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    • LIhikers wrote:

      Let's see, she has time to go into town to resupply, to stop at hostels to pick up mail drops, and to make videos...I'm having a hard time believing in this "record'. Not only that, but this is the return trip on a yo yo hike, ah, I don't think so. With that said, I've been wrong before.
      Some heave made incredible times on the second leg of a yo yo or the last trail of a two or three trail hike.
      Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
      Dr. Seuss Cof123
    • max.patch wrote:

      i wish nascar races were self supported. i'd love to see the drivers jump out of their car and pump their own gas and change their own tires. win a race like that then ya got something to brag about.
      I've often thought the same about the Tour de France. Used to, they had to change their own tubes, do bike repairs, figure out their own food, etc.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      i wish nascar races were self supported. i'd love to see the drivers jump out of their car and pump their own gas and change their own tires. win a race like that then ya got something to brag about.
      I've often thought the same about the Tour de France. Used to, they had to change their own tubes, do bike repairs, figure out their own food, etc.
      Whether a ride to the park or a multi-day event, I'm responsible for all of the above.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • My opinion of FKT attempts has mellowed over the years. It used to bother me that folks were using the AT as a method to achieve some kind of fame and notoriety for their achievements. Now, I'm more in the camp of "Good for them."

      I met Karl in 2008 as he and one of his friends set out to finish the last 30 miles of the AT on his 1st attempt. At that point, he knew he wasn't going to break the record so he took a minute to chat with me about my push to reach Neels Gap for a Coke and some 'real' food. He didn't introduce himself but I saw his RV in the Mountain Crossings lot and read his blog after my section to make the connection. So good for him to accomplish his goal.

      Kaiha Bertollini's claims intrigued me. My first thought was NFW! Then the cynic in me paused to consider the possibility. It's interesting that her call for corroboration appear to be backfiring. The first example is a report of her getting a hitch from Swift Run Gap in SNP to Waynesboro VA on September 4th then returning to the AT at Rockfish Gap the next morning at 06:00. That's a 45 mile section that was 'allegedly' skipped!

      Of course, one needs to believe the hitchhike claim made by a guy named Billie Beartrap...
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

      The post was edited 1 time, last by StalkingTortoise ().

    • didja ever notice that whenever someone attempts one of these record hikes that internet forums are all cheerleaders hoping they succeed. but for every winner there is a loser; i.e., whoever the current record holder is. so when one roots for the current attempt they are in effect rooting against the current record holder. and how could someone ever root against JPD? (yes, this post is somewhat dated.)

      and on another tangent...whether KB's hike is legit or not -- and its clear to me what the answer is -- the current controversy should result in these hikes requiring an increased level of transparency.
      2,000 miler
    • StalkingTortoise wrote:

      Of course, one needs to believe the hitchhike claim made by a guy named Billie Beartrap...
      i think its kinda funny that post is being used as "proof" when for we know "billie beartrap" could be anyone posting just to stir the pot.

      something else that struck me funny was that according to CSI whiteblaze that the hike was not legit because at the finish she had a fat azz and shaved legs.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      didja ever notice that whenever someone attempts one of these record hikes that internet forums are all cheerleaders hoping they succeed. but for every winner there is a loser; i.e., whoever the current record holder is. so when one roots for the current attempt they are in effect rooting against the current record holder. and how could someone ever root against JPD? (yes, this post is somewhat dated.)

      and on another tangent...whether KB's hike is legit or not -- and its clear to me what the answer is -- the current controversy should result in these hikes requiring an increased level of transparency.
      Yes, I definitely thought of that a number of times. I didn't want Scott to beat JPD and I definitely didn't want Anish to beat Matt. I've met/talked with both Matt and Heather and I would still rather that Matt had the unsupported record.
    • i think it's interesting that "fastest known time" -- the website that has a stake in how this plays out -- has only a handful of posts on this issue and the owner has adopted a wait and see attitude in contrast to POS which is parsing every detail.

      with no "organizing body" i bet that when KB started her hike she had no idea that the "official rules" were housed in an obscure website that i bet she did not know existed until she posted her attempt there approximately halfway thru her hike when someone told her that is what she needed to do.
      2,000 miler
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Grinder wrote:

      That's the first tactic I resort to when someone smokes in an outdoor environment. BAM! Straight to the sexual threats. Filthy smokers.
      Ha ha! I deleted my post, no one knows what you're talking about. :D
      I KNEW I should've quoted you.

      It's okay. No one on here pays any attention to me anyway. :p
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee
    • Grinder wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      Grinder wrote:

      That's the first tactic I resort to when someone smokes in an outdoor environment. BAM! Straight to the sexual threats. Filthy smokers.
      Ha ha! I deleted my post, no one knows what you're talking about. :D
      I KNEW I should've quoted you.
      It's okay. No one on here pays any attention to me anyway. :p
      We do, and now we want to know what the heck y'all are talking about ^^
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
    • SarcasmTheElf wrote:

      Grinder wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      Grinder wrote:

      That's the first tactic I resort to when someone smokes in an outdoor environment. BAM! Straight to the sexual threats. Filthy smokers.
      Ha ha! I deleted my post, no one knows what you're talking about. :D
      I KNEW I should've quoted you.It's okay. No one on here pays any attention to me anyway. :P
      We do, and now we want to know what the heck y'all are talking about ^^
      Sorry but it's classified Tippy Top Secret: Burn (Or Delete) Before Reading. Even the President doesn't get to see this stuff.
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee
    • SarcasmTheElf wrote:

      Grinder wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      Grinder wrote:

      That's the first tactic I resort to when someone smokes in an outdoor environment. BAM! Straight to the sexual threats. Filthy smokers.
      Ha ha! I deleted my post, no one knows what you're talking about. :D
      I KNEW I should've quoted you.It's okay. No one on here pays any attention to me anyway. :P
      We do, and now we want to know what the heck y'all are talking about ^^
      Nothing really, I just didn't want to be a b***h and start nit-picking her other stories.

      I commented that I saw her video last week about smoking at the shelter and the guy threatening her. At the time, I wondered if it was true.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Honestly, I feel sorry for the girl. She's got issues.

      Why didn't she just enjoy hiking the AT, however she wanted to hike it? Why do this?
      When I saw the first video posted before there was even question of her validity, my first thought was...this girl ain't gonna make it, she's about to blow a gasket, and my second thought was, issues out the yang yang.
    • cut n paste for the non facebook people (2 posts as message exceeds 10k characters):

      You want to know how I did it? I got uncomfortable, real uncomfortable. Let me explain the details of my Sobo hike. Earlier this year I left everything and randomly without research found myself walking the AT. I weighed 153 lbs. and I am only 5’3. The biggest I’ve ever been. My first day on the trail I walked 10 miles up Angles Rest just outside Pearisburg, VA going south with basically a stranger in barrowed summer gear. I had no idea what I was doing but I needed to do this and that was all I knew at the time. I was only supposed to walk 630 miles’ home. As we continued to walk I wanted to finish. I had some detours along the way. My step dad had a stroke and I had to take four weeks off to help out my mom. I started back in Harpers Ferry, WV on May 2, 2016. I met my second trail family and I was hiking 24-26 miles in about a 7-9 hour window depending on the terrain. This was still with a heavy pack. At the time I was joking with my friends and kept saying, “Maybe I’ll just yo-yo”. We would laugh, but I started to mean what I was saying. People kept talking about Anish and her story fascinated me. It kept pulling at me. I looked up everything I could. Finally, I got to the Doyle Hotel where they have her name on this board and I kept staring at it. I leaned over to my friend Extra Credit and said, “I think I can do that” and he smiled and said, “I think you could too”. I continued to enjoy my walk to Maine. Laying out with my friends, stopping in every town and enjoying every aspect about the trail, but I also started to obsess about what it would take to do a solo hike in record time. I got rid of everything. My sleeping bag turned into an emergency blanket and the fleece liner Baltimore Jack gave me before he passed. I carried a hammock through Maine and then gave it to a Sobo I met with a leaking tent in Andover, ME. Nothing warm to wear, just the clothes on my back. A water filter. A knife. Food bag with only a day’s worth of food. A protein shake bottle, and smart water bottle. Half of a thermarest sleeping pad. Toothbrush, toilet paper, sanitizer. The end. I was not quiet about what I was doing. I told everyone and got hikers feedback on what they thought I could go without. There were some on my Nobo who would hear of my intentions and stop talking to me. There were others who were excited and energized me. For the first time in my life people weren’t telling me I couldn’t do it, they were telling me they believed I could. And I believed I could too. Shortly after that I went to a festival in Vernon, NJ. I met people who lived on a farm and they invited us to stay for a few days once we got to New York. I had been walking on an injured foot, and against the good advice of my friends continued to do so, did I mention I am stubborn? So, I ended up with a mid-foot sprain and torn ligaments from over use. The farm housed me for almost five weeks until I could walk again. This farm had helped me so much, so had the trail, and I wanted to give back to it in a big way. So I created hike for our lives to try and raise money for it and for Freedom 2 Fit. I wanted my website to be a place where other victims of trauma could not only share their stories and be heard but as be a bridge that connected them positive ways to heal from their PTSD. We never did raise that much money and mostly my friends would donate $10-$20 so I could eat. Late July I had finally made it to Andover, Maine and I was hiking big miles, and taking a rest day and repeat to try and get used to what that would look like. When I got to Pine Ellis and turned my phone off air plane mode. I learned my friend back home wasn’t doing so well in hospice. I had a choice, go home and try to make it or start my sobo self-supported hike and try to make it. After speaking with our mutual friend, I skipped the last 240 miles of my Nobo hike and on Aug 3rd arrived in Millinocket, ME. I remember laying on the floor of the lodge and counting my bruises, wondering if I would become emaciated like Anish, I had only lost 10 lbs. this entire time. I thought of Derrick dying alone of throat cancer. My dog that I missed and the stress my mother was under due to its presence in her home. I thought about all the women and men who have ever said no and were not heard. I thought about my own story and how for once in my life I was going to finish one thing that I started for myself. No matter what, I knew I could walk the trail in under 90 days. I walked/ran for 15-20 hours a day. I was hitting town so fast I stopped carrying more food than I needed to. I ate real food in town or would smash pizza at the hostels I passed, charge my phone and keep going. The problem with this is my stomach started shrinking. I couldn’t eat plates of food like I could before and I couldn’t carry the weight and my miles a day were dropping. I was starting to hit walls at 46 miles a day.
      2,000 miler
    • In the SNP I missed judge my food and I ran out. I had walked for 28 hours straight and was starting to nod off as I walked. Something I haven’t experienced since Basic Training. I needed to eat and I had no food. There was nowhere to go but Waynesboro, VA which is 6 miles off trail and you have to get there by highway. I had to hitch, I had no other option. A man and his very cute son picked me up and took me to the hostel. I even let his son take a picture of me. I did not hide this from anyone. I ate, I slept and was dropped back at Rock Fish gap where I was picked up. I do not know why this man is saying he gave me a ride 50 plus miles ahead and I can’t prove that he is lying. Seems some have made up their minds to believe him and that is okay. I didn’t just put myself through the most intense emotional pain for those people. I did it to show the world you can do anything, if you want to, but you have to want to. I didn’t carry tampons and free bled the one time I had a period looking like a lunatic for nothing. The chaff this caused was almost unbearable, I kept walking through it. My friend died and so did my baby cousin who I will never get to meet. With a heavy heart I walked into Andover, ME again and took a zero. It was a rainy day. I met a group of nobos and sobos and gave away more of my gear and food and got more feedback of we we all thought was possible. I did not get to say goodbye to them for nothing. My mail drops my friend sent me contained chia seeds, protein powder, jerky, candy, trail mix, and $40-$60 bucks in every box. Waiting on the boxes cut into my time, so I eventually told him to stop sending them. My last mail drop box would be at Mnt. Harbor B&B right before Roan Mnt. It was too much weight and I just ended up giving the food away anyways. It was a dry season. But my miles were so big that I never went without water or the food I needed for the most part. I knew where to go and where not to go because I had just spent almost six months walking the trail with a few places missed here and there on what I like to call my broken flip-flop (Nobo hike). My body no longer hurt the way it used to. Hoka donated the 4 pairs of shoes I needed to complete my hike. Zpacks sent a 6oz bivy to keep the bugs away at night. I only had to walk through rain three times and then my very last day from Blood Mnt shelter to Springer in GA I got hammered with rain. Soaked and the only thing I could do to keep from going hypothermic was keep moving. Everything in my pack was wet. Luckily, I had nothing of value in my pack, except my phone and notes from friends of encouragement that I read every morning or when I started to feel sorry for myself. Anyone who knows me, knows I’ve never cared too much about the details. I am an initiator and let others fill in the gaps for me. People squabble, and I take action and do. I am going to die one day and I don’t care for anyone’s gossip or petty games. Some think this makes me rude, luckily I don’t care what others think. For 45 days I have walked day and night. I have barely slept. I have gone without any form of comfort except from the few times I got to speak with other small groups of sobos who fed me their energy so I could keep going. Physically I am tired but I still feel strong. I lost a total of 20 lbs. from Jan to Sep and for those of you who do not think I am skinny enough, you have a warped perception of what an Athlete should look like. You can’t body shame me or make me take back my claim. I walked every step of that trail and if you want to argue that my one hitch into town somehow makes my hike supported, it doesn’t matter because last I checked, I beat that time too. I did not just go through all that for nothing and I will not retract my claim. I am a person, who has lived her life the best she could. I am an open book which often leaves me open for attacks on my character, that’s fine. I will not stop having integrity because you guys don’t like my answers or my truth, it doesn’t make it any less true and I will continue to live and love well doing my part to be a positive impact in this world instead of a miserable one. So for anyone out there who has never gone on a long distant hike please continue to cast about your make believe and nonsense of what it takes. I’ll out hike you any day. Some think I hike fast, I consider myself average with a walking pace of 3-3.5 miles an hour depending on the terrain. Somedays I was faster, somedays I was slower, but I didn’t stop and when I did it gave me the reprieve I needed to keep going. What Karl did was amazing. I wish I could run like that and do those miles in less time. I would have been able to sleep more. I have no doubt in my mind someone could run that trail in 40 days if they were willing to get real uncomfortable and maybe Karl could have if he cut into the hours he slept. I am not trying to be disrespectful of anyone. I also will not retract my claim. I put my heart and soul if they exist into this project and everyone is just going to have to deal with the fact that a woman, with only military training, a past of trauma that has made me hard as nails, and a big ass heart walked the Appalachian Trail in record time with only herself, and trail magic along the way. And if you want more proof than the people who’ve seen and met me, and the dozens of pictures, and the few video’s I was able to make, put a camera, spot device, and new pair of shoes in my hand and I’ll show the world how you walk all day and night.
      2,000 miler
    • And that folks is what we like to call "doubling down".

      So the hitch from Swift Run Gap at ~11:00 and the arrival at the Waynesboro hostel at noon must be a fabrication. In Ninja reality, there was only a short hitch from Rockfish Gap to Waynesboro and a return early the next morning.

      I'm very familiar with the Route 33 through Rockfish Gap and even more familiar with Route 250 between Rockfish Gap and Waynesboro. To me, there's no confusing the long drive from Swift Run Gap to Waynesboro with the very short trip from Rockfish Gap. And Billie Beartrap seems to have no problem recalling the hour long drive...

      The other thing I found interesting is that all of the people she met got an earful about her FKT hike. Ol' Billie Beartrap said that she never mentioned it. It would make sense to keep the FKT thing quiet if your plan was to skip 45 miles of the AT and eventually call for witnesses to corroborate your claim.

      I have no doubts that she hiked fast and hard. There are enough witnesses that saw her in the northern and central parts of SNP before the alleged hitch from Swift Run Gap. The question is - how many other times did she leave the trail and return at a more favorable location? :?:
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • Let me pile on for a sec.

      Stumbled upon this blog laststumble.blogspot.com/ no pun intended, by our subject, Kaiha Bertollini. I'll point out a post entitled Real Life where she writes, "I will never have another child. Don’t get me wrong, I love my daughter, but f**k that". Completely out of context, but I'll let you fill that in.

      So my question is, where is the child in this year long trail experience? Did i miss the part where she talks about her kid in all this?