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posted by cmn32480 on Monday September 18 2017, @01:48AM   Printer-friendly
from the I-can't-feel-my-legs dept.

Submitted via IRC

As Joe McConaughy set up camp on his second to last day on the Appalachian Trail, he did some quick math. Just 46 hours remained before he would miss the record set by Karl "Speedgoat" Meltzer on his supported hike of the 2,184-mile trail, and 110 miles stood between him and the terminus at the summit of Mount Katahdin. He'd hoped for something more like an 80-mile final push, but after bleeding time through the rugged terrain of the White Mountains and a three-mile off-trail accidental detour that also added 1,500 feet of elevation the week prior, he was behind schedule.

McConaughy set out from Springer Mountain at 6:31 am on July 17 with plans to cover an average of 50 miles each day. If his plan held, he would reach the trail terminus in 43 days, shaving two days off the supported record set by Meltzer last year and more than 10 days off Heather Anderson's self-supported speed record on the AT of 54 days, 7 hours, and 54 minutes, set in 2013. But the trail had other plans for him. Some days, McConaughy missed his target by as much as 20 miles.

[...] Finally, after moving forward for 37 straight hours, at 6:38 pm on August 31, he reached the summit. Seventy mile-per-hour winds, hail, and mist met him as he stumbled out of the fog and into a long hug with his girlfriend. He'd completed the trail in 45 days, 12 hours and 15 minutes, setting a new fastest known time.

Source: https://www.backpacker.com/stories/joe-mcconaughy-appalachian-trail-record


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  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday September 18 2017, @03:14PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday September 18 2017, @03:14PM (#569767)

    If I could get a 6 month (paid) leave of absence, I'd do it in a heart beat.

    Based on the through-hikers I've met over the years, a lot of people, especially men hiking alone, make the journey their first year of retirement. I think it comes down to "It's on my bucket list, this is the first chance I've had to do it, and it's not going to get any easier."

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