Family Aims to Thru-Hike This Year

The web site of WLFI.com channel 18 in West Lafayette, Indiana has a news story about another family intent on hiking the Trail. It was published on 22 January 2012 and updated on 24 January. The headline is simply "Family to hike Appalachian Trail."

The Rainwaters will begin hiking on March 13, and plan to finish the trail on September 26. That also happens to be Dean and Lisa's 15th wedding anniversary.

The family includes

The Rainwater's fifteen-year-old son, Forest, [who] is working hard to finish his homeschooling before the family sets out on their adventure. Their youngest son, River, will have to find time in the long days of hiking to study. The family said hitting the books on the trail will be worth it in the end.

Someone in my household just suggested to me that the boys might get trail names like "Fred" or "Donald" while they're out hiking.

The family has, of course, a web site: http://rainwater2012.com/

9/11 Survivor Plans Thru-Hike

The Gannett newspaper chain's lohud.com website (as in "lower Hudson") carries an article headlined "Grand View woman to walk Appalachian Trail to inspire kindness" that's dated 8 January 2012.

The lead does a good job of setting up the story:

Christine Baker plans to walk the entire Appalachian Trail next summer, and part of the reason why is because she overslept by 15 minutes on Sept. 11, 2001, and thus missed being in the World Trade Center at the time it was attacked.

Instead of buying her coffee at the base of a tower on her way to her public relations job, Baker stood at the ferry terminal in Weehawken, N.J., and watched as the first tower burned.

Then the story goes on to explain that Baker is planning a southbound hike with her dog beginning in June. Furthermore,

She is asking that people dedicate a mile in honor of those who inspire them on the organization’s website, www.walk4good.org. There is no charge to do so, but the person is asked to commit a random act of kindness for someone else.

(Hint: turn the volume down on your speakers before clicking on the website link)

Jennifer Pharr Davis Recognized

Spokane, Washington's Spokesman-Review newspaper published a list of people having made marks in the hiking/climbing/outdoors realms during 2011. They call it "2011: Outstanding in their field".

Among those noted (and pictured) is:

Jennifer Pharr Davis, 28, set a record of supported speed hiking on the Appalachian Trail, trekking the 2,180-mile route in 46 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes.

She's also written an article about her hike in the November-December "AT Journeys" (pages 38-41).

Long, Long, Long Distance Hiker Bart Smith

Colin McDonald's article "A long walk through history: Man hiking 550 miles on 300-year-old trail passes through S.A." appearing in the San Antonio News-Express on 5 January 2012 tells us about the current hike of Bart Smith there in Texas. Pretty far from the Appalachian Trail, right? Well there's this:

His dedication to walking has made him a bit of a celebrity in the small community of long-distance hikers. He is the only person to have hiked the nation's 11 Scenic Trails, which include the 2,184 miles of the Appalachian Trail and 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. It took him 16 years to walk them all, more than 17,000 miles.

That resulted in four coffee-table books of Smith's photos.

Now, at 52, he is working on walking all 19 of the country's Historic Trails. His goal is to complete them by 2018 to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act, which President Lyndon B. Johnson signed in 1968.

His wife, Bridgie Graham-Smith, is singled out as the person who often shuttles him, as well as supports him financially through her nursing profession. Bart quit his construction job in 2005 to focus on photography and hiking.

Talk about your long distance hikers!

(Smith's Appalachian Trail photos illustrate The Appalachian Trail: Calling Me Back to the Hills which includes poetry by Earl Shaffer. ISBN:0979565901)

Ward “Chip” Leonard and the Record Books

An article by Kimberley A. Hooper in the 2 January 2012 Metro West Daily News (from Framingham, Mass.) titled "Concord man takes a hike into record books" tells us that Ward “Chip” Leonard a "52-year-old backpacker, who has lived in Concord for more than nine years, is known by hikers around the country as the first person to ever backpack the Appalachian Trail 10 times." Well, not known by me until now.

He did his 10th hike in 1992 and "said he holds the unofficial record for backpacking the Appalachian Trail solo in 60.5 days in 1990. He said it usually takes the average hiker about six months to complete the entire trail.

"During that 1990 hike, Leonard said he also set the speed record for the Appalachian Trail’s fastest hike (60.5 days) — although someone surpassed that mark a year later."

The comments from the ATC in the article are interesting, particularly in light of the article on speed hiking in the November-December 2011 AT Journeys According to the ATC spokesman Brian King, there are only records for 5 thru-hikes by Leonard (he's sending in paperwork on the other 5) and "As for the solo, unsupported backpacking record that Leonard said he still holds, King said the conservancy doesn’t have an official record of it, but he added that the conservancy doesn’t have a reason to doubt Leonard’s information."

In any event, Leonard says his thru-hiking days are behind him.

Hikers Raising Funds for Clean Water

The Chillicothe (OH) Gazette ran an article titled "Couple attempts to raise clean-water awareness" on 21 January 2010. The article, by staff writer Ashley Phillips, that starts:

A former southern Ohio couple with ties to Chillicothe is preparing to part with many of their possessions and take a 2,200-mile journey on foot to raise awareness of natural resources problems in other parts of the world.

Justin Meeker, of Lucasville, and his wife, Jessica, will be departing their home in Lexington in April.

They're actually selling their home and most of their possessions in order to attempt their money-raising thru-hike.

These self-described "outdoors people" who "love to go camping" hope to raise $10,000 to help two communities in developing countries provide safe drinking water to their citizens.

Trees in New Orleans Tied to Trail

The Associated Press is reporting on WXVT-TV Delta News - on 28 October 2008 - under the headline "Group to hit tree planting goal in N.O." that

"Hike for KaTREEna is the not-for-profit started by Monique Pilie. After Katrina, she hiked the Appalachian Trail and pledged to plant one tree in the city for each of the 2,175 miles she hiked.

"That last tree is set to be planted Thursday afternoon."

We reported on this earlier on, back when Pilie was hiking.

Illinois Man Hiking for Cancer Funding

The Belleville (IL) News Democrat had an article published around 30 August 2008 which included the sentence: "The genesis of Hammersley's quest began in his 40s with a hike along the Appalachian Trail in Georgia." The article title was, I believe, "Man Walks for Cancer Research," but the article seems to have walked right off their web site and I can't locate a live link to the full thing.

Speed Hikers, Women Hikers

Stephen Black uses Jennifer Pharr Davis's "record-breaking time of hiking the Appalachian Trail" as a jumping off point to caution women, all women, from venturing off into the woods alone. That's in his column titled "Women should not hike alone" in the 30 August 2008 issue of the Hendersonville, NC Times-News and preserved on their "Blue Ridge Now" web site.

He gets there through the point that

"She wanted to memorialize the death of the Bryants and Meredith Emerson who were killed while hiking in the woods.

"She hiked the trail to show that outdoor lovers won’t be deterred by one sick criminal. She hiked the trail to break the women’s speed record.

"Ms. Davis’ heart is in the right place. It is obvious she is a good, idealistic and decent person. I praise her for that. As far as her other reasoning however I totally disagree with it. As far as her speed record all I can say is this — Stop! Stop! Enough with the Olympics already!"

I kind of agree with him on this point. Does EVERYone hiking the Trail need to have a shtick of some kind? Whatever happened to hiking just to hike? (I know in my heart that most of the hikers are doing just that, not trying to be the first, oldest, youngest, fastest, or only SOMETHING to thru-hike. Maybe they just aren't worth a news story.)

On his main point, Black says he is just urging lots and lots of caution because one woman harmed is one woman too many. And there's no argument possible against that.

Plans to Hike the A.T. and Thensome

An article titled "Worldwide walk begins on NGCSU campus" by Matt Aiken in the 12 March 2008 Dahlonega Nugget describes the beginning of Daren Wendell's hike on 8 March. Wendell aims on hiking around the world. In seven years. To "raise awareness for Blood:Water Mission-a charitable organization that works to provide clean blood to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, and to build clean water wells in the region."

But, first, the Appalachian Trail. It's how he aims on getting toward Nova Scotia. From there, he'll fly to Portugal and "hike in a northeastern direction through Europe. This will take him through China and then Russia. He's hoping to find host families along the way that will provide him with shelter."

Oh yeah, the obligatory web site link (on which he reports that he heard that "150 thru-hikers left Amacalola Falls on March 16th." Remind me not to start in the middle of March.)

Two Fund-Raising Hiker Vets

The Lewiston, ME Sun-Journal has an 18 February 2008 article about another fund-raising hike on the Appalachian Trail. It's by Terry Karkos and titled "Pair to Hike 2,00 miles to Help Homeless Veterans."

"Former Sgts. Jarad Greeley, [of Jay, Maine] 25, and Marshall Berry, 28, of New Hampshire, will be raising awareness and resources for the nation's homeless veterans by through-hiking more than 2,000 miles of the Appalachian Trail to Maine in four to five months."

Some local Veterans of Foreign Wars leaders are backing the hike and encouraging VFW posts along the Trail to offer warm food and a dry bed to the hikers as they make their way back north.

"To help the nation's homeless veterans through the Appalachian Trail journey of Jarad Greeley of North Jay and Marshall Berry of New Hampshire, write to: The Homeless Veterans, P.O. Box 27, Jay, ME 04239, call 207-897-0900, or call Palmer Hebert of VFW Post No. 2335 in Jay at 897-2859."

The Boston Globe carries a shortened version of the story, unsigned, on the same date.

Appalachian Trail Only Part of His Plan

An unsigned piece on the Dallas-Fort Worth channel 4 Fox tv news website created on 18 February 2008 is titled "4 Your Health - Hiking For Gilda's Club." It describes the goal of one John Robb, described as a "a beat-up 48-year-old, who's had numerous surgeries on his knees, shoulders and neck" and has diabetes. Robb is off on a fund-raising hike. He's planning on starting at Springer and heading to Kathadin, finishing "around the first of October."

Then the fun continues. Robb has in mind hiking all 8 of the National Scenic Trails, and being "the first guy to do it all for charity." He's intent on raising money "for Gilda's Club North Texas---a refuge for cancer patients and their families."

A.T. Jumping off Point for a LONG Hike

Russell Helms has an article titled "Hiker plans to walk around the world in seven years" in the 10 February 2008 issue of the Birmingham (AL) News. The piece records the imminent departure of Daren Wendell on a planned hike around the world.

"Wendell begins his journey in March, hiking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, then hopping the Atlantic to pick up his trek in Europe. He will traverse southern Europe and hike his way through China, making the Great Wall part of the adventure. Into Siberia, bounding over the Bering Sea, wandering through Alaska, Wendell will finish out the final 2,075 miles walking west to east, eventually landing back at the start of the Appalachian Trail in northern Georgia."

Wendell grew up near Canton, Ohio (I recently read the Steven Newman book Worldwalk about his 4 year round-the-world hike some 20 years ago; and Newman was from Ohio. Coincidence? I think not. Newman walked across northern Africa and eventually made his way across Australia, skipping China and Siberia.)

There's a web site.

A.T. Just a Leg on a Mega-Triathalon

The FOX Business Network's website has a story on 8 February 2008 titled "Launch of Adventure Ultra Triathlon Begins Today" which announces that Kevin Knieling is beginning a

"solo, unsupported ultra-triathlon [that] begins with a 5,000-mile bike ride across the U.S., followed by hiking the length of the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail and finally a 3,500 mile kayak trip beginning in Winnipeg, Canada which will end in the Gulf of Mexico."

How is this possible?

"Knieling represents the growing generation of executives turned adventurists, leaving his job on Wall Street after 10 years to pursue his dream of adventure travel. In the last two and a half years, Knieling has traveled over 200,000 miles in 40 plus countries, ridden a bicycle over 4,000 miles across the US, hiked through the Himalayas, stood atop Mt. Kilimanjaro, jumped out of planes and completed scuba dives the world over."

Ah, that's it! I chose the wrong vocation back in school.

Knieling, of course, has a web site. Fortunately, this is a solo event, not a 'race' or 'competition' in the way a regular triathalon is. That will come in time, no doubt.

Blind Man Hiking

I believe I missed this when it came out in the newspaper last October; but I have seen the mention of it in another hiking club newsletter: The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune has an article dated 9 October 2007 by Stephen Regenold titled "Ultrafit: Tapping his way along the Appalachian Trail; With the help of a voice-enabled GPS, Minneapolis attorney Mike Hanson, who is blind, is training for the hike of a lifetime."

The subtitle pretty much explains it all: GPS unit, cane, no dog, Maine to Georgia. He's aiming on a solo hike, starting at the beginning of March. His web site doesn't give much detail, but does say he's aiming to start on 1 March 2009, and be done in about 7 months. (The newspaper article says 8 months, and starting March 2008.)

There was a lively discussion on WhiteBlaze.net, most of it negative with regards to Mr. Hanson's prospects. And amidst the discussion there is a link to the recording of a 21 minute interview with Hanson on the American Hiking Society web site.

Stay tuned.

Kristina Dean Finishes Fund-Raising Thru-Hike

The Knoxville News-Sentinel has Chandra Harris-McCray's article titled "After 2,175-mile solo trek that raised money for shelter, hiker says she now knows how women in crisis feel" in its 19 January 2008 issue. The article chronicles the successful southbound Appalachian Trail thru-hike by Kristina "Tina" Dean.

Dean began in June and finished 11 days shy of Christmas. Along the way she managed "to raise money for Knox Area Rescue Ministries’ Serenity Shelter for women." By Dean's account people along the Trail were not always welcoming, or even friendly, to her, which increased her sense of identification with the homeless women the Serenity Shelter aids.

Arizonan Set on Speed Hiking

"Tucson man looking to break world record" is the headline on David Marino's article in the 2 January 2008 issue of the KVOA News 4 web site from Tucson, AZ.

The speedster in question is Lonnie Owens.

The record: fastest hike of the Appalachian Trail.

Owens, who had planned to hike the AT with his mother in 2000 (until she passed away in 1998), wants to shatter the 47 1/2 day land speed record by hiking the Trail in 30 days. Says Owens, "I was born in Tennessee, so walking in the mountains is nothing."

He figures on starting at Springer on 1 May.