AZT speed record

[sirena]

This guy is starting the AZT tomorrow going for a new speed record: http://krudmeister.blogspot.com/2011/04 ... tempt.html

[kingsnake]

Good luck to him! :worthy:

[Tortoise_Hiker]

Good luck too him!

[writelots]

Hope he gets our note at Dan's!

[Sun_Ray]

Thanks for sharing the website address...it was an interesting read.

[te_wa]

looks like he and a buddy hold the overall speed record for the PCT as well. nuts!

( i see he is sponsored by Eagles Nest but i dont see his hammock in a gear list.. )

[sirena]

Here's the outcome from his website:

21 days 14 hours and 16 minutes is the new unsupported speed record of the Arizona Trail. The prior record held by Worldwide set in 2009 was 28 days 27 hours. My record took 7 days 7 hours and 44 minutes off of his time. Oddly enough, Worldwides record almost went unbroken. I had blizzard conditions 5/9 and had it kept snowing I might have had to punch out and call the trip off. I was very lucky the weather gods worked with me on this. I believe my pace is close to 37 miles a day. To keep this pace I had to lay out several 50 mile days, as there is simply too much terrain that is too rough to maintain a 40+ mile a day pace. I can say that I was also fortunate enough to walk blazed/ signed AZT route the entire way from the international border with Mexico/ Sonora to the UT state line. I was also lucky enough to pull it off in the "feet never left the earth" fashion, never using a vehicle for my resupplies, walking to all of them.

He's taking a day or two off, then starting the GET tomorrow. Lucky guy.

[paulhubbard]

28 days 27 hours.

Doesn't that really mean 29 days, 3 hours?

[azbackpackr]

I am not sure if I am impressed by this or not. In talking to backcountry rangers on the PCT/John Muir Trail corridor, they seem to feel strongly that these fast-trackers see almost nothing of what there is to see. So what is the point? Sure, athleticism is nice, I would like to be that fit, it would be great to be that fit. I have nothing against super-fitness. But getting it all over with in a hurry is just is not my cup of tea, I guess. I mean, the reason I prefer backpacking or multiday kayaking to one-day trips is because then I get to stop in the wilderness and hang out for long hours, just doing nothing but gazing around, looking at nature. I am good at just hanging out, I guess.

[cactuscat]

@azbackpackr
I agree completely ... I would rather set the record for taking the longest time, and thoroughly enjoying every minute of it!

[te_wa]

I would rather set the record for taking the longest time

I'm currently holding that record. at this rate, the trail will be owned by China before i finish.

[Al_HikesAZ]

@azbackpackrI agree completely ... I would rather set the record for taking the longest time, and thoroughly enjoying every minute of it!

"There are some good things to say about walking. Not many, but some. Walking takes longer, for example, than any other known form of locomotion except crawling. Thus it stretches time and prolongs life. Life is already too short to waste on speed. I have a friend who’s always in a hurry; he never gets anywhere. Walking makes the world much bigger and therefore more interesting. You have time to observe the details. The utopian technologists foresee a future for us in which distance is annihilated and anyone can transport himself anywhere, instantly. Big deal, Buckminster. To be everywhere at once is to be nowhere forever, if you ask me. That’s God’s job, not ours." Edward Abbey

[krudmeister]

Hello Sirena! Thanks again for the note of support you left for me. That got me fired up. I posted a 3 part vid of the trip over at FSTPKR:
http://krudmeister.blogspot.com/2011/08 ... art-1.html

http://krudmeister.blogspot.com/2011/08 ... d-iii.html

I always argue that I see twice as much as someone going slow as I cover twice the distance in my daily mileage. Since I don't spend much time in town/ resupply I believe I actually spend more time on the trail/ out in the forest. Just my opinion though. I will get up vids for the GET next. That trip turned out really well with over 5.5 hours of HD footage. Tons of wildlife encountered...

[Jeffshadows]

I'm not sure a speed record on a long stretch of trail like this is anything that can *really* be accurately quantified. Have fun anyway! :bigth: