Ive hiked 30 miles(the length he had left), with 3 slices of pizza and a coke or less! That's a resupply right there to a speed hike! Anyhow, these are things that will come up when you paint yourself unsupported. Some are questioning her resupplys as she walked in and out of each resupply town, and that's not easy on the pct! Its a great piece of chess that changes as fast as the economy and times(places going in and out of business, like Post Offices). I heard she carried more to resupply less, which is awesome and interesting, because imagine how fast and light she could have been...Anyhow, new records to dream of! Whoo-hoo!
"she had left..."
In Anish's own words...
Anish Hikes
Some people have been confused by the parallel record set the day after mine by Josh Garrett. I just want to clarify the difference between the two:
I hold the overall *unsupported* record for the PCT, meaning I carried all of my supplies and walked into and out of towns to obtain more (which added about 30 miles to my hike). I had no prearranged support meeting me along the way.
Josh holds the overall *supported* record for the PCT (and overall fastest time across categories), meaning he had a dedicated support team who met him along the way with his supplies so he did not have to walk into towns. His support team may have also provided additional assistance, I don't really know.
For all the long distance trails there are separate, parallel records for supported and unsupported since the differences between the two are so significant. It is amazing that both unsupported and supported records for the PCT were smashed this year within hours of one another. I really hope to meet Josh someday and give him hearty congratulations on his epic hike since we never met on trail.
Anish 2.jpg Unsupported...
Anish could have completed her hike without anyone meeting her, handouts or trail magic. Could Josh?
A. Why didn't she? B. Im sure he could! He had a zero and still beat her time! Plus its not a factor, shes the one claiming unsupported!
That was the rule Scott set with the previous unsupported record as he stated upfront that he wouldn't ride in a car and would walk to all his resupplies. The fact that he also beat the previous supported record by David Horton was also amazing. So to beat his record and not have an footnote next to your name, you had to play by the same rules. And when you are doing 40+ miles/day, it isn't that hard on the PCT to supply that way since you can more easily pick and choose where to supply since you can bypass some places.
Not if you call Guinness and tell them your doing the fastest hike! There will be no talk of all those self imposed hoops in a real record! lol...laughable! Shes the nobo womens speed queen.
I guess I don't understand when "trail magic" became support. I am pretty sure others that had previously set speed records on the PCT and other trails received some magic along the way, and if so was that then called support? To me support is a planned thing to be relied upon and magic just happens even if it may well have targeted but not planned upon by the recipient.
"You have brains in your head/You have feet in your shoes/You can steer yourself in any direction you choose." - Dr. Seuss
You're sitting at home and you'd deny Anish a slice of pizza from a trail angel?
I'm speaking about resupply. No one brought Anish her resupply. Did Josh ever walk into town to get his?
Listen Sly, be Sly and listen again...hes not "unsupported" No need to talk of his self claimed supported hike! And when you have full pizzas and cokes with 30 miles left, I do think its support. The idea is, the trail magic went above and beyond normal, ppl were bringing stuff JUST FOR HER!!!!!!!!!! Read don't speak....
Josh is irrelevant. He holds the fastest supported record.
The question becomes how much trail magic crosses the line, from unsupported to supported. I am not claiming in Anish's case it did.
I am just curious where is the line.
Love people and use things; never the reverse.
Mt. Katahdin would be a lot quicker to climb if its darn access trail didn't start all the way down in Georgia.
A supported hike is nice, neat and convenient- you simply travel along and receive your stuff. As long as you go from point a to point b- you got it.
Unsupported hikes are tricky dicky. In the case of the PCT- you have fairly straightforward guidelines set by the previous record setter. Speaking generally- as I don't know one way or the other concerning Anish- all resupply's need to be obtained on foot at a traditional place. (P.O. or private business). So far so good. Trail passes a place to buy/obtain food- still fair game.
Trail Magic- Here's the hard part. On one side of a very hard black and white line- accept nothing from anyone. That's the simplest plan- but not realistic nor was it a plan followed by Scott. So now you're in a grey area, which in modern times continues to grow. While the Man himself is available now to comment, we had a serious discussion on this site regarding keeping your location secret, specifically keeping Matt's location secret. While safety was one totally overblown reason- the real reason is happening right now. Matt accepted Trail Magic- a commonly accepted part of any long distance hike and a stance firmly planted in the grey area just off that black and white line. By keeping your location secret, you protect the integrity of your hike by not allowing the trail magic issue to get overblown.
On the far border of that grey area sits a hiker named Anish. Her hike featured live updates (or close enough to it) to allow any well wishers to stop by. Some folks earlier posted that she seemed to have no issues, although she posts that she did have a very disturbing encounter with a gentleman that left her quite unsettled (right near the end)- so the safety concern is still valid. More importantly- because of her choice to keep her location fairly public, she must now deal with questions regarding the integrity of her hike. Did a slice of pizza make or break her hike? Absolutely not. Does it bring up a bit of a question? Absolutely.
Unfortunately, her choices, and her hike is now in the court of public opinion. That's how this thing works. No hard black and white rules to follow. 99% of us will agree that her hike is intact and fine. Honesty is more important than nit-picking. She didn't hide what she did, she didn't cover anything up, she didn't intentionally break the spirit of unsupported or solicit trail magic. (To the best of my knowledge.)
Are you within your rights to discuss it, yes. Just keep something in mind- before you even hint at an impropriety in a fellow backpacker- put yourself in their shoes. Was the (alleged) violation a serious issue? Do you have any proof? If it was you, would you feel you did something wrong? Statements, rumors, innuendo, and vague accusations grow. You may think your comments are innocent, but they may not be. Give the person a chance to turn in a trip report. Generally speaking that's the time to debate, if you still feel you must. She may very well, humbly admit that her choice to update live was a mistake, and led to more trail magic than expected. She could quite innocently and sincerely thought she was posting for friends and family and didn't expect the following and support. A few people argued quite firmly on Matt's behalf regarding this issue, Anish (likely) had no one to back her up and advise her on this potential problem.
Bottom line- she's a backpacker, and so are you. Give her (or anyone) a chance to tell their side of the story. Honesty and integrity are what counts in the speed record community- much more so than black and white statements. Trail Magic- in all it's forms is part of what makes any hike special. A record setting hike is by nature under more scrutiny, but allow the record setter to tell their story before you poke holes in it. You as a fellow human being owe them that if nothing else.
Well said Just Bill! But lets not change it to one slice....and I know for a fact ppl brought food designed for her and her only, disrespecting the "not planned" loophole, I love the word cause that's what it is, a loophole! They describe it on FB! Pics and all!(the anish magic) The amount of support/magic for has never been seen like this, its why it must be talked about! Theres actually trail angels/support who feel disrespected because they feel they helped her and are not getting pub, only hurting her case. Theres questions about other things, and stuff I cant confirm, so Ill leave it at that. Mucho respect to all hikers, its just tough because when you respect the record for as long as I have, I had to put in my 2 cents...
Actually this is one big reason not to keep records. Did Anish enjoy her hike? Did Matt? Did Scott? Did Jenn? Did Ward? Did Josh? Did they HYOH and follow what ever standards they set for themselves? If yes, then their respective hikes were successful. The ONLY reason they don't get to HYOH, is because of the record claim did they meet the standards of the record.
Love people and use things; never the reverse.
Mt. Katahdin would be a lot quicker to climb if its darn access trail didn't start all the way down in Georgia.
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