AT thru hike speed record

[jersey joe]

If the fine people at whiteblaze were going to advise someone on the things they should and shouldn't do to successfully break the AT thru hike speed record, either supported or unsupported, what advice would you give? And which record (supported or unsupported) do you think will be broken first?

[Slo-go'en]

Don't even try! (Yeah, I know, real helpful)

[vonfrick]

why does no one ever mention the record for longest time to complete a thru?? stupid elitists :rolleyes:

[JustaTouron]

If the fine people at whiteblaze were going to advise someone on the things they should and shouldn't do to successfully break the AT thru hike speed record, either supported or unsupported, what advice would you give? And which record (supported or unsupported) do you think will be broken first?

should do: walk fast
shouldn't do: walk slow



why does no one ever mention the record for longest time to complete a thru?? stupid elitists :rolleyes:

hmmm...would be hard to define....how many zeros can you take before you stop being the longest time to complete a thru and start becoming the quickest to complete it as a section hiker?

[Jeff]

Lone Wolf here at Whiteblaze would be an excellent resourse.

[nitewalker]

start early and finish late!!!

[fiddlehead]

Go out and do some things like: CT in a day or the Smokies in a day or similar and then talk to Lone Wolf about possibly support people or guys like Ed Kostak or Warren Doyle, somebody who has already tried.

You'll need lots of luck, good people behind you and of course a strong will.

What you shouldn't do is go out and set a schedule and stick to your start date even though it just rained 7 days in a row like the guy last year. He didn't respect Maine's weather or the trail enough to know he had to work with it instead of against it.

I have no idea if any of the records will be broken.
I guess it depends on luck, the weather, and people trying that can do it, aye?

[Ox97GaMe]

I find this topic to be somewhat comical. The ATC does not recognize any speed records for the AT. In order to have a record, there needs to be some sort of constant in the equation. The exact length of the AT changes each year, actually several times per year, as new relocations are put in place. Some make it longer, some make it shorter. Some make it easier, some make it more difficult.

There is nothing worse than to speed hike the whole trial and then find out you missed the 'record' by 37 seconds (yes, they measure it that way) and then find out that there was a 1.2 mile relo opened up in Virginia just before you hiked through there. Are we going to have to put an asterick (*) beside the various attempts? Will we see records for each differing distance? What about a summer record vs. a winter record? What about NoBo vs. Sobo? As already stated in this thread, was it supported or unsupported? Just too many variables in the equation to be able to actually state a 'record' has been broken.

And at the end of the day, what does the record really mean? It is a personal goal for an individual. Maybe there is a small circle of hikers that follow this (or even care).

[Jonnycat]

You just need the right pack. (http://www.gizmag.com/first-commercially-available-jetpack/14423/)

[Lone Wolf]

I find this topic to be somewhat comical. The ATC does not recognize any speed records for the AT.

it doesn't matter what the ATC recognizes. there are a lot of folks that do

[Lone Wolf]

If the fine people at whiteblaze were going to advise someone on the things they should and shouldn't do to successfully break the AT thru hike speed record, either supported or unsupported, what advice would you give? And which record (supported or unsupported) do you think will be broken first?

Go SOBO. the supported record will be broken next

[jersey joe]

I find this topic to be somewhat comical. The ATC does not recognize any speed records for the AT. In order to have a record, there needs to be some sort of constant in the equation. The exact length of the AT changes each year, actually several times per year, as new relocations are put in place. Some make it longer, some make it shorter. Some make it easier, some make it more difficult.

The fact that the distance of the AT changes every year is not a big deal. Many things change from attempt to attempt, not only distance but weather, amount of daylight and many other factors. If the distance is a little bit greater, that just adds to the challenge.

One of the best pieces of advice I saw during Karl's record attempt was to not limit yourself to camping at road crossings to meet your support team.

[Lone Wolf]

One of the best pieces of advice I saw during Karl's record attempt was to not limit yourself to camping at road crossings to meet your support team.

David Horton would still have the record today if his crew were willing to set up camps on the trail instead of picking him up nightly at a road crossing then going into town

[stranger]

My "era" of AT hiking has been early 90's to present, and what still stands out as most impressive for me are the hikes that David Horton and Maniak did in the early 90's, as well as Ward Leonard's unsupported record in 1990. The fact that some of those "records" have been broken since doesn't mean much to me, those guys still have my respect based on how they hiked, the choices they made, their lack of resources, etc...

Even if Ward's record is broken this year, it won't really matter, he will still be the man, and his "record" stood for 20 years. The fact that he did it 20 years ago means more than doing it today as far as I'm concerned.

[Walking Thunderbird]

I concur with the assessment of going SOBO. Unless you're already an ultramarathoner, you'll need time to get adjusted, and you might as well do your smaller mileage days in ME and NH, where you can somewhat compensate due to the increased elevation.

What is Ward's unsupported "record"? Is is still 61 days? I think that's fairly attainable if you're in good shape and you have the right drive. I did a SOBO in 75 days last year (with one zero day due to injury), and I could've cut some days off that if I was really focused. Anyone who attempts the record just has to remember that you're going to be walking just about constantly from the time you wake up until you get in, which will likely be after dark quite often.

[jersey joe]

I concur with the assessment of going SOBO. Unless you're already an ultramarathoner, you'll need time to get adjusted, and you might as well do your smaller mileage days in ME and NH, where you can somewhat compensate due to the increased elevation.

What is Ward's unsupported "record"? Is is still 61 days? I think that's fairly attainable if you're in good shape and you have the right drive. I did a SOBO in 75 days last year (with one zero day due to injury), and I could've cut some days off that if I was really focused. Anyone who attempts the record just has to remember that you're going to be walking just about constantly from the time you wake up until you get in, which will likely be after dark quite often.
Interesting reasoning behing going SOBO...to "warm up" with lower milage days in the rougher terrain. I sort of agree that the 61 days is probably more attainable, but I also think that the supported record will fall first. Mainly because I think that there are more ultra runners that would go for a speed record and not a lot of backpackers going for speed records.

[Bearpaw]

why does no one ever mention the record for longest time to complete a thru?? stupid elitists :rolleyes:

They'll have a tough time beating Wyoming Skateboarder (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=1929)'s record of 328 days. He definitely hiked his own hike! ;)

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/8/skateboarder.jpg

[jersey joe]

Wyoming Skateboarder is certainly a unique individual! It's just a matter of time though until someone does a 365 day thru hike, maxing out the one calendar year requirement for a thru hike.

[Roland]

If the fine people at whiteblaze were going to advise someone on the things they should and shouldn't do to successfully break the AT thru hike speed record, either supported or unsupported, what advice would you give? And which record (supported or unsupported) do you think will be broken first?

Are you asking because you're considering a fast hike?

[jersey joe]

Are you asking because you're considering a fast hike?
A speed hike is something I would love to try someday, but is NOT something I'm considering doing in the near future because of my family situation (Just had my first kid).

I guess the reason for asking is that I really enjoyed following Karl's speed hike attempt and was intrigued by the comments from the whiteblaze crowd on how one could more effectively execute a speed hike.

[Roland]

A speed hike is something I would love to try someday, but is NOT something I'm considering doing in the near future because of my family situation (Just had my first kid).

I guess the reason for asking is that I really enjoyed following Karl's speed hike attempt and was intrigued by the comments from the whiteblaze crowd on how one could more effectively execute a speed hike.

Yeah, I sensed this was something you'd like to try.

Don't wait until you're my age if you're serious about a speed hike. Plan it, train for it, and execute it. (Hiking with a kid-carrier on your back for the next 2-3 years can be part of your training regimen. Include the family in your dream.)

Good luck.

[Walking Thunderbird]

I can give a few thoughts on the question of advice for speed hikers:

As mentioned above, I did a 75-day SOBO thru-hike last year. I wasn't really setting out to do it that fast, but I had a job waiting for me, so I had to finish in 12 weeks. I beat my time constraint by about 10 days.

A few things:
1) Look at the calendar. You'll need to maximize daylight on your hike. I started a little late (July 31).
2) You're going to have to hike after dark some. I found hiking after dark frustrating at times (especially on rocky trail), and hiking after dark will almost always be slower than hiking during daylight. See #1.
3) I didn't cook anything. I started out with a stove and pots and such, but I found that, since I was always getting into the shelter rather late, the last thing I wanted to do was wait for water to boil, then have to clean things. So, I pretty quickly switched to all cold food, which wasn't really that bad.
4) Train. A lot. I was walking around town about 150 miles per week before I started, yet I still had to sit out a day in N.H. due to injury. I think going south helped a little bit, because I wasn't looking to do crazy miles at first due to the terrain in ME and NH. You can start cruising (meaning 30+ miles per day, almost every day) as soon as you get out of the Whites.
5) Understand that you'll be hiking every day, almost all day. No taking days off (or even half days off) due to rain, cold, or anything else.
6) Get used to people thinking you're crazy for wanting to hike so fast. While thru-hikers aren't always known for their sanity, you'll be an outlier.
7) Don't expect an overly social hike. Since you're hiking faster than everyone else, you pretty much see everybody once, which isn't so good for making those trail friendships that everyone likes.
8) Pack as light as you can. I carried a really lightweight tarp (which I only used a couple times) and a summer sleeping bag for the whole trip, which you can get away with since a fast hike doesn't span as many seasons.
9) Treat yourself! When you get to town, eat well. Expect the locals to give you strange looks due to the amount of food you can put away.
10) I think you have to be strategic about towns. Unless the town is right on the trail, going into town takes time, so you'll have to skip some of them. However, because you're going so fast, you can hit towns more often, which means you can get by carrying less food.

Anyways, those are my thoughts. I hope that helps!

[garlic08]

That's a very good "top ten" list. I like the comment about being considered crazy among those considered crazy. I did all of those on my 106-day NOBO (not exactly a speed attempt, but I'd planned on four months so it was much faster than I expected).

I also was not out there for speed, rather for efficiency and fun--my ideal day is walking all day.

I also went stoveless for that reason.

I also skipped many towns, making 100-mile resupplies the norm rather than the exception.

I did splurge in towns, for sure, but still the hike cost about $1000 less than I had budgeted--a fast hike is a cheap hike.

I only hitched three times the whole way.

I took three zeros, mainly to meet friends and family along the way. I never really felt the need to rest or recover, since my load was light and I enjoyed the walking so much.

I didn't make any trail friends, really, until the last few weeks when other NOBOs who'd started early were starting to get serious.

[bigfootmarty]

Hike the trail first as a RECON.

learn drops and other points so you can safely plan your daily speed.

Then make your plan( supported on not.)

Can do the recon by reading/talking with others but a check tour is great.

[jersey joe]

A few things:
1) Look at the calendar. You'll need to maximize daylight on your hike. I started a little late (July 31).
2) You're going to have to hike after dark some. I found hiking after dark frustrating at times (especially on rocky trail), and hiking after dark will almost always be slower than hiking during daylight. See #1.
3) I didn't cook anything. I started out with a stove and pots and such, but I found that, since I was always getting into the shelter rather late, the last thing I wanted to do was wait for water to boil, then have to clean things. So, I pretty quickly switched to all cold food, which wasn't really that bad.

Walking Thunderbird, excellent points! The fact that you hiked the trail unsupported in 75 days is pretty cool.

On your points, I especially liked...
1) Maximizing Daylight, so hiking in June would be ideal for this.
2) I too dislike hiking in the dark...I wonder if a record could be broken without hiking in the dark...
3) I am more and more intrigued by not cooking food.
4) Being in shape certainly helps.
5) no zeros is a no brainer...a day off would seriously hurt any record attempt.
8) Going light is important.
10) Resupply logistics are probably one of the most important aspects of a fast hike that can really be fine tuned. Especially if you are going unsupported.

[CrumbSnatcher]

going stoveless is no big deal, especially june and july, all the extra daylight couldn't hurt:cool:
how much you think a 60 day thruhike would cost? a few motels and a hostel or two, no zeros, alot of restraunt meals with meals to go also.
be a cheap hike except for the food bill? probably eat as much as someone on a 4 month hike? alot of fuel needed for 36 mpd

[earlyriser26]

why does no one ever mention the record for longest time to complete a thru?? stupid elitists :rolleyes:
I'm working on the record for the longest section hike of the entire AT. I have hiked every year since 1969 and still only have done 1,100 miles.:banana

[Kerosene]

I'm working on the record for the longest section hike of the entire AT. I have hiked every year since 1969 and still only have done 1,100 miles.Ahh, I knew there was someone out there who had been at this longer than me! Yes, you may very well get the record for longest, although at this rate you won't finish until 2050!

My first section (DWG to Unionville) was in 1972. I probably hiked about 600 miles in the 70's, but only once between 1980 and 1999 as career and family kicked in. Since the turn of the millenium I've done at least one section each year and have covered another 1,100 miles, which gives me everything from Max Patch to Pinkham Notch, plus Georgia so far. I'm hoping to finish up in September 2013 atop Katahdin, but it's going to be close.

[earlyriser26]

Ahh, I knew there was someone out there who had been at this longer than me! Yes, you may very well get the record for longest, although at this rate you won't finish until 2050!

My first section (DWG to Unionville) was in 1972. I probably hiked about 600 miles in the 70's, but only once between 1980 and 1999 as career and family kicked in. Since the turn of the millenium I've done at least one section each year and have covered another 1,100 miles, which gives me everything from Max Patch to Pinkham Notch, plus Georgia so far. I'm hoping to finish up in September 2013 atop Katahdin, but it's going to be close.
I plan to pick my pace, hell I am doing a whole 30 miles next week.:D

[Sly]

Wyoming Skateboarder is certainly a unique individual! It's just a matter of time though until someone does a 365 day thru hike, maxing out the one calendar year requirement for a thru hike.

If I'm not mistaken Beavis (and Kathy Ireland) did this in '97-'98

[Rain Man]

"Cesar" and "Maud," a husband and wife team, took one year and twenty-three days in '01-'02. They even called it a "thorough hike" instead of "thru hike." Wrote a book, which I have, "Appalachian Trail Thorough Hikers' Notebook."

Makes a lot more sense than a speed hike. No one sings a beautiful song to see how fast they can get to the end.

Rain:sunMan

.

[jersey joe]

Makes a lot more sense than a speed hike. No one sings a beautiful song to see how fast they can get to the end.

Rain:sunMan

.
To each their own. A speed hike still takes roughly two months, that is still one really long song.

[Bidwell]

I was fortunate enough to crew Karl for about 10 days from Duncannon, PA down to Daleville, VA.

Plan on just eating, sleeping, and hiking. To break the record, it would require a lot of determination, a good endurance base, and a good amount of luck (with weather, injuries, etc.).

I love speed hikes... it's the best way to see the trail IMO! Best,

- Greg

[Miner]

I've met one of the 2 guys who broke the unsupported and Horton's supported NOBO on the PCT last year. They started off in excellent shape having trained in the off season. Bink basically hikes with packs loaded with chains while snowshoeing in the winter. They basically did 40mile days, every day(easier on the PCT then the AT). He ate mostly shakes and homemade energy bars while hiking; forget stoping to cook or prepare a meal. They got up early, walked all day, and hiked late without any breaks. While they would stop and say hi if one was a bit ahead of the other guy, they were not out there to socialize and didn't shoot the breeze much. They had all their resupply points figured out ahead of time and there was no on the fly planning. Now they did it fully unsupported including taking rides into town. A supported hike would require additonal planning and coordination.

[Jack Tarlin]

Gee, from your first-hand description, it sure sounds like they had a really great time out there..... :D

[Tin Man]

Gee, from your first-hand description, it sure sounds like they had a really great time out there..... :D

different strokes for different folks

signed,
section hiker trash