So- I did hear back from Jenny/Kaiha and can update this in response to her statements on facebook.
Attachment 36362
As I said; in a fashion Kaiha was correct; She did not exit from Swift Run Gap into Waynesboro as reported.
She left the park via the Rockfish Gap exit of the park. I believe that is what led Kaiha to be confused and insist her hitch into Waynesboro originated and ended in the same spot.
She was also further confused about needing a hitch. I'm not sure if she didn't understand she could walk skyline drive south then take backroads into town. I believe she was under the (correct) impression that hitching/walking on 64 is illegal. It is also possible (though I didn't confirm) that the waysides were closed for the season or had limited services but that is not too relevant.
So I once more reached out to Billie Beartrap to clarify and give her the benefit of the doubt.
I incorrectly posted/implied that they left the park at Swift Run Gap and drove to Waynesboro.
Unfortunately for Kaiha this only gets worse.
1-Billie was out for the day with his son, they entered the park at Front Royal, enjoyed the park and encountered Kaiha on skyline drive in the vicinity of Swift Run Gap. She then entered their vehicle and together they drove the remainder of skyline drive and exited the park. Notable for Billie because the Front Royal station was unmanned and he chose to turn around at the Rockfish Gap pay station to pay his day use fee and support the park.
So not only did Billie give Kaiha a ride, he was actually the one yellow blazing Kaiha through this section of trail.
There was some mild debate/opening for Kaiha that if they left the park from Swift Run- she could have returned there and hiked the miles. But as that distance was covered in Billie's vehicle, that scenario is improbable.
Due to the Facebook fiasco he experienced, the rest of the many pictures he shared were bumped from my facebook- but I had already uploaded his gate receipt and seen the aforementioned video. As he had issues and the photos are of his son also- they serve no purpose other than to fully back up a detailed encounter that included personal details about Kaiha not known to the general public or previously shared. In short; Will is about the most credible witness you could ask for and should suffer no further for his efforts.
2-Even if we were to discount Will's story and assume that she did not yellow blaze any portion of the park. I showed a few posts back that Kaiha would have needed to post a near world record time in the women's 50 mile to arrive at the Rockfish Gap pay station in time for Billie to have paid his gate fee and given her a ride on the "unwalkable" roads to the hostel she stayed at.
3-From there; the rest of the day was spent at the hostel or in town. I don't think we need to grill the hostel owner on exactly what transpired during that time as it is irrelevant. I suppose in the deepest fantasy she could have realized her error and left the hostel, set that 50 mile record to make up the section and returned to the hostel without his knowledge.
4-The hostel owner reports dropping her at the wooden rail along skyline drive at 6:00 am and that photo has already been posted. Kaiha confirms as well that this is what happened. From there she resumed her journey southbound.
Whether ignorance, misfortune, or simple error... Kaiha agrees that she took a ride from the Rockfish Gap pay station, to town, then back to the guardrail location. Depending on if you use Google earth or the guidebook... this results in skipping the section of skyline drive from the pay station to the guardrail where the trail exits skyline drive to the east. Kaiha vehemently argued that it was illegal to walk on this section of road, so there is no reason to believe she would have attempted to walk it.
Again, it is not critical if it is a quarter mile or half mile between these two points.
This distance was skipped as well.
So even if we were to totally discount what appears to be a very accurate eye-witness account of yellow blazing within Shennandoah Park, Kaiha has inadvertently identified a section of trail that was missed in the course of these two hitches and stands as her own eye-witness to missing this section.
As all but Jenny and Kaiha seem to know- skipping any portion of the official trail invalidates an FKT claim.
So 45.5 miles or .25-.5 miles depending on who you'd like to believe still results in a section of trail missed.
Hitching invalidates any claim to Heather "Anish" Anderson's Self-Supported FKT.
It also ends any further debate regarding support or assistance from Jenny, trail angels leaving her items, etc. There is no possible way to claim a self-supported effort- so no reason to disprove one.
I would mildly (and as damned respectfully as a liar like me can manage) disagree with Mr. Bakwin; unless you added a new category specifically for "thru-hiker style on the AT" Matt Kirk, Heather Anderson and Scott Williamson have clearly set precedents that self-supported hikes on the AT and PCT include the provision "not to enter a vehicle for any reason". If a thru-hiker style record were established, it would be held by Joey Camps- but I believe that issue was settled at that time and this rule/guideline should now be considered standard. If you would like to award Joey the honor, he'd be tickled to the tips of his pink tank top- but even he conceded that it was best to honor those who came before him so I think it best to discount any allowances for vehicles/hitches.
Skipping any portion of the official AT route invalidates any claim to Karl "Speedgoat" Meltzer's Supported FKT.
I invited them to share any claims they would care to make directly with Peter Bakwin who has offered on his site to review it fairly.
Others have also expanded the search and likely could point out other questionable areas. During facebook exchanges today I was shown at least one credible photo not yet posted of a hitch at Newfound Gap, but as sharing facebook names has already caused one trail angel problems I see no reason to do so to another.
There is a gentleman over at Peter Bakwin's site who has put together a fairly good time line based on information gleaned. While I did not review it in depth it appears several sections of trail were covered in exceedingly fast times including what appears to be a claimed 70 MPD pace in the final 9 days.
I suppose that this particular stretch- 9/3-9/5 could be flushed out one day in either direction to counter what would likely be a rebuttal to this information. I would imagine that another section could also be found with similar issues...
Newfound Gap strikes me as a horrible place for someone who thought they were going self-supported to even consider a resupply. But of course is a great place for the average hiker to hitch to town or for a support crew to meet you. If you're ripping off 70's- why not simply resupply at Standing Bear with a day or so of food and nearly one-shot the park and supplement with some snacks at Fontana.
Free country I suppose- but I don't see any reason to go further other than to discourage any future attempts from making a similar claim or to enjoy piecing together a puzzle. Though I think you'll find that whoever put it together the first time around forgot a to put a few pieces in the box and you'll end up frustrated you can't finish it.