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This story has more twists than... the AT through SNP! Scott Jenkins, 2000-miler and owner of the Mountain Home Hostel in Front Royal posted his support of the Ninja on his hostel's facebook page along with a picture of them at the hostel on the morning of September 3rd. And without realizing it, he contradicted the Ninja's claims. At first, the Ninja said she did a 53 mile day from Front Royal to the Bearfence shelter, rolling in at 22:30 and looking forward to six hours of sleep. Then when the…

Wow. And the scary part is that I am currently in training on how to collect and analyze data to spot those type of anomalies. Moral of the story is: Don't carry electronic tracking devices if you plan on cheating. The electrons will find their way into the truth. For the Ninja, the utter lack of GPS data points means the analysis will be reliant on eyewitness sightings along the trail and corroboration with her social media posts - many of which have disappeared (like a ninja into the night). E…

Quote from mental note: “Either way that relationship reeks of co-dependency... ” That was my thought, although I used the term 'symbiotic parasites'. They need each other, and they both feed off of others. The Meatball needs a fragile Ninja so she can function as a promoter, handler and fund raiser, as well as share in the alleged achievement. Think Don King. The Ninja needs a Meatball to serve as her mouthpiece, discredit the doubters, and keep pushing for donations. They both need outsiders t…

Yep - I tried to load the page to see if there was anything to moderate and got the Go Daddy Expiration screen. If the site gets renewed, I'd appreciate if someone would let me know as all new members have their posts placed in 'purgatory' until they are reviewed and approved. And since I'm the only one with moderation powers that still visits the site, I'm the only one who can approve them. Not that it kept me too busy the past couple of years.

Quote from JimBlue: “But that still means many hikes aren't verified that don't know about those methods. ” There are thru-hikes and there are FKT attempts. The Ninja is claiming the FKT record, not that she just hiked the trail. Big difference. And she's using her feat to solicit donations that go to her personal bank account. Quote from THE Wild Card Ninja via facebook: “People kept talking about Anish and her story fascinated me. It kept pulling at me. I looked up everything I could. ” Appare…

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 t…

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' …

North Mississippi Allstars - Goat Meat Ain't fit to eat.

Quote from Astro: “Plan is Hanover, NH to Stratton, ME in July. That is mile 2000, leaving 189 to summit in July 2018. ” How long have you been at it? It has to be sweet seeing the end in sight.

Quote from LIhikers: “I suspect we'll be hiking Rangeley, Maine to someplace north of there. It's way too soon for us to make plans. ” Ha! Sox and I are already picking the dates for our 2017 spring hike. 99 miles from Sams Gap (I-26) to Dennis Cove Road. Then Franconia Notch to Crawford Notch over the summer. And if we keep the families happy through the year, we might even get to complete Pinkham Notch to Gorham in September.

IMG_0048-L.jpg IMG_0047-L.jpg As I walked up to the house, Bill came out and said "You must be Stalking Tortoise." He explained that Smoking Sox had just left before inviting me inside and handing me an ice cream treat. Unfortunately, I was totally wiped out that afternoon and didn't ask Bill more about his life. From Sox, I learned that Bill enjoyed overseas travel and that we probably had tread on some common ground outside the U.S. That ice cream and water were the only things that got me up …

Quote from Astro: “Mt. Moosilauke looks like a pretty steep climb. ” The climb from the south is only steep in a few spots. It's just sustained for the 3.9 miles. We took breaks every 500'. The climb from the north is very steep through the first 1.5 miles. Then there are just a few remaining short steep sections. We're debating taking a full week next summer to finish most of NH or just do the 2 - 4 day notch-to-notch sections when we have time.

We stopped for a minute to admire the view of the Kinsmans and the Franconia Ridge. RIMG0509-M.jpg That made up for hiking across the Kinsmans in the clouds a few weeks ago. Now for the fun part - the descent. Again, here's the photographic summary. RIMG0511-M.jpg RIMG0514-M.jpg RIMG0516-M.jpg RIMG0517-M.jpg RIMG0515-M.jpg RIMG0518-M.jpg The cascades of Beaver Brook were beautiful. Many NOBO hikers complete a reverse slack-pack of this section so that they can ascend steeply along the cascades t…

Day 2 - Sunday September 4th Unlike yesterday, we needed to get an early start based on the difficulty of the hike. My alarm went off at 05:30 and we were on our way by 06:00. Sox's youngest son Adam joined us for the day so he could bag another 4000 footer. Sox also brought Maggie the Wonder Hiking Dog since she enjoyed herself on yesterday's hike. And unlike yesterday, today was my birthday. Standing on the summit of Moosilauke was going to be a sweet present to myself. We dropped a car off in…

20160903_121134-M.jpg Mrs. Tortoise, Maggie the Wonder Hiking Dog, Mrs. Sox, Izzy the Pulling Pointer, Energizer Bunny and Stalking Tortoise There weren't many highlights in this section except the summit of Mt. Mist. Sox and Energizer Bunny celebrated accordingly. EB hadn't hiked with us since 2010 so it was nice to have him along today. 20160903_132416-M.jpg Finally, a viewpoint appeared just after the summit. And it was a good one with a clear view of Moosilauke, our goal for Sunday. 20160903…

Background Back in 2013, my hiking partner Smoking Sox and I were completing a Section from the Connecticut River in Hanover to NH Route 25C. On the climb to the Smarts Mountain fire tower, my body told me that it had no interest in hiking all the way to Route 25C when Route 25A was five miles closer. I listened to my body, but then had to listen to Smoking Sox remind me that I was five miles behind him over the last three years. This section hike gave me the opportunity to catch up and link up …

Nice reading your reports from Maine. Smoking Sox and I are saving Maine for last, but I did start laying our some potential section hikes just to see how many trips we would need. Took my dog out for her first hike last weekend - she wanted to jump in a stagnant beaver pond...

Nice pic, Coach Lou! I did hear something crashing through the woods on Friday but couldn't see any fur.

Day 2: Saturday July 23rd Last April, I met a NOBO thru in Tennessee named North Star. He spent a night with me as he passed through PA and completed his hike on Sunday July 24th. When he hiked this section, he reported that the climb up to South Kinsman was one of the toughest miles on the AT. I knew it wouldn't be easy, and I hoped that a good night's sleep and a short day yesterday would make it a bit more tolerable. The overnight storms left the roots and rocks wet & slippery, but they also …

Background Sox and I have been itching to get into the Whites and knock off some of the tougher sections of the remaining portions of the AT. Our original plan was to head north from NH Route 25A but Sox's youngest son wanted to join us and do an overnight. Completing a notch-to-notch hike seemed like more of a challenge than day-hiking Moosilauke. So I jumped in the car, drove 8 hours north, and met up with Sox and his son Adam on a Thursday afternoon. Day 1: Friday July 22nd We drove over to F…