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View Full Version : What Hiker challenges are you looking forward to doing?



seasparrow
01-29-2012, 02:40
The Ice Cream, 1/2 i believe is on my list. I challenge all 2012 Thru-Hikers at fastest time. Strawberry is my favorite.

rocketsocks
01-29-2012, 02:53
one at a time?

Papa D
01-29-2012, 09:12
Most people know of the 4-State Challenge - One day - Deer Lick Shelters, PA, all of MD and WV to David Lesser Memorial Shelter, VA (or, the other way, NOBO) - this total mileage is about 55 miles- you can cut this to about 44 miles if you start and finish at the actual state lines. The hiking is really quite straight forward - if I thru hiker with trail legs starts at 5:00 am, he / she should finish it by about 10:00 pm hiking just at or under 3 mph. Good luck with this one. I didn't do it (or even know about it) on my thru hike but it's on my list of things to do. You'd certainly earn yourself a zero-day!

Spokes
01-29-2012, 10:21
Comment deleted by author

Jeff
01-29-2012, 11:29
Sundae challenge at the AT Cafe in Millinocket, ME

Here is a photo https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=116629011758876&set=pu.115110368577407&type=1&theater

SawnieRobertson
01-29-2012, 11:32
Well, after 2011, I look forward to each 0.9 miles I can actually hike.--Kinnickinic

Lone Wolf
01-29-2012, 11:37
The Ice Cream, 1/2 i believe is on my list. I challenge all 2012 Thru-Hikers at fastest time. Strawberry is my favorite.try this one if you make it up north
http://www.supersizedmeals.com/food/article.php/20070917-Ben_n_Jerry_Vermonster

Lone Wolf
01-29-2012, 11:37
The Ice Cream, 1/2 i believe is on my list. I challenge all 2012 Thru-Hikers at fastest time. Strawberry is my favorite.try this one if you make it up north
http://www.supersizedmeals.com/food/article.php/20070917-Ben_n_Jerry_Vermonster

Slo-go'en
01-29-2012, 11:49
The only challenge you should be concerned about is getting to Maine!! Or at least out of Georgia...

Snow>TP
01-29-2012, 13:38
The only challenge you should be concerned about is getting to Maine!! Or at least out of Georgia...


Hear, hear! Great point! I am going to go for the 4 state but not if I dont get there

The Monk
01-29-2012, 14:40
Yes, the half-gallon of ice cream. :D I'm severely lactose intolerant so I will require a zero day after, too (yes, I have lactaid, but that's a heck of a lot of dairy!). As for speed challenges, probably not...well, actually, I'd like to get done in time for the start of football season.

seasparrow
01-29-2012, 15:16
Hey don't tread on my thread ,if you want motivation to reach Maine visit my other thread this ones for challenges.

Sly
01-29-2012, 15:25
The only challenge you should be concerned about is getting to Maine!! Or at least out of Georgia...

My thoughts exactly. Thumbs down on the stupid stuff.

seasparrow
01-29-2012, 17:05
It's not the destination, it's the journey.Enjoy the trail and adventure,not everyone will make it Maine but everyone should have fun trying.

tiptoe
01-29-2012, 17:06
Just getting back to hiking after breaking my ankle will be challenge enough for me. Even if I could, I'd never take the four-state challenge. You miss a lot of history by racing through that part of the trail.

rjhouser
01-29-2012, 17:24
there's the smokies challenge right? i forgot how many days it was? not sure, but that's early on for NOBOs.

SCRUB HIKER
01-30-2012, 01:45
Case Challenge heading into Pearisburg. From the VA 606 road crossing, obtain a case of beer. Over the next 24 hours, hike the 24 miles into Pearisburg consuming all 24 of your beers in the process. Be drinking any time you're meeting or talking to someone new. For some reason, people also like to wear prom clothing with this. It can be done, but I'd put the success rate at less than 5% from what I heard last year.

Wolf Burger challenge at the White Wolf Inn in Stratton, ME. Eat three Wolf Burgers--each a half-pound of meat and loaded with cheese, onions, and mushrooms on top. When I passed through in September last year, one Wolf Burger was plenty for me. Only 6 thru-hikers in 2011 had succeeded up til that point (whereas probably hundreds had done the 1/2 gallon of ice cream).

$25 of Taco Bell food, various points along the trail. The same guy who completed the case challenge was also the only person I heard of who succeeded with this one (multiple times).

50 McNugget Challenge in Erwin, TN (invented by Manks and me). See exactly how high your metabolism has skyrocketed after the first month or so on the trail by ordering 50 McNuggets and a gallon of McD's Sweet Tea (for $16.50). Consume in under an hour. We got the McNuggets down but the gallon of sweet tea was impossible. I can't speak for future generations of thru-hikers, though ...

SCRUB HIKER
01-30-2012, 01:48
Someone also writes extensively in the shelter logs about his own "West Virginia Challenge," which is to spend as many nights as possible in the 15 miles of West Virginia trail. You have to move at least 200 yards forward from your previous campsite each day. I don't think many people undertake this one.

Maren
01-30-2012, 01:57
50 chicken McNuggets is a lot of McCrap! From The Omnivore's Dilemma:

"But perhaps the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in to "help preserve freshness." According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, TBHQ is a form of butane (i.e. lighter fluid) the FDA allows processors to use sparingly in our food: It can comprise no more than 0.02 percent of the oil in a nugget. Which is probably just as well, considering that ingesting a single gram of TBHQ can cause "nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse." Ingesting five grams of TBHQ can kill."

I love my junk food but not that much.

Juice
01-30-2012, 02:02
How about a hike through VA without washing your underwear!

Old Hiker
01-30-2012, 08:11
The Ice Cream, 1/2 i believe is on my list. I challenge all 2012 Thru-Hikers at fastest time. Strawberry is my favorite.

You're on. I'll be there Thursday. Anyone else's calendar clear that day?

Firefighter503
01-30-2012, 11:38
There is a new challenge at the first Shelter past Erwin, TN from 2011. I can't recall all the details, but it was written in the Shelter Log, and maybe on the wall. Something along the lines of hike to town (Erwin), order pizza and pick up beer, and return to the shelter in a certain amount of time. I don't remember the exact numbers but I believe it was 2 or 3 pizzas and at least a 24 of beer. I think two people were supposed to do the challenge, with just 1 backpack.

Maybe someone else can chime in.

Pages
01-30-2012, 12:28
hiking everyday, living on oatmeal and noodles, rain, snow, cold, wet. these are the challenges i will deal with. not the least bit interested in any of the food or testosterone-related challenges that have become so commercialized in the last 20 years. but that's me. to each his/her own.

TV

Lone Wolf
01-30-2012, 12:39
Watauga Lake shelter to Damascus town park in 11 hours 50 minutes. i did it in 1993

jersey joe
01-30-2012, 14:13
I did the half gallon challenge and highly recommend it. Much easier to hike with a stomach full of icecream than pizza.

I wish I had known about the 4 state challenge on my thru hike, sounds like a fun one that I would have tried.

A personal challenge I had before setting out on my thru hike was a marathon day(over 26 miles). I got that a few times.

clowd
01-30-2012, 16:11
my challenge ....not getting lost!

fireneck
02-01-2012, 01:42
hiking everyday, living on oatmeal and noodles, rain, snow, cold, wet. these are the challenges i will deal with. not the least bit interested in any of the food or testosterone-related challenges that have become so commercialized in the last 20 years. but that's me. to each his/her own.

TV

"commercialized"

I bet the ATC makes BIG BUCKS from the Maryland Challenge! C'mon now.. that's silly. so They're not your thing, but there's no need to make things up.

SCRUB HIKER
02-01-2012, 02:11
"commercialized"

I bet the ATC makes BIG BUCKS from the Maryland Challenge! C'mon now.. that's silly. so They're not your thing, but there's no need to make things up.

I agree. It's obnoxious to read a thread that starts out with such an innocent question and then falls victim to a couple of frumpsters looking down their nose at anything that's not GOOD, PURE, STRAIGHTFORWARD HIKING. Lame.

lemon b
02-01-2012, 16:05
none except one time kids stole my injectot

Half Note
02-02-2012, 12:51
Not shaving the whole trip!

on_the_GOEZ
02-02-2012, 13:51
Some NOBOs last year were talking about the Vermont Pure Maple syrup challenge - who can't drink a quart of this heaven the quickest. We invented the Fast Food triple crown this year - $10 at any three fast food restaurants in a single day. We all succeeded our first try in Lickdale, PA.

on_the_GOEZ
02-02-2012, 13:56
Some NOBOs last year were talking about the Vermont Pure Maple syrup challenge - who can't drink a quart of this heaven the quickest. We invented the Fast Food triple crown this year - $10 at any three fast food restaurants in a single day. We all succeeded our first try in Lickdale, PA.

By 'last year' and 'this year' I mean 2011 inclusively :)

fireneck
02-02-2012, 21:14
I'm most interested in the Maryland Challenge and all Vermont Maple Syrup related challenges!

msupple
02-02-2012, 21:51
How about a hike through VA without washing your underwear!

Dood....you are soooo on! :)

NeanderJoel
02-04-2012, 00:30
Not shaving the whole trip!

That one actually will be a challenge for me. I can't stand facial hair!

miami
02-04-2012, 03:28
I'm definitely in for the halfway 1/2 gallon but I don't know about distance challenges.

Alli
02-06-2012, 03:48
50 chicken McNuggets is a lot of McCrap! From The Omnivore's Dilemma:

"But perhaps the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in to "help preserve freshness." According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, TBHQ is a form of butane (i.e. lighter fluid) the FDA allows processors to use sparingly in our food: It can comprise no more than 0.02 percent of the oil in a nugget. Which is probably just as well, considering that ingesting a single gram of TBHQ can cause "nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse." Ingesting five grams of TBHQ can kill."

I love my junk food but not that much.

Since that book (and probably because of it) the chicken McNuggets are 100% white meat. So at least there's that.

susquehannaslim
02-07-2012, 21:14
Dude,
These are some imaginative challanges. Who thinks of these things? I guess if you spend enough time on the trail...one step in front of the other...crazy thoughts just creep in. My favorite though is the West Virginia challange...move 200 yards in a day. Kind of the anti walk walk.