Appalachian Trail

[Just bill]

Also, if waysides are open...

Much like hot dog stand- Why not crash out on the porch until they open and resupply? Even if timing was bad, seems better than a hitch if as she claims this was truly the first and only hitch of the whole attempt.

Worst case you lose 12 hours waiting (not to mention you get beer) Much better than the 30 hours spent at the hostel, not to mention sleeping in the bushes is free and hostels and shuttles don't fit the shoestring budget.

Not to mention the two she passed. And yes, how many very average thrus do a "wayside" or lodge challenge and carry zero food or supplies in the park.

LOFT MOUNTAIN WAYSIDE (MILE 79.5)

Groceries, camping, and hiking supplies are available a Loft Mountain Wayside, also the place for a large Shenandoah gift shop. (Campstore is located near the campground.)
Open mid-April through early-November
Daily: 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Wayside 2016 season ends Nov 6, 10:00 a.m.
Campstore – Open mid-May through October
Sunday through Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Campstore 2016 season ends Oct 30, 12:00 p.m.

[Peter Bakwin]

At this point I suggest we quit speculating and either post factual info or wait for her trip report & photos.

[thompsoniac]

Strava has Swift Run at 40 miles from Rockfish on the Skyline drive.

Billie's receipt has a time stamp from the national park at Rockfish Gap at 10:47

The speed limit on the skyline drive is 35mph

The video of Kaiha getting out of the car is time-stamped 11:06

The drive from gap to gap therefore took 68.5 minutes. And the time from the pay station to the time of the video was 19 minutes. That's 87.5 minutes total.
This puts them leaving Swift Run Gap at 9:38 am.

And then Billie posts this:
"I am the man that hitched you. You know where I picked you up. Look, no one needs my testimony to disprove this fantastic claim. We talked about a lot of stuff for the near hour in my truck. Why did you fail to mention you were making a record attempt? This is the weirdest, most incredulous, embarrassing, shameful and creepy thing I've ever been a part of. I did you a favor. You are now trying to take advantage of me. Screw that."

Shouldn't that sentence read:
"We talked about a lot of stuff for the near hour and a half in my truck." ?

This is key because he is not just mentioning time frame, he is specifically emphasizing time frame in order to better state his point.
The point is that they (supposedly) spent a lot of time together in Billie's truck.
And it somehow annoyed him that she did not mention her intentions of a speed record.
And he was illustrating how annoyed he was by pointing out just how much time they spent together talking, without her bringing up her record intent.
And if they had spent 1.5 hours together vs. 1 hour, he would have said that.


(Edited to consolidate AT's posts)

[Homosapiens]

He was annoyed because she accused him of lying. She said he picked her up at rockfish gap. 

Whether she believed that it not is moot as far as fkt.  But is interesting as it reveals intent to cheat, or not.

[thompsoniac]

Assume for a moment you are a thru-hiker.
A southbounder standing at Swift Run Gap in need of resupply.
And this is not your first hike. You have hiked nearly the entire AT already this summer.
You are by no means a novice.
Your options are: Elkton to the west, Stanardsville to the east. Both easy short hitches. Lewis mountain to the north, and Loft Mountain to the south. Both have camping, showers, laundry, groceries, etc.
Oh and it's not raining and it hasn't rained really all summer.
And if you don't like those options there are other towns just beyond those on either side that would also be good resupply.
Waynesboro is about the last place you would go.
50 miles away.
And I agree with Just Bill.
If you did decide, for some bizarre reason, to go to Waynesboro. And for some reason decided to take the skyline drive at 35 mph instead of the highway, you would drive right past Loft Mountain Campground on the way there.
AT

[thompsoniac]

However if you were at Rockfish Gap, the hostel would be the MOST likely option for resupply. Being that the hostel owner is willing to shuttle you around town to resupply, even take you to a Mexican restaurant, and then kindly drive you back to the AT, just as he did with Kaiha.

[thompsoniac]

Strangely, all three time-stamped items of evidence are all clustered around when Kaiha and Billie would have been in the vicinity of Rockfish Gap.
There is nothing time-stamped that would represent them ever being in the vicinity of Swift Run Gap.
No photos, no videos, no other phone calls.
And young Miles, the 5 yr old who loves to make documentaries, seemingly forgets all about his kindle, for an hour and a half, until the very moment Kaiha is exiting the vehicle and saying goodbye.

[Peter Bakwin]

AT & others, I appreciate your lines of inquiry & agree there are legitimate questions on both sides. But, I'd really prefer that we stop speculating and either post hard evidence, or better simply wait until Kaiha provides her trip report & other data. I know she's working on it and wants to have it done as soon as she can. It's good to get information out and freely discuss these things, but we've all seen how these on-line discussions can quickly devolve into personal attacks and just a lot of spray, which I certainly won't tolerate on this site. I'm happy to entertain discussions off the Board - please PM me & we can go from there.

[Fat Girl]

I have a couple of points, not trying to beat a dead horse, but even if her timeline about hiking 28 hours really is true. Say she truly covered that 45 mile section. It took her 28 hours!!! Is that the pace of someone able to break the record? I know there were comments from people seeing her further up towards front Royal, but I can't remember if it was the 2nd or not. It would help flesh out her supposed timeline also. She also took a 2nd zero day in Maine on August 10th, reported by the hostel owner. So there are two zero days in Maine so far. She had a friend who apparently met her between Davenport Gap and Newfound Gap for support. This person claims she was hiking from 4am till 7:32pm. Again, that's only a 30 mile section, and it took her over 15 hours? This Ian it someone who can then crank out 60 plus mile days to finish the trail. Another hostel owner up north posted about her. She came into Rangeley Maine on August 10th at 3:30pm and claimed she was only a day behind Karl and breaking the speed record. He came through there on the 7th. My guess is she planned this all along, and not just happened to try for the record as she gained on Karl during her hike as her friend Jenny claims. The "friend" who helped her during the Davenport gap section also could have easily given her a ride. There are multiple accounts of her spending 12 hours or more at hostels. Karl slept close to the trail and got 6-7 hours of sleep while his crew dos everything. She did laundry, posted to Favebook etc, and yet magically set the record? It never happened.

[Fat girl]

Sorry for the spelling and grammatical errors on my previous post. That's what I get for typing on my phone. She was spotted around Front Royal and Skyline drive mid morning on September 3rd. This fits with her staying at Bearfence on the night of the 3rd, not the 2nd.

[Kathryn Jones]

Hello fellow hikers!

I would like to announce my intention of breaking the FKT on a self-supported thru hike of the Appalachian Trail. The current record, set by Heather "Anish" Anderson, is 53 days 7 hours and 48 minutes. I will begin my trek in late April 2017 and plan to finish in the beginning of June 2017. I will have my DeLorme inReach Explorer with me to track my progress and will also be updating my Instagram account when service and time allow. You can follow along on Instagram kathrynmjones 

I welcome all thoughts, comments, and advice from my fellow hikers and adventurers. Let me know if you'd like to join along for any portion of the trail. Thank you all for your support

See you on the trail!

Sincerely, 
Kathryn Jones

[Just Bill]

Kathryn (or anyone who can reach her)

I am not on instagram but it was reported at WB that you hitchhiked at least once to reach town for resupply. This is a violation of the guidelines of your predecessor and current self-supported FKT holder Heather Anderson.

Nothing personal- it appears that you are bouncing back from early troubles and have a legitimate shot at the FKT. Unfortunately you would be disqualified in that effort at this point in your trip. It is still early in the season and early in your hike. I would highly suggest you call this first week a shake-down hike and start over at Springer asap. Nobody wants to see you pour your all into this only to see it fall apart on what appears to be an oversight in research. It is clear you have a legitimate shot at this and folks want to celebrate your success. Please see the guidelines for the FKT posted below for reference. Specifically- "Never accepting a ride in a vehicle for any reason."

Respectfully-
Just Bill

I formally state my intentions here–as per the protocol established on the main page of this site–that I will be attempting to set a self-supported FKT on the Appalachian Trail beginning in early August.
I have immense respect for the long line of people who have traveled this well-established and historical path in a quest to find their personal limits. In keeping with protocols established by them, and by myself on previous endeavors, I will travel in a self-supported manner.
This means:
Arranging for no pre-planned outside support at any time, and only accepting truly random acts of kindness (trail magic) that come my way.
I will carry all of my own gear and supplies at all times (no "slackpacking" or "muling").
I will walk into and out of resupply locations where I will purchase food and/or collect supply boxes that I have sent to myself.
I will follow the Appalachian Trail and official relocations only (such as the detour around Falls Village, CT), no blue blaze or alternate routes.
When I leave the trail for resupply purposes, I will rejoin the trail at the same location I left, leaving a continuous line of footprints the entire distance.
Never accepting a ride in a vehicle for any reason.
As always, I will respect the wilderness landscape, the lives that dwell therein, other trail users, and the generations of users that will follow by practicing Leave No Trace Ethics.
Per the main page suggestions I will provide a way for the public to follow along with my progress at facebook.com/AnishHikes. Please understand that the posts made there are in NO WAY an invitation for anyone to attempt to help me, find me, join me, or otherwise take away from the nature of a thru-hiker's journey. They are intended to document only, as suggested by this site. I will carry a SPOT beacon, although for safety, its logs will not be publicly available in real time.

I hope in my endeavor to not only bring parity to the male and female self-supported records, but if possible lower it overall. These records are currently held by Mr. Kirk and Miss Thomas, both of whom I hold in very high esteem.

This is my second journey through these ancient mountains and I look forward once again to the joy, struggle, challenge, and beauty of a 2,000+ mi hike undertaken in pursuit of finding and expanding my personal limits.

Heather "Anish" Anderson


Peter-
Doh... that guy again ;0

I know it's the attempter's responsibility to research their own trip and the guidelines. I would kindly suggest though that the "rules" be noted on the read this first or a sticky someplace in the specific trail's section for the self-supported AT and PCT (higher profile) hikes as there is too much confusion and ambiguity. Regardless of the general guidelines these hikes have specific guidelines set and it should be clear that specific FKT's may have additional restrictions that supersede those. Maybe as simple as a blurb there to carefully review the guidelines of the previous successful attempt in detail. This current attempt appears to be a simple mistake rather than an intentional effort to circumvent the rules. The more cleanly and clearly they are shared the less likely dishonest people will try to bend the rules, or honest people will be hurt by them.

In this specific case; Matt Kirk and Heather Anderson have established very clear guidelines based upon Scott Williamson's that fall outside "typical thru-hiker style", including the no-hitching/no vehicle rule many find confusing. Unless the goal is to allow/establish a separate category for "thru-hiker style" I feel that the standard set should be the standard observed and enforced for anyone wishing to best Heather's efforts on the AT or PCT. Kathryn has stated that she planned to best Heather's time specifically. By default then she should be held to Heather's guidelines if they wish to claim the FKT. Preaching to the choir perhaps, but I feel that the "thru-hiker style" door should be closed on these specific FKT's to eliminate the ambiguity in the future. Since it doesn't "officially" say so here on this site; some feel hitching or vehicle use remains an open door in attempting to claim these records.

[Peter Bakwin]

Questions of style are always important. I take no particular position on what style a person uses. Hitching or not hitching are nuances. Not hitching seems "cleaner", but is also a personal decision. I agree if someone wants to beat Anish's record they should follow her style. But if they just wish to beat her time that's different. If someone hitches & also sets the fastest time those things will be noted here. The next person can decide what style suits themselves, and which record is most relevant.

I'm not seeing a serious attempt at verification by this person, which concerns me more than the stylistic differences. I hope we don't have another blow-up like last year!

[Just Bill]

Thanks for the quick response... and yes, last year (and Joey's efforts) are really my only motivation to try and get that clarified. I feel the wiggle room was attempted to be abused last year and the potential was high if it went well for another dispute this time around as well.

Looks like a potentially moot point as someone posted an instagram update/screenshot at WB just now showing an infected foot for this one. Not sure how the Delorme Inreach works as a tracker but seems the intent was there on that score at least in some fashion.

Your general position on the community judging an effort is appreciated and understood.

So Devil's advocate only:
Basically then (assuming a faster time) this new hike would go to the top of the board as the new self-supported FKT (in whatever style you'd note it) and Anish's hike would get dropped and noted below?
The community at large would be left to sort it out but you'd record it that way on the site?

I know you're not looking to be the referee so don't mean to drill you down and put you there... mainly trying to better inform my loud mouth yapping self as I have a strong opinion on it- but opinion is all it is in truth. I think it's a solid standard set by Williamson and don't feel it should backslide. I suppose it doesn't matter who's in bold if the info is there; but feels like a layer of controversy nobody needs. It's not an onerous or difficult guideline to comply with and improves the FKT. Opinions, assholes and elbows- I'm all three here.

[Peter Bakwin]

A few thoughts:
-Williamson's style was specific to the PCT. Maybe it's translatable to the AT, but it's not practical everywhere. Thumbing to resupply is a time-honored strategy. Not doing that is a stylistic choice which could also be considered an improvement in stylistic "purity". I could imagine that thumbing to resupply might actually be a slower strategy on the AT than a carefully thought out resupply plan. ?
-Getting in a car could make it easier to cheat, and also could make it easier for someone to claim you cheated.
-This is exactly the reason I've considered dropping the bold headings on some of these threads. If you want to know what the FKT is you really ought to read through the entire thread! But, so far I haven't done it. See the PCT thread for an example of what might occur.
-Delorme is great verification if used properly. An independent party needs real-time access to the track. I don't know anything about this lastest AT attempt except for her post above. Screen shots of things don't mean much to me.