Grand Slam of Hiking

imported
#1 
									Some sports have a Triple Crown or three great achievements, and others have a Grand Slam of four great achievements. I have seen the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Appalachian Trail referred to as the Triple Crown by hikers.

How about a Grand Slam of hiking: The Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, the Eastern Continental Trail, and the American Discovery Trail? That would be quite an accomplishment!

Has anyone actually completed these four trails?

									_Clark Coleman_
#2 
									No idea if any one person has completed all four yet, but here's some lesser-known trivia to tide us over:

The term Triple Crown, as it refers to long-distance hiking, was coined by lightweight hiking guru Ray Jardine.

The term Grand Slam, as it pertains to long-distance hikers, was coined by Denny’s restaurants.

									_hoch_
#3 
									Www.aldhawest.org defines the Triple Crown and awards plaques.

There is no official definition of the Grand Slam of hiking, but when the American Discovery Trail representative gave us our ADT placque at the Pacific end of the trail in 2005 he used the term “Grand Slam”. We had finished the Triple Crown ( PCT 2000, CDT 2002, AT 2003, plaque awarded in 2004) before our 2005 ADT.

The Hiking Humanitarian should finish his GS within days.

If Boston and Cubby finish the ADT - read their TJ- they will be the 4th and 5th GS

Note: all hiked the AT, not the ECT.

									_GottaWalk_
#4 
									Right. I chose the ECT instead of the AT just to make it a truly amazing accomplishment, and also because I thought that it was more likely that no one had done it yet.


									_Clark Coleman_
#5 
									So when the time comes for a designation, that person can be known as earning an  eGrandSlam or be s/he can be a GrandSlamee.

Actually, I think the point of LDH is to add up the adventures and fun, not tally the trails and miles.

									_Marcia_
#6 
									>>Www.aldhawest.org defines the Triple Crown and awards plaques.

Right, and Mr Jardine founded ALDHA-west, but not primarily to issue awards. (More trivia: Why was ALDHA-west really founded?)

									_hoch_
#7 
									I always thought it would be interesting to have a grandslam consisting of the longest of the four national scenic trail:  the AT, PCT, CDT, and North Country Trail.

									_lakewood_
#8 
									I second Lakewood's post. The 4 "best" long distance trails and thus the "Grand Slam" should be the AT, PCT, CDT, and the never mentioned North Country Trail. For some reason this trail is always overlooked and really warrants more attention from the hiking community. Perhaps it's because it's not "officially" completed? I don't really know for sure. I've only completed the AT, but if I had the chance for a "Grand Slam" those would be the 4 that I would choose...

									_Rippin Reils_