LawsonKline
12-11-2012, 10:44
Does anyone know how many people have done the CT unsupported?
This is what is said about CT unsupported thru-hikes at the "fastest known time" web site:
"The CT has also seen a few truly unsupported trips. Unsupported means you carry all your food from the start, basically getting nothing but water en route. The CT was first done this way in 2004 by Demetri (Coup) Coupounas, the founder of GoLite, in about 20 days. Coup carried a big pack full of food, but also lost 25 lbs body weight on the hike. Coup also did the JMT and the LT unsupported that year, completing the "Triple Gem" of backpacking. In another of his classic trips, Paul Pomeroy attacked the CT unsupported in 2006 -- with a vow of silence for the entire trip. Paul finished in 14d9h30m, dropping 16 lbs of body weight that he could ill-afford to lose. In August 2012, Shawn Forry (http://www.shawnforry.com/Margin_Walker...A_Hikers_Chronicles/Welcome.html) crushed Pomeroy's unsupported time by hiking the trail (east to west) in an amazing 10d19h5m. Forry carried a SPOT Tracker (http://www.findmespot.com/), and his track is archived on trackleaders.com (http://trackleaders.com/ctri.php?name=Shawn_Forry). A very detailed report with daily splits is on Forry's blog (http://www.shawnforry.com/Margin_Walker...A_Hikers_Chronicles/Blog/Entries/2012/9/5_10D19H5M.html). He reports doing a few things that could be considered (small) violations of unsupported and FKT efforts, including: taking food/calories from happenstance sources ("Trail Magic") on 4 occasions, totalling 3 sodas and some fruit slices; buying a repair kit for his sleeping pad; disposing of trash and un-needed food along the way; and walking off-route (but not fewer miles) on 4 occasions to obtain water."
I assume that when you say "unsupported" that you are talking about it in the same terms this web site is. So by my count that is three people who held a speed record for that kind of hike, but who knows how many others have completed one?
If, on the other hand, you are simply asking how many have completed a thru-hike of the CT (excluding heavilly supported running attempts) here is what the folks at coloradotrail.org have to say about that:
"COMPLETING THE CT
Q.
How many people have completed the CT?
A.
We do not know the number of folks who have completed the CT. You can visit our CT Completers page (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/completers.html) if you like to view a list of those who have reported back to us of their completion. If you have thru-traveled the entire trail and would like to receive your free completion certificate and/or to be added to our list of CT Completers, please submit a CT Completer Application."
CarlZ993
12-11-2012, 13:04
I bumped into Coup on the JMT that year. Hikers had heard through the grapevine that he was doing the JMT w/o a food drop. I ran into him as he was snacking on the trail leading up to Evolution Lake. I stopped and asked him how he liked his GoLite pack. That's when he smiled and said he really liked it and that he owned the company. We talked about this Long Trail hike (already completed) and what he had planned on the CT. He wasn't even carrying the lightest bear canister (Garcia Machine). His one luxury item that he had was a sat phone. He promised to call his wife everyday to let her know how he was doing. We leap-frogged each other up to Muir Pass. There, he used his phone. We never saw him on the trail after Muir Pass (he hiked slow but long hours).
A year or two later, he gave a presentation at the Austin REI. I talked to him about the CT hike. He said it was very hard carrying all that food weight. When he got the finish, he said that there wasn't a single picture of him at the finish that he didn't have something in his hand that he was eating.