It's only ~ 12,500 miles...

[akafuzzjones]

Ran accross this while surfing the web - this guy is attempting to establish a new record of unassisted ultra-light long-distance backpacking. It will be the first ever, attempt of the “All-In Trek”. This involves solo hiking the four longest hiking trails in the United States, back-to-back continuously without any time off. The four trails are the North Country Trail, Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail and Pacific Crest Trail.

http://www.theinitiativesite.com/

Michael

 

[eddie]

Wow that's ambitious. At his current pace he has about 60 months to go!?

I'll see if I can meet him when he is near Pittsburgh.

 

[Brambor]

Interesting

I bookmarked it. Thanks. I like that the trek starts with a trail I know least about.

 

[ksearl]

Thanks for the link. That's an amazing goal. I'm sure he'll do well with it...I'll be following along too!

Karl

 

[Brambor]

I just read through the whole journal

It is interesting to see how he has developed issues with Achilles Heel seemingly due to his shoes. Also the amount of repair to his snowshoes after only one month of snowshoeing is interesting.

 

[Jay H]

He mentions Willie weir in his journal.. Willie is a pretty cool read if you get a chance to read about his bicycle travels..

Jay

 

[ColdRiverRun]

I'm happy he changed his overall goal to finish one day without saying a year like he was in the past. That was just pure ignorance as proof by his pace over the first 40 days. So he has shown an ability to adapt and learn that most are to stubborn too. Then it becomes fun..always more interesting to go in over your head than ankle deep.

 

[akafuzzjones]

Yeah, saying it was only going to take a year seemed like quite a stretch - as evidenced by his current pace.

Michael

 

[Scotzman]

Even though his pace will pick up when he's not breaking trail in snowshoes, it figures to be much longer than 1 year. However long it takes, I am enviable that he's able to take a year/years off to just hike. A nice position to be in.

 

[Guthook]

Wow that's ambitious. At his current pace he has about 60 months to go!?

He's been getting a lot of flak over on Whiteblaze (surprise surprise), and some more on BackpackingLight, mostly based on his lack of preparation. I lost most of my interest when he started slowing down so much and losing his initial goal. But, eddie, when you put it like that, that makes me think: if he continues for five years without stopping, just keeping a steady, slow pace, that would be WAY cooler than finishing all of that in one year.

I'm sure we'll hear more about him in the coming months, one way or another.

 

[mtruman]

Yea, if you do the math it works out to 34+ miles a day to do it in a year. Not sure that he'd done that math himself and definitely didn't seem to have prepared too well (other than having a huge amount of determination). 41 days and still in NY makes it look like a LONG trip if he hangs in. He doesn't seem to have lost any of that determination though. Will be interesting to see how the next couple of months go.

 

[Brambor]

progress

I can definitely see progress in his thinking. It is amazing how little he seems think of breaking trail o snowshoes and also his coping with staying dry. Personally I do not really caree if he hikes AT, PCT or CDT. I find the first section most interesting. Also wondering why no skis? Seems like a good trail to try utilizing backcountry skis.

 

[Rick]

I gave him some pointers on Winter Camping needs early on when he got lost trying to find the NCT(in the Daks) and was sleeping cold and hitting motels along the way.
I didn't think he would keep going after his first week of road-walks, but he is persevering. He did receive a lot of heat from WB, but I think it was deserved.

Initially it was an "all in 1 year completely unsupported trek" but requesting donations for airfare, monthly !-Phone fees, supplies and gear. It seems a little over the top being that he had no prior distance hiking experience.
His website was taken down for comments around January 10th (theintitiativesite.com) what remains is his map - "where is Sam" (Media) and his journal.
I do wish the kid well, though and am watching him weekly.