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sadlowskiadam
08-02-2018, 13:21
There has been a lot of attention lately about FKT's on the AT. Does anyone know whether there is a slowest known thru hike? For example, has a hiker started on January 1 and finished at the end of December that same year? Just curious if a hiker has tried this "alternative" record before.:-?

illabelle
08-02-2018, 13:32
Not sure if it could be done. Isn't Katahdin closed both Jan 1 and Dec 31?
But if it doesn't have to be a calendar year, just any 12 month period, then probably several who have done it.

soumodeler
08-02-2018, 13:37
Not sure if it could be done. Isn't Katahdin closed both Jan 1 and Dec 31?
Not closed, you just have to have a special permit and have decent weather.

Gambit McCrae
08-02-2018, 13:38
Not sure if it could be done. Isn't Katahdin closed both Jan 1 and Dec 31?
But if it doesn't have to be a calendar year, just any 12 month period, then probably several who have done it.

Could do a flip out of anywhere but Katahdin to solve that

Tipi Walter
08-02-2018, 13:39
Thanks for this thread. I'm most interest in Slowest Known Times for the AT or for any foot trail.

Starchild
08-02-2018, 13:47
Technically you just need to reserve a section of the thru hiker to be on trail NewYear's 'eve' 2 years in a row, so it's sort of a meaningless, more of a mental exercise in semantics the way a thru hike is defined.

tdoczi
08-02-2018, 13:58
Technically you just need to reserve a section of the thru hiker to be on trail NewYear's 'eve' 2 years in a row, so it's sort of a meaningless, more of a mental exercise in semantics the way a thru hike is defined.

agreed. one in theory could make up some sort of specific terms like have to walk on consectuve days without stopping (the way a speed hike would be) and see who took the longest but the likely answer to that question is it was a failed attempt at being fastest, as just about anyone else takes days off.

could you make up something like no more than x% of days off? sure, i suppose, but at that point its starting to get silly.

stumpknocker
08-02-2018, 14:20
Not the slowest thru hike, but the slowest thru hike for me that had me walking the whole trail in under one year.
Started on May 1st, 2004 and finished on April 20, 2005.

Took a little time off from that hike to do the JMT in the fall and then again to hike most of the Florida Trail in the early part of 2005 before finishing up the AT.
I call the days it took me to hike those other two trails my zero days on the AT.

And yes....the ATC says that is a thru hike of the AT.

Odd Man Out
08-02-2018, 14:47
Not sure why the obsession with a calandar year. No requirement a thru be done in a year. Just a continuous hike, whatever that is. Hike 2 miles every day for 1000 days, it's a thru hike.

Lnj
08-02-2018, 14:53
If there were such a thing, I would be a serious contender.

Lone Wolf
08-02-2018, 14:55
Not sure why the obsession with a calandar year. No requirement a thru be done in a year. Just a continuous hike, whatever that is. Hike 2 miles every day for 1000 days, it's a thru hike.

agree. back in the 90s a guy named Coyote claimed a 400 day +/- thru hike at the Gathering in Hanover

petedelisio
08-02-2018, 16:08
There has been a lot of attention lately about FKT's on the AT. Does anyone know whether there is a slowest known thru hike? For example, has a hiker started on January 1 and finished at the end of December that same year? Just curious if a hiker has tried this "alternative" record before.:-?

How's surviving on the trail while walking it's entirety for 2 1/2 years and spending less than 30 days in a bed, with a hand full of support deliveries to trailheads?

stumpknocker
08-02-2018, 16:11
I'm not sure what the ATC's stance is on this, but the people that string together multiple section hikes to complete the trail are the ones that I admire most.

I met a couple of hikers that did just 100 miles a year during their vacations.
These two were doing their 21st year of 100 miles and weren't going to finish until the following year.

To me, that would be way harder physically and logistically than any actual thru hike where you just wake up and walk each day.

I wonder who might have taken the most time to completely finish the AT.
I'll bet there are some that have taken longer than the 22 years of those two I mentioned above.

A section hike of the AT is way harder than a thru hike of the AT for me.

Just Bill
08-02-2018, 16:22
Not sure why the obsession with a calandar year. No requirement a thru be done in a year. Just a continuous hike, whatever that is. Hike 2 miles every day for 1000 days, it's a thru hike.
Of more interest to me would be continuous time on the trail (regardless of distance).
Yo-Yo's or even bouncing up and down as Ward Leonard did...might be an interesting tale.

That said... the concept is silly all around.
What if you take a zero in town...you've 'gotten off trail'.
What if you choose to zero in the woods... technically you're not hiking (making forward progress daily.)
You could hike from Georgia to the whites and take a cru position in a hut for several months and still be 'on trail' in some fashion.

If you take a job at a Neel Gap you technically are on trail too.


So many ways to drag out something... to no purpose.
Nothing against the OP as it seems an honest question from him, just one that pops up every season. Like it or not... an FKT at least has some sort of purpose or objective.
Slowest known hike really doesn't mean a thing.

If you'd like to admire something...any of the lifetime section hikers who use their one week a year vacation over 15-30 year spans to complete the trail are far more impressive than slothful quasi homelessness on the AT. I'd say three decades is pretty impressive dedication.

If you want to be a wilderness bum... go do it and live off the land in a remote place.
If you want to just be a homeless drifter... more power to you. The key word being drifting.

Think yer Daniel Boone reborn... The AT isn't wilderness, you're just squatting in a state park without paying the fee.
Nothing wrong with laying around along the AT and filling your days with side trips, exploring, fishing, or flat out navel gazing.

Just call it your version of enjoying the trail and leave it at that.

1azarus
08-02-2018, 16:36
i think the barefoot sisters must be contenders... it ain't quick work walking the AT barefoot, even for parts of it. i vaguely remember from their book, like, nine months...

HooKooDooKu
08-02-2018, 16:45
Technically you just need to reserve a section of the thru hiker to be on trail NewYear's 'eve' 2 years in a row, so it's sort of a meaningless, more of a mental exercise in semantics the way a thru hike is defined.
Another ditto here...

I assume the original intent of the question was trying to determine the longest time someone has taken to hike the full AT without "leaving" (i.e. returning home for an extended period).
But it quickly becomes a sticky mess trying to define "without leaving" such that you disqualify what we traditionally call "section hikers" from those that simply leave the trail to go into town for a resupply. After all, where is the cut off... just those that leave the trail to resupply? What about someone that needs to go see a doctor, or spends two weeks in a hotel (or anywhere else) to get over a minor injury before continuing.
You also couldn't simply cut it off at a year. So long as you can manage the winter conditions of say northern Virginia thru New Jersy, you could start in GA in early 2019, hike an average of about 3 miles per day, hike thru the winter, and then continue on the trail until the Fall of 2020.


Not sure why the obsession with a calandar year. No requirement a thru be done in a year. Just a continuous hike, whatever that is. Hike 2 miles every day for 1000 days, it's a thru hike.
So yea, what he said.

Starchild
08-02-2018, 18:21
Not sure why the obsession with a calandar year. No requirement a thru be done in a year. Just a continuous hike, whatever that is. Hike 2 miles every day for 1000 days, it's a thru hike.

ATC defines a thru hike as completed in a calendar year, since it's their puppy they get to make the rules.

Mother Natures Son
08-02-2018, 19:18
I think Earl Shaffer was one of the first , slowest thru hiker on the AT. I tend to remember he didn't finished until Nov. (??)

rickb
08-02-2018, 19:24
ATC defines a thru hike as completed in a calendar year, since it's their puppy they get to make the rules.

By a proclamation of the board? Or by a vote of the membership?

Tipi Walter
08-02-2018, 20:01
I was intrigued a couple years ago by the numbers game---how long would it take to hike the AT at 2 miles a day with no zeros.

34.5 months or 150 weeks or almost 3 years. What a trip.

Or let's do it at 7 miles a day with one zero per week. Equals 300 days of hiking and then add around 50 zero days---a good full year to hike the AT. What an excellent experience this would be---to see all four seasons in a year of hiking.

Slowest Known Times? Sure, why not?

The beauty of these low mile trips is the ability to carry a 30 day food load and only resupply 10 times during the trip. Neato. The extra food weight could easily be handled by 7 mile days.

SawnieRobertson
08-02-2018, 21:11
ATC defines a thru hike as completed in a calendar year, since it's their puppy they get to make the rules.


Ahhh, but.....what is a "calendar year?" Researching the Internet, I find that it can be 1/1 to 12/31 of the same year OR some variation something like 9/1/2018 to 8/31/2019, which to me is more the spirit of the trail.

Hosh
08-02-2018, 21:11
I was intrigued a couple years ago by the numbers game---how long would it take to hike the AT at 2 miles a day with no zeros.

34.5 months or 150 weeks or almost 3 years. What a trip.

Or let's do it at 7 miles a day with one zero per week. Equals 300 days of hiking and then add around 50 zero days---a good full year to hike the AT. What an excellent experience this would be---to see all four seasons in a year of hiking.

Slowest Known Times? Sure, why not?

The beauty of these low mile trips is the ability to carry a 30 day food load and only resupply 10 times during the trip. Neato. The extra food weight could easily be handled by 7 mile days.

Really!

Hauling 30 days worth of peanut butter for a thru hiker is stupid.

You might only want to squat and trim bushes.

NBGASheet

imscotty
08-02-2018, 22:06
This was discussed some time ago in another thread. I will repost my thoughts again here...

I have actually given some thought to this. I have been fantasizing about going after this record someday myself. I have been keeping these thoughts on the down low, but since the subject has been broached, we might has well use this thread to define a 'LKT' record attempt.

John Upton, I respectfully disagree with you on the 'calendar year' thing. The closest we have to an authority is the Appalachian Trail Conference. This is what they have to saw on the subject...

"How does the ATC define thru-hiking? We define a thru-hike as a hike of the entire A.T. in 12 months or less. "

In my mind that means it can be a year starting on any date (does not have to start on January 1st). Many SOBO's finish their thru-hikes after January 1st. I am sure they feel they actually completed a thru-hike, and this seems to fit with the ATC definition.

So as suggested, I think you want to start in any 12 month period that includes a Leap Year' (February 29th). That would seem to put the upper limit on the record at 366 days exactly. If the hiker is lucky, they might pick a leap year that also has a 'Leap Second.' These are usually announced about 6 months in advance. That would put the maximum bound of the record at 366 days and one second. There was a year (1972) that had two leap seconds, but I doubt that this will ever happen again.

The link posted above by Kaptain Kritz is the longest time I have actually seen posted (although there may be others). This appears to be a record that is ready to be broken.

Of course documentation of 'LKT's is important. I suggest that you would at least want the start and end times at each terminus witnessed and timed with an accurate source tied to official NIST time.

I think there needs to be some discussion about what constitutes a fair LKT attempt. It seems to me that taking a 6 month layover along the way would not be in the spirit of a true thru-hike. I would love to hear the thoughts of others on this.

Also, I suppose this could be split up into NOBO/SOBO and supported/unsupported categories.

OK, lets call this my official announcement. I intend to go for the Longest Known Time in the year 2044 (a leap year). I have not picked an exact starting date yet. Why 2044? Well, I might as well let the cat completely out of the bag. I intend to go for two records at once. In 2044 I will be 84 years old. I also hope to top the great Lee 'The Easy One' Barry, the oldest known thru-hiker.

Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it https://whiteblaze.net/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

imscotty
08-02-2018, 22:13
The longest SKT I have seen claimed is 355 days (give or take a day or three) by David "Kickit" Ballard. See here....

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1250987531628624&set=a.486004841460234.110235.100001521674874&type=3&theater

Of course if we are going to get serious about this we would want to tighten up the verification standards a bit :) Has anyone seen a claim longer than this?

capehiker
08-03-2018, 03:23
I started my thru in May 14, 2016. As I approached Hawk Mountain Shelter, I passed two southbounders who were finishing that day having been on the trail for 364 days.

petedelisio
08-03-2018, 09:19
I think Earl Shaffer was one of the first , slowest thru hiker on the AT. I tend to remember he didn't finished until Nov. (??)

If people want to talk about ATC or purist guidelines for the definition of a thru hike, apparently Earl Shaffer didn't thru hike the AT.
Tho in my book he did. And if it takes you one year and 30 days to walk it, you are still in my book.

Starchild
08-03-2018, 10:09
If people want to talk about ATC or purist guidelines for the definition of a thru hike, apparently Earl Shaffer didn't thru hike the AT.
Tho in my book he did. And if it takes you one year and 30 days to walk it, you are still in my book.
Yes he did as 1: the rule didn't exist at the time (and no one imagined someone would thru hike the AT) , 2: ATC recognized his hike as a thru hike by stating he was the first person to thru hike the AT.


So that would be the record if it was over one year, and unless the rules change it is unbreakable as the rules no longer allow that length of time.

Basically game over, except one might apply for a exemption to that rule by appealing to ATC. Perhaps for such a reason as a disabled person wants to do a thru but must do to slowly and doesn't want it to be DQ'ed for that reason. A letter from ATC saying that it would be acceptable should suffice.

Starchild
08-03-2018, 10:11
By a proclamation of the board? Or by a vote of the membership?

I have no idea. I don't think it would be a vote, but IDK.

DownYonder
08-03-2018, 10:41
Rule???? Time Schedules???? Ain't no stink'n rules or time schedules in backpacking!!!

stumpknocker
08-03-2018, 10:47
What does it matter whether you call yourself a thru hiker or a section hiker.
If you've walked the entire AT, that's a good walk.

It seems the ATC doesn't care that much either.
This was copied from imscotty's post #23; ("How does the ATC define thru-hiking? We define a thru-hike as a hike of the entire A.T. in 12 months or less. ")

It seems there has always been people on this forum trying to tell others how to hike their hike by some imaginary standard they think should be followed.
Pretty simple to follow the ATC's stance and complete the trail in a year if it matters whether you call yourself a thru hiker, or just walk the trail and enjoy the walk.

My long walk I mentioned in post #8 is considered a thru hike by the ATC, even though I took quite a few zero days.
Doesn't seem it matters what you do on your zero days. (you know, that terribly abused phrase of HYOH)

My 2008 thru hike of the AT started on 1-1-2008 and I didn't summit Katahdin until the end of October of 2008.
I also took some zero days on that walk and bicycled across the United States, then broke off and walked the Long Trail before coming back to finish that thru hike.

I spend my zero days the way I like, not how someone here thinks I should.

My easiest hike of the AT was my fastest in 2005 (sobo) and my hardest hike of the AT was my first multi-year section hike of the AT.
So, all you section hikers out there should be just as proud of walking the trail as any thru hiker is...maybe even more so!

tdoczi
08-03-2018, 10:52
It seems there has always been people on this forum trying to tell others how to hike their hike by some imaginary standard they think should be followed.

i think it begins with, and is by no means limited to this forum or the AT or hiking, a curious human need to measure everything they do against some kind of standard. the "rules for thru hiking" begin, i feel, not with wanting to judge anyone else, but with wanting to know what to do so you are judged correctly. applying those rules to others comes later.

Starchild
08-03-2018, 11:35
IMHO ATC needed to define what a thru hike is because some need a definition. A thru hike is done in the heart, the heart knows, but many are not in touch with their heart, and many more are stuck in their head- Thus the need for a definition. The definition seems to fit almost all thru hikes, but does allow for things like multiple section hiking linked together w/i a year. Sort of make sure all thru hikers qualify, they have a expanded definition so others can also claim a thru hike by the letter of the rules.

Tipi Walter
08-03-2018, 11:48
As a backpacker, there's only one question that needs to be answered: Are you outdoors or indoors?

Two Tents
08-03-2018, 12:30
I met a guy back in 2008 near Front Royal headed south. Soon he blows past us headed North. Later the same day he is covering ground headed back south. He was more talkative this time and we learned he was doing a Mega and a Game (Sobo & Nobo) at the same time. He'd hike to a shelter and reverse direction backwards to see the trail both directions and then hike south to a new shelter & repeat. It was a strange thing to ponder. Two Sobo hikes and a Nobo in the same walk. I wish I recalled his trail name and if he finished his adventure sectioning this way.

tdoczi
08-03-2018, 12:38
IMHO ATC needed to define what a thru hike is because some need a definition. A thru hike is done in the heart, the heart knows, but many are not in touch with their heart, and many more are stuck in their head- Thus the need for a definition. The definition seems to fit almost all thru hikes, but does allow for things like multiple section hiking linked together w/i a year. Sort of make sure all thru hikers qualify, they have a expanded definition so others can also claim a thru hike by the letter of the rules.

all they really NEED to do is say "heres a trail, hike it if you wish."

its curious to me how stuck in the middle the ATC is. they specifically say they dont officially recognize thru hikes as far as the certificate and things go, but they do in several places seem to count thrus (really attempted thrus. im incresingly lately wondering the point of this exercise) and, according to this thread, publish rules for what a thru hike is.

i think their best approach is just to recognize completion of the trail, if anything. i'd even drop the whole printing the certificate two ways thing. i have no idea which one i'll want assuming i finish. i guess were i more of a rules person i'd do all my section hikes in the same direction. i guess to some thats the "correct" way.

Starchild
08-03-2018, 13:05
all they really NEED to do is say "heres a trail, hike it if you wish."

its curious to me how stuck in the middle the ATC is. they specifically say they dont officially recognize thru hikes as far as the certificate and things go, but they do in several places seem to count thrus (really attempted thrus. im incresingly lately wondering the point of this exercise) and, according to this thread, publish rules for what a thru hike is.

i think their best approach is just to recognize completion of the trail, if anything. i'd even drop the whole printing the certificate two ways thing. i have no idea which one i'll want assuming i finish. i guess were i more of a rules person i'd do all my section hikes in the same direction. i guess to some thats the "correct" way.

From what I have seen over the years, it appeared that the ATC was trying to make the AT more like the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain, even taking pages out of the El Camino 'textbook' when the popularity of the trail was really set to skyrocket due to the books and movies at the time about thru hiking. For those who don't know on El Camino hikers usually carry scallop shells, and carry 'credentials' which the hiker gets stamped along the way. The ATC duplicated this with a AT thru hiker badge to attach to one's pack and also the AT passport to get stamped. It did appear they wanted the AT to be known as a American Pilgrimage until....

Baxter State Park threw a hissy fit about how ATC was promoting the trail and set up limits of how many thru hikers they would accommodate in a season, at which time ATC threw their plans into reverse, pushing alternative thru hikes to the traditional NoBo (and SoBo) to spread out the crowd, got rid of the term flipflop, educational campaigns on LNT and Baxter State Park rules which I have seen as far south as Connecticut.

Tipi Walter
08-03-2018, 13:13
I met a guy back in 2008 near Front Royal headed south. Soon he blows past us headed North. Later the same day he is covering ground headed back south. He was more talkative this time and we learned he was doing a Mega and a Game (Sobo & Nobo) at the same time. He'd hike to a shelter and reverse direction backwards to see the trail both directions and then hike south to a new shelter & repeat. It was a strange thing to ponder. Two Sobo hikes and a Nobo in the same walk. I wish I recalled his trail name and if he finished his adventure sectioning this way.

It's true that a trail hiked in one direction is different when hiked in the other direction.

Okay, so that's two hiking experiences on the same trail. Then you add the 12 different months and different seasons and how the trail experience will again be different. That's 12 plus 12 (back and forth) for the 12 months---equals 24 different ways to experience a backpacking trail---like the AT.

Heck you could hike from Springer north to Bly Gap and the NC line 25 times in both directions and during all 12 months---a distance of about 75 miles---and still have a great backpacking experience. That would be about 1,800 miles and almost good enough for the homemade Patch which you could design along the way.

Point is, repeating a backpacking trail never gets old for me. It's all about attitude and mindset.

Tipi Walter
08-03-2018, 13:21
From what I have seen over the years, it appeared that the ATC was trying to make the AT more like the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain, even taking pages out of the El Camino 'textbook' when the popularity of the trail was really set to skyrocket due to the books and movies at the time about thru hiking. For those who don't know on El Camino hikers usually carry scallop shells, and carry 'credentials' which the hiker gets stamped along the way. The ATC duplicated this with a AT thru hiker badge to attach to one's pack and also the AT passport to get stamped. It did appear they wanted the AT to be known as a American Pilgrimage until....

Baxter State Park threw a hissy fit about how ATC was promoting the trail and set up limits of how many thru hikers they would accommodate in a season, at which time ATC threw their plans into reverse, pushing alternative thru hikes to the traditional NoBo (and SoBo) to spread out the crowd, got rid of the term flipflop, educational campaigns on LNT and Baxter State Park rules which I have seen as far south as Connecticut.

The AT as a pilgrimage? The El Camino trek is a real pilgrimage---to the shrine of the apostle St James and to the cathedral Santiago de Compostela. There's no such pilgrimage on the AT or on any trail I know about in the United States.

Back in the 1700s the Lakota Indians used to make a pilgrimage on foot to Bear Butte to perform their vision quests and inipi ceremonies---but nowadays I can't think of a single foot trail undertaken by backpackers as a pilgrimage---unless an individual decides to seek out a locale for his own spiritual reasons.

Starchild
08-03-2018, 13:29
The AT as a pilgrimage? The El Camino trek is a real pilgrimage---to the shrine of the apostle St James and to the cathedral Santiago de Compostela. There's no such pilgrimage on the AT or on any trail I know about in the United States.

Back in the 1700s the Lakota Indians used to make a pilgrimage on foot to Bear Butte to perform their vision quests and inipi ceremonies---but nowadays I can't think of a single foot trail undertaken by backpackers as a pilgrimage---unless an individual decides to seek out a locale for his own spiritual reasons.
There is also one to Katahdin/Pomola already, done each year on labor day weekend but besides that. I did meet quite a bit of thru hikers who said that their thru hike is a pilgrimage, which mine was also. The AT passes many powerful places and not everyone relates spiritual places with cathedrals and religions and many consider nature as God's 'cathedral' over those other places..

You just may not have know that numbers thru hikers are on a pilgrimage. and for that matter many camino hikers are not on a pilgrimage.

D2maine
08-03-2018, 13:31
The AT as a pilgrimage? The El Camino trek is a real pilgrimage---to the shrine of the apostle St James and to the cathedral Santiago de Compostela. There's no such pilgrimage on the AT or on any trail I know about in the United States.

Back in the 1700s the Lakota Indians used to make a pilgrimage on foot to Bear Butte to perform their vision quests and inipi ceremonies---but nowadays I can't think of a single foot trail undertaken by backpackers as a pilgrimage---unless an individual decides to seek out a locale for his own spiritual reasons.

my friends in the Penobscot Nation would most definitely say you are have no idea what you are talking about.

Just Bill
08-03-2018, 13:34
pilgrimage[pil-gruh-mij]
SynonymsExamplesWord Origin
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com (https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/pilgrimage)noun

a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion:a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
Islam.

the Pilgrimage,hajj (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hajj).
ʿumrah (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/%CA%BFumrah).


any long journey, especially one undertaken as a quest or for a votive purpose, as to pay homage:a pilgrimage to the grave of Shakespeare.

Tipi Walter
08-03-2018, 13:59
my friends in the Penobscot Nation would most definitely say you are have no idea what you are talking about.

The Lakota still make their pilgrimage to Bear Butte for hanbleceya of course (and to other places like the Black Hills---or to their many summer Sun Dance grounds)---and so I suppose the Penobscots would be no different. Here in TN the Cherokee had (and have) their sacred places like the Kituhwa Mound which now abuts a major highway---and their Chota capital is now under TVA's Tellico Lake.

My point was to Starchild's mention of turning the AT into a El Camino style pilgrimage. I honestly can't think of a major foot trail in America that is used as a pilgrimage trek as in Just Bill's definition---



a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion:a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
Islam.

the Pilgrimage to Mecca etc.

Just Bill
08-03-2018, 14:06
This was discussed some time ago in another thread. I will repost my thoughts again here...

I have actually given some thought to this. I have been fantasizing about going after this record someday myself. I have been keeping these thoughts on the down low, but since the subject has been broached, we might has well use this thread to define a 'LKT' record attempt.

John Upton, I respectfully disagree with you on the 'calendar year' thing. The closest we have to an authority is the Appalachian Trail Conference. This is what they have to saw on the subject...

"How does the ATC define thru-hiking? We define a thru-hike as a hike of the entire A.T. in 12 months or less. "

In my mind that means it can be a year starting on any date (does not have to start on January 1st). Many SOBO's finish their thru-hikes after January 1st. I am sure they feel they actually completed a thru-hike, and this seems to fit with the ATC definition.

So as suggested, I think you want to start in any 12 month period that includes a Leap Year' (February 29th). That would seem to put the upper limit on the record at 366 days exactly. If the hiker is lucky, they might pick a leap year that also has a 'Leap Second.' These are usually announced about 6 months in advance. That would put the maximum bound of the record at 366 days and one second. There was a year (1972) that had two leap seconds, but I doubt that this will ever happen again.

The link posted above by Kaptain Kritz is the longest time I have actually seen posted (although there may be others). This appears to be a record that is ready to be broken.

Of course documentation of 'LKT's is important. I suggest that you would at least want the start and end times at each terminus witnessed and timed with an accurate source tied to official NIST time.

I think there needs to be some discussion about what constitutes a fair LKT attempt. It seems to me that taking a 6 month layover along the way would not be in the spirit of a true thru-hike. I would love to hear the thoughts of others on this.

Also, I suppose this could be split up into NOBO/SOBO and supported/unsupported categories.

OK, lets call this my official announcement. I intend to go for the Longest Known Time in the year 2044 (a leap year). I have not picked an exact starting date yet. Why 2044? Well, I might as well let the cat completely out of the bag. I intend to go for two records at once. In 2044 I will be 84 years old. I also hope to top the great Lee 'The Easy One' Barry, the oldest known thru-hiker.

Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it https://whiteblaze.net/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif
Sounds like a plan.

Assuming I'm around, I'd happily join you for a zero or two at the bar at the NOC to hoist a few.
Technically if we sit on the steps of the Big Wesser bar we are still on the trail. Maybe they'll let us string a few hammocks up on the lower patio.

Just Bill
08-03-2018, 14:19
One could argue Tipi... that definition #3 applies if one approaches the journey with some reverence for the earth one is walking.

And of course... fer a fella who lived in a round place who frequently walks in long circles bearing a ridiculous burden in yer sacred place... that a destination is not required to walk in pilgrimage.
Specially if one considers that the medicine wheel shows that all paths lead to the center.

Walking to a specific holy site... yar not likely a good fit.
Though Big K does become a destination pursued with a zealot's fervor for many a hiker.

Though considering the trail itself a sacred site of sorts and immersing oneself deeply inside that place for an exaggeratedly extended period of time... seems exactly the point underlying this thread.

Tipi Walter
08-03-2018, 14:39
One could argue Tipi... that definition #3 applies if one approaches the journey with some reverence for the earth one is walking.

Though considering the trail itself a sacred site of sorts and immersing oneself deeply inside that place for an exaggeratedly extended period of time... seems exactly the point underlying this thread.

I agree that individuals can be on a foot trek for their own personal spiritual reasons, hence the Pilgrimage. (Let's not even talk about a motorized Pilgrimage!! Like tracing the Trail of Tears in a car or the Route of Lewis and Clark . . . in a car).

When Sadlowskiadam started this thread he made no mention of the trail as a sacred site or deep immersion or used the word "pilgrimage"---although he did mention the slowest known time and hiking for an extended period of time.

I added my 7 miles per day numbers and extending the AT experience to about a 365 day trek---in all four seasons. This would be relevant to the subject of a very long thruhike (of any trail).

Beyond all this, does anyone know of a foot trail in America that is considered a Pilgrimage in either the Catholic sense or in a religious sense or in a Native American sense as in visiting a holy mountain after a long trek on foot?? I'd be interested to know.

Just Bill
08-03-2018, 16:23
Are you suggesting that this thread has drifted :eek:

https://epicpew.com/100-catholic-pilgrimage-sites-in-united-states/

First one that popped... but not really quite the history here in the USA for such things found in other cultures like the camino.
There are no ancient sites from old books or centuries of routes to enshrine in the same manner as western cultures.
The mormons may have some sites, and I suppose the mormon trail counts for something... but not quite whatever we're discussing.

Not that I'm a student of native pilgrimages but I don't recall reading much about any real universal places to visit beyond perhaps Pipestone- https://www.nps.gov/pipe/index.htm
Though that seems more a practical journey to a quarry rather than a western version.
I doubt the Penobscot had any knowledge or desire to journey to Paha Sapa anymore than an Apache may feel spiritually vacant until Katahdin was climbed.
Really there is no such thing as Native American religion... there are some loose nations, tribes, and individual beliefs... but no bible, mecca, or place the great spirit passed out his pamphlets or flyers. Each tribe is unique in their belief system.


If anything... our uniquely American substitute would be our national parks and preserved lands.
Our unique contribution to the pilgrimages of the world would be creating routes through these lands not for trade, passage or at the bequest of a religion; but simply for their own pleasure.

Those are the closest things this amalgamation of beliefs or non belief the USA has produced to sacred sites I can think of.
If there is a fella who owns the place... I've always thought that he's more likely to be found in the place he made rather than at some building we built or a random dot on the planet we deemed important.

Just Bill
08-03-2018, 16:30
I added my 7 miles per day numbers and extending the AT experience to about a 365 day trek---in all four seasons. This would be relevant to the subject of a very long thruhike (of any trail).

Given Scotty's observation of a 12 month but not necessarily calendar year option...
I'd think a nice blend of both your sentiments (the four seasons comment) would be to do a yo yo based upon the midpoint of the trail... let's just say Harpers in winter sometime starting SOBO...
Shoot for spring on Springer, then back to Harpers for summer, Katahdin by Fall and back to Harpers to close it out. That's about as close as I can think of to seeing most of the trail in different seasons in a single year.

blw2
08-03-2018, 21:34
Youtuber aiming for it this year
IntrepiDan
He camped up on Springer and signed in at Midnight...or realy 12:01 new years day. Said his goal is to be the first one on the trail and the last one off, right as they close Katahdin. I haven't noticed if he's posted lately though...
Basically it seems like the guy is going home for work and coming out now and then picking up where he left off for a continuous hike.
Funny guy...good for a few laughs

somers515
08-03-2018, 21:51
Given Scotty's observation of a 12 month but not necessarily calendar year option...
I'd think a nice blend of both your sentiments (the four seasons comment) would be to do a yo yo based upon the midpoint of the trail... let's just say Harpers in winter sometime starting SOBO...
Shoot for spring on Springer, then back to Harpers for summer, Katahdin by Fall and back to Harpers to close it out. That's about as close as I can think of to seeing most of the trail in different seasons in a single year.

Sounds like a great way to do the trail.

petedelisio
08-07-2018, 09:08
Yes he did as 1: the rule didn't exist at the time (and no one imagined someone would thru hike the AT) , 2: ATC recognized his hike as a thru hike by stating he was the first person to thru hike the AT.


So that would be the record if it was over one year, and unless the rules change it is unbreakable as the rules no longer allow that length of time.

Basically game over, except one might apply for a exemption to that rule by appealing to ATC. Perhaps for such a reason as a disabled person wants to do a thru but must do to slowly and doesn't want it to be DQ'ed for that reason. A letter from ATC saying that it would be acceptable should suffice.

Who cares what the ATC says....
He yellow blazed some of it and it wasn't do to trail closures or the like.

But like I said, in my book he is still a through hiker.... But I don't care if it takes you a year and a half do walk it or if you skip 60 miles.....
People worried about nonsense guidelines of the requirements to be "called" a thru hiker.

tdoczi
08-07-2018, 09:23
Who cares what the ATC says....
He yellow blazed some of it and it wasn't do to trail closures or the like.

But like I said, in my book he is still a through hiker.... But I don't care if it takes you a year and a half do walk it or if you skip 60 miles.....
People worried about nonsense guidelines of the requirements to be "called" a thru hiker.

while i agree with you fully, the strange and interesting fact of the matter is tons of people care what someone else says about what they did. i'll never really comprehend why, and i occasionally might fall victim to it in small ways.

if you want to hike the whole trail by starting in GA in august and hiking north until you stop for the winter and then resume in the spring timed to hit katahdin on say june 1st, for instance, then do what you want. that people would even consider "but someone might not think i was a thru hiker!' into their reasoning is strange to me.

same thing frequently happens with some minor yellow blazing somewhere along the way. is missing 2 miles of non descript trail that passes nothing interesting because you got your road crossings confused somewhere there is a lot of them close together of any importance? god i would hope not, but to some it is. for whatever reason.

i was actually pondering this the other day. someone (i dont know if its ATC or MATC or one collects and shares with the other or what) collects data on things like how many NOBO thrus cross the kennebec. so, if someone missed 3 miles in NY somewhere should they still tell the ferryman theyre a thru hiker, or should they say section hiker? someone apparently seems to think the answer to the question is important or else they wouldnt ask it, so who knows. maybe someone who lies and says "thru hiker" even though they yellow blazed once is throwing off some sort of super important statistical analysis.

but i kind of doubt it. people in general do a lot of nonsensical and pointless things.

Gambit McCrae
08-07-2018, 09:45
Slowest thru hikers I ever met were a couple just north of US 42 in Virginia. They had been on the trail for 6 months and had walked 687 miles. They were my age, and claimed they were not hiking the AT, they were camping it. He had a 85 lbs pack and she had a 65 lbs pack. Key fact that I always got a chuckle out of. They were from FL, and they started with a cat. Cat got lost in Georgia and so they camped at Tray mountain for a week hoping the cat would return. A vet in town called them and said they had the cat. Couple drives cat back to Florida, and then drove back to the AT to continue. Just south of the Smokies they find a stray dog, they adopt it and the dog had followed them all the rest of the way. Unsure what they did with dog thru the smokies. Their longest day on the trtail was 8 miles they said. They met me and asked how many miles a day I was doing, I said I like 20 a day. They asked if they could hike with me the next day down into 4 pines hostel, a 21 mile day, I said "That is up to you not me lol" They did in fact walk the 21 with me that day and said it was one of the best days on the trail. They ended up calling it quits a few days later after MacAfee knob, they had had enough and were out of time

colorado_rob
08-07-2018, 09:46
Who cares what the ATC says....
. Who cares what anyone else says about the definition of a thru hike, unless you're going for a recognized goal like a FKT? Well, if we're going to define a SKT, I would suppose the ATC rules is the place to provide said definition...

Kinda cool concept, and fits in with our plans for 2020; my wife really wants to hike the AT, and I'll repeat for her benefit, and we're looking at 2020 to do this.

Well, 2020 happens to be a leap year, I would suppose this is a requirement for an ATC-defined SKT thru hike.... start at 12:01am on Jan 1st, finish at midnight on December 31st, doesn't matter (by ATC "rules") where you start/end, as long as you hike the entire trail in one calendar year. Kind of intriguing, again, for our own purposes, we both absolutely hate hiking in humid conditions, we might just do this for fun, why not. Somewhere in a southern-ish lowlands along the trail, do a winter week on both ends of the year. Then fill in the rest of the trail in March/April (in the south) and September/October (in the north). Voila, the slowest possible time for a ATC defined AT thru hike!

Fun stuff.

sadlowskiadam
08-07-2018, 13:21
Who cares what anyone else says about the definition of a thru hike, unless you're going for a recognized goal like a FKT? Well, if we're going to define a SKT, I would suppose the ATC rules is the place to provide said definition...

Kinda cool concept, and fits in with our plans for 2020; my wife really wants to hike the AT, and I'll repeat for her benefit, and we're looking at 2020 to do this.

Well, 2020 happens to be a leap year, I would suppose this is a requirement for an ATC-defined SKT thru hike.... start at 12:01am on Jan 1st, finish at midnight on December 31st, doesn't matter (by ATC "rules") where you start/end, as long as you hike the entire trail in one calendar year. Kind of intriguing, again, for our own purposes, we both absolutely hate hiking in humid conditions, we might just do this for fun, why not. Somewhere in a southern-ish lowlands along the trail, do a winter week on both ends of the year. Then fill in the rest of the trail in March/April (in the south) and September/October (in the north). Voila, the slowest possible time for a ATC defined AT thru hike!

Fun stuff.
I will take full credit for this thread and starting you into the great unknown starting January 1, 2020. Hope you can wait that long.

colorado_rob
08-07-2018, 14:47
I will take full credit for this thread and starting you into the great unknown starting January 1, 2020. Hope you can wait that long.I will give you full credit! Cool idea, thanks. And BTW, I grew up in Cincy.

petedelisio
08-08-2018, 00:10
I will take full credit for this thread and starting you into the great unknown starting January 1, 2020. Hope you can wait that long.

I guess 2 1/2 years aint gonna cut it then I suppose.

TMathers
08-10-2018, 09:49
Following along on this one . Great to read the responses. I know the AT is famous for slow moving folks often spending to much time in town.

Deadeye
08-10-2018, 16:52
I'm not done yet.

Jim Adams
02-23-2019, 00:14
I'm not sure of the year but it was after my 2002 hike. There was an older couple that was thru hiking and just went from shelter to shelter each day. I remember them finishing in something like 13 1/2 months. They stayed in every shelter on the trail.

tdoczi
02-23-2019, 07:24
Jim had himself a big ol' zombie thread party last night. insomnia. makes you do crazy things.

LazyLightning
02-23-2019, 10:09
I sure felt like the slowest this year, with a 3/10-10/19 time on the actual trail and 3/9-10/22 from Amicalola to when I got picked up on the AT outside of Baxter. I didn't spend much time off the trail either. I also don't think I hike to slow, just that everybody else hikes to fast ;)

Mother Natures Son
02-23-2019, 20:16
Yep, Earl Shaffer was the slowest hiker that I can think of. They had to pull him of the White several times due to the weather. Finishes the trail with borrow gear.