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

[Camping Dave]

The only steam that does occur is when I criticize a wannabe public celebrity and get personally attacked for doing so.

Waah. When did you get personally attacked? Nobody attacked you. Saying you're a whiney sniveler is not an attack, just an observation.

Just for fun, I used the search function and noticed you posted to this thread three times on the 18th. Once just after midnight, then again around noon, then again around 11:00pm. I bet Sam's glad to know you care enough to spend the whole day in front of the computer commenting on his exploits! LOL.

[John Cash]

Hey Guys,

You probably remember my name is John, and I want to apologize to every single one of you. I'm pretty sure most of you arent bad and are great hikers, and if you guys want to tease people, then that's cool, everyone has a different life. The world is here to be shared, and I'm happy to share it with you guys. Thru-hiking seems really hard, anyway... I had a look around and there was a picture of Mt. Katahdin, it was great. I actually met my best friend on Whiteblaze, so I guess we're all the same sometimes.

Don't be a stranger. Just hit me with your best shot. I deserve it after what I was like. I injured myself hiking and I'm stuck indoors. I also tried doing a 20 mile day and it was really hard! I only got sponsored because the manufacturer was friends with my mum (My pack just busted; it was SO bad). You are all just reasonable people who should disregard what I
said to you, Hike Your Own Hike LOL! (am I hiker trash or what?). Thanks for listening, no hard feelings, right?

[WI_Mike]

To answer your questions, I'm guessing that there are some things that would raise some eyebrows and would have to be documented, but of course birding is an honor kind of thing. And I think it's # of species to determine who wins, though I don't know what the answer would be to some of your other questions. If you were spending time though trying to figure out a potential BC/Carolina chickadee hybrid you'd probably find yourself in last place.

But I'll admit I don't like the idea, and a lot of that aspect (how many species can I tally up) of birding doesn't appeal to me nearly as much as some other people. I personally like more exploring places people might not go so often and seeing what I can find. But that's just me.

Is there competition in bird-watching? Which individual or team racked up the most unique species in the shortest amount of time? But do you weigh in quality i.e. some species are harder to spot than others? Are there judges present to verify the sightings? For that matter, are confirmed songs/calls sufficient or does sighting with the eyes have to occur? Are there standards for what kind of scopes are acceptable? What about cross-breeds e.g. a black-capped chickadee/Carolina chickadee hybrid?

Huh? I think he was saying just the opposite (that it's the desintation NOT the journey). Wasn't he?

Sadly, that is true. More would finish, if people would learn to just enjoy the experience of the trail, rather than focusing on just completing the trail.

[isawtman]

T

I don't think the LD hiking community was harmed. When did I say that?

You're right, you didn't say that. But I was responding to the whole group, not just you. Unfortunately, your quote was on top, so you thought I was responding to you solely.

Sorry about that, I will clarify better next time

[WI_Mike]

In other news:

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com...urka-story7757

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com...rew-skurka7811

[isawtman]

In other news:

Really? Is there really any other news other than Sam?

[RITBlake]

Can't believe people are still talking about this kid....

Let me put this thread to bed with a quote from the 1992 classic "The Mighty Ducks"

"You could have been one of the greats! And now look at yourself! You're not even a has-been. You're a never-was."

[WingedMonkey]

Can't believe people are still talking about this kid....

Let me put this thread to bed with a quote from the 1992 classic "The Mighty Ducks"

"You could have been one of the greats! And now look at yourself! You're not even a has-been. You're a never-was."

The thread was left alone for a full week till you decided you had to post

[RITBlake]

The thread was left alone for a full week till you decided you had to post

Fair enough.

[ki0eh]

He did make the cover of the current Finger Lakes Trail News

[Del Q]

He states that he will be back at it again 1/1/12. I would have done this trek differently, I would start on the Mexcio border and get some miles under my belt in the warm weather, then fly to NY in March or April............we will see, best case doing almost 40 miles every day for a year is a massive and possibly unreachable goal.

[stranger]

He states that he will be back at it again 1/1/12. I would have done this trek differently, I would start on the Mexcio border and get some miles under my belt in the warm weather, then fly to NY in March or April............we will see, best case doing almost 40 miles every day for a year is a massive and possibly unreachable goal.

40 miles in a day? I don't think he ever pulled a single 20 mile day.

[WI_Mike]

I don't know much about this and only watched this brief video...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...il-documentary

...but it seems like these guys took the idea of thru-hikes and did kind of what Sam said he wanted to do without the promises of record setting, timetables, winter hiking, etc...

I'll have to check it out further, but it seems like a better way to go about this whole kind of thing (i.e., trying to build a kind of organization to promote the stuff you're interested in and care about and maybe make a career out of it, though I'm sure they're not quite at that level yet).

Just thought it was possibly an interesting contrast. Carry on.