Tough Week For Hikers In Maine
Maine is a tough place to hike – and many expereienced backcountry explorers know that, but this week was exceptionally merciless. On Tuesday, two women and their dog were rescued at dusk on a backcountry trail at Roque Bluffs State Park, then as they headed home the true tragedy struck. The Kennebec Journal reports…
“Two women hikers who had been rescued after getting lost at Roque Bluffs State Park on Tuesday night drowned in their minivan a short while later apparently after taking a wrong turn while trying to leave the park and driving off a boat ramp into the ocean. The women were found in the back seat, probably because the van would have sunk front-end first, and the back would have been the last area to fill with water. The dog, a pit bull mix, also died. It’s possible the van’s electric windows and automatic door locks stopped working once the minivan was submerged.”
One of the women was five months pregnant, which makes this event especially tragic.
View from Sugarloaf Mountain, near Carrabassett Valley, Maine
And if that isn’t enough … a 66 year old Appalachian Trail thru-hiker went missing near Sugarloaf Ski Resort in Maine and has yet to be found. A 130+ volunteer search party is currently combing the area looking for the missing women:
“Search crews spent Friday looking for a missing hiker behind Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley. Geraldine Largay 66 is missing along a stretch of Maine’s Appalachian Trail. Game Wardens believe she spent Tuesday night inside a trail-side shelter with another hiker but no one has seen nor heard from her since. Rangers in aircraft wardens and volunteers on foot spent a second straight day searching a roughly 25-square-mile section of the Appalachian Trail. They are pretty sure Largay of Brentwood Tenn. somehow veered off the trail. Largay’s husband George last saw his wife Sunday morning near Rangeley when he met her to drop off supplies. He had planned on meeting her along Route 27 near Carrabassett Valley Tuesday evening.” From WMTM News 8
Even Hollywood Stars “Rock” Each Other's Backpacks
It seems that even Hollywood movie stars get their backpacks “rocked” by mischevious friends. During the filming of Monuments Men which also stars John Goodman and Bill Murray, Actor George Clooney tricked his 'Monuments Men' co-star Matt Damon in to carrying a backpack that was filled with rocks during a gruelling hiking scene.
Realbollywood.com reports that per Clooney's request the props guys filled Matt's backpack with solid metal bricks, which weighed about 50 pounds:
“The other people's packs had lightweight padding but Clooney told them to act as if they felt super heavy.
By the end of the day Damon was sweating profusely and after the scenes were canned, he dropped his pack, opened it and everyone burst out laughing when the metal bricks tumbled out. (ANI)”
So apparently you don't have to be a backpacker to enjoy that gag. What's up next … the old “left handed smoke shifter” trick?
Nicely played, George!
Reese Witherspoon Set To Star In Wild, A Story Of Discovery On The Pacfic Crest Trail
Wild, a best-selling book of Cheryl Strayed’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail is about to become a movie staring Reese Withersoon. HollywoodReporter.com reports that …
“Fox Searchlight has acquired worldwide rights to Wild, a screen adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling memoir that will star Reese Witherspoon. The film is scheduled to begin production in the late fall once a director is chosen and will be overseen by Fox Searchlight Pictures president of production Claudia Lewis and senior vp production David Greenbaum.”
Photo by: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
The book recounts how Strayed, after the dissolution of her marriage and the death of her mother, decided to a hike a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, alone. It rocketed to fame and became a New York Times best-seller with help from Ophra Winfrey’s book club. It is the second major film that has been optioned after a major U.S. long distance hiking trail.
You might recall from earlier this year that Robert Redford decided to direct and co-star in an adaptation of Bill Bryson’s A Walk In The Woods that chronicles his adventures on the Appalachian Trail. The project was originally set to start filming this year but has yet to begin production.
Thru-hiking circles frequently note that neither author actually completed these 2000+ mile National Scenic Trails, but sometimes the best trail tales are those with unfinished business.
Thus Marks The Official Re-Launch Of YourHikes!!!
The Member Forums just went live today, and thus marks the official relaunch of YourHikes!
Thanks for your patience while we moved servers and upgraded the site to PHP. We hope you notice and like the changes.
I’ll provide an official “what’s new” list of all the changes to the site in another posting. But if you notice anything that needs fixing … please let us know.
BirdShooter
The John Muir Trail documentary movie – free thanks to PBS and UNC-TV
Just heard about this documentary that was shot on the John Muir Trail. It’s #1 on my list of long trails to do and traverses some spectacular scenery in Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks.
The DVD was released in April 2012 and follows a group of students from the Southeast as they walk the 220 mile Trail in the High Sierra of California.
But you can watch it here for free … thanks to PBS and UNC-TV:
Watch High Sierra – A Journey on the John Muir Trail on PBS. See more from WUNC.
Or you can listen to a podcast that I did with the Helmet and Doughgirl about the John Muir Trail. They thru-hiked the JMT in 2006 and talk about their preparations, planning, logistics, gear and favorite stops on the trip.
Hike Naked Day Comes A Month Early
Traditionally, “Hike Naked Day” is celebrated on the summer solstice (June 21st) on the hiking trails of North America. After all – it marks the longest, and sometimes hottest, day of the year. So why not go “a la natural”. Well apparently Taylor Powers, a University of Colardo undergrad, got a month jump on the annual event. She was arrested this past weekend, high on mushrooms and hiking totally naked in Chautauqua Park near Boulder, CO with two friends. Fox 31- Denver, the local affiliate reports:
” Those in need of rescue rarely fight off emergency responders, but such was the case with a 21-year-old student who had stripped naked after getting high on mushrooms and going into a state of distress in the Boulder Flatirons Sunday night.
It took about 35 personnel from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office about an hour to successfully restrain Taylor Powers. When they were finally able to do so, she was transported to Boulder Community Hospital, where she was treated an released.”
But someone said it best when they commented that ….
“Sure you or I call for a cop and we're lucky if one shows up in a half hour but a call for a naked coed comes in and 35 rescue personnel show up within a few minutes. Thirty-five!”
True dat. Bring on hike naked day!
Tragedy at Trail Days!
The annual Appalachian Trail Days festival was disrupted this past weekened when a vehicle plowed in to a crowd watching the hiker parade as it passed down the main street of town. Some people were trapped under the car and seriously injured and flown to nearby hospitals. Here’s a recap from USA Today:
“DAMASCUS, Va. (AP) — About 50 to 60 people were injured Saturday when a driver described by witnesses as an elderly man drove his car into a group of hikers marching in a parade in a small Virginia mountain town.
Washington County director of emergency management Pokey Harris said no fatalities had been reported.
The injuries ranged from critical to superficial, he said. Three of the victims were flown by helicopters to regional hospitals. Another 12 to 15 were taken by ambulance. The rest were treated at the scene.
“The status of the driver wasn’t released. Multiple witnesses described him as an elderly man.
Authorities are still investigating, but Harris said they believe the man might have suffered a medical emergency before the accident.
It happened around 2:30 p.m. during the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line about a half-hour drive east of Bristol.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/18/car-strikes-parade/2319279/
How Mark Sanford Can Settle Up With The Appalachian Trail
By now you’ve heard that Mark Sanford was re-elected this week to South Carolina’s First Congressional District after beating Elizabeth Colbert Busch 54 to 45 percent and winning all five counties in the State in a special election.
As you likely recall, then-Governor Sanford disappeared from office for six days in June 2009 to spend time, and arguably the State’s money, visiting a mistress in Argentina. (His office claimed that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.)
But what irks we Appalachian Trail folk is that his name is forever connected with the A.T. And he’s likely never even hiked it.
So here’s a few suggestions on how Mark Sanford can right this wrong:
1. Donate to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC)- $10K+
2. Fight in Congress for more funding for the ATC
3. Attend Trail Days, let hikers throw pies in his face ($3 each), and give the donations to the ATC
4. Actually thru-hike the A.T. which will be amedia feeding frenzy (much like this election) and allow him to raise even more money for the ATC (or any long distance trail for that matter)
Anyway you look at it – Mark Sanford owes the ATC. Time to deliver like you did at the polls, Mark Sanford!
ANNUAL PACIFIC CREST TRAIL KICK-OFF EVENT: APRIL 26 – 28
It is ADZPCTKO time again. April 26 – 28, hundreds of PCT hikers, trail angels, and friends of the trail will gather at Lake Morena. Here are a photo from the 2012 Kick-Off. On both Friday and Saturday evenings this year, stories from The Pacific Crest Trailside Readers will be read (Liz Bergeron will read Walkin’ Jim Stoltz’s “Out on the Crest Trail” and Russ Mease will read “Facing My Fears on Three-Fingered Jack” on Friday and Ryan Forsythe will read “Sometimes They Come Back” on Saturday).
Hot of his 2012 Appalachian Trail thru-hike, 30 Pack will be at Lake Morena as he takes on the Pacific Crest Trail this year! Best Wishes 30-Pack!!!
30-Pack's podcast with N2Backpacking….
Appalachian Trail Virus Runs Rampant In North Carolina
There is a virus running rampant in shelters on the Appalachian Trail in western North Carolina. Not the best place to come down with a stomach bug!!!
No Business Knob Shelter
Press release from the U.S. Forest Service. Spokesman Stevin Westcott said he is unsure how long it will be before the virus subsides.
HOT SPRINGS — Hikers may want to avoid sections of the Appalachian Trail near Hot Springs, N.C., especially the stretch running north to the Tennessee border. A number of hikers have been sickened by a severe, 24-hour stomach virus that is being passed between hikers. Shelters to avoid include No Business Knob, Big Bald and Hogback Ridge. A section of the Appalachian Trail runs through the Appalachian Ranger District, Pisgah National Forest, to the north and south of Hot Springs.