View Full Version : The Initiative
rjhoffmann88
08-27-2010, 12:42
I was have come to the conclusion that the vast majority of the internet is composed of cats and porn. Fortunately there are some pretty cool websites out there as well. I stumbled upon this guys site and though that it should be shared with long distance hiking enthusiasts.
http://www.theinitiativesite.com/
couscous
08-27-2010, 13:08
I will be quite impressed if he completes the NCT. All the road walking in Ohio during February, northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota in March. Mr. Gardner is hopefully prepared to hike in sub-zero temperatures. It will be interesting to watch.
~
"The journey will begin on the North Country Trail (NCT), hiking west from New York to North Dakota along the northern US border. This will be the second time in the history of the of NCT that it is through hiked in winter months. Next I will hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), starting at the U.S./Mexico border in California and moving north to the Canadian border in Washington. After that I will hike the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) from the U.S./Canada border, south through the Rockies to New Mexico. Finally, I will hike the Appalachian Trail from Maine south through the Appalachian mountains into Georgia."
Roughin' It
08-27-2010, 14:03
this has been discussed pretty thoroughly here on WB before, but can't seem to find the link...
Anyway, it will be very impressive if he completes this. On paper it sounds possible, but who knows how all that winter hiking and 35+ mpd for a solid year will turn out.
Danielsen
08-27-2010, 16:45
Glad to know I'm not the only person who thinks out these sorts of hikes in my head in a serious manner. :p I'm not quite in a financial position or physical condition (but almost) to do so, per se, but I can dream...
couscous
08-27-2010, 16:58
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=59377
Wish I could take the time off of work to do that.
I was have come to the conclusion that the vast majority of the internet is composed of cats and porn. Fortunately there are some pretty cool websites out there as well. I stumbled upon this guys site and though that it should be shared with long distance hiking enthusiasts.
http://www.theinitiativesite.com/ This sounds overzealous to me. I doubt he will do it all in one year.
Llama Legs
09-02-2010, 13:02
I was have come to the conclusion that the vast majority of the internet is composed of cats and porn.
Taking off 6 months from work to hike the trail IS porn to me...
Averaging 34.25 miles a day for 365 days is a lofty goal.
Old Hiker
09-02-2010, 13:42
Averaging 34.25 miles a day for 365 days is a lofty goal.
This is true. He should wait until 2012 - a leap year with an extra day. That would make it 34.15 mpd!
This is true. He should wait until 2012 - a leap year with an extra day. That would make it 34.15 mpd!
I think I'd take it for a zero... :)
Jonnycat
09-02-2010, 14:22
I was have come to the conclusion that the vast majority of the internet is composed of cats and porn.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Hi I'm a new poster.
Just since people at the other thread, which got closed, seemed not to know about the NCT - a lot of it is road I think though there are stretches with long segments of trail.
I noted this in the comments on Sam's site (also now closed) but there is a stretch which is right where you leave Wisconsin and go into MN that there is no trail and apparently it's a lot of wetlands, which I can imagine having driven through there a couple years ago. Instead they are trying to get Congress to formally change the route so the trail instead goes along Minnesota's arrowhead region. Notably this would add 400 miles to this stretch making the NCT that much longer. But there is already a lot of existing trail there from other long-distance trails so in that sense it would be easier. Not sure which route Sam is going to take, and I'm not sure he knows either.
http://www.northcountrytrail.org/arrowhead.php
Just some more background though, I'm a member of the easternmost of the 3 WI chapters. Our middle chapter in WI has a good stretch of trail running through national forest land from whence the trail gets its name. The western WI chapter has a lot of completed trail but it's still a work in progress. Our chapter area though is very much a work in progress. We have only a few miles of completed trail and we are in the process of hopefully getting the park service to establish our route so we can build more trail heading north toward Lake Superior to the UP. And I think that's a lot of what the NCT is like - a work in progress - largely because it's so long. I think there are long stretches of no trail and for that reason there are no maps available though maybe the NCT can help you plan a thru-hike. I just don't know... I'd be curious to hear about how Sam planned out his NCT thru-hike.
Lone Wolf
01-10-2011, 11:44
I'd be curious to hear about how Sam planned out his NCT thru-hike.
it's pretty obvious from his website updates that he did very little to no planning
4eyedbuzzard
01-10-2011, 11:46
I'd be curious to hear about how Sam planned out his NCT thru-hike.
Honest answer. Apparently he didn't. He supposedly met with some NCT people in Mass. Who knows whether or not they were hands on or "trail bureaucrats". He's pretty much done anyway, he just doesn't know it yet.