Congratulations to him on completing his Appalachian Trail thru-hike!!!

I greeted him at the foot of Springer Mtn, GA with a champagne toast!!

also, here's a pic of him with the Springer sign, that marks the southern end of the AT

12/8/2008 6:28:29 PM

first

g fucking g sir.

12/8/2008 6:29:25 PM

seriously, congrats!

12/8/2008 6:29:29 PM

That's awesome.

12/8/2008 6:29:33 PM

congrats dude!

12/8/2008 6:30:15 PM

nice! total days? and he's very very very scruffy!

12/8/2008 6:30:28 PM

congrats erik!

12/8/2008 6:32:00 PM

very impressive

12/8/2008 6:33:05 PM

Miles per day?

12/8/2008 6:33:31 PM

That's roughly 2,170 miles more than I've hiked.

12/8/2008 6:34:00 PM

whatever, i've probably walked like 2k miles by now

I'm Big Business and i approved this message.

12/8/2008 6:34:10 PM

nice

12/8/2008 6:35:46 PM

nice

12/8/2008 6:35:46 PM

We started on July 1. I hiked the first 500 miles with him.

12/8/2008 6:35:49 PM

five months ain't bad at all

12/8/2008 6:37:27 PM

gg sir!

are you going back to school or have a job waiting? else welcome to the real world

12/8/2008 6:38:22 PM

That's of the chain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaMbWUobY5A

12/8/2008 6:38:31 PM

I hope in a couple of years I'm able to make this same thread about myself, but someone would probably just come in and post [old]

12/8/2008 6:40:40 PM

1. did he do the ice cream thing at the end?
2. what was his trail name?

12/8/2008 6:41:33 PM

wow! I don't know what was a bigger accomplishment, hiking the Trail or getting Woodfoot out of hiding

1. The ice cream thing you're talking about is probably the Half Gallon Challenge, which is where you eat a half gallon of ice cream when you cross a store at the approximate halfway point of the Trail. Yes, he did do it and it was Peanut Butter Swirl ice cream, one of the most difficult flavors to complete!

2. His trail name was Godzilla.

12/8/2008 6:50:29 PM

chin fucking chin old boy.

12/8/2008 6:53:49 PM

wait, i just realized he went north -> south

nevermind....

12/8/2008 6:56:15 PM

Did he find BIGFOOT?

12/8/2008 6:57:23 PM

but Woodfoot, whichever direction you go ... the halfway point is still in the same spot

I don't see how there could be anything involving ice cream for ppl who finish on Katahdin. there's no electricity for 15 miles or so, ice cream is hardly even possible there

12/8/2008 7:01:06 PM

why did you go when it was so damn cold

12/8/2008 7:09:55 PM

he started when it was warm

12/8/2008 7:10:39 PM

Quote :

"That's of the chain"

OF

THE

CHAIN

12/8/2008 7:11:18 PM

congrats

12/8/2008 7:14:29 PM

Quote :

"but Woodfoot, whichever direction you go ... the halfway point is still in the same spot"

oh i know

i was talking about a different ice cream thing, the sundae summit

it isn't actually on Katahdin, but at a restaurant not too far away....

its something like 14 scoops and a ton of toppings...

12/8/2008 7:22:41 PM

CONGRATS DOZA

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU IN SALISBURY

12/8/2008 7:33:53 PM

So how does this work? Do you sleep out in the boonies every night? Take showers in streams? Catch your own food?

12/8/2008 8:59:57 PM

Did you start in NC climb north and then come all the way down to the bottom?

That's insano

12/8/2008 9:03:32 PM

get that mother fucker a razor

12/8/2008 9:05:26 PM

Nerdchick

[words]

I was met with kisses, champagne, crackers and goat cheese which served as an "excellent pairing". Britta has been my biggest fan and has made sure my hike went smoothly. I can't thank her enough.

Props to adam8778 and Hurley for visiting up in boone and showing me a good time as well.

Thanks t-dubers!!!!

i'm not able to load pictures at the time, but the final few to be added when i can in here in the other thread.

I struck the summit with a gorgeous sunset (picture coming soon). It was windy and cold, but none of that mattered. I sounded my marina air horn and just sat for a while, enjoying the view. Cant really explain how it felt...bitter sweet, but hitting the summit hailed in comparison to the times spent in camp, on the trail and in the towns with and without the people i met.

"Total days?" ...ummm 5 months. July 1st - december 6th

"miles per day"... This varied, but the shortest was a 5 and longest was a 31. I pulled almost all 20s through lower new england through Virginia. Seems like a lot, but when all you do is hike all the time, you get good at it and have the endurance to just go without stopping. I'd have time for rippin fires in camp, time for breaks, food, and identifying trees. I pulled a handful of 30s, but those were mostly to make deadlines i set for myself which were either catching up with sobos or camping right before town.

"are you going back to school or have a job waiting?"

No school, but maybe grad school in the future. I wanna give the world a shot and no, no job waiting. Currently looking, but i will hopefully be able to work at an outfitter for a little bit for positive cash flow and to get good deals on gear....hiking the AT only made me hungrier for adventure....i wanna give moutaineering a shot as well as look into other trails...PCT being the one in particular. I plan on getting a "real" job with a 401k (not that it would be all that in these times) and health benefits. If i learned one thing about this trail it's that hard work pays off...everyone wants to succeed, and i want to in a profession.

Oh, you damn right Joie...Fuckin Salisbury is gonna have razor butt after we are through with it....Cant wait to hang out with yall....It can only be a great weekend with all the good ol boys in town...I saw a special on cheerwine and apparently there's a pharmacy that sells cheerwine merchandise

[words/]



[Edited on December 8, 2008 at 9:28 PM. Reason : been a while]

12/8/2008 9:20:15 PM

Quote :

"So how does this work? Do you sleep out in the boonies every night? Take showers in streams? Catch your own food?"

yes, i slept out in the "boonies" every night, sometimes at shelters and sometimes camping. I stayed in hostels along the way...i'd say about 8 or 9. showers...you're kidding, right? I didnt have to catch my food...it was nice and still at the grocery or general store.

haha, no, i didnt yo-yo the trail, Kiwi...I was MEGA...maine to Georgia.

[Edited on December 8, 2008 at 9:31 PM. Reason : h]

12/8/2008 9:25:40 PM

goddamn after hiking for 2174 miles,
i'm sure the champagne toast was just what he wanted.

12/8/2008 9:28:52 PM

I have hiked that far...


over the past 15 years.

12/8/2008 9:34:29 PM

Champagne is exactly what i wanted...Don't worry though, we hit up the Waffle King first thing.

12/8/2008 9:35:08 PM

Do people generally bring guns on the AT?

12/8/2008 9:37:10 PM

Did you lose body fat?

12/8/2008 9:39:06 PM

Nope. I didnt meet a single person that brought a gun. you're safe from animals if you arent a complete idiot and safe from humans. No one wants to hike to commit a homicide although there have been a couple freak murders on the trail.

I don't weigh much to begin with, but i sure did...i'm skinny as fuck with only muscle in my legs pretty much. Just can't offset the calories you burn, no matter how much you eat.

[Edited on December 8, 2008 at 9:42 PM. Reason : d]

12/8/2008 9:40:51 PM

Excuse my total ignorance about hiking...I've been camping before (one night at a time) but never any kind of serious hiking.

What do you do when you have to take a dump? Dig a hole? Do you use leaves or do you bring a roll of toilet paper with you?

How do you keep the inside of your thighs from chaffing together?


Pretty sweet that you did something like this. I would probably have to bring my camera plus a few lenses...

[Edited on December 8, 2008 at 10:04 PM. Reason : ]

12/8/2008 10:03:03 PM

i'd have been at waffle king eating like a motherfucker while getting a bj

12/8/2008 10:04:56 PM

that's awesome. i wish i had the gumption to tackle something like that.

12/8/2008 10:09:35 PM

He just went to vegas for a couple weeks and showed up at the end.

12/8/2008 10:10:56 PM

WOW! So amazing! gg!!!!

12/8/2008 10:15:28 PM

congrats

12/8/2008 10:17:02 PM

^lol...funny you say that. i would periodically get messages from one of my buds saying that the gigs up. I need to come home from boone, stop playing my canned heat records, quit my job at hungry howies and stop hanging out with hippies.

Quote :

"Excuse my total ignorance about hiking...I've been camping before (one night at a time) but never any kind of serious hiking. What do you do when you have to take a dump? Dig a hole? Do you use leaves or do you bring a roll of toilet paper with you? How do you keep the inside of your thighs from chaffing together? "

no need to excuse yourself. LOL...Shitting in the woods was always....well, an experience. But yeah, you dig a hole (or you're supposed to) around 6 inches, shit in it and bury it. Some people mix it in with the dirt with a stick and what not, but not me. This is more info then you probably want, but i always thought it would be funny if someone stumbled upon me taking a shit. i would dig a hole next to a tree, close enough so that i could sit with my back against the tree...or sometimes i would face a small diameter tree, hold onto it, lean back and drop it. Those were just my ways...you are only limited by your imagination. As far as toilet paper. I wouldnt bring a whole roll because it took up too much space and i didnt need that much. I would just grab enough in town for around 4.2 shits.

i never had any chaffing problems, but i know people wore biking shorts.

12/8/2008 10:20:57 PM

Quote :

"I didnt have to catch my food...it was nice and still at the grocery or general store."

you didn't do mail drops?

12/8/2008 10:23:01 PM

Erik, that is SO awesome! I remember how excited you were to go last semester when I saw you at the Symposium. That's really something to be proud of! Congratulations!

12/8/2008 10:23:47 PM