yellow blazer question wrote:
Previous record needs more scrutiny, but wait a second here. The previous record was in the opposite direction?!
How do you compare? Has it ever occurred to anyone that one direction is WAY harder? Net gain elevation versus Net decent?
Why didn't he go for the easier way?
Most thru hikers go South>North so that they can walk with the seasons, and frankly finishing on Katahdin is pretty damn cool. But most folks trying for a record go North>South primarily because they can hit the Mahoosucs and the White Mountains (generally considered the hardest parts of the trail) while they are relatively fresh. Also, Mt Katahdin is a little bit of a wild card -- if the weather is bad, the rangers in Baxter State Park can potentially shut the mountain down. Jurek chose to go South>North because he says he wanted a "more traditional thru hiker experience." Perhaps also some measure of hubris? Personally, I think if he had it to do over, he would look for every advantage that he could find.
In any case, at 11 pm this Thursday, it looks like Jurek is closing in on Rt 15 near Monson, ME. This road crossing is significant because it represents his last paved road crossing until Baxter. He'll be entering the "100 mile wilderness." Probably, he'll stop for a rest in his van before heading into "the wilderness." (I would if I were him!)
His support going into the wilderness will be an interesting situation. There are a few dirt road crossings (nothing paved) in the wilderness, the most accessible for the support van probably being the Kokadjo-B Pond road, about 51 miles north of the Rt 15 intersection. The other roads are more for logging and hunters/fishermen to get to their camps. Wouldn't be surprised if Jurek shoots for Kokadjo-B tomorrow night, but we'll see. I think the other roads are more dicey -- suspect you'd want to contract with locals driving 4x4's to hit those intersections if that's what you really want. In any case, he'll be hiking (running?) with some support crew, so he can stop and rest as needed. Not much, if any, cell phone service, so unless they have some sort of satellite phone, Jurek won't have communication with his support van.
At any rate, good to see that he's moving steadily -- he's still in the game!