Interesting story. Bismarck was on the trail in 2010 when I hiked. Don't know if he completed it or not but I hiked/camped with him a bit through Southern Va. Never saw him again after trail days that year. His trail name came from the fact that he claimed to be from that city in North Dakota. His story was that he was an independent contract engineer who had a 6 month gap in between phases of a very large project. As a former engineer, his story was credible although no one talks much shop on the trail.
My wife has a picture of a pancake breakfast in Franklin. There are 4 of us at the table and Bismarck is one of them. Although I am upset - the same group of 4 split a hotel room in Hiawassee at Ron's hotel there. You would think that a guy with an extra $8-9 million or so could have picked up the tab. I would like to think I would have done so.
as the cliche goes, "he was the nicest guy - would never thought him capable of such a thing". One thing I always remembered, he was the first guy that I ever saw or met who hammock camped. Of course, now they are quite common.