How old was the youngest person to have complete the Triple Crown?
casey
Triple crown - Continental Divide Trail
system
#2
Youngest (at the time of completion was probably Eric Ryback since he was a teenager.
oso loco
system
#3
I know on the walk DVD the hiker Glory was the youngest to do the at and the pct I dont know if she did the cdt like she planned
the Hobo
system
#4
Glory (‘Sassafras’) chose to go to nursing school instead of hiking the CDT. She’s now married with a kid.
I’m fairly sure the youngest was Remy Levin (at least he thought he was).
freebird
system
#5
I believe Pony Express was about 22 when he completed it a few years ago, and Trauma is also around that age, maybe?
Oblivious certainly would have been the youngest if he had finished the CDT this year.
A-Train
system
#6
He didn’t quite get it done this year on the CDT because of heavy snow, but Oblivious would have been the youngest ever. He made over half of the trail, plus the AT and PCT in previous years. He is a whopping 14 now I believe! Great young man!
Hey A-train and Freebird. Glad to hear from you guys!
Robocop
system
#8
Eric Ryback did not complete the Triple Crown. He actually blue blazed many sections of the CDT and PCT. People came forward years ago and said that they gave him rides to skip sections and he never went back to them.
Do alittle research to find out this is the truth.
Different Socks
system
#9
Well, a bunch of people skipped the San Juans this year because of snow. Probably 70% of the hikers didn’t follow the offical route in NM - walked roads instead. (Deming is NOT on the route, the Gila cliff dwellings are NOT on the route. Glad youm had fun, but you didn’t do the CDT. Probably a lot of triple crowners haven’t really done it. Amazing. If you did this on the AT it would be considered a non-finish. Same with the PCT. CDT-anything goes. Go figure…
tech
system
#10
Tech -
Deming IS on the Jim Wolf route - and the Gila Cliff dwellings are a short side trip. And since Wolf’s route is the oldest documented “trail”, by what authority do you make your judgment? Especially since the only guidebooks worth having are Wolf’s? The “Official” guidebooks are worthless to start with and out of date to boot. They don’t even have the official route as it is on the ground today.
If you’re gonna criticize those who have done it, you’d best have done it yourself.
The ONLY criteria on the CDT is that you “connect the steps”. So if those who “skipped” the San Juans this year walked the lower route (yes - there IS one), then they didn’t “skip” anything. OTOH, if they hitched around, then you’ve got a point. If you don’t walk the distance, you CANNOT be a thruhiker.
Re:the AT. If the AT got as much snow as the CDT a lot more hikers would walk around sections, too. And a whole lot of PCT hikers do a lot of walking around fire zones (and sometimes around snow sections).
While a few AT hikers make a religion of Purity, that concept has no relevance to the western trails. Only those who have never hiked them think it does.
oso loco
system
#11
Sorry if it was snowy when you hit Colorado. That does not change anything. The CDT is a National Scenic Trail. It’s location is a matter of legal public record.
The official Forest Service Route overview map is here:
http://www.fs.fed.us/cdt/maps/cdnst_location_map_prop_directive_052107.pdf
It does not go through Deming. It does not go through the Gila Cliff Dwellings. It does not skip the San Juans via a different route.
hatch
system
#12
The CDT isn’t just a line on a map.
I’ll take you seriously after you’ve hiked it. The depth of your ignorance is stupefying.
oso loco
system
#14
No, but what you’ve told me so far is that you skipped the entire CDT. And probably the PCT as well. 
Try it — you might like it.
But I doubt it. 
oso loco
system
#15
Oso - Thanks for all your help.
I’ve done about half of the CDT over two years. I did all of NM and CO by the official route. (Too bad you missed the best parts because it was snowy and dusty all.) I’ll finish the CDT in a couple of years and then its on to the PCT. I guess it’d be ok to do the AZ trail instead of the southern part of the PCT. “It was, like, too dusty, dude, so I did it in Arizona”
When I do finish the CDT I will have actually done it all. I guess if I was trying to knock down a trail every year to look like some kind of superhero I might lower my standards, but not yet…
hatch
system
#16
Sorry to spoil your day dude, but I’ve hiked the CDT twice. And I’ll do it again. I don’t believe I’ve missed anything you’ve seen - and I’ve seen a lot that you’ve missed. The “best parts” aren’t always on the “official route”. BTDT. God willing and the creek don’t rise, I’ll finish the PCT in 2010 - for the second time.
oso loco
system
#17
Please don’t feed the perennial troll. He uses different names but employs the same modus operandi. Aided and abetted by quite possibly the most primitive forum software still creaking along through cyberspace.
How did the long-distance hiking community get so lucky as to pick this number in the deli line, anyway? The service at Chez TrailForums by Leif and Zipdrive, Inc. is lousy, the fare is often inedible, and many of the patrons are abnoxious. Who wants to open a competing franchise across the block? TrailForums.net perhaps? Anyone?
intervention
system
#18
The two will never agree. Hike your own hike. Truth is, the Divide cannnot be hiked due to legal restrictions. Private property. So, comprimised has been made on the Official Route. So, the Purist says you connedt the steps on the O.R. or don’t score the hike. The Practical, having walked from border to border, somewhere near the O.R. says good enough is good enough. Until someone sets the standard for handing out the awards there cannot be any agreement. Stupid to argue about it.
REgards
system
#19
When did hiking become more about going from a to b, than experiencing the outdoors?
the Hobo
system
#20
Both sides are talking about “going from a to b”. But there are some who don’t care about the experience, just the mechanics.
The beauty of the CDT is that you can pick your own route, take your own time, hike your own hike - and pay the price for your own decisions. Is that acceptable on the AT? Of course it is - for those who are out there for the “experience” rather than to hike the same hike as everyone else on the trail. On my AT hike I refused to do the reroute around Pogo camppground - I’d done it 3 times in the previous year and it was a purely stupid reroute for nonsensical reasons. So I suppose I didn’t do the AT hike.
On the PCT, we deliberately chose the “official” route over the guidebook preferred alternates - and found that they were invariably not as good as the alternates. Except for Eagle Creek - which we happily “blue-blazed”. So — maybe I didn’t do the PCT either. I don’t think so.
For my first CDT hike, there was no guidebook for New Mexico - but we had Jim Wolf’s first cut at one. He changed a lot of it based on our trail notes. BTW, there was no “official trail” either. The CDTA guidebooks weren’t published until several years after we’d hiked. So I guess I didn’t hike the CDT either, huh? Bullfeathers.
The second CDT hike was purely “our” hike. (“We” being my wife and I). Probably 40% of the hike was entirely different than our first hike - sometimes because the trail had changed and many times because we chose our own route. So, once again, I didn’t hike the trail? I don’t think so. Nor do I care about the opinions of those who haven’t “been there and done that.”
I do, however, care when some total a$$ thinks that everyone else should hike the trail - ANY trail - their way. If you want to be a purist, then be a purist. But attacking others for not being one is unacceptable. The same attitude, of course, applies to those who don’t care about “purity”. Yeah, I’ve seen it both ways - and it’s never a pretty sight.
BTW, the troll and I have met before. For me it’s just exercise. Don’t know or care what he gets out of it.
Y’all have a good day.
oso loco