View Full Version : ECT Thru Hiker count?
Trail Dog
07-16-2005, 06:24
Is there any count of the number of ECT thru hikers from Florida to Canada? How many attempt, how many succeed, how many head north and how many south? I had met two guys heading south last year and i read a few journal enties on some others but they all seem to be going south.
Don't know how many but I believe Scott Williamson was the first in '95.
there's a good article in this week's (knoxville) metropulse ragg on Scott Noethen, aka 'crash test dummy', or just plain 'crash'.
www.metropulse.com
it is the feature article
Met CTD at the Gathering last year, nice guy, good artical, but... Scott did his hike before the IAT and was removed from a private logging road a couple of days before the border. Not recognizing him would be like saying Earl wasn't the first because he didn't start at Springer. Scott was ahead of his time and the "trail". Another example is the CDT, with hundreds of miles of short cuts, including one at each border. Does the trail need to be official before the first person does it?
Bankrobber
07-16-2005, 15:10
there's a good article in this week's (knoxville) metropulse ragg on Scott Noethen, aka 'crash test dummy', or just plain 'crash'.
www.metropulse.com
it is the feature article
I ran into Crash Test Dummy on August 26, 2003 about 30 or 40 miles south of Abol Bridge along that river the AT parallels for a while. 5,000 miles is one hell of a hike.
Tha Wookie
07-16-2005, 15:22
Met CTD at the Gathering last year, nice guy, good artical, but... Scott did his hike before the IAT and was removed from a private logging road a couple of days before the border. Not recognizing him would be like saying Earl wasn't the first because he didn't start at Springer. Scott was ahead of his time and the "trail". Another example is the CDT, with hundreds of miles of short cuts, including one at each border. Does the trail need to be official before the first person does it?
I guess one must decide what "it" is. If it is border to border, then it is border to border, or whatever. You can't say honestly you touched a border if you didnt touch a border, no?
it depends what you claim to have done. What is "it"?
With all due respect to Scott Williamson, I think John Brinda was the 1st to hike the entire so-called ECT (misnomer for sure) with Nimblewill Nomad second and both north and south.
check out spiders ect hike:cool: neo
http://www.svrart.com/ect/journalstate.php
Scott isn't claiming anything. IMO he pioneered the route(it :)), despite being forced to end his hike about 50m from Canada. How can a guy walk from one end of Florida to the top of Maine before anyone else and not be acknowledged? I heard they were going to extend the IAT. If so, does that wipe the slate clean for a new -first to hike the entire so-called ECT?:-?
I almost thru-hiked the AT in one year but ran out of money and then got injured, does that count?
As I said, all due respect to Scott, he may have had the original idea or pioneered it but, he didn't hike it in it's entirety.
He got another 1st in the "books" that may not be repeated for some time.
Hey Sly, if the AT did not have a terminus and had never been done it might.:sun As Tha Wookie asked, What is "it"? I said the route, because there was not a trail. Then I asked if "it" is subject to change, as new trail is developed to a new terminus. The old it isn't the same as the new it, is it? :confused: Scott did not reach a northern terminus because there wasn't one until he stopped. Someone comes up with a new X (and a new "entire") on the map, and so, is now "the first" to get to the new (it) terminus? :-? That means Scotts walk didn't "count" and therefore due no acknowledgment? Guess I must keep a different "book".:datz
BTW, I understand and appreciate yalls opinion, its just that I firmly disagree
Trail Dog
07-17-2005, 06:43
wow everyone is very concerned with where a trail starts and where it ends what about everything inbetwwen? Isnt it true that everytime the AT is is a rerouted it a new trail. Like a river it is always changing and never the same river it was before.
Its the journey not the destination, should be what it is all about. If you look at the "ECT" in florida there are two points where you have to pick which fork in the trail to take. One around Lake O and one in central florida. Which one is the "ECT" or for that matter the Florida Trail? As i hear the nicer choices are the longer ones and thats why Rada and I plan to take them when we attempt the ECT.
So i assume you cant thru hike something that isnt official? Was the AT a continuos "official" trail when Shafer did his hike? And when he did it the second time didnt he mention how it was a very different trail?
I have seen claims the "ECT goes from the Southern most part of the US to Cape de Graspe in Canada. Its a freakin long walk no mater how you look at it.
Thank you for your points TD. Is the deciding factor of hiking a route, its not an official trail, the terminus of the day? Everyone= 2 people?;)
I hope I answered your questions Sly and Wookie. I asked a couple that I thought you guys could answer. Or did my thoughts persuade yall into understanding that Scott was the first?:D
The Solemates
07-18-2005, 09:19
there's a good article in this week's (knoxville) metropulse ragg on Scott Noethen, aka 'crash test dummy', or just plain 'crash'.
www.metropulse.com
it is the feature article
good article that i enjoyed reading. we met CTD on our thru just south of Mt Rogers HQ in VA and stopped to talk a while. He was a nice guy and loved to talk. He said we were the first NOBOs he had seen that year. It was March 12. I remember the date because it was my birthday. He was planning on trying to push into Damascus the next day, which would have been 60 miles in 2 days. i still wonder if he made it.
I hope I answered your questions Sly and Wookie. I asked a couple that I thought you guys could answer. Or did my thoughts persuade yall into understanding that Scott was the first?:D
The ironic thing is that Scott would not care one iota.
A little story.
At the KOP party this year at Lake Morena I volunteered to work grill detail. 4-5 of us grilled enough burgers, dogs and veggieburgers for 500+ people in one hour. It was insane!
Anyway, at the end of the grilling, a man came up to two of us. About early 30s, softspoken. Said he came in late and wanted to make a donation to "whoever was in charge" and wanted to know if there was any leftover food. We were about to direct him to where Greg Hummel (overall person in charge of the KOP) was at.
Then it dawned on us..it was Scott Williamson! Said "Don't worrry!..here have some food".
Never mind the fact he just did the first PCT yo-yo..he was going to do a major slideshow presentation as well. Scott's response "Well, I don't want to be a freeloader". We just continued to load him up with burgers, chips, soda, etc. :)
He seemed the nicest, most humble person. I am under the impression all the PR for the PCT Yo-Yo was done by people other than him.
Guess what I am trying to say is that he would not care one way or another if he was "the first" to do the IAT/ECT/whatever. He just likes to hike.
Nice guy.
Something funny going on; my last reply did not post and wasn't allowed to reply on another thread...? I'll try again:
I could not agree with you more Mags!! Thank you for the nice little story!
crash test dummy
07-21-2005, 19:53
dick anderson, president of the iat, estimates that there are twelve people who have finished a thru hike of the ect. southbounders historically start in mid to late june and northbounders start around the first of the year. hope this helps.
First, Congratulations Crash Test Dummy. I will try to get a copy of that paper for our guest cabin. Unlike the recent article of Scott in BP, yours was excellent and I enjoyed reading it. FRONT PAGE yo -nice.
When I met you, John Brinda (also a nice guy), JoJo; I always ask, heard of Scott, and no one did. I wonder if Dick Anderson has and what he would think? One way to find out...
I believe that just because someone didn't advertise enough to be mainstream, doesn't mean they didn't do "it", and vice versa. :)
Spirit Walker
07-22-2005, 12:08
Some people hike because they love to hike. Some people only seem to want recognition. I understand wanting to do something unique - but not doing it only so people will applaud. That is not to say that all folks who go for 'firsts' are doing it only for the applause - but there are a fair number who think that long distance hiking is a road to acclaim. (Fame is very fleeting, from what I've seen. Last year's hero is this year's "who?") There are a lot of people out hiking that you never hear about. There are the ones that hike from Alaska to South America, for example, or the many who hike across the country or around the world without publicity or just the ones that hike the same trails over and over again, without big boasts or seeking records - they just do it because they would rather be hiking than doing anything else. Ed Talone said to me that multiple one year hikes had been done before - they just weren't publicized. Kinda like, if a tree falls in the forest . . . If a hiker sets a record and doesn't advertise it, is it still a record? If you want to do something unique, is it really necessary to tell the world before you go? Do you really need the public acclaim, or can you just do it because it sounds interesting? When Team Triple Crown did their hike, they knew they wouldn't be first - but they did it anyway, because it was something they wanted to try. From the video, they even had fun.
So true Spirit Walker! Our friend Ed is also a firm believer in the Boy Scouts. ;) Perfect example: Ed Talone has hiked more than most and has some first of his own, but who has heard of him? If a thread comes up in the future about the North Country Trail and Ed Talones' name is not mentioned or recognized I will have a similar post there. BTW- How is Ed? I always enjoyed visiting w/ him but haven't seen him in awhile. If yall do , please tell him I said hello/come visit/ anytime!
Youngblood
07-22-2005, 15:06
So true Spirit Walker! Our friend Ed is also a firm believer in the Boy Scouts. ;) Perfect example: Ed Talone has hiked more than most and has some first of his own, but who has heard of him? If a thread comes up in the future about the North Country Trail and Ed Talones' name is not mentioned or recognized I will have a similar post there. BTW- How is Ed? I always enjoyed visiting w/ him but haven't seen him in awhile. If yall do , please tell him I said hello/come visit/ anytime!Ed was doing fine last January when I hiked a small section of the Florida Trail with him and a few other folks. Mowgli has pretty regular contact with him, they are coworkers of sorts. Ed is a unique character and his knowledge of trails is amazing, I think he has researched all of the trail shelters that had ever been on the AT and his list was seven hundred and something... I think there is around three hundred today.
Youngblood
So true Spirit Walker! Our friend Ed is also a firm believer in the Boy Scouts. ;) Perfect example: Ed Talone has hiked more than most and has some first of his own, but who has heard of him? If a thread comes up in the future about the North Country Trail and Ed Talones' name is not mentioned or recognized I will have a similar post there. BTW- How is Ed? I always enjoyed visiting w/ him but haven't seen him in awhile. If yall do , please tell him I said hello/come visit/ anytime!
Nean, Ed is a friend and co-worker. I'll tell him you say "hey." I think he might head SE to finish up the Benton MacKaye Trail sometime soon.