[pct-l] 67 Day PCT Hike?

[johnvonhof at comcast.net (John Vonhof)]

>> Can this be true?
>> http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=4639
>> Did this kid really hike the entire trail in 67 days? Can anyone vouch for the veracity of this claim?  It it is true, its astounding!  My hat is off to the kid.

David Horton, an accomplished ultramarathon runner and a veteran of the Race Across America did the AT in 52 days for an average of 41 miles per day. I would need to see a lot of supporting data for me to believe that a 19 year old could do the entire 2658 PCT at an average of 39.67 miles per day. How much support did he have and were were they? Recently the JMT was covered two hours shy of four days by Peter Balkin, a veteran ultrarunner, and then Brian Robinson did it in about 106 hours. These are seasoned runners and hikers with years of experience. I read the kid had done the AT solo in 2001. What was his time then on how many miles per day. Who saw him on the PCT? 

I read part of his journal on the PCTA web site and see that he took several side trips (Yosemite Valley, Portland, etc.). According to his journal below, he had gotten to Redding, hitch-hiked back to Yosemite from there to meet his mom, and then took a bus back to Redding.
        "As Darah and I met up with Zeb at Yosemite, Zeb announces that he had made some incredible progress on his hike and the place he got off the PCT to hitch back to Yosemite was actually 9 hours north of the park.  This meant after our visit was over, I would have to drive 9 hours north, drop Zeb off at the trail, and then drive at least 6 hours more to get back to SFO for our flight home.  My driving 15 hours in less than a day seemed dumb and even dangerous.  So we decided to see if Zeb could take a bus north to get as close to where he got off the trail as possible.  Then he'd be on his own to hitch to the trailhead, something I hated for him to do. Well, a little research showed that a bus did indeed travel north and it would take Zeb to within 40 minutes of where he needed to get back on the trail.  And guess where that bus station was located?  Redding, CA.  

Then we read:
        "On Tuesday, July 8th we got a very excited call from Zeb.  He was setting up camp on the California/Oregon border.  By Wednesday he made it to Ashland, Oregon.  Approximately 1730 miles done, only 928 miles to go."


That means he averaged 34.6 miles a day for the first 50 days and then averaged 54.58 miles per day for the last 17 days. Maybe he did it, but I'll need more proof.

John Vonhof
johnvonhof@comcast.net
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