Date: 2008-07-01
From: Parker's Gap, USFS Road 812

To: Fish Hatchery Road
Miles today: 55.3

   For those paying attention to the daily miles, yes, you read that right, I did 55.3 miles today. Ever since I started the hike, I've wanted to do a 24 hours straight hike. I quickly realized that trying to do that with a full pack would be foolish and I'd collapse and die after about 25 miles. So, when I had the chance with Frank able to pick me up, I decided to go for it!   For those that don't know, back in my real life I do adventure races. Some go for as long as 24 hours straight, so being awake and physically active for 24 hours isn't a new thing for me, I've probably completed about 5 or so 24 hours races. What turned out to be different (and make it more challenging) were three things.    One, I was alone. In adventure racing you are always with a team, so you always have someone to talk to, to help keep you awake and motivated, etc.. This hike was all by myself. I hardly even saw any other hikers the entire time.    Two, in adventure races you are looking for checkpoints. This keeps your mind active and alert (at least when you are the navigator, which I usually am), and gives you something new to do in each hour. On this hike, I basically just had to keep from falling over. Towards the end that made the hours crawl by. I really had trouble with miles 49-51, it was 4 miles to the last shelter that I'd pass and they just crawled by. My feet were hurting, I was sleepy tired and just wanted to get there. Not to mention that it went uphill, when based on the guidebook I was expecting a level trail. Stupid me, on the AT there's never a level trail for very long!    The third thing was that this was 100% hiking. Adventure races switch from paddling to biking to trekking. So just about the time you are getting sick of one activity, you switch to another. With the hike, this wasn't the case - it was hiking the whole time, which definitely made it more of a challenge.    So I finished the 55.3 trail miles at 8:20 AM, 24 hours and 14 minutes after I started. I sat down and just relaxed for a bit, though that was a bit difficult as there really wasn't a comfortable spot to sit, and the darn flies were everywhere. I hadn't had phone service since 2:00 AM, and wasn't sure that Shar had gotten my text message telling her where I'd be. On top of that, Fish Hatchery Road was a narrow, rock-filled jeep trail up a steep slope. I wasn't sure that Frank would be able to drive it, would want to drive it if he could, had gotten my message in the first place, or that it was even open to traffic at all. So I sat till 9:15 or so and decided to walk the 1.6 miles down. Let me tell you, after covering over 55 miles and not sleeping for a night, hiking an additional 1.6 miles seems like a marathon. It really sucked. When I got to the bottom, I was glad to have walked it, because there was a gate across the road, and Frank wasn't waiting! So I walked the additional 0.9 miles into the town of Montebello. Just as I got there and picked up the pay phone to call him and/or Shar, he pulled up! What perfect timing - which I really needed. I bought some donuts, apple juice and a pint of chocolate ice cream (what a great combo), got in the car, ate and crashed until we got back to Frank's house.   So, after doing this once, would I do it again? Right now, I'd have to say no way. It wasn't as fun as an adventure race, and I don't think the torture was worth it. I slept all day yesterday, and all night. I'm a bit sore today, my achilles is not happy, but other than that I'm fine. I'm going to try and get back on the trail tomorrow if possible. Amber is coming to visit!!!! She gets here Sunday, I'm going to try and get to Waynesboro by the time she's here. It's only 39 miles, so that's less than 24 hours of hiking, right?!