[at-l] PCT/AT Single season Hike just completed.

This just came across my desk. Weathercarrot.  Two hikers complete the first
ever single season hike of both the PCT and AT.

>Hey there,
>
>Just wanted to let everyone know that Culvert and Bung (Sven and Jarrod)
>have successfully completed their PCT/AT double hike. Gruff (AT'97) and I
>met up with them at Hawk Mountain Shelter on their last night and then
>accompanied them for the last seven miles to Springer the next morning
>(Sunday). Also with us at the summit were Sven's parents and at least seven

>other finishing southbound thru-hikers.
>
>Staying up well into the night at Hawk Mountain the previous evening we
were
>able to catch up somewhat on eight months of adventure. After hearing
>stories from a combination of places such as Vermillion Valley Resort and
>Boiling Springs, it became quite striking that all those experiences
wrapped
>up into one trip of both trails in a final on-the-trail night of
>reminiscences was unique.
>
>It started as a phone call to Sven from Seattle in September of '98 after I

>had completed the northern half of the PCT. While out there, I had gotten
>all fired up about doing a PCT/AT hike the following year ('99), feeling
>attracted to the mental challenge, and wondering if the fact that it hadn't

>been done would be motivation enough to keep me going. I told Sven the
plan,
>and he was immediately interested in joining me, but thought it unlikely.
As
>the months progressed, I drifted further and further away from the idea,
and
>he got more and more excited. Finally, I backed out and he was going for
it,
>a complete reversal from the original phone call.
>
>Sven set out from Campo April 24 and finished on Springer December 19 with
>Jarrod (who joined him in CA) largely following my original plan. Previous
>attempts at the calendar double hike have been to go north on the AT
>followed by a southbound PCT. This unfortunately leaves you in the high
>Sierra very late in the fall when deep snow has already set in. By going
the
>other way, you hit the Sierra when thru-hikers normally do (June), and
clear
>northern New England before the weather turns very bad. In this year's
case,
>all that was helped by unusually good weather from Mount Rogers to
Springer.
>
>It was great to see them at the finish. They were ready to not be hiking
any
>more, but clearly happy to have had this experience.
>
>A reporter from the local paper in Gainesville, GA showed up for the
finish,
>and after walking into about ten gas station convenience stores this
>evening, I finally found one that still had a copy of today's paper
>(Tuesday, December 21) with the article she wrote. Here it is below,
>including some minor inaccuracies:
>
>-----------------------------------------------
>HIKERS COMPLETE TWO MAJOR TRAILS IN ONE YEAR - Trip down Appalachians ended

>Sunday in Dawson County.
>
>By Debbie Gilbert, The Times
>
>For Most People, walking the entire Appalachian Trail (2,160 miles, Georgia

>to Maine) or Pacific Crest Trail (2,650 miles, Mexico to Canada) would be
>the achievement of a lifetime. To "thru-hike" both trails in a single
>calendar year seems unthinkable. So unthinkable that until this week, no
one
>had done it. But about 1pm Sunday, former Atlanta resident Sven Thesen and
>his hiking partner Jarrod Gasper reached the plaque marking the Appalachian

>Trail's terminus on Springer Mountain in Dawson County. Upon reaching the
>end of their 4,800 mile, eight month journey, the two men reversed course,
>joking, "OK, now let's go north."
>
>Several friends and Thesen's parents, who live in England and flew over for

>the occasion, met the hikers where the trail crosses a U.S. Forest Service
>road and accompanied them for the last mile to the summit. Champagne and
>fine crystal goblets materialized out of backpacks for a toast. "We think
>it's fantastic," said his mother, Loveday Thesen. "It's like he was running

>a marathon every day."
>
>Trail officials said there appears to be no precedent for doing both trails

>in the same year. "As far as we can tell, these guys are the first," said
>Joe Sobinovsky of the Pacific Crest Trail Association. "There was another
>guy who attempted it twice, but didn't succeed." About 3,000 people try to
>thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, according to Dan Bruce of the Center for
>Appalachian Trail Studies, and only about 300 of them finish. On the
Pacific
>Crest Trail, about 60 of 250 starters complete the trip, according to
>Sobinovsky.
>
>Thesen, 36, who now lives in Berkeley, Calif., said the toughest thing was
>that in order to finish on time, they had to walk 25 to 30 miles each day
>without a break. "When I did the AT the first time (in 1994), it took me
>five and a half months. This time we did it in three months."  The pair
were
>able to cover ground quickly by adhering to the "ultralight" method of
>backpacking - using a tarp instead of a tent, for example, to conserve
>weight, and wearing tennis shoes instead of boots.
>
>Like Thesen's first "thru-hike" five years ago, the journey was a fund
>raiser for Inner City Outings, a Sierra Club outreach program that takes
>disadvantaged kids on hiking and camping trips. Thesen has been active in
>ICO chapters in Atlanta, Memphis, and New Orleans. This time, he raised
>about $1,500. "I wish it had been more," he said. "But as an ICO leader I
>think of it as $1,500 that someone doesn't have to worry about raising
>themselves."
>
>He began his hike in April, in Campo, Calif., across from the Mexican
>border. Following along the crest of the high Sierras, he met up with
>Gasper, 23, of Portland, Ore.. Both chemical engineers by trade, the two
>decided to complete the PCT together, braving knee-deep snows in the
>Cascades. On Aug.31, they reached the end of the trail in Manning
Provincial
>Park, British Columbia. Gasper chose to defer graduate school for a
semester
>and accompany Thesen on the second leg of the journey. They flew to Maine
>and began hiking the Appalachian Trail on Sept.12. Five days later they
were
>stranded, out of food, unable to cross a stream swollen by storms from
>Hurricane Floyd. But they were able to continue after the waters receded,
>and others hikers shared some food. Thesen said that was the only mishap
>during the trip - unless one counts the time they were inexplicably
attacked
>by a herd of goats in Virginia.
>
>Now that it's over, will they attempt another long-distance trail anytime
>soon? "Not for five years at least," said Thesen. But Gasper was more
>gung-ho. "Sure," he said, rattling off other cross-country paths such as
the
>American Discovery Trail and Continental Divide Trail. "They're building
>trails faster than I can hike them."
>
>---------------------------------
>
>End of article. So I guess that leaves the calendar-triple-crown still
open.
>Any takers?? Take care,
>
>Greg, The Weathercarrot
>


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