Log 2015020901

I continued writing the Continuous Short Hikes 2015 document today when I finished with the south of the Buckeye Trail.  The American Discovery Trail - North Midwest Route (ADT - NMR) was omitted in the 2013 edition and that's being corrected.  The Continuous Short Hikes are routed generally at 10 miles per day with a 2.5 mile additional reserve.  And for the standard 20 mile per day hikers, they'll make it from the campground at Hueston Woods State Park near Oxford of Butler County to the Greyhound stop in Richmond, Indiana.  But I wasn't sure about it's measurement.

Since this is the part of the ADT - NMR that I'm most in question with, I started considering different options for the 10 milers.  The campground is in Preble County, whose transit only caters to residents only as per their web page, they can not be included in the Continuous Short Hikes document or Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource's (OTHR) guide.  But the nearby Union County Transit Service in Indiana can.  The problem lies in that the course of the ADT - NMR is fixed and so is the state and county line.  The 10 milers have to reach the amenity in 2.5 miles or "the shows over."  The problem is that they can make it from the ADT to the Union County, Indiana at Stateline Road line in 2.4 miles.

But if I understand transit like I think I might, only half of Stateline Road is in Union County (and the State of Indiana for that matter).  There isn't anywhere on the Indiana side for the transit vehicle to turn around and 10 mile transit hikers would have to board and disembark there on the roadside. According to my discriminator for the 10 milers, the distance between Hueston Woods and Boston, Indiana is too far.  Otherwise, it would be closer to the Union County Line and better roads within the state.

 But ADT's got a 3.1 mile widow of execution before continuous short hikers won't benefit from it, or With the trail being where it is, transit being fixed to it's zone and a road without public amenities whose centerline runs through two states, I'd say that at this time I'm not going to route the Union County Transit Service in the OTHR's 2015 Edition of the Continuous Short Hikes.  Consequently, that means that this document can only route these transit hikers as far north as the archery range parking area in Hueston Woods SP.  Since the ADT - NMR is off-road here, this area is the last place that a transit vehicle can reach hikers in Butler County before the trail crosses into Preble County.

The continuous short hikes can pertain to those who don't want to hike as far, the elderly, those with certain disabilities, but most of all it is designed and intended for entry level hikers.  In order to be a circuit hiker on the Buckeye Trail and thru hike it's 1,444 mile route in under 110 total days, one needs enough stamina to be able to hike 20 miles in one day in its west, north and east.  However, this is about continuous short hikers and these maps come psychological factors.  OTHR and myself argue that hikers need to have enough stamina to perform at generally 10 miles a day if they're intention is to complete BT's maps, which cover areas 45 to 62 miles long.  Otherwise, they may risk getting discouraged.  The American Discovery Trail runs concurrent with the Buckeye for about 580 miles in its south, but it's used as the basis.  ADT breaks concurrency in Cincinnati and is routed alone on and off road towards Chicago by way of Hueston Woods SP and Richmond, Indiana.