Day 1
Late start at 2:06 PM PST. Stay tuned for posts from the trail and you can see my last updated position on the map.
Let’s Do This
Here I go again! After a disappointing injury 3,000 miles in and a helicopter ride to the hospital, I’m back for redemption. Starting the Pacific Crest Trail exactly a year after my failed attempt on May 2nd.
The Calendar Year Triple Crown (CYTC) encompasses all 3 of the longest trails in the U.S. Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian Trails. I will do each one completely before moving on to the next one.
I will be SELF-SUPPORTED which means I cannot get any help from friends or family, no personal help to me. No rides from people I know into towns or staying at homes of people I know. I cannot receive any mail drop boxes from anyone. All the help I receive on the trail must also be available to all hikers. I can hitch a ride, accept trail magic, etc.
This is the most difficult Fastest Known Time (FKT) style. It’s a true separator, adding another depth of difficulty with a logistical challenge. A challenge I’m ready for! 7,500 plus miles and over 7 months. CYTC FKT, I’m coming for ya!
Self-Supported FKT Guidelines (from FastestKnownTime.com)
Self-Supported means you may have as much support as you can manage or find along the way, but not from any thing or person just for you; any support you employ must be equally available to anyone else. This can include caching supplies in advance, purchasing supplies along the way, staying at motels, and finding or requesting food or water. Camping in a friend’s yard would be supported, because it is not available to the public. Except at the start and finish, spectating pre-arranged by an athlete is considered support. Many long thru-hiking routes are done self-supported. To get a self-supported FKT you must also beat the fastest unsupported time.
About Me
Chezwick at the southern terminus of the ECT
The hiking bug caught me in my early 20’s with a trek to the base camp of Mt. Everest. The culture, the people, the views. It opened my eyes to a lifestyle that I could see myself pursuing. For the rest of that decade, however, I became sidetracked with the party lifestyle that comes with living in a ski town. Fortunately, the freedom of the trail never left me, and as my 30’s approached, the question of what I wanted to do with my life started to consume my thoughts. I knew I didn't want to continue my career in the restaurant business and up to that point it was the only type of work I had ever known. The idea of marriage, kids, a mortgage, while working some food service job just to keep up with the Joneses scared the hell out of me. I searched for answers.
The Appalachian Trail seemed like a good fit. A long distance trail that I believed would bring me the same feelings as the Everest trek I had done some years earlier. As I scrolled through pictures of the A.T. on the internet, I came across a scene that looked straight out of Jurassic Park. It was the Florida Trail. The wheels of adventure started turning again as I wondered if this trail would link up with the A.T. That’s when I came across the Eastern Continental Trail (ECT). The ECT is a 4,800-mile long distance hike that links together 8 different trail segments, using the Appalachian Trail as its backbone, essentially trekking the entire east coast of North America, starting at the tip of Key West, Florida and finishing in Gaspe, Quebec. With less than expert knowledge of what a thru-hike was, without reading blogs or watching YouTube videos, I bought what I THOUGHT I needed, and flew to Miami. With paper maps, a compass, and an old flip phone with no camera, I started hiking north and my new life began.
Over 10 months later I completed the trail and became the 16th person ever to hike the ECT. Two years later I attempted the Pacific Crest Trail, but I was stopped short by massive forest fires in northern California and Oregon. That year came to be known as “The Year of Fire and Ice.” This didn't discourage my sense of adventure and only seems to have fueled my determination for more!
