How far have you gone?

There are different types of hikers and backpackers here also ranging in a wide variety of age and experience. I am just wondering what is the longest distance you have gone on one trip and the longest time you have spent in the wilderness. Do you typically like shorter trips or do you try to get away from it all as long as possible. There is no real reason for the question, just trying to get to know you all and what you enjoy the most.

Well the longest trip I have made was made a long time ago. Back in 1979 I hiked solo from Winding stairs campgound ( I think??) to Queen Wilhimena lodge. Back then it measured 35 miles, I know that isn't what it is today with trail rerouts. That was in three days in the spring. It was memoriable for me because when I toped out on rich mnt. the clouds were swirling around me and the weather was changing. I high tailed it to the lodge. That was a great trip that I plan on doing again hopefully next year.

The longest in recent years was 26 miles in section six of the OHT from Hawcreek falls campground to Fairview campground. you can check out the pictures from that trip in my picture link below. Did that one in two days with the wife and my grandson. Bad weather, should have done in three days.

Just to add I since the OHT trip back in 2005 I have undergone knee replacement. I have been working this year to just get back on the trail. All of the trail work I have done has been to not only give back to the trails but as exercise so to speak.

Those are some great pics. I can't wait to do the thru-hike of the OHT it looks beautiful. It good to hav esomeone respond. I hope your knee gets better soon and you enjoy many more miles on the trail. When I was on the A.T. there was a couple in their mid-seventies and it was their second time thr-hiking the A.T. It was such an inspiration to me to see them chugging along for several days. I hope when I am there age I have the strength and motivation to conquer the trail again. As a matter of fact my dream was when I retire to hike the A.T. once a year until I die, which would probably end up being on the trail. At least I would go where I am happiest. Thanks Ouachita Hiker.

Snow,

There has been alot of dead time in my life, as far as hiking goes. Job took me away from what I loved. Bad marrage and such. That has been all fixed. I have missed alot of years and am trying to get back. Janet and I love the outdoors and would love to do some longer miles and trails. Untill then we are staying close to home. Of course close to home is some of the best hiking around, at least the Ouachitas. We have plenty of hiking left in us!

I know what you mean by dead time. When my first child was born I worked like crazy and did not have much time at all for hiking. And now down here I work six days a week most weeks and am lucky to get in a overnite hike. My next one won't be till June. I used to do multi day trips every couple weeks for about 10 years with some REAL long ones, and I miss that freedom. One day when my children get a little older I will be able to take them out with me. Right now only my five yeay old is starting to hit the trail with me. Well enough rambling, in a few months I will be venturing 165 miles on the OHT and that will satisfy me until my Great Sand Dunes Trek. Thanks again O.T.

Because I always seem to be working with stupid job time restraints, I never get to travel very far, but one trip really stands out. I went and spent three days on Mt Elbert in CO. We went about thirty five miles in three days. It was both the hardest and most beautiful trip I've ever been on. We took one day and got to a place to camp. On the second day we just hiked around, and the final day we hiked out. So, 35 miles is the longest for me.

Don't feel bad, some thirty five milers can be much harder than some 100 milers. Especially in a place like CO.

I did a trip last year in Western Australia on one of the most remote river systems in the world (supposedly). We paddled north on canoes about 200 miles and stashed our canoes until the dry season when they could be picked up by 4 wheel driver vehicles. Then from there we backpacked a different and more direct route back to our starting location. The total trip was about 65-70 days. Amazing time, despite the spider bite which almost claimed me

hoon:
That sounds like an incredible trip. I would love to be able to take off enough time to pull off a trip like that, plus the fact that it is in Australia is a huge bonus. Good going!
UL

It was a life-changing experience, and i was lucky to get the chance to do it. Glad i did. It was hot though. 127 F some days on the river

Longest hikes in the past few years have been in Big Bend NP in SW Texas (85 miles in 7 days...desert hike). Land Between the Lakes, 60 miles in 4 days (22 on the third day) and several 50 to 75 miles section hikes on the AT. The hike in TX was solo.

not bad chiliyour getting to be a true die hard explorer. Keep it up man. How bout' joining us on the 165 mile OHT in Sept. We would love the extra experience and company. I think you already stated it was a interes of yours on here somewhere. I lived in Maryville Tenn. for a year and spent much time in the Smokies. What a great playground. I love Charlies Bunyon, looks like your out west somewhere.

Hoon, thats what I am talking about, that sounds like the trip most people will dream about but never get to do. What kind of spider they have some of the deadliest creatures in the world over there.

My attitude has changed toward hiking lately since I go with Maurine and Rocky the pooch now. I used to hike solo because I enjoyed the solitude and liked to go at my own pace which used to be very fast. I'm 6'4" with long legs and I can cover quite a bit of ground in one step soI can do quite a few miles easily. Maurine is 5'6" with normal leg proportions. When we first started hiking together I would lead at my normal pace which is too fast for Maurine. My style was to keep the pace up and cover some miles. Her style is "Stop and smell the roses" which I have adopted and enjoy very much. We typically turn a 4 mile trail into 6 miles because we checkout all the features off the trail and hike up the creeks. We intentionally don't hike over 1 mile an hour most of the time and make sure we don't miss anything. We also hike in and back out on the same trail, because the trail looks very different going the other way. We still do "destination reward" style hiking where you have a specific destination that is scenic that is your goal to reach.

We werent sure exactly what kind of spider it was, i never even noticed the bite until it was too late for any early treatment. We speculated that it was probably a Red Back spider, similar to the black widows we have here.

i had gotten extremely sick one day, for no apparent reason. I had a high fever (which is unpleasant in that heat) and was also vomitting blood pretty constantly. This lasted 2 days and forced us to slow down the trip quite a bit. We had concluded that another 12 hours of me being sick and i would have to choppered out of there (expensive).

We still knew nothing about a bite (i was covered head to toe with mosquito bites and the earlier stages of the spider bite went unnoticed, also it was on my toe, which was usually covered). Luckily i awoke the next day feeling refreshed and energized, and it seemed the venom had passed.

It was this same day i finally noticed the bite, and for the next 4 weeks the spot of the bite worsened constantly, the skin on the toe and foot was rotting away, leaving a huge gaping hole and the flies wouldnt stay out of it. It was hard to tell what was infection and what was rotting skin as a result of the venom. I kept it clean and covered (though the australian medical tape is EXTREMELY strong, and at one point ripped off a large patch of skin on the underside of my foot).

Luckily the injury was not debilitating and i was able to continue on with the trip with only occasional discomfort and a cool story to tell

The bite took a total of 3-4 months before it healed over and finally closed up

Geez...I'll never put my boots on again without firing a shotgun into them beforehand. I could walk through a rattlesnake pit without breaking a sweat, but spiders? Ewwww. They give me the creeps.

I've only been out for 7 days at the longest. It wasn't exactly a trek or anything, I just wandered around in the Mark Twain in Missouri. It was a great time.

Hey Jay, no need for a shotgun... just set the boots on fire, when the soul burns they will run out. lol

Eddie

Snowsurfer,

I would like to thruhike the OHT, but I am not sure I can take the time in September. It will probably be late October before I could do it.