New record, see www.sfgate.com (47 miles per day)
umbrella
Women's supported record
system
#3
It’s on the website for the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper (today’s). Scan the headlines and you’ll see it. http://www.sfgate.com
Umbrella
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#4
Google “Appalachian trail record” See Charlotte observer article. No longer available at sfgate.com
Umbrella
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#5
1st, who cares; 2nd,2100miles on a treadmill can be done faster; 3rd did she stop to help any hiker or give a helping hand to anyone? did she make any friends? There is more to the A/T than the walk.
jcw
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#6
I think her name was Pharr Davis and was in the Huntsville,Al Times last week. Great job!! She must of had a lot of support. That’s amazing, too.
graybeard
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#7
Incredible. 46 Days 11 Hours 20 minutes . Jennifer Phar Davis deserves a lot of credit. I couldn’t do it. Actually I wouldn’t want to do it. I’d rather hold the record for the longest time on the trail in one season. As it was it took me 208 days in 2004.
Gabby Art
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#9
Met a guy a few years back that claimed to have section hiked the AT over 48 years. That would be tough. Think of how many times he had to get into shape, how much time it must have taken to arrange transportation. How many sections of the trail are no longer part of the AT by the time he finished.
Gabby Art
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#11
Myself, I’m trying to set a record for longest time spent avoiding the AT after thru-hiking it back in the day before rampant pointless ego-maniacal speed record attempts, packweight-based hiker caste systems, not to mention a 1:1 hiker-cell phone ratio, 4G wilderness wifi connections, and hostage-taking trail angels hanging out at every road crossing. So far, so good.
tron
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#12
Come on, lighten up ‘tron’.
She achieved something very special - unmatched by anyone else!
Me, I am all for going slow and experiencing the day to day adventure of it all but thankfully we are all different.That’s what makes life so interesting.
I did the first half last year and had to stop due to Lyme Disease - a serious case of it that still niggles me. But hey, I’ll be back!
Everyone is free to do it at their own speed, this is America, not Communist China! As long as they are not hurting anyone else, good luck to them!And if you don’t like the crowds, leave at a different time…/hike more in the evening/just enjoy your day!
paul-Hoofit
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#13
What I have struggled to understand in this forum and in other forums and blogs is how JPD’s record setting hike negatively effects the Trail or any individual hiker, non-hiker, trail runner, or any person, for that matter? Anyone could choose not to care about this enterprise, but that is not how many seem to feel about her record setting hike. I consider myself a reasonably fit individual and I just sit back in awe of her “accomplishment.” It is basically inconceivable to me that any human could persist for 7 1/2 weeks at this level of physical, mental, and emotional output. I hardly think that the Trail will be inundated with others trying to go faster. I think these individuals will be few and far between and anyone that puts themselves in a category of “I could possibly do this and, further, I want to do this” are few in number. Even if viewed as a sort of sideshow this “record” makes a statement about the human spirit. Flash '02
John Mattes
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#14
Intentional or not, the record thing comes across as a way of advertising yourself that you’re ahead of the masses of everyday hikers. You’re faster, farther, higher. And you’re physically flying by the lot of them in the course of your attempt, leaving the other hikers to plod past your private sag wagon at all the road crossings. The problem is that this is not the Olympics and both your competition and adoring audience are at best imaginary.
Is a record really a record if you don’t advertise both the attempt and the outcome? No, what you’re doing requires scrutiny if it’s going to get the attention and ‘legitimacy’ you think it deserves in proportion to the amount of effort expended to make it happen. So by its very nature, there’s a bullhorn involved and the other hikers and the trail itself are made part of this event, though they were never invited. They make a great prop, though.
Is the speed record attempt part of the whole HYOH thing? Yeah probably. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an affect on the other hikers and the trail experience. Almost every year there’s a new AT speed record attempt. Every year a new crop of thru-hikers gets to entertain the thought that, well, someone else is “better” at this than I am, and when I get to Katahdin I’ll have accomplished a lot, but nothing particularly extraordinary. And by the mentality of the record setting world, they’d be right. Problem is, the journey should be about so much more than just statistics and athletics. I would argue that it gets harder to stay focused on that when there are so many people out the gunning for extra special recognition of one kind or another.
fern feeler
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#15
H.Y.O.H…She did it her way,And Iam gonna do it my way…GOD made us all differnt for a reason,May GOD Bless you…Oh Yea,as far the oldest,there is a 88yr old on the AT trail now,at least he was a few days ago.soon to be 89.Trail name Cimmoron.LOOK HIM UP
Bubblegum
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#16
H.Y.O.H…She did it her way,And Iam gonna do it my way…GOD made us all differnt for a reason,May GOD Bless you…Oh Yea,as far the oldest,there is a 88yr old on the AT trail now,at least he was a few days ago.soon to be 89.Trail name Cimmoron.LOOK HIM UP
Bubblegum
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#17
I’m an old man who hikes at2.5 mph that gets passed constantly by other hikers. Thats alright I usually pass them later when they stop mid day to “smell the roses” in there wood box some call shelters, the others I pass when they go into town to "smell the roses in there motel room. Read Jens book or website and you will see she hikes at 3mph. She accomplished her record by hiking long hours which included hiking at the hours when you see the most wildlife. She was seeing the the beauty of nature while the naysayers here would be sleeping in your wood box. JEALOUSY looks ugly in print
Old Man
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#18
Spelled name wrong Cimarron Hes still heading north in NH.trying to set the record as the oldest to hike it in one year.GOD BLESS
Bubblegum
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#19
Not jealousy, Old Man. Empathy. Let’s say you walk down your neighborhood street every day, just a casual stroll that you really enjoy. Then one day your neighbor, after seeing what you do, decides to make a competition out of it, starts walking where you start and finishes where you intend to finish, walks quickly by you en route, and then leaves a note in your mailbox that says “I finished fastest.” How would you feel about that?
fern feeler
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#20
“Given clear air, and the unending daylight of a Northern summer, there is not one of the summits but can be reached by a moderately strong walker without distress. A strong walker will take a couple of summits. Circus walkers will plant flags on all six summits in a matter of fourteen hours. This may be fun, but is sterile. To pit oneself against the mountain is neccessary for every climber: to pit oneself merely against other players, and make a race of it, is to reduce to the level of a game what is essentially an experience. Yet what a racecourse for these boys to choose! To know the hills, and their own bodies, well enough to dare the exploit is their real achievement”
To Fern Feeler and Old Man - points well made. As for me I’m in the ‘who cares’ camp but then again I have also spent many hours boring people with tales of my own exploits and, if I’m honest, enjoying a little of the smug satisfaction that comes from feeling (even undeservedly so) ever so slightly special.
Best wishes to all (especially all those how are out there now - and yes I am jealous.
Neil