Samuel H. Gardner's All In Trek - Hike Over

[WI_Mike]

Yes you said what I've been trying to say. It just can't be done. I went snowshoeing this weekend in northern WI and with deep snow you feel like you're going 2-3 times further than you actually are. Took me like 4 hours to go about 3 miles. Granted if I was in better shape it might have been easier. But this was 1-2 foot deep snow. If you have more than that it would be really tough. But I can see what Sam's problem is. Probably overusing one side and that gets really sore. Anyway, so 9 miles a day snowshoeing in deep snow I'll admit is probably not too bad and can really take a toll, but that's kind of the point, and it might have made sense to instead include some warm weather trails in the south/southwest for this endeavor for those colder months.

The plan is unrealistic, even if he starts at Springer on 1 January, and he is able to hike 20-30 miles per day, which he has not demonstrated he can do, but lets say he can do that...average 25/day, that puts him in New England towards the end of Febuary or into early March, where he will be stopped due to weather in all likelyhood.

Can't realistically start either the PCT or CDT those times of year if he plans on going through...

And if he goes with the NCT, he is probably only going to average low double digits anyhow...remember he didn't hurt himself by pulling 30 mile days, he hurt himself hiking single digit days.

I for one believe this trip is impossible, it cannot be done in 12 months, it's simply too much mileage considering the weather conditions, as others have said and I said on another thread...It took Lichter 356 days to hike 10,000 miles, about 28 miles per day. Samuel wants to hike 12,500 miles in 365 days, which is 34 miles per day. I don't believe Andrew Skurka has ever 'averaged' 34-35 miles a day for more than a few weeks at best, and I believe that was the PCT during fairly normal hiking conditions.

And Samel hurt his hip snowshoeing 9 mile days, I don't mean to disrespect anyone here...but perhaps delusional was a good word to use.

More power to him if he tries again...I think a much smarter plan would be to block out 2 years, have $30,000 in the bank, and have some strategic plans on how to deal with the weather over winter.





His plan

[Tilly]

Posted 3/13 on his site:

Alright here is the new plan. This hip injury is going to take time to heal 100% so that it does not return when I start hiking again. I do not like taking so much time off of the trail so I am going to call this a failed attempt and move on. In the next 9 months I will heal and prepare for my second attempt next January 1, 2012. Same start location, same plan. However I am using what I learned to make my next attempt better and stronger. A lesson lived is a lesson learned.
In the next 9 months I will spend my time healing/training and working some sort of seasonal job to raise funds for my next attempt. I have already sent out several inquiries for work and am waiting to hear back. I am trying to look at this situation not as a failure but as another challenge. No doubt, you can imagine that I feel “bummed” to say the least. However there is no point in wasting my time being bummed and negative. My drive is still strong and I still believe I can do this trek so I’m going to do whatever I can to do it.
I’ll continue posting updates. However they probably wont be daily due to the fact that my home life is not nearly as interesting as on the trail. If anyone knows of an available job prosect- please shoot me an email at [email protected].
-------------------

Working some sort of seasonal/temp job for less than 9 months is hardly going to fund hikes of 4 NST Trails, about 12,000 mi+ in lengh probably about 2 years of hiking nonstop, for this kid. This is delusional.

[isawtman]

Hi everyone

I just wanted to give everyone a little background information about the
North Country Trail. There have been only 3 thru hikers of the trail.
They are Ed Talone (1996), Andrew Skurka (2005) and Eb Eberhardt (2009). And only Skurka did the trail in an unassisted manner.

The first person to hike the trail using the section hiking method was Peter Wolfe back in the 1970's and the first woman to completely hike the trail, also using the section hiking method, is Joan Young who completed it in 2010.

Large chunks of the trail have been completed. In 2010 Central Minnesota trail volunteers connected segments in the Chippewa National Forest, Paul Bunyan State Forest and Itasca State Park to create a 136 mile continuous stretch. If you count the Kekekabic Trail, Border Route Trail and Superior Hiking Trail combined, it is a 350 mile continuous stretch. Plus there are several other places with long continuous stretches including the Fingers Lake Trail, Northern Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and the both the UP and SP of Michigan.

This trail is coming together

[Pedaling Fool]

Hi everyone

I just wanted to give everyone a little background information about the
North Country Trail...

Is it true that no part of the NCT can exceed 10% inclination?

[garlic08]

Hi everyone

I just wanted to give everyone a little background information about the
North Country Trail. There have been only 3 thru hikers of the trail.
They are Ed Talone (1996), Andrew Skurka (2005) and Eb Eberhardt (2009). And only Skurka did the trail in an unassisted manner.

Wait a sec, didn't my friend Bart Smith hike it? I looked it up and found this:

In October 2008, Bart Smith completed a 16-year quest to hike all the National Scenic Trails. He was the 9th person to complete the entire length of the NCT. Ed.

It was on this website: http://northcountrytrailnews.blogspo...owhead-is.html

[WI_Mike]

According to the Wikipedia article (this section was written by Joan Young who is the chair of the thru-hikers comittee I believe) Smith did it as section hikes.

Wait a sec, didn't my friend Bart Smith hike it? I looked it up and found this:

In October 2008, Bart Smith completed a 16-year quest to hike all the National Scenic Trails. He was the 9th person to complete the entire length of the NCT. Ed.

It was on this website: http://northcountrytrailnews.blogspo...owhead-is.html

[stranger]

A close friend of mind thru-hiked the North Country Trail back in 98-99, I forget which year...but he's not the type of person to report this type of thing, sign registers, or write on the internet about it (or his other 15,000 miles of hiking)

So those are reported stats only...

Saying that I would love to learn more about the NCT, is there a guidebook to the whole thing?

[isawtman]

A close friend of mind thru-hiked the North Country Trail back in 98-99, I forget which year...but he's not the type of person to report this type of thing, sign registers, or write on the internet about it (or his other 15,000 miles of hiking)

So those are reported stats only...

Saying that I would love to learn more about the NCT, is there a guidebook to the whole thing?

The NCTA has contracted with Ron Strickland to write the Guidebook. Previously there was the Hutchins Guide which were done only on the Sections that the Hutchins had hiked.

And If your friend does not want his hike reported, then please do not report it. Bart Smith did hike the trail in the section hiking method.

Regards from me, Todd McMahon, aka Tman

[stranger]

The NCTA has contracted with Ron Strickland to write the Guidebook. Previously there was the Hutchins Guide which were done only on the Sections that the Hutchins had hiked.

And If your friend does not want his hike reported, then please do not report it. Bart Smith did hike the trail in the section hiking method.

Regards from me, Todd McMahon, aka Tman

Probably why I didn't use his name or reveal any way of identifying him

[4eyedbuzzard]

Probably why I didn't use his name or reveal any way of identifying him

Yeah, but now we all he's that Anonymous guy that keeps posting annoying posts everywhere on the internet.

[isawtman]

Is it true that no part of the NCT can exceed 10% inclination?

I have never heard that about the 10% inclination, and I have personally
hiked parts of it that are pretty steep.

And to "Stranger" saying that someone hiked it and that it is a secret,
if you have no way of proving it, then why bring it up at all.

That's kinda like making a claim after the fact. While Sam has made a claim before the fact, at least he's trying to do something positive. And if Sam cannot do it, then at least he found out for himself and learned a lesson. At least Sam had a goal. There's so many young people running around with no goal, or having a goal of chaos.

[ki0eh]

Is it true that no part of the NCT can exceed 10% inclination?

The standard sustained grade specification is 10%, which may be exceeded for no more than 100 feet, if it is to meet the ideal standard.

Source: Chapter 4, page 31, of http://www.nps.gov/noco/parkmgmt/nct...ionmanual1.htm

[Toolshed]

Is it true that no part of the NCT can exceed 10% inclination?

There are plenty of spots on the FLT (now part of the NT) that are greater than 10%. Especially when the trail runs E/W and the mountains/hills/eskers/drumlins and other high hill/mountain formations all run N/S.

[stranger]

Yeah, but now we all he's that Anonymous guy that keeps posting annoying posts everywhere on the internet.

Well done

[ki0eh]

There are plenty of spots on the FLT (now part of the NT) that are greater than 10%. Especially when the trail runs E/W and the mountains/hills/eskers/drumlins and other high hill/mountain formations all run N/S.

It should be noted that the more egregiously non-conforming sections have been or are being redone, the FLT predated the above cited standards but they now have a very active volunteer as "Director of Trail Quality" and she's been going around the system kicking a$$. New routes opened for the Crystal Hills Trail are being held to the NCT standard as well. (Not necessarily where it's marked out on landowners' timber lanes though.)

[4eyedbuzzard]

While Sam has made a claim before the fact, at least he's trying to do something positive. And if Sam cannot do it, then at least he found out for himself and learned a lesson. At least Sam had a goal. There's so many young people running around with no goal, or having a goal of chaos.

Positive: There are a lot of young people who don't quit their jobs to go on a hiking vacation for a year, even if they are disillusioned with their employment and other aspects of the real world. Of those that do go long distance hiking only a handful publicly solicit (panhandle) money to do so - most all work and finance their own hiking vacations. And many make the hard choice to put off hiking to finish school, start a career, raise a family, etc. That is certainly positive. I have a lot of respect for all the thru-hikers who save up their 3, 4, or 5 thousand dollars, go on their hikes, without a lot of bragging and claims of being God's gift to long distance hiking AND also to the downtrodden masses.

Not positive: Only one hiker made grandiose claims of how he is "hiking for those who can't", only one planned inspirational post-hike speaking tours before ever setting foot on a trail, only one was brash enough to suggest he could hike 12,500 miles in a year at a pace of 34 miles per day - all while soliciting money to do so based upon bragging about hiking ability he simply doesn't possess. Only one incorporated a for-profit corporation to fund his hiking vacation. Some may find all that positive, I don't. I think the whole production is a crock. It's not about goal setting - it's all about attention seeking and trying to figure out a way to profit as an inspirational hiking guru. The only wrench in the works is that you have to actually walk the walk before talking the talk.

[isawtman]

4 eyed,

It comes down to "who'd he really hurt?" Did he hurt you 4 eyed? Did he hurt the people that gave money to him? Most of the people who gave him money were people he knew. They knew what they were getting into.

Does Sam's claims somehow interfere with some claims you're making? There are people all over the internet making claims.

Have you looked around, the economy not exactly roaring. Why not take a hike during a down economy. He was not exactly working the job he wanted.

Many people have said that Sam wants to be the next Skurka. But even Skurka had to stop and postpone his NCT hike because of injuries.

We know everything that's wrong with Sam and his approach, but in the end "who did he really hurt?"

[Slo-go'en]

We know everything that's wrong with Sam and his approach, but in the end "who did he really hurt?"

The only one he hurt was himself. What little credability he had is totally gone now.

[weary]

....We know everything that's wrong with Sam and his approach, but in the end "who did he really hurt?"

Well, for one thing, he hurt the long distance hiking community by fostering the idea that hiking is a competition, populated by blowhards, rather than a healthy and beneficial recreation.

[Alligator]

I have the same problem with the Olympics. It's killing swimming. All those people trying to win medals and break world records. I just want to float in the pool.