Last Thru Hiker, Patches and More

The last thru hiker of the 2017 Thru Hiker Hurricane, Mei Ling Liber completed the Whipple Section today.  Tomfoolery and Mei Ling were given patches for The Wilderness Loop.  They were for completing the trail when Road Fork and Whipple Sections are routed on OH-26, which is a total of 2,006ft.  This was on October 28th.  Road Fork and Whipple are about 117 miles combined, so it's the best we can do for now.

In the month of September in 2017, I assisted 2 day hikers, 1 multi-day and 3 thru hikers.

The BT use to publish the on and off-road footprint for the entire circuit.  As it's been changing a lot, it's hard for the map team to keep up with, but generally it's understood to be about 50%/ 50%.  However, what many don't understand is that the off-road number does include multi-purpose right-of-ways and towpaths.  Some of these can be paved.  It might also include sidewalks.  I state this because the maps do.  You might ask why include those?  The answer is that at some point, somebody will, or already has mentioned that the sidewalk is technically off-road.  And the BTA might have to cover itself from what I like to call "reverse harassment" and mention those in the numbers.  I've got the right GIS/GPS data that might do this project.  But doubt that I have access to the information concerning some surfaces?

My foot gear has never had a problem on-road.  I wear tactical boots.  In fact, I'm more efficient there.  But from what I've learned from the thru hikers these past 2 months, they're having a terrible time on the pavement.  My going theory is that it's either my infantry training, or these hiking shoes and boots aren't engineered with the roads in mind.  And I don't think that my BT colleagues and I have ever had reason to question it.  But to me it makes sense in how our gear is sold.  It always has darker colors that blend in, while here on the Buckeye and North Country Trails, we don't have the number of hikers that could be disturbed by lighter colors.  In fact, we have hunting here and I don't think that a blaze orange vest and hat is enough.  I think that our back packs need to be that color as well.

But they're not.  And that's because this equipment is designed for a different audience in a different place.  Take the Appalachian Trail for example... that's where the market it. BT and NCT... not so much.