7,401 miles / 30 miles per day"
Hikers everywhere, it's time to celebrate a true, enviable accomplishment by one of our own. On 10/26/01, 40 year old Brian Robinson of San Jose became the first person to traverse the USA's premiere National Scenic Trails in a single calendar year. "Flyin" Brian averaged about 30 miles per day, hiking from sunup to nightfall, eating peanut butter and Snickers bars to keep up his weight, and obviously practicing amazing feats (no pun intended) of first aid on his feet. Brian had to deal with waist-deep snow, and more than a million feet of elevation gain, as well the loneliness of solo backpacking. He also suffered six weeks of Bell's palsy, an affliction that caused the left side of his face to become paralyzed. Boots? No, he went through seven pair of running shoes. He maintained such a consistently fast pace that few other hikers he encountered could keep up; thus he heightened his own isolation.
Only a couple dozen people have ever done all three trails in a lifetime, let alone a single year, and only two persons have ever traversed two. Brian began on January 1, 2001 at the southern end of the 2,168 mile long Appalachian Trail, but had to break off in April due to snow. He headed west, where he completed the PCT's 2,645 mile Mexico to Canada trek in 84 days, then hit the 2,588 mile Continental Divide Trail. That done, "Flyin" Brian returned to the Appalachian Trail, where he'd left off, and finished his awesome feat with his ascent of Mount Katahdin in Maine.
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