Squeaky sighting

[Squeaky 2]

"SQUEAKY" here back in the U.K. checking up on the gossip. these forums make me laugh thanks for all of the support, it has honestly blown me away!

maybe i will post a reply when i get some sleep on the whole br issue

but i just want to express my gratitude to the support of so many people. thank you!

oh yeah and as for the next plan........the out right A.T. speed record but unsupported! or a sub 40 day supported hike! just food for thought over the next few months!

anyway i gotta go and eat lunch, all the best for all your 06 plans

[MOWGLI]

Squeaky, aren't you glad that the "real" trail is very much unlike the internet?

Welcome home!

I have a question. How do you manage to push through pain or times when you are exhausted? What sort of mental techniques do you utilize? Thanks in advance.

[TJ aka Teej]

"SQUEAKY" here back in the U.K. checking up on the gossip. these forums make me laugh thanks for all of the support, it has honestly blown me away!

Just ignore the gossip, Squeaky! Again, congrats on an amazing year!

[warren doyle]

Matt,

The two future goals you mentioned for the AT will be physically more diffficult than your recent remarkable achievement in these ways:

1) Going from 30+ mile day averages to 40+ mile day averages with, or without, support is in another category.

2) Going from walking 14-15 hours a day to 15-18 hours a day is also taxing depending on how much sleep you think you need and how much you dislike/like night hiking.

3) There is no 'wiggle room' - rest days; bad weather days; injury recovery days; hitchhiking to towns to get equipment - in the amount of time you are planning.

4) You have shown incredible physical and mental endurance but do you have that much more than Andrew Thompson, David Horton and/or Pete Palmer who set the standard with support?

5) Footway conditions play an important part in how much ground you can cover (as you know with all the ice/packed snow you encountered). While I'm sure your record attempt will avoid wintry weather, if you have a wet trail north of Glencliff, NH you will be hard-pressed to keep the daily mileage required.

6) Your feet were telling you something in the Smokies that made you decrease your daily mileage which you could afford to do and still achieve your goal. If they give you the same message on the AT, you will not be able to respond in the same way and achieve your goal.

I hope you are able to accomplish what you set out to do but I think your goals will be hard to achieve. Maybe you can use this as motivational material, but I will offer my realistic predictions with the hope you can prove me wrong.

1) A sub-40 day AT thru-hike with support is not attainable.

2) An outright record AT thru-hike without support (under 47.5 days) is not attainable.

3) A record AT thru-hike without support (under 60 days) is attainable.

4) An outright record AT thru-hike with support (under 47.5 days) is attainable.

One final point, I admire your philosophy/temperament. I think your mind and heart are in the right place. And I have no doubt that you will do it honestly out of respect for yourself and for the others who came before you. I think we are all rooting for you!

[Nean]

....but a few would rather....
Hope you and your family enjoyed the rest of your holiday, and I imagine it feels good to be back home!
He was asked that question on Springer MOWGLI16. He has a favorite song that inspired him through some tough times. I'll let him elaborate.
BTW Squeaky, an unsupported hike would be good training for a supported one, or vice virsa. Cheers mate

[MOWGLI]

He was asked that question on Springer MOWGLI16. He has a favorite song that inspired him through some tough times. I'll let him elaborate.

I'm guessing we can safely assume it wasn't Why Don't We Do It In The Road by the Beatles?

[gumby]

Warren, Once again you have spoken when not needed. Squeaky spoke of what he'd like to do. You are not the all knowing god of the AT even though you do have many miles under your belt.

Let Squeaky at least try it BEFORE you tell him he can't.

Hmm...I seem to remember a quote:

"It is better to have tried and failed, than never to have tried at all" not sure if that was the exact quote but is it close enough. Additionally here is another:

" It is better to have tried and failed than to have failed to try." -Richard Milhous Nixon

So instead of becoming one of your internegators why don't you just let him try.

Remember he quite recently completed a great feat that you complimented him on, now just sit back, let him recuperate, and gear up for his next outing whether it be a day hike or a trail buster.

nuff said

gumby

[max patch]

Warren, Once again you have spoken when not needed. Squeaky spoke of what he'd like to do. You are not the all knowing god of the AT even though you do have many miles under your belt.

Let Squeaky at least try it BEFORE you tell him he can't.

I disagree with a lot -- actually, most -- of what WD has said and done but in this instance WD has done nothing wrong. He has offered his opinion and advice on a subject in which he is qualified to speak. I think your admonishment is undeserved.

[calearn]

Reminds me of last year where we were all so certain there was no way Squeaky could make it from Campo to Springer, by Dec 31st when he started in May.

I've seen squeaky keep up ~45 mile days for a couple weeks on the CDT and believe 47.5 days to hike the AT without support would be totally amazing but obtainable.

Hiking the AT in 40 days without support would be 55 mile days average. That would be the next blow away all assumptions of what is possible. But hey, assumptions were blown away this year.

Congratulations and Good Luck on whatever you do!

[MOWGLI]

Gumby, your response to Warren is even sillier than those people who worry/complain/monitor whether or not somebody skipped a white blaze along the way. And that's really saying something!

[Nean]

In my opinion, your opinion..........is like a sphincter...........
I'm not sayin I know-it-all about Squeaky, But IMHO, WDs reasonable assessment is what make it a challenge. Squeaky doesn't want to trim a day off the record; his goal will be to blow it away. He didn't see hiking a BRTC as a challenge either; truth be known. Some will just love to take that as an insult but get past the emotion and you have some insight on how this guy thinks. He is not out to do the possible!

[Squeaky 2]

warren i honestly appreciate the advice, i do take it on in a possitive and respectful way.........but f*** convention!!!

my avg. miles of 32 mpd do take into account travel between the trails, the record snow pack in the sierras, the first time nav. difficulties of the cdt, the floods in maine, record snow in new hampshire, winter conditions on the AT, 600+ miles of snow from virginia south, night hiking every night in the early nights of winter...............

to be honest hiking 40 mpd with a pack was cake. one day sticks out in mind this year. i hiked 48 miles with the pack in 2-8 inches of snow in 16 hours to chestnut knob shelter. now change the snow to summer conditions, the early darkness to daylight, take the pack of my back and how far would i have gone that day?

i have great respect for Andrew Thompson and David Horton. they are phenomanal trail runners who possess great mental strength. i just believe running over those distances is not efficent on the body. its not that i think i am 10 days faster than these guys on like for like tactics, i just believe that hiking is a much faster and efficent way to cover 2,000 miles.

so maybe i will get back on the AT this year..........

[Skidsteer]

Hi Squeaky!

If you decide to try it and make your start at Springer, let us know when; I'm pretty sure I could keep up with you for 15 minutes or so!

[Nightwalker]

so maybe i will get back on the AT this year..........

Don't sweat these jerks, dude. There's an awful lot of arguing and not much hiking goes on around here. Gets pretty sickening at times.

[TJ aka Teej]

... do you have that much more than Andrew Thompson, David Horton and/or Pete Palmer who set the standard with support? ... you will be hard-pressed to keep the daily mileage required ... decrease your daily mileage ... you will not be able to respond ... is not attainable ... is not attainable...

"&%$@ the Impossible!", right, Squeaky?

[Sloghound]

I'll claim dibs on pacing you for the first 15 seconds. Then I'll collapse as I pass the Powerbar baton.

Sloghound

[Nean]

Good one Sloghound! Did yiu read where David Horton found it easier to jog in order to keep pace with Squeaky. You do bring up something I always consider black and white.... though others my have a different opinion, and be a consideration for Squeaky during his next quest(s). Is having someone pace you support or non support? Surely my fellow WBers can find some gray for us to work with.

[BobTheBuilder]

My first and only post ever on WB, but I wanted to use it to congratulate Squeaky. I met him on the trail around Gooch on his summit day. I knew what an incredible hiker he was, but I was truly impressed with what a sincerely nice person he turned out to be. He actually stopped and chatted for a few minutes on the trail with some poor slob he didn't know (me) on his final day, when he still had to crank out another 15 miles or so. Now THAT was impressive. Judging from the bickering on this thread, Squeaky could teach us all something about more than just hiking. Congratulations, Squeaky. Very cool!

[calearn]

I wonder what the potential mileage gain for Squeaky would be hiking supported vs. unsupported?

With base pack weights now possible below 5 lbs, quick ways to purify water and packages picked up at lodges either on or close to the trail it seems like a pack would never need to exceed 20 lbs and an average pack weight could be 12 lbs or less.

I realize there are other factors such as better sleep on a supported hike and easier logistics.

I think a big help to unsupported fast thru hikers like Squeaky would be to identify potential lodges were hikers could receive mailings, either on or close to the trail, as quick re-supply would seem like one of the biggest areas an unsupported hiker could gain hiking time.

[TJ aka Teej]

supported vs. unsupported?

That right there is conversation fuel for a snowy day stuck in the cabin. Any hike is 'supported' in some way. The trail is marked, maintained, and mapped. What disqualifies an "unsupported" through-hike? Getting advice from a guidebook? Midnight cheering at road crossings? Hiking with another person? Getting food or water from someone else? Getting warm and drying your boots in a stranger's car? Having mail-drops? Getting a weather report? Borrowing a cell phone, map, or filter? Hitching in and out of a town? Arranging to have gear delivered? Having a relative meet you at road crossings with food, water, and a change of clothes? Crossing a stream on a log someone else has placed there? And what just qualifies an "unsupported" through-hike? Standing alone on Springer, naked with no friends, heading North guided only by the stars?
Debate "support" among yourselves - I'm off to coach a basketball game completely unsupported all by myself. Except for the gamemanship I've learned from a dozen coaches and decades of play, except for the fact the kids aren't mine, I didn't build the gym, a parent will keep the scorebook, someone else will call the fouls, there'll be another team, the ball was made in Thailand..