Appalachian Trail

[ancientgimp]

I thought Trailosophy would complete the hike for sure. Her pure exuberance I thought would carry her through. Watching her joy as she hiked was like watching Julie Andrews singing in the mountains in Sound of Music. Trailosophy took some time off from the trail to visit Columbia then Brown to choose a graduate school. While in an Uber in Rhode Island she suddenly experienced severe cramping, diarrhea and inability to walk. Uber took her for emergency treatment and she was hospitalized. She has had to quit the trail at least for now with a diagnosis of Rhadomyolosis, a rare problem which causes the body to consume the leg muscles causing a spike in creatine levels and possible kidney damage as a result. This is a problem which can be caused by overuse, one commenter on her last update developed the same condition on the trail. It is also known to afllict ultrarunners and bike racers. Hope to see her back if it's safe.

[ancientgimp]

3 mile hikes is currently off the trail for a medical checkup and to fulfill a commitment to photograph a wedding. I think 3 mile's wife wanted him to have the physical as the last time he attempted a thru hike he had to be evacuated by ambulance off the trail. 3 mile is a mid fifties, semi retired photographer with a love for the AT. He has fibromyalgia and other physical problems which have stopped him before. He recently had to switch from a tent to a hammock and tarp to get his back away from the cold ground and ease pain. Unless his doctor at the VA discovers disqualifying conditions 3 mile should be back next week.

[ancientgimp]

3 mile was hiking a lot with Amanda Bess (the star of the trail) but she was slowing him down due to severe foot issues. In addition to dyeing her red hair pink Amanda has gone through about 3 pairs of trail runners and numerous shoe inserts seeking relief from pain caused by carrying a 30 lb pack up mountain ridges walking on rocks and roots all the way. Just this week she seems to have found relief with the latest combination of shoes/inserts. She is now doing 20 to 24 mile days which she needs to get in before Maine becomes impassable in fall and prevents finishing at Mt Katahdin.

[ancientgimp]

Probation Termination is a retired parole officer and former competitive raquetball player with a history of 2 surgeries to the same knee as a result of sports injuries. Before leaving for the hike PT and his wife visited his knee surgeon to get his opinion regarding his knee vs a 2200 mile hike. After reviewing his X rays the doctor said, "I understand your desire to walk across the whole country but couldn't you pick a smaller country." Out in the parking lot PT's wife looked at him and said, "Your going to go anyway, why did we even come here" Each of PT's videos ends with him being delivered to the trail in handcuffs by his wife, she frees him from the hadcuffs, he puts his backpack on and disappears into the woods. PT's knee is holding up.

[ancientgimp]

Scoutmaster on the AT is an ironman, he started on January 30th and is furthest north in mid Pennsylvania. He has hiked through every snowstorm and through Georgia, NC, Tennessee, West Va, Virginia, Maryland. He hopes to reach the Delaware Water Gap and NJ this weekend. His wife also vlogs on his channel and is known as Mrs Scoutmaster, his teenage son, Scoutmaster Jr. When he reaches Maine the Scoutmaster and Scoutmaster Jr plan to hike the final miles together.

[tarheelandy]

I decided I'm going hiking, going to do day hikes of 1 to 2 miles maybe from the mount rogers parking lot, maybe try it for a few weeks or maybe one day, who knows, I have to try though.

I love Mt. Rogers! Grayson Highland S.P. was my favorite play to hike when I was single. Used to take my dog for safety and do the blue blaze trail up to the AT then back to camp ground. Absolutely beautiful hike with the Mountain Laurels in June and the wild ponies there. I truly hope you get to go and please post pics if you do!

[ancientgimp]

Gregp on the at was one of the AT thru hikers I was following. I thought he had a great chance as he was very experienced, loved being in the mountains and had meticulously selected his gear. His last video shows he has had to drop out this year due to a knee injury. The video starts with him still hiking but grimacing on every step using his hiking poles for support. While hiking injured his plan was to get to a road crossing, get off the trail into a hiker's hostel or motel and rest the knee for one or two days. After four days of no change he left the trail. He will be seeing an orthopedist and will try to get into a pt rehab program to strengthen his knee so he can complete the trail next year. He had just crossed over the Va/Pa border at Harper's Ferry so next year he will try to complete from there to Mt Katahdin Maine. During the video he kept apologizing to his channel subscribers for not finishing. As an sci person I could relate, one of those cases where yo do everything right but it all falls apart anyway.

[ancientgimp]

Everybody on the trail has a trail name, awarded by fellow hikers, with luck you become part of a tramily (trail family). As Trekker said about 25% of AP thru hikers make it to Mt Katahdin. Watched Captain Blackbeard's vlog today -he just reached NJ with Mainer, Sourpatch (jp hikes), bullfrog, etc. Blackbeard started in Ga with Jeep, Apo, and Night Train, all of whom have dropped out due to injuries. Jeep is Gregp on the at who I have followed from the start. If Gregp can fail then anyone could.

There is also an 8 person family on the trail vlogging, check out Fight for together. Today they posted on their 40th day on the trail. Rainier is 2 years old, knows his ABC's and rides in dad's backpack. The next youngest daughter is 6 or 7 and has done several marathons. The kids are amazing, they hike faster than mom and dad and live to visit hostels and hotels where the whole family indulgences in "hiker's hunger". This group will never finish the trail but their lifestyle is amazing. When they get to a shelter, even if it's full, the hikers make room so the smallest kids will be safe.

[ancientgimp]

This hiking family, the Crawfords, provides lots of drama. They are the ones attempting a 2100 mile thru hike with a 2 year old in dad's backpack. They were already reported to child protective services while they were spending the night in a men's room in a national park. The father's dad and mom had been scheduled to meet them in the parking lot and take them into town to a motel but the park service road had been closed due to blizzard conditions. They were able to convince the authorities that they were not endangering the kids. There are a total of 6 kids - oldest 16, youngest 2 and next youngest a 6 year old girl. Dad helps her at stream crossings, scary rock ledges, etc. Now some critic watching their vlogs on youtube (go to youtube and search fight for together) has contacted the National park service in an attempt to get them dragged off the trail. The Park Service contacted the family just to let them know. There is also a trail rumor that you can bet in Las Vegas as to whether the Crawfords make it to Mt Katahdin in Maine.

[ancientgimp]

The Crawford family may actually make it all the. way. They are now in Vermont! That means they have hiked through Georgia, N Carolina, a piece of Tennessee, Virginia, a piece of W Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts. They are carrying a non toilet trained, genius 2 year old in a backpack. There are 8 of them, the oldest kid a 17 year old daughter and the next to youngest a 6 year old girl. They recently discovered dad does not have to carry Rainier (2 year old) all the time - the 17 year old daughter, a 16 year old daughter and a 13 year old son can take shifts. This speeds them up considerably. They are also getting lots of help from people watching their youtube videos (fight for together). These people meet them at road intersections and bring them food, sometimes taking them to their houses overnight for dinner, laundry, etc. These folks are also slack packing them taking their heavy packs and leapfrogging ahead in their vehicles and meeting the Crawfords with the packs before the Crawfords reach a campground or shelter. When this is done someone always carries Rainier in a pack. On one occasion the Crawfords took a 3 day break from the trail to go home to Ohio so they could all except Rainier run a 26 mile marathon. The 6 year old girl would run off the course when reaching playgrounds and go down the sliding board. Tough folks.