Episode 142 - Unsupported Long Path FKT with Chris Leblanc

[00:00:00] When you sleep in a porta potty, which sounds like something that you've done before, where do you actually sleep? On the floor? You sleep as far away from the toilet as you can. There's not more than an inch away from the toilet.

[00:00:11] The one that's near the RV is a handicapped porta potty, which maybe you're forgetting. I couldn't sleep in a regular one because I couldn't stretch out, not worth your time. But if I could lay down on my pad in a handicapped body, that's plenty of room.

[00:00:30] Wow.

[00:00:32] I'm speechless here.

[00:00:34] He's stoch.

[00:00:34] I'm signing off, okay?

[00:00:36] He's holding his head.

[00:00:37] Yeah, this is how he spends his summer vacations.

[00:00:40] He teaches all year long, looking forward to going out, walking in the rain, sleeping in porta potties.

[00:00:48] And you know what? That's f***ed up.

[00:00:50] Yeah.

[00:00:51] 100%.

[00:00:52] I guess, Chris, what you're not telling us is it's all about the pizza at the end of the hike.

[00:00:58] You know, there's a lot of benefits. Losing weight is great.

[00:01:02] And just, you know, the guy that did the VCT said it, it's just type 2 fun.

[00:01:08] But, like, I absolutely hated it when I was doing it.

[00:01:13] But I love a sense of accomplishment. Like, that's why I wanted it.

[00:01:29] The bushwhacks were some of the worst days I've ever had in the mountains.

[00:01:34] Or life, really.

[00:01:36] The weather challenges on this incident were particularly difficult.

[00:01:47] It is really the development of New York State.

[00:01:51] Catskills are responsive.

[00:01:54] Yeah!

[00:01:59] You're listening to Inside the Line.

[00:02:02] The Catskill Mountains Podcast.

[00:02:08] So, episode 142. Tonight we're gonna talk with Chris LeBlanc.

[00:02:14] Is that how you say the last name? I didn't go through with that. I always don't do that.

[00:02:17] Yeah, LeBlanc is, that's perfectly good.

[00:02:20] Okay, so Chris did recently the long path. Fastest known time unsupported.

[00:02:25] Nine days. What, 35 minutes? Nine days? 35 minutes?

[00:02:30] Jesus.

[00:02:31] A little bummed by that time, but we'll talk about that later.

[00:02:34] Jesus. Bummed by that frickin' time.

[00:02:37] That sounds like a day I would do, like, Devil's Path.

[00:02:41] So, episode 142.

[00:02:43] You know, I wanted to bring up one thing real quick.

[00:02:46] One mile challenge I did for the Guardian Revival, another summit.

[00:02:50] We raised over $1,400. Actually, $1,499 was absolutely phenomenal.

[00:02:57] So, once again, thank you to anybody and everybody who has donated to that.

[00:03:01] It was a very successful campaign, and that's all going to veterans and first responders.

[00:03:06] Awesome time. Had a great time.

[00:03:08] People donating. Thank you very much.

[00:03:10] I really appreciate it, and definitely goes to a great cause.

[00:03:14] So, let's also get on to something else. I have been going crazy into this Northern Lights.

[00:03:21] We have had a major coronal mass ejection.

[00:03:28] I'm going to ask our editorial department to comment on that.

[00:03:31] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:03:32] I'm going to take a pass.

[00:03:33] That's a word I've never heard.

[00:03:35] Yeah, and anything that's potentially embarrassing to me, just move on.

[00:03:38] It's going to make it embarrassing to me.

[00:03:40] So, I think it's a coronial mass ejection that happens from the sun.

[00:03:45] Just a big, huge star, a burst of plasma comes out from the sun, and then hits Earth, and then it creates the aurora.

[00:03:53] Now, we have had some crazy aurora in the past couple days up here in upstate New York.

[00:03:59] I don't know if you guys...

[00:04:00] Chris, where are you located, sir?

[00:04:02] Raleigh, North Carolina.

[00:04:03] Oh, so, yeah.

[00:04:04] I've never seen a Northern Lights, but one day I do hope to.

[00:04:07] Yeah, come back up, come back up.

[00:04:09] I mean, like the last few days, you know, I've been seeing everybody having it, and I've tried it.

[00:04:14] I went up north of my house, up to a reservoir to see if I can find it, and I got a tiny bit.

[00:04:21] I didn't... I should have posted it, but a tiny bit of red that you could see in there.

[00:04:25] Nothing to the naked eye.

[00:04:26] That's what sucks.

[00:04:26] You can't...

[00:04:27] What time did you go out to check this out?

[00:04:30] 8.30.

[00:04:31] 8.30?

[00:04:31] Well, that's not bad.

[00:04:32] We should take a break tonight.

[00:04:34] Chris, we're taking a break at 8.30.

[00:04:36] You can sit tight, but Stash and I are heading outside to look north to see the light.

[00:04:43] I'll see absolutely nothing, but you guys do that.

[00:04:46] I wish I was that lucky.

[00:04:48] One day.

[00:04:49] One day.

[00:04:50] You know, I want to see it to the point of like where like northern Canada has it and, you know, Iceland, stuff like that would be absolutely phenomenal.

[00:04:59] But, you know, I've heard good things in the past three to four days that they've seen green and red and stuff like that.

[00:05:05] So if you're able to get out at dark away from any light pollution, the later the better.

[00:05:13] You know, I've heard like, you know, I know it sounds really horrible.

[00:05:15] I 12 o'clock to like 2 p.m.

[00:05:18] 12 p.m.

[00:05:19] Or a.m.

[00:05:20] To 2 a.m.

[00:05:21] Sorry.

[00:05:21] You can get the best sights of the Aurora that happens.

[00:05:26] So, yeah.

[00:05:28] Yeah.

[00:05:28] And, you know, we had Hurricane Helen last week and now we have Hurricane Milton this week.

[00:05:37] You know, once again, Chris, this is a No Holds Barred podcast.

[00:05:40] What the fuck is going on?

[00:05:42] Yeah.

[00:05:42] I mean, yeah.

[00:05:44] Hurricane Helen is making things happen and made things happen in North Carolina.

[00:05:48] And that's something I definitely am aware of.

[00:05:50] Every single person that I know that is a teacher in Asheville, their schools are straight up canceled for forever.

[00:05:57] And I mean, that's just the start.

[00:05:59] If the infrastructure for the entire city of Asheville is ruined, you can only imagine how the trails are down south.

[00:06:05] Yeah.

[00:06:06] So it's a it's an entire just terrible situation for everyone out there.

[00:06:12] And I really feel bad for, you know, the mountains that I do go in, you know, as frequently as possible.

[00:06:18] I was going to go to Linville that weekend and that was our plan.

[00:06:22] And then as the hurricane was coming, I was like, maybe we don't go to Linville this weekend.

[00:06:27] And I think I made the right call.

[00:06:28] Yeah.

[00:06:29] How far are you away from the like the Blue Ridge Parkway and stuff like that?

[00:06:33] About three hours.

[00:06:34] Oh, that's a lot.

[00:06:36] That's a nice long trip, but it's worth it.

[00:06:38] Mm hmm.

[00:06:39] OK.

[00:06:40] And did you see anything down in your area that that was significant like that in the mountains?

[00:06:46] I mean, no, we just I mean, we had school canceled and it rained a lot, but nothing compared to, you know, the absolute devastation.

[00:06:53] You wouldn't even expect it with the way that like, I mean, I've just never really would have thought Asheville would have flooded.

[00:07:00] Couldn't imagine it in a million years.

[00:07:02] And there you go.

[00:07:02] Just absolutely destroyed.

[00:07:04] So not a good, not a good situation.

[00:07:07] A lot of it had to do with, of course, like levees being broken, dams, stuff like that, you know, and the these the destruction.

[00:07:15] And I've always I always say that the water in the force of water is unstoppable and it's the most destructive.

[00:07:21] It's the most unpredictable flash floods are what they are.

[00:07:26] They're flash.

[00:07:27] You're just like, holy shit.

[00:07:29] We can't do anything about it.

[00:07:31] And you just watch it happen.

[00:07:32] Hurricanes you can avoid, you know.

[00:07:34] Yeah.

[00:07:35] Mudslides taken out like houses to out of nowhere to the sides of mountains just coming down.

[00:07:41] It's yeah, it's a thing.

[00:07:43] Yeah.

[00:07:44] So once again, like that part of that area is the Appalachian Trail down there in the North Carolina area, Tennessee region.

[00:07:51] And I read a recent report that most of it is intact.

[00:07:55] There's only like about like four or five miles that it's become completely destroyed and they might have to reroute or redo that.

[00:08:02] But as of right now, you know, it's actually not bad.

[00:08:06] Collapse bridges here and there.

[00:08:08] A lot of mud, a lot of stuff that basically you see in the Adirondacks that way we don't go up there.

[00:08:14] And I heard it's not bad, but as in terms of, you know, people's homes, the livelihood of the area, the you know, we all know if you follow the Appalachian Trail stuff, those towns are the heart of the Appalachian Trail.

[00:08:30] You know, you get, you know, supplies through there.

[00:08:33] You get love people like greet you stuff like that.

[00:08:35] It's based on the Appalachian Trail.

[00:08:37] So it's good to hear that.

[00:08:39] But it's also at the same time, you know, we have Milton coming through, which just increased to a category five hurricane with like 910.

[00:08:49] What was it again? Millibars? Ted, we messed that up last time.

[00:08:53] Yeah, I don't know what the current readings are, but it's going to be a storm of epic proportion.

[00:08:58] Yeah.

[00:08:59] And other than hitting Florida, I'm not certain now that they forecasted its trajectory.

[00:09:06] I don't think it should be coming through the Carolinas, fortunately enough for those folks.

[00:09:11] Yeah. They don't, they don't need another storm for a few more years.

[00:09:15] Yeah. If that. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, so good news for the Appalachian Trail, but once again, still horrible news for that part of America that was destroyed by a powerful hurricane.

[00:09:29] And then we got another one coming in as of right now, you know, it's Tuesday and that was just increased to another category five hurricane and it's headed straight for the part of like middle Florida.

[00:09:40] And it's just, everybody's saying this is another, another, once again, it's just fricking keeps happening and happening storm of the century.

[00:09:48] And, uh, as, as we said, people, if people might say that might increase to a category six, which has never happened in life.

[00:09:56] So pretty crazy stuff. So once again, anybody who is listening down in Florida, which I highly doubt anybody is listening down in Florida, anybody, nobody really listens in New York state anyway.

[00:10:07] Um, yeah, that, that's kind of a stretch saying we have listeners down in Florida.

[00:10:12] There might be one, you know?

[00:10:13] Yeah. Thanks Chris.

[00:10:14] Just a vote of confidence buddy.

[00:10:17] Okay. There's, there's two of them and they, they're, they're really good friends though.

[00:10:20] Excellent. Good point. Good point.

[00:10:22] So, uh, we're, I know this is total flip flop of a conversation, but just want to let people know if they're on the market that there is a ski center up in Tupper Lake area, up in the Adirondacks that is for sale.

[00:10:36] So if you have $550,000 and you're interested in former and purchasing the former big Tupper ski center, uh, it will go on bid on November 7th and Malone.

[00:10:49] So it's a private Marina of vacant land, about 240 acres, uh, no key located north of Franklin County.

[00:10:56] And it's set to be auctioned by the courthouse.

[00:10:58] Now they say that a minimum bid is set at $468,000 for the closed ski center alone.

[00:11:05] Now the bidder needs to register $100,000 in resources.

[00:11:10] And there's three other parcels around the area that's willing, uh, that are going to be sold.

[00:11:15] And I, I didn't read a lot about the, the background of this, why it was shut down and stuff like that.

[00:11:21] It actually looks like a nice ski center.

[00:11:23] Looks like they had some good runs, very small though for the Adirondacks.

[00:11:26] Well, you know, it was a locally, originally it started off as a locally, uh, built and owned ski area by the local township ran that way for decades.

[00:11:38] And then it was bought by private owners.

[00:11:41] I think in the eighties went through a few different, uh, ownerships.

[00:11:44] And then some folks came along in the, in or around the early two thousands and thought they'd be able to up the game, do some development there, uh, in a variety of things.

[00:11:56] And then I heard that there was some infighting amongst the developers.

[00:12:00] They couldn't get their financing in order.

[00:12:02] And eventually they lost the property to the county for the non-payment of taxes.

[00:12:09] So that's where that weird amount of 400 and some odd dollars comes together.

[00:12:15] That's what I understand to be the amount due for unpaid taxes on this, uh, dysfunctional ski area.

[00:12:25] I also read that it, um, they, they stripped all of the snowmaking equipment out of the area because obviously if you're running a ski area in the Northeast and you can get your hands on some cheap snowmaking equipment, you're going to do so.

[00:12:39] So that was sold off a few years ago.

[00:12:41] But Chris, if you're looking to move up North and get a front row view of those Northern lights, this might be that opportunity that you're looking for.

[00:12:49] The teacher salary. They, once they increase my pay, I'll be, I'll be up there, uh, for sure. Yeah.

[00:12:57] That'll be my summer home.

[00:12:59] The open better is Chris going to be up there set.

[00:13:03] We have to tell Chris, you don't operate a ski area during your summer break.

[00:13:09] Oh no.

[00:13:10] Emphasis.

[00:13:11] That's true.

[00:13:12] Winter winter activity.

[00:13:14] Okay. So that concludes tonight's show.

[00:13:16] Right.

[00:13:17] That's the, but, uh, so another thing or another thing that was said is that, uh, somebody, uh, to Tupper Lake supervisor has his fingers crossed.

[00:13:26] He says that, uh, he's willing to invest in restarting the downhill recreation, which estimates would cost around 15 million for snowmaking chair lifts and other restoration expenses.

[00:13:38] So yeah, you're going to put $468,000 down another 15 million.

[00:13:43] This sounds like something for the Wyndham, uh, ski center area to take over.

[00:13:48] Don't you think that?

[00:13:49] Uh, yeah, you know, it's hope, you know, hope springs eternal, but in this day and age of warming temperatures and marginal winters, uh, it's a pretty risk investment to get involved in owning and operating a ski area.

[00:14:03] But I can see why the town supervisor wants to do it because they do provide seasonal jobs.

[00:14:09] You know, I've walked across a couple of downhill mountain bike, you know, ski areas that are mountain bike centers in the summer.

[00:14:16] So that's my, that's my plan.

[00:14:18] There you go.

[00:14:19] All right.

[00:14:19] So Chris, Chris has thought it through.

[00:14:21] I'm not crazy here.

[00:14:22] Yeah.

[00:14:22] So we're looking for investors, right?

[00:14:24] Let your check out to Chris LeBlanc accepting, uh, donations in the amount of what?

[00:14:31] 10,000 and up.

[00:14:32] Yeah.

[00:14:33] And that's it.

[00:14:34] If it's not higher than if it's not that I don't really need it.

[00:14:37] Yeah.

[00:14:37] It's not open to all investors.

[00:14:39] Yeah.

[00:14:40] Well, uh, good luck to whoever and whomever that donates or donates or bids for this because

[00:14:48] it, it looks to be some sort of investment.

[00:14:50] Uh, yeah.

[00:14:51] So if you have the money, go ahead, I guess, and buy those snowmaking machines, because we

[00:14:57] all know with the weather that's going on, that snow is very, very unpredictable here in

[00:15:04] the Northeast, let alone the whole fricking world right now.

[00:15:08] Yeah.

[00:15:09] Has been for the past couple of years.

[00:15:12] So last, well, sort of last topic, you know, this is more of a Catskills area.

[00:15:18] Sorry, Chris.

[00:15:19] Uh, but I've listened to the podcast now enough that, uh, it's kind of fun for the

[00:15:24] extremely hyper regional, uh, information that I'm getting.

[00:15:28] So I'm a fan of this.

[00:15:29] This is okay.

[00:15:30] It goes, it goes like we have some crazy stuff to talk about, you know, and like the one thing

[00:15:35] that I talked about earlier, Ted and I went back and forth was that Woodstock project that

[00:15:41] was going on.

[00:15:41] The resort was just that it's got out of control.

[00:15:44] I got to update that by the way, Ted, there's a lot of drama going on.

[00:15:47] Drama is good for podcast.

[00:15:49] I guess so.

[00:15:51] Yeah.

[00:15:51] That it's, it's still, it makes us feel better.

[00:15:54] I don't think it gets us any more listeners.

[00:15:56] I don't think people tune in to find out what's going on with development and Woodstock,

[00:16:01] but I'm, I'm going to think that way.

[00:16:04] Cause it, it makes me feel.

[00:16:05] I heard the Florida people are really into it.

[00:16:08] Yeah.

[00:16:08] Yeah.

[00:16:09] We have 2.3 listeners now down in Florida.

[00:16:14] So soon to be, uh, there's been a proposal for a Sullivan County waste to energy incinerator.

[00:16:20] So Sullivan County of course is the Southern Catskills.

[00:16:24] Uh, we're talking about like, uh, Monroe or Monticello, uh, Liberty, stuff like that area.

[00:16:32] So environmentalists are bristling and suggesting that Sullivan County could dispose of its garbage

[00:16:37] with a trash to fuel plant, a measure put forth to a third party plant decommissioned

[00:16:44] to the county to figure out how to get rid of its garbage, because it's already sending

[00:16:47] its garbage upstate to Seneca Meadows, which I drove by when I was going to see the, the

[00:16:53] full eclipse the one time.

[00:16:56] And it was just absolutely insane to see a mountain that's like 500 feet tall.

[00:17:00] And I was like, what the hell is that?

[00:17:02] And then you smell it and you're like, oh shit.

[00:17:04] So you got to research it.

[00:17:06] And it's the Seneca Meadows landfill where all waste basically in New York goes to, and

[00:17:12] it's look it up.

[00:17:14] It's absolutely insane because it's so much and it's right by the fricking finger lakes.

[00:17:18] I don't understand that.

[00:17:19] Well, you know why it's where it is.

[00:17:22] But if you were to compile all of the people that live in a 5, 10, 20 mile radius of Seneca

[00:17:31] Meadows, it would just be a small, small, small fraction of the people that live downstate.

[00:17:38] True.

[00:17:39] Right?

[00:17:39] So the local opposition in a near Seneca Meadows is a fraction of the opposition you would get

[00:17:47] downstate.

[00:17:48] So the politics of it are truck the garbage upstate because there's less local opposition

[00:17:55] to taking the garbage.

[00:17:56] Hence, it's not all that surprising.

[00:17:59] Sullivan County is going to try to do a incinerator plant to process really not its garbage in the

[00:18:09] county of Sullivan.

[00:18:11] I mean, after all, how much garbage is really generated in the call of county of Sullivan

[00:18:14] versus downstate?

[00:18:16] They're just going to take in, you know, the garbage that would otherwise go upstate to

[00:18:20] Seneca.

[00:18:21] So that's probably one of the big driving forces behind it.

[00:18:25] But Chris might know better than I of any, any.

[00:18:29] Are you aware of any of these incinerator to fuel trash plants in the country that actually

[00:18:36] work that actually work?

[00:18:38] I'm not aware.

[00:18:40] I'm so sorry.

[00:18:41] This is a concept.

[00:18:43] I think it's a failing concept myself.

[00:18:46] Yeah.

[00:18:46] I mean, it said that Sullivan County spends about 10 million a year to haul their garbage

[00:18:52] up to Seneca Meadows, which is a pretty decent drive for me going up to Seneca Meadows up

[00:18:58] to Geneva, Geneva area is around two and a half hours.

[00:19:02] So add another hour and a half.

[00:19:05] So that's almost four hours to five hours to get up there.

[00:19:09] Yeah.

[00:19:10] Like shit.

[00:19:10] Like that's all.

[00:19:11] That's a long haul, especially for a truck that's hauling up 50.

[00:19:15] All right.

[00:19:16] Now it says 50,000 tons of trash last year.

[00:19:19] Well, that was in 2010.

[00:19:21] So they need to.

[00:19:22] Oh, wait.

[00:19:23] So let me let me go over stats.

[00:19:25] 2010.

[00:19:25] They they transport about 50,000 tons.

[00:19:27] Last year was 100,000 tons and they projected it's it's decreasing a little bit, but it's

[00:19:34] a full time 78,000 tons to go up and down to Seneca Meadows plan.

[00:19:41] So so from Sullivan County, which translates Chris to about $192,000 a week.

[00:19:48] And if we were the county manager for the county of Sullivan, how would we cut that cost in

[00:19:54] half by building an incinerator or what could we do?

[00:19:59] What would you tell your high school students to do?

[00:20:02] In that scenario?

[00:20:04] Yeah.

[00:20:05] Begins with the letter R.

[00:20:07] Let's reduce the amount of trash.

[00:20:09] Yeah.

[00:20:10] Reduce, recycle, reuse.

[00:20:12] There we go.

[00:20:12] We got a winner.

[00:20:13] We got a winner.

[00:20:14] Ding, ding, ding, ding.

[00:20:16] I feel like I was almost born at the end of that PSA.

[00:20:18] So I'm glad I'm glad to get in here.

[00:20:20] There you go.

[00:20:21] See?

[00:20:22] Yeah.

[00:20:22] I mean, it's simple stuff.

[00:20:24] My and my wife and I reduce reuse and recycle.

[00:20:27] You know, she tries to buy as least amount of plastic as we can.

[00:20:31] Stuff like that.

[00:20:32] I mean, I, I, I know part of Sullivan County, the southern part of Sullivan County doesn't

[00:20:37] really give a shit about anything and they just throw whatever they want in the trash,

[00:20:41] which is absolutely insane.

[00:20:44] I'm sorry for, you know, targeting people down there, but I know part of that, you know,

[00:20:49] the area is just pretty sad.

[00:20:52] And luckily Chris didn't have to run through there or fucking sprint through there.

[00:20:56] Let me, let me just say run through their sprint.

[00:20:59] Fucking nine days.

[00:21:00] Jesus.

[00:21:00] I moseyed.

[00:21:02] We'll talk.

[00:21:03] It was a mosey.

[00:21:04] We'll talk.

[00:21:05] Yeah.

[00:21:05] Yeah.

[00:21:06] We'll mosey on, onto that part of the story.

[00:21:09] Yeah.

[00:21:09] So a lot of environmental groups are going against this.

[00:21:12] Catskill mountain keeper was talking about this global alliance for incinerator alternatives.

[00:21:16] And as Ted said, this doesn't really work that well.

[00:21:20] And it hasn't been done that much in America as well as the world, unless, you know, it goes

[00:21:26] up for a year and then just shuts down instantly.

[00:21:28] So, so whatever, let's, uh, I'll keep an update.

[00:21:33] I will, I will, I will host, uh, the, the plan that is on there, which is 450 pages.

[00:21:40] Uh, I, I skimmed over that and it was really interesting to skim over the first.

[00:21:45] It was probably the first eight pages is what I really looked at.

[00:21:48] And then everything else was just a bunch of BS showing, uh, like stats of what an incinerator

[00:21:54] can do and stuff like that.

[00:21:55] But everything else was the first eight pages was the most important.

[00:21:58] Ted, did you look at that?

[00:22:01] Uh, I, I wouldn't admit it if I did.

[00:22:03] So no, I didn't look at it.

[00:22:05] I heard, I heard the report is basically a bunch of garbage.

[00:22:13] Ah, yeah.

[00:22:17] All right.

[00:22:18] Yeah.

[00:22:19] So looking to that.

[00:22:21] So recent, uh, search and rescue news.

[00:22:24] So in the town of Cairo, green County wilderness rescue on October 5th, which from now is three

[00:22:29] days ago, which was Saturday, uh, green County requested forest ranger assistance with an

[00:22:36] injured hiker at the storks nest trail and the Wyndham blackhead range wilderness 49 year

[00:22:42] old from Earlton had head and arm injuries.

[00:22:45] Rangers, Fox and France reached the subject, assessed her injuries and carried it to the

[00:22:49] trailhead.

[00:22:50] The subject was transported by ambulance to the hospital resources were cleared at 5 49 PM.

[00:22:57] So storks nest had, what could you think happened up there with head and arm?

[00:23:02] I'm guessing a rock slip.

[00:23:05] Rock, rock slipper this time of year, you know, the mountain lions over there are pretty

[00:23:09] restless.

[00:23:10] Uh, the hiker might've had a, you know, a conflict to bump into with one of the mountain lions.

[00:23:15] It's hard to say, but that would explain the head trauma.

[00:23:18] If it was a mountain lion, that's my take on it.

[00:23:21] That's my take.

[00:23:22] You know, it's the most likely scenario.

[00:23:24] It does.

[00:23:25] It's very plausible.

[00:23:26] It just makes sense.

[00:23:27] Yeah.

[00:23:27] But Chris, Chris actually has to deal with mountain lions down there.

[00:23:30] He has more of a presence than we do.

[00:23:33] I've seen one mountain light line in all my hiking.

[00:23:35] Uh, it's had to be on the long path.

[00:23:37] Correct.

[00:23:37] Yep.

[00:23:38] End of story.

[00:23:39] It was at the end of a long day on the long path.

[00:23:41] That's it.

[00:23:42] I heard, I heard it was like at the gate at the George Washington.

[00:23:45] You know, you don't want to trust someone that talks about doing a really long hike about

[00:23:50] what they saw.

[00:23:51] Cause usually they hallucinated it.

[00:23:53] Yeah.

[00:23:53] So what you just said, like, it's very plausible.

[00:23:55] I did see one on the long path and it might've walked with me on trail, but that's not the

[00:23:59] one I recall.

[00:24:00] Yeah.

[00:24:01] Yeah.

[00:24:02] What Chris is alluding to is so true, man.

[00:24:06] Some days in the afternoon on a hike, I swear every black object ahead of me is a bear.

[00:24:13] Yeah.

[00:24:14] Yeah.

[00:24:14] Right.

[00:24:14] Yeah.

[00:24:14] It's a bear.

[00:24:15] It's another Chris.

[00:24:16] Where were you encounter with, uh, with a, with a mountain lion?

[00:24:19] Where'd you see that?

[00:24:20] Uh, New Mexico on the CDT, uh, Northern New Mexico.

[00:24:24] I mean, it was, I mean, I assume they did it in an illegal way, but it was only because

[00:24:28] hunters had just killed it.

[00:24:30] Um, and you know, as long as that's the way that there was a legal, I'm okay with that

[00:24:35] as far as I'm concerned, but, uh, yeah, they, uh, they treat it with their beagles.

[00:24:40] And then I just, they were carrying the mountain lion back to its house.

[00:24:43] Uh, well, to the, wow.

[00:24:46] No shit.

[00:24:47] Yeah.

[00:24:47] I've never seen it.

[00:24:48] And it was out of nowhere.

[00:24:49] Like I just hear a whole bunch of dogs barking in the woods and I'm wondering what is happening

[00:24:53] up here.

[00:24:54] And next thing I know, like carrying a mountain lion in their hands, it's not what you expect

[00:24:58] to see in the middle of New Mexico.

[00:25:01] So Chris, what, what part of your day was that?

[00:25:03] Was that in the early morning, midday, late day, how deep into the hike were you?

[00:25:09] Uh, yeah, no, that was definitely, it was early morning.

[00:25:12] I will say I was pretty dehydrated, but it was, it happened.

[00:25:15] I swear of this.

[00:25:16] It happened.

[00:25:17] Okay.

[00:25:18] We're not going to fact check you on that.

[00:25:21] No fact checking.

[00:25:22] So Tad, I'm, I'm completely drawing a blank on the Stork's nest trail.

[00:25:28] Why is that?

[00:25:29] I know that name, but I cannot place it.

[00:25:33] Why I'm looking on the maps.

[00:25:35] I know it.

[00:25:36] Stork nest road.

[00:25:38] Is that the Dutch or not road?

[00:25:41] Yeah.

[00:25:41] That's Dutch or not, right?

[00:25:43] Yeah.

[00:25:43] Yeah.

[00:25:43] So they're freaking, I knew they were like, I'm like, that's Dutch or not.

[00:25:47] Yeah.

[00:25:47] That's a road.

[00:25:48] It's a great trail or road.

[00:25:50] I mean, it's, you know, but it's Dutch or not, it's not still nest trail.

[00:25:54] Yeah.

[00:25:55] Well, yeah.

[00:25:57] All right.

[00:25:57] And you went by Chris, that's actually probably where you might've gotten water.

[00:26:02] You know, I mean, you'll find out that I actually, I want to hold the title for the least knowledgeable of the cat skills person that's been on your podcast so far.

[00:26:11] So I apologize to anyone that's more knowledgeable, which would be everyone that listens to this, including the two Florida people.

[00:26:17] Right.

[00:26:18] I like this.

[00:26:19] 2.3.

[00:26:21] Two.

[00:26:21] Yeah.

[00:26:23] We're very, we're very precise.

[00:26:24] Yeah.

[00:26:25] So the stork that was, so we learned now that what some call the stork nest trail is really the, uh, that's just not sure.

[00:26:34] Yeah.

[00:26:35] Yeah.

[00:26:35] That's a good trip.

[00:26:37] All right.

[00:26:37] So Chris, thank you for shooting the shit with us.

[00:26:40] That was a, that was fantastic.

[00:26:42] Glad you can jump in.

[00:26:43] You know, I know you're, you're five, 600 miles away, but you know, yeah, I, this works out.

[00:26:49] I'm glad to talk about it.

[00:26:50] I've been really excited for this.

[00:26:52] Yeah.

[00:26:52] Uh, so thank you to the monthly supporters, Darren white, Vicki for Mike, so it's a, Jim C that's a Denise Vanessa, Joseph, Jim C and Michael.

[00:27:01] Thank you guys very much for supporting the show.

[00:27:03] Really appreciate it.

[00:27:04] All right.

[00:27:04] And thank you to our sponsors.

[00:27:06] Uh, capture your love story against breathtaking bat rocks with an outdoor Chronicles photography.

[00:27:12] Molly specializes in adventure couple photography, and she'll immortalize your moments amidst the stunning landscapes of the Catskills, Adirondacks and white mountains.

[00:27:21] She'll craft timeless images that reflect your unique bond in nature's grandeur and bark on an unforgettable photographic journey with outdoor Chronicles photography.

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[00:27:34] Also discover the wilderness with trail brown project, a expert led hiking and backpacking education programs offered on parallels outdoors experiences.

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[00:27:56] So, coffees and mentions.

[00:27:57] Uh, we haven't gotten any coffees in a while.

[00:27:59] So if you want to buy us a coffee to support the podcast, that would be fantastic.

[00:28:04] Uh, it goes to the podcast and then, you know, whatever doesn't go to the podcast goes to a donation of a local organization.

[00:28:12] And, uh, you know, Ted, I remember putting together some tallies that we've, we've, me, mostly I have, uh, donated $1,400 to the Catskills organization in the last two years.

[00:28:24] So that's a lot, that's a pretty good amount for a podcast that is mediocre, not beyond what's, what's below mediocre.

[00:28:30] So that's true.

[00:28:31] Well, if we, if you donated $1,400, if we divide that into the number of listeners that we have, that means we have some really, really, really rich listeners.

[00:28:43] Well endowed.

[00:28:44] Yeah.

[00:28:44] Cause that's, cause that's like per listener.

[00:28:47] That's almost $2,000 per listener.

[00:28:50] Yeah.

[00:28:51] If I did the math, right.

[00:28:52] Chris was an anonymous donor.

[00:28:54] Two point, excluding the 2.3 from Florida, it is about $2,000 per listener.

[00:29:00] I'm saving all my money for that ski resort.

[00:29:02] So I'm sorry guys.

[00:29:03] It didn't go to that.

[00:29:04] Once I buy the ski resort, it will be all about preservation.

[00:29:07] Yeah.

[00:29:07] Well, actually while we're talking, Chris has been listing things on eBay to sell, to sell, to raise money.

[00:29:14] So his shoes, he did a long path, his backpack, everything, everything.

[00:29:20] So, uh, once again, mention the podcast on one of your hikes through social media and we'll chat about this show.

[00:29:26] So, uh, Jim C who is a local supporter of the show had a recently challenging 10 mile trail race and a beautiful place.

[00:29:33] Uh, pretty gnarly track, uh, at epic digger right in the front line.

[00:29:37] He got up and ran the last 10 miles on the feet.

[00:29:40] Super fun race, 1700 miles of elevation gain at Amy's race, uh, at the lake for Bolton's landing up in the Errandex.

[00:29:47] Uh, also who's outdoors did the six with seven wonder people on Saturday.

[00:29:52] So if you don't know what the six is, it is, uh, I mean, you can go either way.

[00:29:57] It is Friday balsam cap, lone Rocky table, Peekamoose and ending either the moon hall or Peekamoose road.

[00:30:05] It's an absolute fantastic hike.

[00:30:06] It actually cuts a lot of stuff off of your list.

[00:30:10] If you're trying to do 3,500 club, uh, instead of just doing lone and Rocky single or stuff like that, you can do so much, uh, round like what?

[00:30:20] 12, 13 miles Ted around 500, 500, 5,000 feet of elevation gate.

[00:30:25] So I'm, I'm just going to disagree with you because the traditional way is moon hall to Peekamoose road or vice versa.

[00:30:34] But then you can approach it coming up the fisherman's path out of Denning to hit Friday.

[00:30:43] And then that's difficult though.

[00:30:46] Well, but it's another way to do it.

[00:30:48] And it could be a lot more fun doing it that way because there is more route finding at the present time going that way.

[00:30:56] Whereas the traditional way, the only thing that's missing is trail markers.

[00:31:02] I mean, the trail is pretty well true to the path.

[00:31:05] So, but it's still a lot of fun.

[00:31:06] It's a great hike.

[00:31:07] Um, I've done it countless times and all conditions and whether it's 10 miles, 12 or 14.

[00:31:17] Um, it's just a lot of fun.

[00:31:21] Yeah.

[00:31:21] And Chris, if you're, if you're not familiar, some of the Catskills hikes at 3,500 hikes have trail as peaks.

[00:31:27] I mean, right now, uh, well, at least the GPS lines and the, uh, the elevation chart for it.

[00:31:34] And it does not look, uh, it looks like an interesting hike.

[00:31:37] So I gotta say a lot of lines close together.

[00:31:40] Yeah.

[00:31:40] So going up from moon hall to Friday is, is like you said, uh, the topographic map is very close together.

[00:31:48] It's a brutal hike.

[00:31:50] I would say, you know, that, that one part you faced going up blackhead, like halfway up blackhead is kind of like what it is going all the way up Friday.

[00:31:59] It's 2,900 feet of gain.

[00:32:02] And like, what is it at 2.6, 2.9 miles?

[00:32:06] It's one of the highest gains in the Catskills.

[00:32:09] Yeah.

[00:32:09] Yeah.

[00:32:09] I'm not a, I'm not a numbers guy, but it's look, if you're in shape to do the whole hike, that first climb is nothing, you know, it's, it's worthwhile, you know, and kudos to those people that are in shape that can do the six and kudos to those people who are in shape that can do the nine and kudos to those people who can get out and do one mountain.

[00:32:32] That's challenging for them and they have fun doing it, you know, like hike your own hike.

[00:32:37] We don't all have to be Chris.

[00:32:40] Well, yes, right.

[00:32:41] You shouldn't, you shouldn't be me.

[00:32:43] That's jealous.

[00:32:45] We're interviewing your wife after this and confirm or deny that.

[00:32:50] Yeah.

[00:32:50] So congratulations to once again, uh, who's outdoors for doing the six awesome, challenging accomplishment.

[00:32:59] And it's, and it's very fun.

[00:33:00] You know, he, he had a great day with, uh, a bunch of people, seven people.

[00:33:05] So that's, that's a hell of a trail group.

[00:33:07] A lot of conversations that you have with, uh, Chris, he did the whole fricking, uh, long path by himself unsupported.

[00:33:15] Fuck.

[00:33:16] I can't, I, I'm sorry.

[00:33:17] I just got to keep going back to that.

[00:33:19] Like, it's just, I talked to myself plenty, so that's okay.

[00:33:23] People don't like hiking with you.

[00:33:24] Is that why they, you know, it's hard to find someone that will hike with me.

[00:33:29] I gotcha.

[00:33:30] That's the hard part.

[00:33:30] You, you, you bring your friends out.

[00:33:32] It took me a long time for me to understand.

[00:33:34] My wife did not think twenties was a good idea, but we went on at least four or five hikes where it was like, okay, 20 miles a day.

[00:33:41] And she, um, yeah, we, we only do tens now.

[00:33:45] Let's just say that's, that's impressive.

[00:33:48] Yeah.

[00:33:48] And tens a good distance.

[00:33:50] Yeah.

[00:33:50] Yeah.

[00:33:50] There's not a lot of elevation gain.

[00:33:52] That's a lot of walking.

[00:33:54] Well, these, these mountains and the cat scales, as I will say later are very different than a 10 mile hike I'll do in North Carolina.

[00:34:01] Okay.

[00:34:01] Okay.

[00:34:02] That's, I was going to say, like, if your wife participates in 10 miles, I put kudos to you.

[00:34:08] Cause it's pretty tough.

[00:34:12] All right.

[00:34:12] Hold on one second.

[00:34:13] We're going to be drinking something in a second.

[00:34:15] Got to pop this open.

[00:34:17] Ready?

[00:34:17] Oh, I didn't, I didn't know I was supposed to wait for you guys.

[00:34:19] No, no, no, no.

[00:34:20] This is the, this is my like fifth.

[00:34:22] So, sorry.

[00:34:24] Tad's going to do it too.

[00:34:24] What?

[00:34:25] Yeah.

[00:34:26] I've gotten Tad to drink.

[00:34:27] I am a bad influence.

[00:34:29] You are.

[00:34:29] I, you know, I'm going to have to stop hanging out with you on Tuesday nights.

[00:34:34] So Chris, what do you got buddy?

[00:34:37] Hmm.

[00:34:37] Uh, Oh, I am drinking a, I don't know.

[00:34:40] It was, it was on sale at food line.

[00:34:43] Oh, fake news, new England IPA.

[00:34:44] That's what it's called, but it's from a Raleigh NC brewery.

[00:34:47] So I don't know what it's called.

[00:34:48] Well, I have no clue.

[00:34:50] Gizmo fake news, uh, new England IPA.

[00:34:53] That's what we're drinking.

[00:34:54] So it was made in North Carolina, but it's called new England.

[00:34:58] It's a new England IPA.

[00:35:00] So, I mean, it's an IPA.

[00:35:01] I don't know what that means per se.

[00:35:02] Neither do I, but, uh, I'm sure you guys have plenty of them.

[00:35:06] I'll tag, I'll tag them in it and see what they come up with and see if they, cause I, I remember one time, one of my, uh, my interviews was tagged or had something and they, they responded back.

[00:35:19] And I was like, Holy shit.

[00:35:20] That's incredible.

[00:35:21] Cool.

[00:35:22] Fake news.

[00:35:23] Uh, that sounds very political right there.

[00:35:25] Those are all fucked up.

[00:35:26] I don't know.

[00:35:28] So Chris, how, how is that new England?

[00:35:31] Yeah.

[00:35:32] Tell us.

[00:35:32] Yeah.

[00:35:32] It tastes, um, like, uh, most IPAs that I, I, if I, if I, if you put two in front of me and you gave me the Pepsi challenge of IPAs, I wouldn't know what's new England versus other regional.

[00:35:44] Let's just say that.

[00:35:46] Okay.

[00:35:46] Okay.

[00:35:47] Same.

[00:35:47] Tad, what about you?

[00:35:48] So I am having a Murphy's imported stout.

[00:35:56] Yeah.

[00:35:57] Draft style.

[00:35:58] It's got that little nitrogen ball in it.

[00:36:01] When you crack it open.

[00:36:02] Oh, that just feels fancy.

[00:36:03] Yeah.

[00:36:04] I mean, it feels upscale, high class.

[00:36:06] That's the kind of guy I am.

[00:36:08] I drink high, high, high end legit imported stouts.

[00:36:14] It's pretty good.

[00:36:15] It's not as good as a Guinness, but it's better than a light beer.

[00:36:20] So I'll take it.

[00:36:22] Good for you.

[00:36:22] I have bad influence.

[00:36:24] Once again, that influence, I got Tad to drink.

[00:36:26] And before we move on, let me just, cause I made that comment about a light beer.

[00:36:30] Guess how many calories are in this 14.9 ounce can of Murphy's imported stout?

[00:36:41] 16.

[00:36:42] 14.9 ounces.

[00:36:46] Chris?

[00:36:47] 420.

[00:36:48] 420.

[00:36:49] 160 was my guess.

[00:36:49] Am I that wrong?

[00:36:51] Chris is the closer one.

[00:36:54] It's a hundred and 24 calories.

[00:36:59] Wow.

[00:37:00] I should have gone lower.

[00:37:01] Go figure.

[00:37:02] Go figure.

[00:37:02] Yeah.

[00:37:03] So you get, you get like real beer flavor without all the calories.

[00:37:08] Sure.

[00:37:08] And again, it's brought to you by Murphy's stout draft style.

[00:37:13] We don't want that on the summit though.

[00:37:14] You want as much calories as you can get on a summit.

[00:37:18] Right.

[00:37:18] But, but Stosh, look to your left, look to your right.

[00:37:22] We're not on summits tonight.

[00:37:24] Okay.

[00:37:25] Well, I am son.

[00:37:27] Oh, I know what I have.

[00:37:30] Oh, nevermind.

[00:37:32] All right.

[00:37:32] I'm not going to chat about what I got because the calories are actually lower than that.

[00:37:36] Yeah.

[00:37:37] It's pretty crazy.

[00:37:38] So down east hard cider.

[00:37:39] Uh, it is a blackberry.

[00:37:42] It's actually phenomenal.

[00:37:43] So probably halfway through this, I'll go get another one.

[00:37:46] But I mean, we're talking about calories.

[00:37:48] This says there is only 180 calories.

[00:37:52] So that's actually ridiculous.

[00:37:55] So I'm not bringing this up to the summit.

[00:37:57] Yeah.

[00:37:57] You guys got me looking at what's happening over here.

[00:38:00] Yeah.

[00:38:01] Now we've got Chris looking at his beer.

[00:38:03] I don't know if it says it here.

[00:38:06] It must have zero.

[00:38:07] Yeah.

[00:38:08] Yeah.

[00:38:08] There you go.

[00:38:09] Drink a cup.

[00:38:09] No calories, no flavor.

[00:38:13] Yeah.

[00:38:15] So now that we've gone drinking anything, uh, previous hikes, Chris, what have you done

[00:38:20] in the past like week or two since the long path that you want to chat about?

[00:38:24] Unfortunately, nothing, you know, I got teacher schedule and, uh, we were going to go out to the mountains

[00:38:30] two weeks ago.

[00:38:31] That was our trip.

[00:38:32] And that didn't happen.

[00:38:33] Haven't, uh, it would be irresponsible to go out there now.

[00:38:37] So I'm, I'm gonna do a veterans day hike with some teachers, but it looks like we're going to the coast

[00:38:43] to a weird trail called the new sea.

[00:38:45] That's my next round.

[00:38:46] No weird.

[00:38:47] I mean, you're going to be out there.

[00:38:49] So, and introduced to this, it's kind of introducing people to, to nature.

[00:38:54] Like you said, a teacher's hike.

[00:38:57] Oh yeah.

[00:38:58] Yeah.

[00:38:58] Always bring, bring one person that never comes back.

[00:39:02] Let's just go with that.

[00:39:03] Every year someone comes and then they don't want to be there this subsequent year.

[00:39:08] So, and then they, they, they're complaining of the elevation gain of 200 feet.

[00:39:14] And they're like, you son of a bitch.

[00:39:16] I just did, you know, 50,000 feet of elevation gain of 372 miles.

[00:39:21] Shut up.

[00:39:21] It's my students.

[00:39:22] Don't use the H word is what we call it in my classroom, because when they say hike in

[00:39:27] front of me, they know, um, in a, in a joking way, it's going to be one up every time.

[00:39:33] So they shouldn't say that in my classroom.

[00:39:37] Nice.

[00:39:37] Nice.

[00:39:38] Well, good.

[00:39:38] Good.

[00:39:39] Uh, what do you teach by the way?

[00:39:40] Sorry to, to, uh, high school history, uh, civics and law and justice in my two classes.

[00:39:45] And I've been doing it for awhile and it lets me have the summers to do the things that are

[00:39:49] much more fun because it is a hard job nine months out of the year.

[00:39:52] Of course, of course.

[00:39:54] And, uh, I, I mean, I don't, I, I'm not a believer, but bless you for what you do because

[00:39:59] it's, it's hard shit.

[00:40:00] I gotta admit.

[00:40:01] So awesome.

[00:40:04] Ted, what about you, buddy?

[00:40:05] What do you want to say?

[00:40:06] You want to say something about that?

[00:40:07] Sorry, Ted.

[00:40:08] Oh, well, I just wonder if Chris's students appreciate the effort that goes into what he

[00:40:14] does, right?

[00:40:16] Some do.

[00:40:17] Yeah.

[00:40:18] Do they, do they look at you and like, say, wow, this guy's hard for, or are they, are

[00:40:24] they oblivious to, you know, what's going on?

[00:40:28] I'm a weirdo and I'm only as weird as I am because of all the outdoors.

[00:40:32] So, uh, they know that it came from somewhere, but they don't truly, I mean, it's just a

[00:40:37] lot.

[00:40:38] I'm a weird, I'm a weirdo.

[00:40:39] Let's just go with all.

[00:40:40] All right.

[00:40:41] Well, we'll, we'll dive into that in a few minutes.

[00:40:43] So yeah.

[00:40:43] Yeah.

[00:40:43] On, on Saturday with the, uh, picture perfect weather, I set out to just stay on the trail

[00:40:52] the whole day and hiked from, uh, 214 over Plateau Sugarloaf, Twin and Indian head to

[00:41:03] Predator Road.

[00:41:03] And it was just fantastic conditions.

[00:41:07] Um, enough leaves had fallen overnight in the early morning that they just covered the

[00:41:13] trail where you went.

[00:41:14] So, you know, there was no exposed dirt, but still a lot of leaves on the trees.

[00:41:20] Is it peak season in the Catskills?

[00:41:24] Maybe, maybe not.

[00:41:25] Maybe there's still some green trees at the lower elevations, but it was just a, just a

[00:41:29] great day.

[00:41:30] There was a lot of people out hiking and I just had a fantastic fun time.

[00:41:36] So that devil's path.

[00:41:37] It always, it's, it's like you call it devil's path, but it's, it's like a pleasing path.

[00:41:43] You get, you get involved, you get involved, you get the views, you get, you know, sometimes

[00:41:49] mostly the, the people that appreciate hiking, you know, instead of, you know, the crazy.

[00:41:54] Well, so you, you say it's pleasing and I think Chris might agree with this.

[00:41:59] The one thing about hiking these mountains is you can make it as pleasing or as unpleasurable

[00:42:08] as you want based upon how hard you go uphill.

[00:42:13] Okay.

[00:42:13] You, you, you can take it really easy, go on uphill, take breaks, you know, and keep your

[00:42:19] heart rate down or you can just put the hammer down and I, um, going up sugarloaf, man.

[00:42:27] I had the hammer down.

[00:42:28] I put a big hurt on myself.

[00:42:29] I took a good break when I got to the top of sugarloaf and I dosed myself with a couple

[00:42:36] shots of caffeine and a lot of fluids.

[00:42:40] And I just got faster as the day went on.

[00:42:43] So I had, was a good power hike.

[00:42:45] I really, you know, just mentally into the level of exertion, given the temperature, the

[00:42:50] weather, the surface conditions, I flew.

[00:42:54] So it was a lot of fun.

[00:42:56] Nice.

[00:42:57] Yeah.

[00:42:57] And I was, uh, recently, you know, we'll talk, uh, Sunday, I went up to Platyc Hills ski

[00:43:04] resort to do something with my wife, but we, we, we hiked up the overlook trail and just, uh,

[00:43:10] enjoyed the beautiful view of autumn and just the magical wonders that it had up to the northern

[00:43:16] parts of the Catskills.

[00:43:17] And it was just absolutely phenomenal day.

[00:43:20] Wind was blowing.

[00:43:21] Leaves were falling.

[00:43:23] Just, uh, the views were, I don't know, beyond remarkable.

[00:43:28] Uh, the leaves are a little mustardy this year.

[00:43:31] They're not as, as crazy popping as I thought it would be, but it was just one of those phenomenal

[00:43:38] times when, then we went down to, uh, Margaretville and Jessica did some shopping and Ted, what did

[00:43:44] you say that we did instead of post hike bruising bites?

[00:43:47] This was the greatest thing I've ever heard.

[00:43:49] Um, I think I called it post hike credit card swipes.

[00:43:55] That's why, that's why you don't hike with your wife.

[00:43:58] Okay.

[00:43:58] Chris knows that, right?

[00:44:00] He, he stays away from these long hikes with his wife.

[00:44:04] So, but maybe to come out, she would, if she came out as far as I want to, if, if she came on the long

[00:44:10] path with me, we would be swiping the card.

[00:44:13] Let's just get that afterwards.

[00:44:14] Um, yeah.

[00:44:15] So yeah.

[00:44:16] Post hike credit card swipes.

[00:44:19] Hopefully it won't be a new segment on the show.

[00:44:21] Cause I don't want to have to try to outdo anyone shopping after the hike.

[00:44:27] Yeah.

[00:44:28] We went down to there and she went into a, uh, of like a plant shop.

[00:44:33] That was really cool.

[00:44:34] Uh, down in Margaretville.

[00:44:36] Uh, I forgot it was like soiled underground or something like that.

[00:44:40] Very cool.

[00:44:41] Well, we, I think we heard about that when we had the woman from the, uh, Catskill watershed

[00:44:46] corporation.

[00:44:48] I think she talked about that business being one of the businesses that the CWC gave grant

[00:44:55] money to.

[00:44:56] Oh, sacred soil.

[00:44:57] That's what it's called.

[00:44:57] Yeah.

[00:44:58] Yeah.

[00:44:58] Yeah.

[00:44:59] As she'd, we bought a cactus from there.

[00:45:01] Uh, it's probably going to die anyway.

[00:45:03] So I was like, whatever, uh, but who, but who buys a cactus in Margaretville?

[00:45:08] Right.

[00:45:09] It's pretty cool.

[00:45:10] It was freaking cool.

[00:45:11] I gotta admit it was pretty neat.

[00:45:14] And then afterward I was just like, well, you know, I might need my, my hiking.

[00:45:17] I gotta admit my hiking boots are getting out of control.

[00:45:20] Like they are feeling like slippers now.

[00:45:24] Uh, not in terms of shred, but like when I put them on, I'm just like, these are a little

[00:45:29] bit too worn in.

[00:45:31] So are they all leather boots?

[00:45:33] No, no, they were, uh, they're not leather.

[00:45:37] Uh, what's one below leather?

[00:45:41] Uh, yeah.

[00:45:44] Well, I wouldn't, yeah.

[00:45:44] Well, I wouldn't.

[00:45:45] Is it all, are they all natural?

[00:45:48] Like a man made?

[00:45:51] No, this is a suede suede.

[00:45:53] Sorry.

[00:45:54] Okay.

[00:45:54] They're suede.

[00:45:55] So, I mean, they're just getting a little on things.

[00:45:58] So we went up to foothills, uh, foothill shoes.

[00:46:03] This is just right in Margaretville.

[00:46:05] And I was looking at stuff.

[00:46:06] I was looking at Danners and I might, might get those there, but I have Merrell's right

[00:46:11] now and they, they feel so good.

[00:46:14] And it just, I, I can't wider.

[00:46:17] You have a wider foot.

[00:46:18] Don't you?

[00:46:18] I do.

[00:46:19] Yeah.

[00:46:20] Yeah.

[00:46:20] So a Merrell would, would be a good boot for you cause they come in the wider sizes.

[00:46:26] I use, if you can fit into them, I use La Sportiva's.

[00:46:30] I want it.

[00:46:31] Yeah.

[00:46:32] Yeah.

[00:46:32] The, the, the grip and traction is off the chart and I have, um, the La Sportiva approach

[00:46:40] shoe and the La Sportiva mid height boot.

[00:46:46] For winter.

[00:46:47] And the, well, no, those, the, the mid height ones are the ones I take on the more burly

[00:46:53] bushwhacks.

[00:46:54] Um, the shoe I take everywhere, whether it's a bushwhack or trail hike.

[00:46:59] And I will tell you, I have literally beat the crap out of those shoes.

[00:47:04] And at the end of every year, like this time of the hiking year, I say to myself, it's time

[00:47:10] to retire them and buy another pair.

[00:47:14] And so I've said that for the last three years in a row, but I squeeze another year

[00:47:20] out of them because they still have good traction.

[00:47:22] They're not torn up.

[00:47:23] They're not out of shape.

[00:47:25] Um, they just, man, they're indestructible.

[00:47:28] And some of the La Sportiva shoes, not this pair, but some of them actually, you send

[00:47:33] them back to the company.

[00:47:34] They re-sole them for you.

[00:47:36] So you talk about reusing, talk about reusing.

[00:47:39] Yeah.

[00:47:39] They're totally into it.

[00:47:40] They make great, great products.

[00:47:43] So that's my endorsement for La Sportiva.

[00:47:46] Yeah.

[00:47:47] Tag them in it.

[00:47:48] You need to have a thin foot.

[00:47:51] Okay.

[00:47:52] That's not me then.

[00:47:53] Yeah.

[00:47:53] You can have duck feet is what I'm saying.

[00:47:55] Chris, what's your go-to?

[00:47:56] I'm a wide foot guy.

[00:47:59] So I hike in ultras and ultras.

[00:48:02] Yeah, definitely wearing ultras all the time.

[00:48:05] Okay.

[00:48:05] I'm curious because, you know, there are so many products out there, you know, uh, he

[00:48:12] said, uh, hookahs, I call them hookahs.

[00:48:15] I just like saying that they're coming out with a boot now and, uh, with hiking shoes,

[00:48:20] everybody's converging into hiking shoes and running shoes and stuff like that.

[00:48:24] You know, Chris is a trail runner.

[00:48:26] So he has ultras.

[00:48:28] We just, they're just, yeah, they're all over the place, man.

[00:48:32] Everybody.

[00:48:33] And it's whatever feels good for you.

[00:48:36] And you know what?

[00:48:37] I don't know what the hell feels good to me until I use them on the trail and then they

[00:48:41] suck.

[00:48:41] And then I can't return them.

[00:48:43] Definitely.

[00:48:43] Definitely.

[00:48:44] Well, and that's why you buy, when you buy shoes, you buy them local cause you can, you

[00:48:49] know, wear them, walk around in them in the store.

[00:48:52] I, one time I got a, a warranty replacement from Solomon and the pair they sent me the,

[00:49:00] the, the sole or something on it was twisted.

[00:49:04] So they never really sat or fit well on my foot.

[00:49:08] And I just kept getting like this irritation when I wore them and I will give a sport T or

[00:49:14] a Solomon credit that I sent them an email complaining about them.

[00:49:19] They sent me another pair.

[00:49:21] No questions asked.

[00:49:22] Yeah.

[00:49:23] So they're a big company and they stand behind their products.

[00:49:28] Although I did find that I was going through a pair of their boots every year.

[00:49:31] They would just fall apart on, but they, but they were really good replacing them.

[00:49:36] Um, but they didn't have the grip that the last sportivas have.

[00:49:39] I swear those last sportivos, you'll see me someday climbing up the Empire State

[00:49:45] building, wearing them just going totally vertical.

[00:49:47] I can spot Chris.

[00:49:48] Chris will be set, sit, standing back and saying, yeah, I hung one night with that guy.

[00:49:55] My little building climbing cup podcast.

[00:49:58] Yeah.

[00:49:58] Right.

[00:49:58] See, I'm working, I'm working up to that.

[00:50:00] Did you use your, your single shoe through the whole time of the, uh, the.

[00:50:06] Yeah.

[00:50:07] You know, that's one weird thing about the unsupported manner is, you know, I mean, you would

[00:50:11] have had to carry another shoe.

[00:50:12] I know I saw some dude went, uh, for an 800 mile Arizona trail unsupported.

[00:50:17] And so on the back, he had a new pair of shoes.

[00:50:20] Cause to think, you know, if you're running 800 miles and trail runners, they're definitely

[00:50:24] going to break and imagine carrying another shoes for 400 miles only to use them.

[00:50:30] Then I think that's, that's a tough grind.

[00:50:33] And he couldn't do like a mail drop with another pair of shoes.

[00:50:36] Carry it all.

[00:50:37] Unsupported.

[00:50:38] Unsupported.

[00:50:39] Unsupported.

[00:50:39] Yeah.

[00:50:40] From the start to the finish, there's no resupply.

[00:50:42] Yeah.

[00:50:43] I know Anish, she, uh, Anish Heather Anderson, uh, you know, she sent the female FKT and so

[00:50:49] she ended up doing it in like 20 some odd days, but like, just imagine 20 some odd days

[00:50:54] of food on your back.

[00:50:55] No.

[00:50:56] To start.

[00:50:57] So can you do it?

[00:50:59] It's amazing.

[00:50:59] So here I'm going to, and this is a serious question.

[00:51:01] Yeah.

[00:51:02] Which I rarely ask.

[00:51:03] Okay.

[00:51:04] But if you're doing 800 miles unsupported and you, there's no resupplying, getting any extra

[00:51:10] provisions, whether buying them or drop boxes or whatever, can you along the way, kill something

[00:51:17] and eat it?

[00:51:18] You know, I love the distinction of unsupported cause there's so many gray areas, but the

[00:51:23] answer to that would absolutely be no.

[00:51:25] Right.

[00:51:25] If it is some sort of support, whether like, I mean, you think if you picked up a berry

[00:51:31] that counts as support.

[00:51:33] Um, what about a dog?

[00:51:36] What if you bring your dog with you?

[00:51:38] If your dog, could you eat your dog?

[00:51:40] Oh yeah.

[00:51:41] Um, this is a sensitive.

[00:51:43] No, I think that I'm going to go with like legally, uh, legally.

[00:51:47] Legally, we're not talking legally.

[00:51:50] You are a law professor, a law teacher, right?

[00:51:52] Do I always teach law and justice?

[00:51:54] And so I do like to tell the kids like I'm a lawyer, but not really.

[00:51:57] So, um, as a non-official lawyer, I think that that would count as unsupported still

[00:52:03] because like, if you used a wheelie cart, that would be unsupported.

[00:52:07] And I just can only assume that, I mean, the dog carries itself, but you had it the whole

[00:52:12] time with you.

[00:52:14] Yeah.

[00:52:14] So like the fact that you eventually ate it, like you didn't.

[00:52:20] Yeah.

[00:52:21] It's a, it's a strange distinction, but.

[00:52:23] Yeah.

[00:52:23] Well, maybe if you had it on a leash, right?

[00:52:25] That would make it more part of the unsupported.

[00:52:27] You're carrying it with you.

[00:52:29] Stop.

[00:52:32] Because who's outdoor.

[00:52:33] Who's who hikes with the dog is raging right now.

[00:52:37] Yeah.

[00:52:37] Yeah.

[00:52:37] I find the distinction of, uh, supported and unsupported to be entirely fascinating.

[00:52:42] And also I did 700 miles with my dog this summer.

[00:52:45] So I'm all about dog hikes too.

[00:52:47] Wow.

[00:52:48] Or 400.

[00:52:49] They did 400.

[00:52:50] Oh my God.

[00:52:51] Wow.

[00:52:52] Unbelievable.

[00:52:53] So I haven't even talked about my second hike.

[00:52:55] So today I did twin mountain, um, from Prycher road and it was absolutely fantastic.

[00:53:00] I actually ran into the Taha'as.

[00:53:03] How do you say that?

[00:53:04] Ted, do you know?

[00:53:05] Not, not a clue.

[00:53:07] They, they said something.

[00:53:08] I was like Taha'as and I think it's Taha'as trail crew who was recreating almost, I would

[00:53:14] say almost the whole trail up to where you start elevation gain and, uh, Prycher road

[00:53:19] up Pico up, uh, Jimmy Dahl and notch.

[00:53:22] And it's absolutely phenomenal.

[00:53:23] You can fly through that area.

[00:53:26] And it's just what it used to be was just mud rolling rocks or you roll your ankle is

[00:53:32] fricking time.

[00:53:34] But today was one of the most perfect days that I've ever had in the Catskills of where

[00:53:39] there was just a nice steady flow of wind.

[00:53:42] Uh, the sun was popping back and forth.

[00:53:46] The clouds were there.

[00:53:48] Uh, they got up.

[00:53:49] I only went to the, the, the Southern twin, the Eastern twin peak just to get the view.

[00:53:55] And I sat up there for at least an hour, just soaking in the views, looking in every

[00:53:59] direction, just laburgasted by anything and everything met two people on the trail.

[00:54:05] And, uh, you know, I, I love what I, I can, when I'm 30 feet, uh, behind or ahead of the

[00:54:13] person up on the trail and I could smell their cologne.

[00:54:16] I'm just like, yeah, they came from New York city.

[00:54:20] So you're, you're that guy.

[00:54:22] Chris is talk about unsupported.

[00:54:24] Chris, I, I, I just saw a resupply there.

[00:54:26] Did I catch that?

[00:54:27] I got to do that soon.

[00:54:28] Yeah.

[00:54:28] There's the beer resupply.

[00:54:29] You see, um, now I am right there though.

[00:54:32] Yeah.

[00:54:32] So this is, so you're not, you're not doing the fastest known podcast tonight.

[00:54:36] This is a supported record.

[00:54:38] I'm going for on the podcast.

[00:54:40] Good.

[00:54:40] All right.

[00:54:41] So we've got that down on the record.

[00:54:43] He's on can number two.

[00:54:45] Is this the foe Northeast IPA again?

[00:54:48] Okay.

[00:54:48] Once again, we're on, we're on fake news.

[00:54:50] Oh, there.

[00:54:52] Awesome.

[00:54:52] Nice.

[00:54:53] Awesome.

[00:54:54] So yeah.

[00:54:55] Uh, twin mountain was phenomenal today.

[00:54:58] Uh, once again, if you, I would take the Jimmy Dolan notch up to the top, absolutely

[00:55:03] phenomenal hike to how us trail or the trail crew has done an amazing amount of work that I was

[00:55:10] just like, wow.

[00:55:11] Yeah.

[00:55:11] Now, like, to be honest, I don't trail run, but when I go down, I try to push myself a

[00:55:18] little bit further.

[00:55:19] Gravity.

[00:55:20] Yeah.

[00:55:20] I jog.

[00:55:21] And then, then I start, I get a little bit too ahead of myself.

[00:55:25] I know it sounds weird, but I start kind of zoning out and I'm just like, oh shit,

[00:55:30] I can't complete this next step.

[00:55:31] And I fricking put on the e-brake and I'm like, all right, that was a little bit too much,

[00:55:35] but they've made it so you can fly down this trail and it's beautiful stepping stones.

[00:55:42] Uh, wow.

[00:55:43] Just the stuff.

[00:55:44] And I, I met with them.

[00:55:45] They had no clue about the podcast and I, I don't, you know, I was just like, yeah, I

[00:55:50] don't, I don't expect that.

[00:55:51] But they, uh, I gave them one of my business cards and they were, they were pretty cool.

[00:55:56] And they were down to earth people that looked like they were hauling some 200 pound rocks

[00:56:00] to where it would make our trails even better.

[00:56:04] And, uh, I definitely appreciate that.

[00:56:05] When you say they were hauling them, are they moving them like in a wheelbarrow or some type

[00:56:11] of apparatus like that?

[00:56:12] Are they using cable?

[00:56:14] Cable and like, like rope toes with no, no, right.

[00:56:19] Rope toes with their body.

[00:56:21] Oh, really?

[00:56:21] They're dragging them.

[00:56:23] Yeah.

[00:56:23] Terrible.

[00:56:24] Right.

[00:56:24] Like, it's like two of them would have the rope toe.

[00:56:27] One would have it.

[00:56:28] One was like a pulley system and they would pull it back.

[00:56:31] And it was just, it was cool.

[00:56:32] I didn't count, but that's the way I went out on Saturday at the end of my hike.

[00:56:38] And I'm going to tell you that they must've moved at least 50 to a hundred stones like

[00:56:44] that.

[00:56:44] And when I say stones, these are massive.

[00:56:48] So the width of probably like three to four feet.

[00:56:50] Yeah.

[00:56:51] The width of the trail.

[00:56:53] And it's so luxurious now coming in and out compared to what it used to be.

[00:56:58] But while, while we're on this topic, we're talking about trails.

[00:57:01] We're talking about the devil's path.

[00:57:03] We're talking about twin.

[00:57:04] Let's toss in sugar loaf.

[00:57:06] Why isn't part of, why don't they have a trail?

[00:57:10] I should say that loops in front of twin or sugar loaf or twin and sugar loaf.

[00:57:18] Why can't you go back up?

[00:57:21] No, it goes, but goes on the, like the Southern side.

[00:57:24] Right.

[00:57:25] The opposite side that you hike up.

[00:57:27] Right.

[00:57:28] I mean, I've, I've, I've bushwhacked over there and everything, but I've often thought you

[00:57:32] might get somebody who comes up from Reddiger up the, the Jimmy Dolan notch trail.

[00:57:38] They don't want to climb either of those mountains.

[00:57:40] Why can't they just continue through the notch, bang a right and head West and go in front of, or to the South of twin, continue on over to sugar loaf, go in front of sugar loaf again, and then go back out to Roaring Kill.

[00:57:58] Why can't they have a trail in front of those on the Southern side?

[00:58:02] We talk about trail building.

[00:58:03] They're spending all this money on these big, you know, luxurious stones out there.

[00:58:08] I think that would be a neat feature to do that.

[00:58:11] Once again, it's all about money.

[00:58:13] And, you know, dad, I know you, I know I brought this stuff up before, but you know, it's, it's, it's the cost of new trails.

[00:58:22] Plus replacing like old trails, you know, enhancing old trails.

[00:58:26] It's going to be a big discussion.

[00:58:28] Well, and there's so much truth to that.

[00:58:31] And then there's equal truth to the fact, the well-documented fact that since COVID, the number of hikers in the Catskills is more than doubled.

[00:58:43] Doubled.

[00:58:44] It's beyond that.

[00:58:45] It's like 300%.

[00:58:46] Yeah.

[00:58:47] And, but the budget for trail maintenance and trail work in the Catskills hasn't gone up proportionately.

[00:58:52] So Chris, do you think Chris are in-house teacher of law and justice?

[00:58:59] Do you think I'm making a just and fair argument that if hiker traffic has gone up by 300%, the state of New York should spend 300% more in the Catskills?

[00:59:12] Yeah.

[00:59:12] I mean, I'm looking at where you say that the trail should be and hey, you know, if, um, it, if there's the need.

[00:59:20] Just say fuck yeah.

[00:59:21] Just say fuck yeah.

[00:59:22] Yeah.

[00:59:22] Absolutely.

[00:59:23] Always more trails.

[00:59:24] Right?

[00:59:25] I mean, you know, you have, you have a balance of more trails, enhance the old trails, stuff like that.

[00:59:33] You know, it's, it's just, it's tough.

[00:59:37] It's tough to think about.

[00:59:38] And, you know, you look at what the, the Tahawas has done at Peacoy Notch and how long it's, or Jimmy Dolan Notch and how long it's taken.

[00:59:46] You know, the volunteers, it stinks because you can't get enough volunteers as the Tahawas has, you know, they had like six people today and the volunteers, you know, who knows what they can show up on a day.

[01:00:00] And you plan this months and months ahead of time.

[01:00:04] And that's some insane labor to haul 200 pound stones off the trail.

[01:00:10] You know how long, I don't even know how far they're hauling these things.

[01:00:13] So if I got paid to do it, I would, I would do it.

[01:00:16] Yeah.

[01:00:16] I always thought they used like a pulley apparatus or a ratchet come along or something to facilitate moving these.

[01:00:25] I just didn't, I didn't realize that it's like, you know, going to a summer football camp and you have these, you know, offensive linemen, you know, pushing and pulling those, you know, dummies around.

[01:00:37] I thought they were those guys that were doing this work, were they as big as like professional NFL football players?

[01:00:44] Nope.

[01:00:44] They're smaller than me.

[01:00:46] They were like Chris's size, to be honest.

[01:00:48] Oh, Chris.

[01:00:49] And 400 pounds.

[01:00:51] You want to take them outside?

[01:00:52] On the audio broadcast.

[01:00:53] You guys can't tell, but a seven, eight, 400 pounds.

[01:00:57] Yeah.

[01:00:58] He's been taking anabolic steroids since like what?

[01:01:02] Six months since birth, right?

[01:01:04] You've been on some like, you've been on the Lance Armstrong.

[01:01:07] All right.

[01:01:08] Pharmacutical enhancement program.

[01:01:10] And the train comes back.

[01:01:12] Yeah.

[01:01:12] And he calls it unsupported.

[01:01:15] We got to get onto Chris's stuff.

[01:01:18] I got to get onto here, his story.

[01:01:20] So the Cats Go Lose, Cats Go Lean To crew is doing some stuff this weekend.

[01:01:24] 10, 12, 10, 13, 10, 14.

[01:01:27] Sign up on New York, New Jersey Trail Conference page.

[01:01:30] I'll post that.

[01:01:31] If you want to do the John Rob Lean To, they're going to be working on that awesome spot in

[01:01:36] the Cats Goals.

[01:01:37] Also, they're doing the Elm Ridge Lean To work day on Friday, 10, 18, 10, 19, 10, 20.

[01:01:42] I will post the link and the show notes for that too, as well.

[01:01:46] Also, if you can volunteer, do it.

[01:01:49] Anybody and everybody, 3500 Club, Trail Crew, Cats Goal Mountains Club, Visitor Center,

[01:01:55] Jolly Rovers, Trail Crew, Bramley Mountain, definitely volunteer as much as you can.

[01:02:02] So once again, you know what?

[01:02:04] I don't want to do the weather because we're recording on a Tuesday and it's Friday

[01:02:09] and last time we kind of screwed up and the weather was shitty on that day.

[01:02:13] But it still looks good.

[01:02:15] Friday, Saturday is supposed to be clear with minimal winds.

[01:02:19] A high of 55 on Friday and a low of 41.

[01:02:25] Maybe frost in the morning, but nothing too bad.

[01:02:29] Saturday, a high of 50, a low of 41 as well.

[01:02:33] Minimal winds, maybe 20 mile per hour gust.

[01:02:37] Sunday has a little cloudy with some clouds.

[01:02:40] A high of 57 and a low of 25 at the night during Sunday to evening.

[01:02:46] So it looks to be an awesome weekend to get out there.

[01:02:49] I don't know if it's going to be beyond, I have a feeling it's going to be way beyond peak

[01:02:53] and the leaves might be off of the trees.

[01:02:55] But once again, take your time getting out there because the trails are going to be covered with leaves

[01:03:01] and it's going to be slippery.

[01:03:02] So, all right.

[01:03:04] So let's get on to the last set of sponsors and then we'll get on to Chris.

[01:03:10] Finally.

[01:03:10] Jesus.

[01:03:11] Yeah.

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[01:04:39] If I may, did you skip the Catskill Mountain history?

[01:04:44] I did.

[01:04:46] You know, because I heard that you sometimes skip it in the episodes I listen to.

[01:04:51] And I've been reading The Power Broker by Robert Moses.

[01:04:54] And then I looked at the back just for the one point where he says, Catskills.

[01:04:58] Do it.

[01:04:59] Was that intentional that you skipped it?

[01:05:01] No, no.

[01:05:03] Do what you need.

[01:05:04] I just skipped it because we're already an hour in.

[01:05:07] So what do you have to say?

[01:05:08] Go ahead.

[01:05:09] Jesus!

[01:05:10] This is the teacher in Chris coming in.

[01:05:12] Tell.

[01:05:12] Tell your taste.

[01:05:14] Take the podium.

[01:05:17] I'm so sorry.

[01:05:18] Well, I just found this is the only mention of the Catskills in the entire 1,200 page Robert Moses biography, The Power Broker.

[01:05:29] And it says, by the end of the summer in 1928, the scattered little historic reservations that Moses had inherited had expanded into a system including 70 parks totaling more than 125,000 acres.

[01:05:41] And he used the $5 million bond issue to beat the lumberman to the great untouched tracks of the Adirandacks and Catskills to build up the state forest preserve to 2,218 acres.

[01:05:55] Wow.

[01:05:56] That was 19, uh, 20.

[01:05:59] Yeah.

[01:06:00] So it was only 125,000 acres and now it's 375,000 acres.

[01:06:06] So sorry.

[01:06:07] I just, I was like, I'm going to be, I'm going to bring Catskills histories too.

[01:06:11] No, no.

[01:06:12] Since I'm the least knowledgeable person, once again, I had to compensate.

[01:06:16] Well, we're, we're going to have to hand the reins of the podcast over to you, Chris, because you, you've, you've definitely outgained me.

[01:06:24] Bring dust on this, bring Robert Moses.

[01:06:26] Yeah.

[01:06:26] I'll give you all the passwords and everything.

[01:06:28] We're, we're done.

[01:06:29] Yeah.

[01:06:30] Yeah.

[01:06:30] So our work is done here.

[01:06:31] Come on.

[01:06:31] Okay.

[01:06:32] Yeah.

[01:06:32] We're good.

[01:06:33] Take it easy guys.

[01:06:35] So let's get out to the guests of the night.

[01:06:37] Let's go.

[01:06:39] So Chris,

[01:06:40] is tonight is joining us and he just recently did the fastest known time unsupported of the long path.

[01:06:47] Absolutely insane.

[01:06:49] Nine days, 35 minutes with a sleeping time of, I don't know how long would the George Washington.

[01:06:56] I got more sleep than I was supposed to get.

[01:06:58] Yeah.

[01:06:59] Let's just start with that.

[01:07:00] That's absolutely insane.

[01:07:03] Yeah.

[01:07:04] That's basically, I mean, we should just leave it right there.

[01:07:06] Nine days, 35 minutes, fastest known time unsupported.

[01:07:09] That's, that's the one thing that just blows my mind is unsupported.

[01:07:13] Yeah.

[01:07:13] So let's, let's just, no, let's do the unsupport.

[01:07:16] Okay.

[01:07:17] One sec.

[01:07:18] Well, we'll talk about Chris's background and then we'll go into the unsupported stuff.

[01:07:22] I got you.

[01:07:23] Okay.

[01:07:23] Cool.

[01:07:24] Okay.

[01:07:25] Yeah.

[01:07:25] My background.

[01:07:26] I don't know.

[01:07:26] I've been hiking since kind of 2014.

[01:07:29] You guys definitely hike more than me though.

[01:07:32] Let me just throw that one out there.

[01:07:33] Cause I was thinking this year, I've only gone on like eight hikes.

[01:07:36] It just so happens that three of those were all over 300 miles, you know?

[01:07:42] So I don't go on that many hikes.

[01:07:45] I just do go very hard when I do go out whenever that is.

[01:07:51] Um, so I started in 2014, did the AT 2015, did the PCT, hits and pucks around with the

[01:07:57] MST for, uh, four different summers.

[01:08:00] What's the MST?

[01:08:02] Uh, Mountain to sea trail in North Carolina, uh, trying to set the FKT when I was a big dummy

[01:08:07] and didn't really understand FKTs cause I was just so young.

[01:08:10] Uh, so I injured myself four times every single time.

[01:08:16] Uh, and then CDT 2019, I did the Northern half CDT 2021.

[01:08:20] I did the Southern half, uh, CDT 20 or MST.

[01:08:25] I finally finished in 2022.

[01:08:27] And then ice age trail has been the last two summers finished those.

[01:08:30] And, uh, yeah, I don't know.

[01:08:32] I don't know where I'll go next.

[01:08:33] I don't know.

[01:08:34] I don't know.

[01:08:34] I've only, how many, so 2014, how many, have you calculated how many miles you've done since

[01:08:42] 2014?

[01:08:43] Uh, no, I mean, it's, I just want to do 10,000 and I don't know if I'm there.

[01:08:48] I'm real close.

[01:08:49] But once you do 10,000, it feels like you've gone past a point of no return, even though

[01:08:55] I'm fucking hanging up everything.

[01:08:56] He's just like, you've hiked more than me.

[01:08:59] 10,000 miles.

[01:09:00] I only did eight though.

[01:09:01] I heard you guys, you guys went out last weekend.

[01:09:03] Yeah.

[01:09:04] So of the 10,000 or 8,000 that you've done so far, Chris, how many has been in the dark?

[01:09:11] Um, I hate night hiking.

[01:09:13] So I'm out, but I'm always alone.

[01:09:15] So yeah, I'm not a big fan of night hiking.

[01:09:18] I hike when I have to in the dark, but I mean, I'm more of a walk all day.

[01:09:22] And when it goes down, I should probably go down too.

[01:09:26] But when you're setting a record, you don't have that pleasantry.

[01:09:28] So yeah, it is what it is.

[01:09:31] You've, you've done the triple crown.

[01:09:33] What, what is your favorite?

[01:09:35] I I've known a bunch of people and, and it's very controversial.

[01:09:38] Uh, Oh, it's definitely the CDT.

[01:09:41] It was the only time it ever felt like it was dangerous or actually more than just walking,

[01:09:48] you know, AT is walking and PCT walking with CDT.

[01:09:51] They were, you know, walking across snow covered sides of mountains.

[01:09:55] And I was like, Ooh, this is dangerous.

[01:09:57] And, uh, getting to choose your own path all over the place so that you could go over some mountain instead of around it.

[01:10:03] Like just so many, just fun choices that you didn't get on the other two.

[01:10:06] And, uh, yeah, that's what I really like about hiking is just getting to have a say instead of following a line.

[01:10:15] Um, so with the, the, the CDT, I know a lot of people choose that because it's more secluded.

[01:10:23] Uh, I would say then the PCT and the AT.

[01:10:26] Uh, yeah, yeah, it definitely is.

[01:10:29] Um, yeah.

[01:10:30] Would you say that it's definitely has its times of where you're just like, damn, I'm, I'm all alone compared to the AT of where you're like, I'm with a hiking family of 15 people.

[01:10:40] Yeah.

[01:10:41] And I mean, it depends on when you, I started the PCT when I went northbound in June, uh, in New Mexico and no one's hiking northbound in June in New Mexico.

[01:10:49] Cause I waited until school ended.

[01:10:52] And so it was June 14th in New Mexico and it was not cool.

[01:10:55] And I was definitely alone, but then randomly on day three, I was walking under a bridge.

[01:11:00] Some guy said, Hey, are you hiking the CDT?

[01:11:02] And, uh, that's how I met Oscar.

[01:11:04] Uh, so there were two of us that started in very in mid June in 2022.

[01:11:09] Nice.

[01:11:11] Cool.

[01:11:12] And, and those three, you didn't set out to do a record, no fastest, no time.

[01:11:18] No, I was just trying to make miles, but this is more of a recent thing in the last two years where I've really started leaning more into, um, pushing myself in the mountains.

[01:11:27] Um, and actually having the no hall, no how of how to do it.

[01:11:31] And how, how did it come about mentally that you went from just walking the AT, uh, doing these long hikes to now you want to start doing fastest known times.

[01:11:45] Um, you know, for me, I think, and once I do want to disclose that I'm not the world, I'm definitely not a great FKT or there's way better people that are doing FKTs and way more competitive.

[01:11:57] But, um, for me, when it comes to FKTs, the reason why I started was because I've always kind of pushed myself in the mountains.

[01:12:06] Um, and it right now for me is the hardest thing that I think I'm capable of doing.

[01:12:11] And that's why I want to do the AT in the first place was I thought it was the hardest thing that I could possibly do.

[01:12:17] And then I did it and I was like, well, what's harder than that?

[01:12:19] So, you know, post CDT, I did a hundred miler.

[01:12:22] Um, that was tough.

[01:12:23] And I will say these FKTs are, I think, harder than a hundred milers, um, to sustain that, um, just level of pressure over nine days or seven days or six days, depending on what one you're doing.

[01:12:36] And I'm looking in, I'm thinking about future FKTs.

[01:12:39] That would be very difficult, but who knows?

[01:12:42] So what was your first FKT attempt?

[01:12:45] Um, well, my first one with the MST, which was 1,200 and I just was not, I would have been supported or self-supported.

[01:12:52] So, you know, you can pick up anything you want in any gas station, but that was in 2016.

[01:12:57] And how I hurt myself was on the very first day, they always say, elevate your legs.

[01:13:02] So then I put my legs up on a rock.

[01:13:03] I didn't put anything under my knees, stretch my knee out.

[01:13:06] And then for like four or five years, it wasn't the same.

[01:13:09] And I finally really recovered from that because I've been doing a lot more strength training.

[01:13:15] And the first one that actually went well, and I succeeded that matters any was the Ben McKay trail in North Carolina and Georgia and North Carolina and Georgia, 290 miles from Springer mountain at the end of the AT all the way to the top of the Smokies.

[01:13:33] Wow.

[01:13:34] And that was six, seven days in like six hours.

[01:13:39] Wow.

[01:13:40] And that was unsupported.

[01:13:41] Yeah.

[01:13:42] I like the idea of unsupported just because it's, you know, I'm not a runner.

[01:13:48] So I'm not, I can't do one of those supported ones really that well.

[01:13:53] I definitely can't do a self-supported one that great, but I'd probably do it better than some runners, but I'm a pretty okay hiker I'd say.

[01:14:03] And so it feels like the ones that I set out to do and the ones that I've been trying to do are ones that I think are long enough that they kind of benefit a backpacker.

[01:14:15] And I have some sort of interest in, and if that's the, there's a confluence in those two rivers, well then that's why I hiked the FKTs that I've done.

[01:14:23] And so I got currently the Ben McKay trail unsupported six days and some odd hours or maybe 70.

[01:14:30] I can't remember anymore.

[01:14:31] Uh, South beyond 6,000, which is all the 6,000 foot peaks in North Carolina combined together in a line.

[01:14:39] Um, and that was like 250 and Oh, there you go.

[01:14:42] Yeah.

[01:14:44] I shared it.

[01:14:45] I have your page pulled up.

[01:14:46] I appreciate it.

[01:14:47] And then of course the long path, which is the most recent one and pretty fun.

[01:14:51] I'm pretty excited to have that.

[01:14:53] And the last two were done during my spring break because once again, I'm a teacher.

[01:14:57] I showed up to class the day after I did the Ben McKay having only slept like a couple hours after it.

[01:15:04] And I, yeah, I just had a kind of rambling lecture that day because I was still coming down.

[01:15:10] Wow.

[01:15:12] So it seems like with your attempts and records that you are looking more towards, like you said, the hikers perspective instead of the runners perspective where you can be running and someone supports you and gives you a pizza where you would be like, screw this.

[01:15:29] I got to cook my own meal and stuff.

[01:15:31] That's, that's incredible.

[01:15:32] I got to find, I find that fascinating.

[01:15:34] I didn't, I, you know, I saw a Carl Metzler when I was on the 80, uh, back in 2014, trying to set the Appalachian trail FKT.

[01:15:43] And I remember like, I was walking past his car.

[01:15:48] And then this is the first time I ever heard of FKT is I was walking past his car and they offered me a Red Bull because they were sponsored by Red Bull.

[01:15:55] I took a Red Bull, I slammed it.

[01:15:56] And then I started hiking uphill.

[01:15:57] And then I was like, man, that guy is following me uphill.

[01:16:00] And he didn't even pass me on the uphill, but the moment it became flat, like he was gone.

[01:16:04] And, uh, like, yeah, I remember thinking that man's a NASCAR, you know, like that is what a supported hiker is.

[01:16:13] You're a NASCAR and then you come in for your pit stop and then you NASCAR away.

[01:16:17] And I'm honestly just not that athletic.

[01:16:19] Wow.

[01:16:20] That is a great description.

[01:16:22] Yeah.

[01:16:22] Yeah.

[01:16:23] So I didn't realize there was these different categories of efforts, the supported, the self-supported, and then the unsupported.

[01:16:34] Mm-hmm .

[01:16:34] Those are the three.

[01:16:35] And you prefer the completely unsupported.

[01:16:39] It's phenomenal.

[01:16:40] Mm-hmm .

[01:16:40] So when you, when you set off to do a fastest known time in FKT, everything that you're going to consume other than water, I guess you have with you.

[01:16:51] Yes.

[01:16:52] Wow.

[01:16:53] And that's it.

[01:16:55] It's, it's definitely, I mean, one weird kind of caveat to the FKT website, which they added recently was you can charge your phone and use electrical plugs, which is something that you also have to think about when you're doing a nine day long FKT.

[01:17:15] Yeah.

[01:17:16] Like you can have, like, you can have a public faucet and you can, I assume use a public restroom.

[01:17:22] And also you can charge at outlets.

[01:17:27] Wow.

[01:17:27] If you didn't have, like, like to pay to charge it.

[01:17:30] I don't know why you would, but that's, besides that you're a hundred percent on your own.

[01:17:34] That brings a whole nother, like perspective to like fastest known times.

[01:17:41] Like, you know, I've had, I mean, I don't know if you've listened to a bunch of podcasts that we've had on here.

[01:17:46] We've had fastest known time for those paths.

[01:17:49] I listened to every FKT one.

[01:17:51] Yeah.

[01:17:52] So Joshua Reed and you know, he's an insane guy.

[01:17:56] I follow him on Facebook and I see his stuff.

[01:17:58] I support that guy all the time.

[01:17:59] He is crazy.

[01:18:00] Uh, he did the devil's path, which was like fucking like three hours, 43 minutes.

[01:18:05] What an insane.

[01:18:07] I know you should have seen me.

[01:18:09] I was just hiking up it slowly, making my time because.

[01:18:12] Yeah.

[01:18:13] And, and, but, but to be supported and unsupported with 372 miles, three, like that unsupported.

[01:18:24] Yeah.

[01:18:24] Blows my freaking mind.

[01:18:26] It's, it's a heavy pack.

[01:18:27] Let's just say that.

[01:18:28] I mean, I'll say more, but that's a heavy pack.

[01:18:31] So Chris, tell us, what did you learn on the prior FKT attempts that you bundled into your effort on the long path?

[01:18:41] Um, oh, you know, I did fail on FKT earlier in the summer.

[01:18:44] My summer was supposed to be FKT at the start.

[01:18:47] So I went to the new England trail.

[01:18:49] It's a national scenic trail.

[01:18:50] It seemed to kind of interesting, never heard of it before six days before I hiked it.

[01:18:54] But I was like, let's just go in on that, uh, on a plan.

[01:18:57] So I tried to do 190 mile new England trail, uh, in three days and 12 hours.

[01:19:04] That was the previous one.

[01:19:04] And around day at the morning of day four at 3am on the side of a ditch, I abandoned that plan because it was 96 on day three.

[01:19:16] And it was, it's new England in June, early June.

[01:19:20] It should not be 96.

[01:19:21] It was 96 on day three.

[01:19:22] It was 96 on day four.

[01:19:24] Um, what did I learn?

[01:19:27] There's so many little things, but the one thing that I tried to do this trail that was different than the previous trails is,

[01:19:34] is I tried to go no cook, which is actually a thing that I've absolutely never done on any trail in 10,000 mile hiking.

[01:19:42] Like no cook save some time by I've always cold soaked my food before cooking it so that I can save fuel, which is a way that I can carry a much smaller fuel canister.

[01:19:54] But on this trip, uh, yeah, I went straight up no cook.

[01:19:57] And, uh, as I'll say on day six, seven and eight, I made a fire and decided to cook.

[01:20:04] So what, what no cook, what does that mean?

[01:20:07] Uh, you just, you know, cold soak your food and you don't use a flame.

[01:20:12] Um, and your food should rehydrate based on water being exposed to it over the course of the day.

[01:20:17] So around 3 PM, I'll usually dump my food inside of my pot.

[01:20:22] Um, screw the lid.

[01:20:23] I use a Vargo bot, a great, it's honestly one of my favorite, favorite pieces of gear period.

[01:20:29] Vargo bot 700, the one liter one.

[01:20:32] Yeah.

[01:20:33] The one liter one looks a little strange.

[01:20:34] It's too tall.

[01:20:35] It's awkward, but the 700 liter one, it's a normal size.

[01:20:39] It is a metal titanium canister that screws like a bottle, but also you can cook it on a flame like a pot.

[01:20:46] And so, um, yeah, on this trail, I thought I was going to go no cook, but I still brought the bot just in case I failed at that.

[01:20:53] And, uh, imagine hiking a 40 some mile day and then being like, I'm going to do make a fire so I can cook warm food.

[01:21:02] That's what I did the night of day six, the night of day five, the morning of day six, the night of day six.

[01:21:10] And that was it.

[01:21:11] Yeah.

[01:21:12] Oh, no.

[01:21:12] I also did it on day five too.

[01:21:15] So with the, the, like the long path, what made you go after the New York state long path?

[01:21:20] Like what you're done in North Carolina, what made you like, look up here and be like, Hey, let me go after this.

[01:21:26] I mean, it's just, you know, you have to have something that calls to you.

[01:21:30] Um, that's like why I hike the trails that I hike.

[01:21:34] And so, um, you know, the ice age trail, my brother lives in Wisconsin.

[01:21:37] I thought it was very interesting.

[01:21:38] That's why I spent the first half of my summer, uh, doing the ice age trail, but like the long path, honestly, it's the first other, maybe the PCT, but it might be the third other trail I ever heard about.

[01:21:48] I was on the 18 and 2014 and, you know, almost 10 years to the day that I would have passed it hiking southbound on the 18.

[01:21:57] I remember passing it and seeing, look, it's only 50 some odd miles all the way to Manhattan.

[01:22:02] And it really captured my imagination.

[01:22:03] And honestly, I have never looked at a map of it until maybe two or three weeks before I planned to go out there, but it just really captured my imagination.

[01:22:15] And when I thought about what I wanted to do at the end of the summer, I figured, you know, let's go and do the long path.

[01:22:20] This very interesting idea of seeing as much of the state as I can as fast as I can.

[01:22:27] And so I saw, man, I haven't seen New York now.

[01:22:30] Hmm.

[01:22:31] Did you do any training, physical training for this effort?

[01:22:35] Um, in a sense, you know, I got a stair stepper in my garage.

[01:22:39] And so I do about an hour of stair stepping, 30 minutes of stair stepping every night.

[01:22:43] So I've been doing that since November.

[01:22:45] But then on the weekends, you do a little bit more.

[01:22:48] Um, so maybe, you know, if only those counted as hikes, I do do a lot of fake walking uphill until eternity.

[01:22:56] Yeah.

[01:22:57] But, um, yeah.

[01:22:58] And then at the start of the summer, like the attempts and the other things I did were all, you know, training for the long path.

[01:23:03] The long path is the one I really wanted the, uh, the, uh, New England trail.

[01:23:07] Like I said, six days before I decided to do the new England trail and it's, it was only a four day trip.

[01:23:13] So it was just like one long resupply carry a lot of food and it's not that bad.

[01:23:18] Uh, then I did 400 miles with the dogs and that was, you know, training to 20 miles a day, which didn't really get me ready.

[01:23:25] But Hey, at least you're staying in shape because, uh, two weeks, three weeks to the day after I finished, uh, finished the 400 miles of the ice age trail that I had left and completely finished it in totality because of, I finished the other half last year.

[01:23:38] Um, I was on New York, you know, walking forward.

[01:23:42] Wow.

[01:23:43] So unsupported this, this, this, this takes a lot of pre-planning.

[01:23:47] I would presume like, uh, but you said only like three to four weeks.

[01:23:52] That's, uh, are you insane?

[01:23:55] I don't think it's that much plan.

[01:23:56] You know, what's harder is supported.

[01:23:58] Honestly, think about it because unsupported, the only thing you have to plan is what you have at the start.

[01:24:03] And then once you have it at the start, it's all in your own hands, right?

[01:24:06] Like, that's what I honestly like about unsupported is that you're a hundred percent reliant on you.

[01:24:10] And so, you know, day five after getting stuck in the rain all day, I was shivering cold and I wanted to have hot food.

[01:24:19] The only thing I could do was make a fire for myself so that I could have hot food, you know, like it's a hundred percent on you supported.

[01:24:27] You have someone meet you at a road.

[01:24:28] You have to figure that out.

[01:24:30] All of those other difficult things you have to figure out yourself, but unsupported, all you have to do is kind of figure out how many days you need.

[01:24:36] I got to stop them right here, Stosh.

[01:24:39] I mean, seriously, calling calling somebody to meet you roadside with like a pizza after going five days without a hot meal.

[01:24:48] It's you can like door dash or anything else.

[01:24:51] You're in New York state, Chris.

[01:24:54] Okay.

[01:24:54] This is not this is not like the ice age trail where they I don't think they even have cell phones or cell service up there.

[01:25:02] Bars everywhere.

[01:25:03] It's down here.

[01:25:03] You could you you could get somebody to deliver you a mixed cocktail sushi and you name it trail side in New York state if you wanted it.

[01:25:14] But I I really I can't I mean, Stosh, can you get your arms around?

[01:25:18] You're walking all day around three o'clock.

[01:25:21] You pour some water into a tin cup screw on the lid.

[01:25:25] Your food's back there shaking up.

[01:25:27] And then what is this stuff taste like that you're eating?

[01:25:30] Oh, it's great.

[01:25:31] Yeah.

[01:25:31] I mean, you just have to lean into everything.

[01:25:33] And so what do you like to eat?

[01:25:36] You know what I love?

[01:25:36] Jambalaya.

[01:25:37] And so I dehydrate all I do.

[01:25:40] And this is actually my way of measuring it.

[01:25:41] So it's perfect.

[01:25:42] And this is something I thought about after years of doing it.

[01:25:45] And so I'm very proud of this plan.

[01:25:46] How much jambalaya will fit in your pot when it's wet, you scoop it out of the jambalaya thing and then you put on the dehydrator tray and one dehydrator tray was a full scoop of jambalaya.

[01:25:58] And so when you dehydrate it, put it in little vacuum bags.

[01:26:02] When it rehydrates, it will fill the entirety of your jar.

[01:26:06] And that's how I have as much jambalaya as possible.

[01:26:09] And I love jambalaya.

[01:26:11] Wow.

[01:26:12] So you dehydrate the food that you bring with you on the trip.

[01:26:16] So, yeah, that's that really is the most preparation I have to do.

[01:26:20] But all it is every single time is jambalaya.

[01:26:23] So I just made one really big jambalaya.

[01:26:26] My wife had dinner.

[01:26:27] I had dinner.

[01:26:28] I had leftovers the next day and then I dehydrated seven, seven plates of it.

[01:26:33] And then I was ready for the FKT.

[01:26:35] Okay.

[01:26:35] Wow.

[01:26:36] So before we before we move on, what's jambalaya?

[01:26:39] I don't even know.

[01:26:40] You don't know jambalaya.

[01:26:40] Why do you know that?

[01:26:42] No, I don't know.

[01:26:42] Stash, you know, right?

[01:26:44] Yeah.

[01:26:45] I mean, I don't know what jambalaya is.

[01:26:46] What is it?

[01:26:46] Is it like something with meat?

[01:26:48] No rice?

[01:26:49] Is it rice, meat, Cajun seasoning, tomato based usually.

[01:26:55] A lot of protein.

[01:26:56] Maybe there's someone in Louisiana that's like, that is not the description at all.

[01:27:01] Right.

[01:27:01] Yeah.

[01:27:02] That's as good as they get.

[01:27:03] Now, the one part about backpacking jambalaya is you got to have low fat content.

[01:27:07] So you can't have the fun.

[01:27:08] I love sausage.

[01:27:09] You can't put sausage in there.

[01:27:11] I'm using imitation crab, right?

[01:27:13] Almost no fat.

[01:27:15] I'm using ham, which weirdly like some ham just zero fat and I don't get it.

[01:27:19] It doesn't rehydrate.

[01:27:20] Well, and then I'm also a backpacker pantry.

[01:27:24] They had a super great sale on their sausage.

[01:27:25] And so I'm holding up a tin of just, you know, backpacker mountain house, uh, things that

[01:27:34] I bought and I bought like three tins of just sausage so that I could just throw it in the

[01:27:39] jambalaya.

[01:27:40] Wow.

[01:27:40] Wow.

[01:27:40] So for your nine days on the long path, how much of your, your weight, your pack weight

[01:27:46] day one is food.

[01:27:49] Yeah.

[01:27:49] Um, so yeah, it was nine pounds as my base and then 31 pounds was my pack when I started.

[01:27:58] So there you go.

[01:27:59] It was probably a little heavier because I had a sandwich, uh, from cats that I brought.

[01:28:04] Um, and then the pickles that came with it too.

[01:28:07] And so I probably had like 32 pounds when I started the trail.

[01:28:11] Wow.

[01:28:12] Not bad.

[01:28:13] That's that's not bad.

[01:28:14] I mean, it's not.

[01:28:15] Yeah.

[01:28:16] Before we move on to the, the next topic, um, bag of chips.

[01:28:23] I heard you on another podcast.

[01:28:25] You talked about something you do with like chips, snacks, consolidating them.

[01:28:31] Tell us about that.

[01:28:33] I mean, that's talking about.

[01:28:34] Yeah, no, I mean, I absolutely.

[01:28:36] It's you.

[01:28:37] Why would you just have one bag of chips?

[01:28:39] And honestly, chips take up so much room that you got to squish them down.

[01:28:42] Anyways, a lot of hikers squish them down.

[01:28:44] I remember the very first time, and this is not chips, but the very first time I ever went

[01:28:47] to a grocery store on the 80 after I'd really been hiking for a while.

[01:28:50] And I took a loaf of bread and just like accordion did together.

[01:28:53] And then the cashier looked at me like I was crazy and she just doesn't understand hiking

[01:28:58] just like the students.

[01:29:00] Sometimes people don't get it.

[01:29:01] And so, yeah, you take whatever chips you're feeling that day in the store.

[01:29:05] They're all three together.

[01:29:06] We'll usually fit in a large bag, crunch them down.

[01:29:09] And then who knows what you're eating, but it's going to be good because they're chips

[01:29:12] that you want it.

[01:29:13] Right.

[01:29:14] Wow.

[01:29:15] Yeah.

[01:29:15] Wow.

[01:29:16] And it's high calorie and very salty and tasty.

[01:29:20] Yeah.

[01:29:21] But the rest of that all mashed up.

[01:29:24] Speaking of unsupported on South Beyond 6000, my chip bag popped on a tree because, you

[01:29:29] know, they're thin, flimsy, like whatever chip bags are made out of.

[01:29:33] And so I had to put it in my only extra bag that I was like, why did I even bring this?

[01:29:37] And it was a Cuban fiber bag.

[01:29:38] And it feels really silly to have like a Cuban fiber bag.

[01:29:42] That sole purpose is to contain a bag of chips.

[01:29:44] And if I didn't have a trail name, UL chips, I think is a pretty good trail name.

[01:29:50] Ultralight chips.

[01:29:52] Nice.

[01:29:53] So when you started this and stuff like that, let's go over like the kind of days that you

[01:29:58] had.

[01:29:58] Uh, so like you started off days like one, two, what, when did you reach the Catskills

[01:30:04] like day two?

[01:30:06] Uh, it was, I don't know if the escarpment counts.

[01:30:09] So that would have been, yeah.

[01:30:10] It's starting to count.

[01:30:11] So that would be day 3 AM really early.

[01:30:14] All right.

[01:30:15] Let's go back to day, day one and two.

[01:30:17] What, what was your experience on day one and two?

[01:30:20] I mean, you know, it was kind of what I expected the trail to be.

[01:30:23] I mean, I had a really tough time in the beginning.

[01:30:26] Um, number one, because I use a trail running, uh, backpack kind of, right.

[01:30:31] So it's called a Palante Joey great pack.

[01:30:34] One of the people that is a really good unsupported hiker, the string beam used one on the long

[01:30:39] path, which was two under 10 and four days.

[01:30:41] And, uh, I was like, well, if he's going to use it, I'm going to use it.

[01:30:44] I'm trying to do my, my trips.

[01:30:46] And so I use a Palante Joey, which means that all the weight is in your chest and shoulders.

[01:30:50] And so day one and two, my left shoulder is really starting to hurt because it's just so

[01:30:55] heavy.

[01:30:56] And then also I am so tired at the start of the trail, which is not how you want to start

[01:31:02] an FKT.

[01:31:03] But I wrote a Amtrak from Raleigh all the way up to Albany.

[01:31:07] And, uh, I didn't sleep a second, the entirety of the time, uh, at 12 AM I'm sitting outside

[01:31:15] or maybe at 1 AM I'm sitting outside the Albany bus station trying to get a ride.

[01:31:20] All the Ubers are canceling.

[01:31:21] And so I ended up getting a ride up by some taxi guy who charges me too much, but I'm just,

[01:31:27] I need to get to the trail so I can sleep.

[01:31:30] And so I slept two hours before I started this attempt.

[01:31:32] And that's not what you want to do because for two days I was just battling sleep.

[01:31:36] And honestly, it would have been faster if I hadn't have been battling sleep, but those

[01:31:41] first two days for sure.

[01:31:42] And even the third day I took a nap for an hour because it was just killing me.

[01:31:48] Wow.

[01:31:48] And then, uh, you know, I've heard a lot about the beginning of the hikes going south to

[01:31:54] or north to south has a lot of difficulty with trail finding.

[01:31:59] Did you find that any?

[01:32:01] Whoa.

[01:32:01] Yeah.

[01:32:02] I heard Kim.

[01:32:02] I heard Kim talk about it when she was on y'all's podcast.

[01:32:06] Uh, but, oh, there is, it's, I think that they had recently, cause I had Kim's GPS track

[01:32:12] pulled up on my watch so that I could be aware of where I needed to be.

[01:32:16] Cause honestly it's much easier.

[01:32:18] The first time I did an FK team 2017, it was much harder to know when I was on track and

[01:32:22] whatnot.

[01:32:23] Now it's just, it's like a dummy.

[01:32:24] You're just following a line.

[01:32:26] If you're ever curious, you can put it on your watch, you can put it on your phone.

[01:32:28] It's so much easier, but, uh, I'm following her track and I'm looking at her track.

[01:32:33] And then one point the aqua blazes a hundred percent go into the trees.

[01:32:37] Her track continues on the road.

[01:32:39] And I'm like, they must've made this trail recently.

[01:32:41] And they sure did because it was, it was literally just blazes.

[01:32:46] And look, I'm not hating on the trail crew.

[01:32:48] I love trail crews, but it was very unfortunate that I knew previously it had been routed on

[01:32:53] the road.

[01:32:54] And now it was just going left and right zigzagging through trees, um, with just blazes.

[01:32:59] They hadn't set any sort of trail on the ground yet.

[01:33:03] And so I was just walking two blazes.

[01:33:06] And unfortunately at that point in time, I did not have the benefit of a GPS track to follow,

[01:33:10] but I mean, it was mostly flat.

[01:33:11] It was just very tiresome.

[01:33:14] Um, it was very tiresome.

[01:33:15] And then she actually talked about this one point in day two where she had stinging nettles

[01:33:21] all over the place.

[01:33:22] And I knew that exact moment because it was literally one of the most, um, terrible moments

[01:33:28] of my trail.

[01:33:29] I'm, I don't, I have running shorts and so they're just biting my feet.

[01:33:34] And then eventually I realized that I could just put, once again, you rely on what you

[01:33:38] have.

[01:33:38] So I just walked with my long sleeve shirt in front of my legs.

[01:33:42] And then it mostly didn't bother me, but I could not make my way through them.

[01:33:47] They were killing me.

[01:33:48] I didn't know what stinging nettles were until then.

[01:33:51] And then I definitely told New York state until the cat skills.

[01:33:55] Yeah.

[01:33:56] Right.

[01:33:56] So you, what was your impression when you started to hit the cats?

[01:34:00] Cause I mean, you get to wind them high peak.

[01:34:03] Uh, that that's an easy, not, not easy climb.

[01:34:06] And then you go down beautiful Burt knob and an Acro point, but then you start hitting

[01:34:10] blackhead.

[01:34:11] That's when you start hitting the, the justice of the cat skills.

[01:34:15] Okay.

[01:34:15] Yeah.

[01:34:15] I'm seeing it now.

[01:34:16] Um, you know, it, I mean, it's really funny just the whole time.

[01:34:20] I, I had no clue what I was getting into.

[01:34:23] I absolutely had no clue when I, the way that I plan these trips out is I plan where

[01:34:31] I'm going to sleep or sorry, where I should sleep every night.

[01:34:34] And that's the only planning I actually do.

[01:34:37] Cause I'm like, how many days do I think it will take me?

[01:34:38] And then how many miles should I do every day?

[01:34:42] And so when I put it into Komoot, which is like a GPS tracking or it's kind of like a

[01:34:47] wrap, a long hike planner thing.

[01:34:50] And you just say, I want to do this in eight days.

[01:34:53] Where should I stop?

[01:34:54] And then it tries its best to give you what it thinks is an even every day.

[01:34:58] And I remember it was telling me to do like 20 some odds in the cat skills and then like

[01:35:01] 50 or 50 ish miles, high forties on the other parts.

[01:35:05] And I'm like, that's crazy.

[01:35:07] I'll just, you know, make the average 40 every day because, um, how did I feel when I got

[01:35:12] to the escarpment trail?

[01:35:13] And then the next part was absolutely just blown out.

[01:35:17] Um, I was so tired starting that day that I made it to, it looks like the, but, but Tiva

[01:35:27] Kille lean to, that's where I took it to.

[01:35:30] Yeah.

[01:35:30] Tavia Kille lean to, took it to a one hour nap there because I finally just decided to give

[01:35:36] into the sleep.

[01:35:37] There was no way I could fight it.

[01:35:39] Um, so I took a one hour nap there and then I continued that day and I wish I had it.

[01:35:43] Um, because I thought I'd be able to keep up a pace that day.

[01:35:47] And very quickly, I learned that the cat skills are very difficult.

[01:35:50] And, uh, that day I ended up camping at North South Lake.

[01:35:54] Um, having only done pretty much though, all of the escarpment trail just, and, and a good

[01:35:59] amount of coming down a mountain before it.

[01:36:02] Wow.

[01:36:03] And then of course, after that you hit the infamous devil's path.

[01:36:08] What'd you think about, about that beauty?

[01:36:10] I've, uh, I feel like I, I hung out with some guys on the start of the AT, uh, who were

[01:36:17] from New York and from wherever that are, what's that one shelter on the AT in New York that

[01:36:23] has three letters.

[01:36:25] Do you know?

[01:36:27] And you can order pizza there.

[01:36:28] RPH shelter.

[01:36:29] Um, sorry.

[01:36:30] Yeah.

[01:36:31] I know what you're talking about.

[01:36:32] Yeah.

[01:36:33] And they, I remember them saying devil's path a couple of times as like a thing that they

[01:36:37] trained when they went to it.

[01:36:39] And I was like, how bad can it be?

[01:36:41] And, uh, I mean, it's just really difficult when you're in multi days into the trip.

[01:36:45] I also realized I really should have gone northbound.

[01:36:49] If you're ever trying to do the FKT, it really benefits you to go northbound because trying

[01:36:54] to do this with what amounts to six days of food on your back is very, very difficult.

[01:37:00] And, uh, even though my pack's light, you know, I could have, I wouldn't have flown through

[01:37:05] it, but I definitely dragged through the devil's path.

[01:37:09] And that entire day I went, I started at North South.

[01:37:12] I went from North South all the way to Warner Creek.

[01:37:16] Right.

[01:37:16] Nice.

[01:37:17] And, um, I mean, man, that was a long, that was a long day and it was very difficult for

[01:37:24] me because I did not know what I was getting into.

[01:37:26] And, uh, that was the first day that I didn't get poured on, but I still got rained on.

[01:37:33] Oh, so did you get any views from the devil's path and stuff like that?

[01:37:37] Cause, ah, I didn't see a single view, um, until day six.

[01:37:43] So do that.

[01:37:44] So the cats goes pretty.

[01:37:45] Are they good?

[01:37:46] I wouldn't know.

[01:37:47] That's a beauty of hiking, right?

[01:37:49] Sometimes you work hard and don't get the good thing.

[01:37:52] And then when something like that happens, I just have to be like, well, that's the way

[01:37:56] it was supposed to be guys.

[01:37:57] Isn't this fun?

[01:37:57] That's what I say to the people that don't go on the hike with me the subsequent year.

[01:38:02] Yeah.

[01:38:03] I mean, they have every, almost every peak has a phenomenal viewpoint that you can just

[01:38:09] cherish and just be like, oh man, this is definitely worth it.

[01:38:12] But, you know, going up devil's path and not having a viewpoint and it'd be like, oh,

[01:38:17] hell yeah.

[01:38:17] That, you know, 1200 foot climb and one mile was worth it.

[01:38:23] No, I was in the.

[01:38:26] I was in the Milwaukee state preserve and that was the first time I could actually see out

[01:38:30] into the distance and be like, oh, this is really pretty.

[01:38:33] But I, I have no clue if the cat skills are nice.

[01:38:37] I just know that, uh, five feet in front of me is where I was putting my foot for two

[01:38:42] days.

[01:38:42] So it sounds like to me, you have a little retrograde amnesia from a traumatic experience

[01:38:50] when you hit the, the vertical madness of the cat skills.

[01:38:54] It doesn't play around now.

[01:38:57] That day from, uh, you know, north, south, all the way to Warner, it was, it was really

[01:39:02] tough, but at least it was kind of dry.

[01:39:04] Cause I could appreciate how hard that would be in a downpour.

[01:39:08] Oh, horrible.

[01:39:09] But, but the subsequent day coming from Warner all the way to what's that last mountain

[01:39:15] that kind of defines it.

[01:39:17] Uh, Samson.

[01:39:18] Uh, Samson.

[01:39:19] Yeah.

[01:39:20] I'll become, you come through Phoenicia cross 28, go up Samson.

[01:39:26] Yeah.

[01:39:26] That still count as the cat skills.

[01:39:28] I hope so.

[01:39:28] Yeah.

[01:39:28] Yeah.

[01:39:29] Yeah.

[01:39:29] Yeah.

[01:39:30] So that, that second day, um, like I was a, one of the biggest rainstorms.

[01:39:37] I mean, in 8,000 miles of hiking, it was definitely one of the biggest rainstorms I've ever hiked

[01:39:41] in.

[01:39:41] Um, and I'm not usually hiking on trails that are that vertical.

[01:39:46] So I've only ever experienced it once in New Hampshire in the 80, but yeah, it was, it,

[01:39:52] people always say it's like waterfalls coming down, but it was like waterfalls coming down

[01:39:58] for that entire day.

[01:39:59] I was going to have a Cornell slide wind bird, Pika moose, uh, roamer, uh, through Phoenicia

[01:40:05] and temper.

[01:40:06] It was, oh, it was terrible.

[01:40:08] It was absolutely.

[01:40:10] Wow.

[01:40:10] So you got absolutely no views through the cats.

[01:40:14] Yeah.

[01:40:14] You're getting pelted with, you're getting pelted with rain that they, they say that slide

[01:40:19] is kind of like a mini rainforest itself.

[01:40:23] But so Chris here, you, you, you've been on the trail, what five days as of this point.

[01:40:29] Um, sleeping when you can, what's your head like at this time?

[01:40:34] You're, you're a little sleep deprived.

[01:40:36] What's going on upstairs?

[01:40:39] I wish I was more sleep deprived, honestly.

[01:40:42] I mean, okay.

[01:40:42] Once again, I lied.

[01:40:44] Apparently the way that I also prepared was this was the first trip I ever brought caffeine

[01:40:48] gummies on, um, so that I could get a little bit more caffeine in.

[01:40:51] I always drink coffee.

[01:40:52] Usually I drink a hot coffee, but I went no stove this time.

[01:40:55] Um, so, uh, I usually drink a coffee to start the day.

[01:41:00] This time I had cold coffee to start the day, had a gummy right as I drank the coffee.

[01:41:04] So that maybe that would hit and wake me up.

[01:41:06] But I, uh, day one and two, I was sleep deprived day three.

[01:41:12] I slept that one hour at this lean to, I shouldn't have slept that for one hour.

[01:41:17] And then by the time I made it to north, south, I made it to north, south at 6 PM, um, or 7 PM.

[01:41:22] And because I didn't appropriately pack for gear, because one thing I'm always trying to do is like,

[01:41:27] have as light as possible.

[01:41:28] So I brought a really bad sleeping bag.

[01:41:30] I, uh, didn't feel confident in hiking out and then sleeping in my sleeping bag under my tarp.

[01:41:35] And so I stayed inside like a, a, a changing clothes hut, which does that count as support?

[01:41:41] Once again, it's kind of a gray area, but you know, they say you can't sleep in a bathroom, but also, um, it's not a bathroom.

[01:41:48] It's a changing clothes hut.

[01:41:49] It's a very gray area.

[01:41:50] It was not insulated from the cold, but it was for walls.

[01:41:54] So it's more like a lean to then.

[01:41:55] Right.

[01:41:55] And lean to definitely accepted and unsupported.

[01:41:58] I see a lot of, I see a lot of ad hoc backpedaling.

[01:42:01] It's this, this rassalization here.

[01:42:03] So at the, at the moment your thought process said, this is okay.

[01:42:07] Yeah.

[01:42:10] I slept in the open air.

[01:42:11] I slept in the open air changing bathroom at north, south.

[01:42:16] And then, uh, I was good with sleep for the rest of the trail because of that.

[01:42:20] But that was because I stopped at seven.

[01:42:22] And honestly, I never in a million years would have thought I stopped at seven.

[01:42:26] Uh, like my FKT mindset is 4am to 10pm.

[01:42:29] That's go time.

[01:42:30] And then you better get to sleep in because that's sleep time.

[01:42:33] Um, which is a bummer when I'm trying to, um, cook my food.

[01:42:38] And that's why I went no cook because if 4am to 10pm is sleep time in order to be ready

[01:42:43] to go at 4am, that means I got to wake up at 315 to start cooking.

[01:42:46] I'm a very bad slow packer, which is once again, why I'm a bad FKT or, and then by the time

[01:42:52] I get to camp, it's 10pm.

[01:42:54] I, I, I, uh, I heat up a quick bit of water because I've already cold soaked some of the

[01:42:59] water, the, the food pouring a bunch of hot water onto the cold soaked food so that it's

[01:43:04] warm.

[01:43:05] And, uh, by that time I finished eating it's 1045, 1035.

[01:43:09] Like, think about that.

[01:43:10] You just cut in.

[01:43:12] Now you're getting five hours of sleep max.

[01:43:14] You could have, you could have maximized that gotten a little bit more.

[01:43:16] And so I'm, I'm actually a bad FKT or when it comes to sleep because I'm just such a

[01:43:20] baby.

[01:43:20] I give in and I did give in because I stopped at 7pm.

[01:43:24] But then again, I also gave in because I would have been so cold.

[01:43:26] Um, and I should have brought, if I had just brought my, my 50, my 45, my 40 degree sleeping

[01:43:33] bag, it would have been okay.

[01:43:34] But instead I went with a C to summit, like basically sleeping bag liner.

[01:43:38] I thought it would be okay.

[01:43:39] It was a bad call.

[01:43:40] Wow.

[01:43:40] I shivered every single day.

[01:43:42] Yeah.

[01:43:42] Wow.

[01:43:43] That sounds pretty thin.

[01:43:45] Yeah.

[01:43:46] Sleeping.

[01:43:47] It was cold.

[01:43:48] When I took that one hour nap at 11pm, let's just call it 11am.

[01:43:52] You know, it wasn't good.

[01:43:53] Wow.

[01:43:54] So like with your, your sleeping bag and such, like now were you supplied kind of like, what

[01:44:02] were you prepared for as in terms of like the weather as in cold nights and stuff like

[01:44:06] that, besides the sleeping bag, like actual layers, like, I know you've got to go minimal

[01:44:11] with.

[01:44:12] Yeah.

[01:44:13] Um, very little, you know, you just go, well, will I be able to work it out?

[01:44:17] And I, like I said, it's you verse nature.

[01:44:19] And so what's my plan?

[01:44:20] If I got too cold, you keep on walking, right?

[01:44:22] Like you can't, nothing can go wrong.

[01:44:24] If you start moving and get your body warm.

[01:44:27] And like, that's something that I'm willing to do that.

[01:44:30] I think maybe at some point, some other people wouldn't be willing to do.

[01:44:33] Like I said, I did not expect as much rain as I got.

[01:44:35] I got that hurricane Bertha.

[01:44:37] Is that what it was?

[01:44:38] Yeah.

[01:44:39] Yeah.

[01:44:39] You're right.

[01:44:40] I had hurricane, like that rain that I say it wasn't normal rain.

[01:44:43] That was hurricane Bertha.

[01:44:45] That was over me when I was in, uh, the hard part of the Catskills where I said I was walking

[01:44:51] up waterfalls.

[01:44:52] It was not.

[01:44:53] Well, timing, but, um, you know, as far, you know, whatever, whatever bad thing could happen

[01:45:00] to me in the woods.

[01:45:01] I believe I could get out of it, or I believe I'd be smart enough to not test it.

[01:45:05] And so, you know, I slept at 7 PM at North South, instead of walking two hours, making

[01:45:12] five extra miles because I was concerned that I would not be able to stay warm enough in order

[01:45:18] to number one, fall asleep and number two, just like be able to complete.

[01:45:22] So, you know, you gotta be responsible in some way.

[01:45:24] If you're going to be stupid, be smart.

[01:45:26] That's a quote.

[01:45:27] So if, if you were not, uh, to campus North South Lake and you were to go another two

[01:45:33] hours, where would you have camped?

[01:45:35] Um, well, you know, I saw a trailer that had like the front of it was broken.

[01:45:42] I actually was at remiss that I didn't keep on walking an hour and 20 minutes later,

[01:45:48] a broken trailer parked inside on like on a corner on your right hand side.

[01:45:54] On the right hand.

[01:45:55] If you're going downhill, going into Palinville.

[01:45:58] Yeah.

[01:45:58] I absolutely would have slept in that.

[01:46:00] Um, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[01:46:04] Did you look inside said trailer?

[01:46:06] Did you look inside of it?

[01:46:07] I would have gone for it.

[01:46:09] I'm certain 0.5 later, port-a-potty would have slept in that.

[01:46:14] It's a, you know, if it's dry, it's better than being cold.

[01:46:17] I don't care about smell.

[01:46:18] I don't care about anything else.

[01:46:19] I'm going for what do you care about?

[01:46:21] Right.

[01:46:22] And I care about being dry.

[01:46:23] And so whatever, cover my nose, go to sleep.

[01:46:26] Call it a day.

[01:46:27] Jesus Christ.

[01:46:28] Damn.

[01:46:28] This is taking a whole nother turn of FKT of like, I will fricking do whatever I can

[01:46:34] to get this fastest known time.

[01:46:35] So it was a, it was a giant, my favorite game to play every morning hiking is I should

[01:46:42] have camped there.

[01:46:43] That's my favorite game.

[01:46:44] And, uh, when I woke up that morning, I was like, Oh, I could have gotten five more miles.

[01:46:48] Let's play the game for the next two hours.

[01:46:51] And, uh, when I passed that trailer, Oh glorious.

[01:46:54] When I passed that toilet, I was so angry at myself because if I, if I had known they

[01:46:58] were there, I probably would have, I absolutely would have gone over the mountain and camp there.

[01:47:02] Well, without a doubt.

[01:47:05] Damn.

[01:47:05] Well, I know I'm not FKT material now because I'm not sleeping in a porta potty.

[01:47:13] That's where I draw the line.

[01:47:15] I'm not, like I said earlier, I'm kind of weird.

[01:47:17] Like it's not that bad.

[01:47:18] It's it could be worse.

[01:47:20] It could be.

[01:47:21] I got to admit it could be worse.

[01:47:23] So, um, now you've gone into the Catskills and stuff and you've gotten into the rain.

[01:47:30] I got to admit going up Woodland Valley up Wittenberg Cornels slide during the rain.

[01:47:37] It's gotta be a, an absolute tragic mess.

[01:47:40] It was.

[01:47:41] Yeah.

[01:47:41] I mean, I saw three, you say that there's 300 times the visitors.

[01:47:46] I saw like three people all that day, you know, only like the stupid, you know, people

[01:47:51] that were dumb enough to also go out.

[01:47:53] Cause why are you trying to go up then?

[01:47:55] Um, and, uh, yeah, I did not see almost anyone.

[01:47:58] It was bad.

[01:47:59] There was one point speaking of like just calling it a day.

[01:48:03] I was like, I can't do this.

[01:48:05] Uh, that night I ended up sleeping at the lean to that's before, uh, table mountain.

[01:48:11] Is that right?

[01:48:12] Mm-hmm.

[01:48:12] Yep.

[01:48:13] That's a beautiful spot.

[01:48:14] I slept at that.

[01:48:15] Oh, that was a great lead to.

[01:48:17] Um, but I, I slept at that lean too.

[01:48:22] But before that, what was the question?

[01:48:25] I'm sorry.

[01:48:26] Uh, the, the rain hitting that, uh, the wooden valley air.

[01:48:29] Cause that's steep as heck about, about five miles before that, as I'm getting drenched,

[01:48:34] I remember just looking under rocks, you know, where there was a big rock overhang and looking

[01:48:52] wet.

[01:48:53] Um, like everything was soaked, but under the rocks, like, well, that pine straw was dry.

[01:48:57] I thought I could push it to the side, make a hot drink, uh, camp under there ish and call it a day.

[01:49:04] And I was honestly getting pretty desperate, uh, coming off of what's the name of that mountain in the burrows range.

[01:49:10] Uh, Colonel, Colonel Cook, Cornell, Cornell Crook and slide.

[01:49:14] Yeah.

[01:49:15] I, I, there were a couple like overhangs of rock that were very thin or that did not have that much space under, but honestly, all I needed was like a body's length under to lay down because it was so wet and it was so bad that day.

[01:49:29] And then I was like, Oh, I can make it five miles to a table mountain.

[01:49:34] But I mean, by the end of that, my feet were destroyed.

[01:49:36] That's the one thing that no matter how much hiking I've never been able to fully understand and compensate for is how messed up your feet get.

[01:49:43] Cause it gets bad.

[01:49:46] Yeah.

[01:49:46] So, so tell us what type of feet problems.

[01:49:48] Yeah.

[01:49:49] Right.

[01:49:49] That's a big thing.

[01:49:50] Um, you know, it's not necessarily like even blisters, you know, I got two or three blisters packs, um, kind of on my heels, you know, after all the hiking, you kind of figure out what your system is.

[01:50:01] And if your system works for you, go for it.

[01:50:02] So in Gigi, uh, ultra run toe liners is what I wear.

[01:50:06] Um, mostly because that string being guy who also wore the Palante vest also uses toe toe socks.

[01:50:13] So if he's doing it, why not try it?

[01:50:15] You know, Chris, that is the Gigi stuff that toe liners, uh, I got to admit as absolutely phenomenal.

[01:50:22] So yeah, keep going.

[01:50:23] Sorry.

[01:50:23] I had to interrupt because I love that.

[01:50:26] I wish I would have known that.

[01:50:27] Absolutely.

[01:50:28] Yeah.

[01:50:29] I, I, I've only before that, the only other blisters I ever really.

[01:50:32] I got where my toes are rubbing together.

[01:50:34] And so, um, yeah, that stops it and then I can walk much further.

[01:50:38] So yeah, I wear in Gigi toe liners and, uh, just regular ultra Olympus trail runners, which got absolutely soaked, but it's better to wear something that will be able to get soaked and eventually dry.

[01:50:51] Then like one of those Gore-Tex ones that will get wet and stay wet.

[01:50:55] And honestly, when I was going over Cornell table slide, right?

[01:50:58] All those ones, like the water at some points, because I guess, you know, maybe it puddled or something.

[01:51:04] It got like knee deep.

[01:51:05] Yeah.

[01:51:05] And I was like, man, I'm sure this trail is great.

[01:51:07] So it wouldn't have mattered if I had been wearing those other ones because there was so much water everywhere.

[01:51:14] It was miserable.

[01:51:15] Yeah.

[01:51:15] And, uh, what happens to my feet is just prune, you know, prune times 10, you prune all day.

[01:51:20] I don't know how to solve that problem.

[01:51:22] I think what you have to do is Kate baby powder, put it on multiple times per day, but I don't, I don't know how you win the battle that I was waging when I was hiking through the cat scales.

[01:51:32] I don't think it's possible.

[01:51:33] You just, you just have to endure.

[01:51:34] And so by the end of that day, my feet were rubbed raw.

[01:51:38] I was limping.

[01:51:39] It was really bad.

[01:51:40] But once again, like I kind of, this FKT was interesting.

[01:51:44] The other two, I had like a goal in mind and I followed it a hundred percent.

[01:51:48] I gave it my all.

[01:51:50] I'm, um, I know it's a fast time, um, but I'm a little disappointed by it because like I slept at seven o'clock at North South.

[01:51:58] I slept at, uh, I think seven o'clock at a table mountain.

[01:52:02] You know, I said four to 10 is the time.

[01:52:05] And both of those days I gave up hours and I could just imagine like a ghost self, you know, like that's the time I could have had.

[01:52:12] And my goal, and I kind of heard Kim say it when she was on it, she didn't say it out loud, but I could hear it in her voice.

[01:52:17] My goal was to try to do that to break the guy's record, right?

[01:52:21] Like seven days, 12 hours, like whatever the actual, uh, supported record.

[01:52:26] That was my goal.

[01:52:27] And I feel like I heard her say it, even though she didn't say it out loud.

[01:52:29] That's what I wanted.

[01:52:30] That was my a goal.

[01:52:31] My beagle was to beat the self supported, which means, you know, they picked up any supplies on the way.

[01:52:38] I didn't hit that.

[01:52:39] And it's a hundred percent because I just like, I lost focus.

[01:52:42] I lost focus the day going up table.

[01:52:45] I, you know, went to sleep at seven.

[01:52:47] And then when I woke up, it was nine or 8 PM, 8 AM.

[01:52:51] So I slept in that day because that hurricane was just pounding the pounding the shelter.

[01:52:57] And I was like, I can't go.

[01:52:58] I can't walk.

[01:52:59] I don't feel like walking.

[01:53:00] And so I just sat there.

[01:53:01] I, I really slept in.

[01:53:03] I really enjoyed the morning 8 AM.

[01:53:05] And it's funny when 8 AM sleeping on, but the 8 AM has started packing up and I was like, okay, let's like reset her and go.

[01:53:12] But I left, I left hours on the table by my own choice.

[01:53:16] And then as we'll say later, I left hours on the choice.

[01:53:19] I'm on the table by someone else's.

[01:53:21] Yeah.

[01:53:22] So I don't know if I agree with you, frankly.

[01:53:25] I mean, did you, you, it sounds like you really had some hard conditions here.

[01:53:31] I mean, just epically hard from the rain, the blisters, some stuff, not going in sync for you.

[01:53:38] And could you really from North South Lake continued on for five more miles and then slept and it not caught up with you the next day?

[01:53:48] I don't know.

[01:53:49] You know?

[01:53:50] I mean, it's, I think North South Lake, I would have made it the next day.

[01:53:54] Yeah.

[01:53:54] It was, I mean, there was also, you know what it was.

[01:53:56] It was also the battle of warmth.

[01:53:58] If I, and this is on me then, like if I had planned, if I had just brought my summer quilt, I would have felt okay sleeping under my poncho tarp, a Cedar summit gatewood poncho tarp by far the best, uh, tent I've ever owned in my entire hiking life.

[01:54:16] Um, you know, it's a poncho.

[01:54:18] It's also a poncho.

[01:54:19] It's also a poncho.

[01:54:19] Yeah.

[01:54:20] Yeah.

[01:54:20] And, um, I would have slept under that if I had been sure I would be warm.

[01:54:25] I slept in the shelter because I was sure I would be able to keep that warmth.

[01:54:29] And also because, um, once again, does this count as unsupported?

[01:54:33] If someone left wood there at a shelter in a stack right next to the fire and you utilize that, is that support?

[01:54:42] Jesus Christ, all these rules.

[01:54:44] I mean, but what does that count as support?

[01:54:46] It's a great question.

[01:54:46] And it's not defined on the FKT website.

[01:54:49] Maybe one day they'll, they'll bring in that in, but I absolutely did use wood that was stacked right next to a fire in order to make a fire.

[01:54:56] Derek, my FKT attempt.

[01:54:58] I'm so sorry.

[01:54:58] Other unsupported.

[01:54:59] Well, we're going to have to disqualify you now.

[01:55:02] Yeah.

[01:55:03] Stosh, delete Chris's name from the leaderboard.

[01:55:06] Yeah.

[01:55:06] You guys, you guys can talk to my dog for the rest of the interview.

[01:55:09] He'll he's more interesting.

[01:55:10] So let's, let's skip forward, uh, to the end.

[01:55:15] It's your last year.

[01:55:16] We'll say you're next to the last day, which you thought was your last day.

[01:55:21] Oh, I did.

[01:55:22] Yeah.

[01:55:22] So tell us how that day unfolds.

[01:55:24] It's your, you, you wake up, right?

[01:55:27] You think it's your last day.

[01:55:29] You have how many miles to cover to, uh, Manhattan?

[01:55:33] Well, you know, I mean, kind of the last two days were like one large push, right?

[01:55:38] Like I started with a hundred miles left, uh, 105 miles left.

[01:55:43] So second to last day was 50, uh, or 49.8 because you know, why round up?

[01:55:50] And then the last day sleeping in bear mountain was 50, 55 miles away.

[01:55:57] Right.

[01:55:57] And so, yeah, wake up in bear mountain, get started really early.

[01:56:01] I guess I started getting kind of loopy.

[01:56:03] Cause I did cry listening to an episode of this American life at one point at four o'clock

[01:56:08] in the morning.

[01:56:09] Uh, it was very emotional.

[01:56:12] Yeah.

[01:56:13] I mean, you, that was the most sleep deprived I got except for the beginning.

[01:56:18] Uh, but yeah.

[01:56:20] And so I do probably should have listened to one of our podcasts and you were fell asleep

[01:56:24] right away.

[01:56:25] Yeah.

[01:56:25] Yeah.

[01:56:25] God, this is so boring.

[01:56:27] I was fighting some demons as it, as the day continued.

[01:56:30] Cause I'm, I'm hiking.

[01:56:32] And I honestly thought that that, you know, Palisades Parkway, what would be mostly flat

[01:56:37] would have started much earlier around Rockland state park, but I was very wrong and it just

[01:56:42] kept on squiggling left and right in different directions.

[01:56:45] So I'm hiking all day.

[01:56:46] I would have started at 4am.

[01:56:48] And by the way, of course I made a fire the final morning to cook my coffee hot.

[01:56:52] And so I really woke up at three 15 to make a fire on an unsupported effort.

[01:56:57] Cause of course I'm, I'm eating, I'm drinking hot coffee and eating oatmeal.

[01:57:00] I had fully given up on a no cook.

[01:57:03] I don't believe in it.

[01:57:05] I never will.

[01:57:06] Again, I get started at 4am on the dot and I'm walking.

[01:57:10] I probably sit down four or five times all day.

[01:57:15] Um, and over the course of the day, I don't know, like I stumble upon a TV set at one point,

[01:57:21] right?

[01:57:21] Like, uh, they're shooting the Netflix series, you at the top of a mountain.

[01:57:26] And I just climbed to the top of a mountain.

[01:57:28] And then some guy stops me.

[01:57:30] I'm 35 miles into a day.

[01:57:32] And some guy stops me and goes, whoa, you can't cross this line.

[01:57:36] They're filming over there.

[01:57:37] And I'm like, I'm 35 miles into a day.

[01:57:42] Please let me walk.

[01:57:43] I have 25, 20 more miles left.

[01:57:45] Like I need to go.

[01:57:47] And then he pauses and he's like, okay, just wait for them to finish filming the scene.

[01:57:51] And then I walk past them and I'm like, no one here understands what's happening.

[01:57:56] It's a, you know, it's just a very strange thing to happen.

[01:58:00] And so I walk.

[01:58:01] Fuck.

[01:58:02] Yeah.

[01:58:02] That was 20 miles left.

[01:58:04] Um, I finally get to Palisades Parkway and the sun starts setting.

[01:58:09] And then after the sun sets, uh, as the sun was setting probably around 6 PM, I've been

[01:58:14] walking at 14 hours at that point.

[01:58:16] My left foot starts getting numb because the, this is the only day I actually jog for

[01:58:21] me.

[01:58:22] Like hiking fast is about just not taking breaks.

[01:58:25] Like I don't jog.

[01:58:27] I go at a walk and pace all day, but this last day I was trying to get it done.

[01:58:31] I was trying to put up a, you know, reputable, a good time.

[01:58:35] And so I start jogging.

[01:58:36] And after 16 hours, my left foot kind of starts getting compartment syndrome, which is something

[01:58:42] that I had had previously.

[01:58:43] Um, when I did the South beyond 6,000 FKT.

[01:58:47] And, um, it just feels terrible and worse every time I jog because I guess slamming my

[01:58:53] foot on the ground every single moment.

[01:58:55] And so at some point I decided to put like both shoe insoles in the shoe that is giving

[01:59:02] me problems so that there's more cushion.

[01:59:05] And honestly that starts working and I start listening to holding out for a hero.

[01:59:09] And I'm listening to this song for, uh, at least 50 to 60, an hour straight, like on a

[01:59:15] repeat, the song holding out for, for a hero on the foot, loose soundtrack jogging in the

[01:59:20] dark on the Palisades Parkway passing by groups of people that I don't think it's safe to pass

[01:59:26] by in the dark on a trail does not seem like a good idea, but since you jog by them, I guess

[01:59:33] they don't want to mess with the dude that's going down the trail faster than them, you know?

[01:59:38] And then finally I make it to the George Washington bridge after pushing for 48 hours to do 105

[01:59:46] for the last 20.

[01:59:48] Uh, I guess it only took me like 19 to 18 hours to do the 55.

[01:59:53] Um, and after pushing all that, I show up and then there's a lock on the gate and I immediately

[02:00:01] die inside.

[02:00:02] Uh, there's a number on the lock that says, Hey, if you need us, call us, right?

[02:00:11] Um, whatever the bridge people.

[02:00:13] And so I called that number and I was like, Hey, is the bridge closed at night?

[02:00:18] And you can't walk across it at all.

[02:00:20] And then the guy on the end of the phones goes, yes.

[02:00:22] And I was like, okay, that's how it goes.

[02:00:24] Like, goodbye.

[02:00:25] Because sometimes like that's how FKTs go.

[02:00:27] Like there are rules about, you know, getting support.

[02:00:30] And if someone walked to the door to unlock it, does that count as support?

[02:00:35] I think it does.

[02:00:37] Right.

[02:00:37] And so I'm just stuck at this point.

[02:00:39] I have to wait for what would be available for every single person.

[02:00:42] So it can't be support.

[02:00:44] Wow.

[02:00:44] You're a fricking hard headed guy.

[02:00:47] Jesus Christ.

[02:00:48] It's I mean, but that's the thing about supported.

[02:00:50] I kind of like it, the like nobility and you have to play by the rules and there are very strict

[02:00:55] rules.

[02:00:55] And if you break the rules, like no one knows if you picked up a hot dog when I went through,

[02:01:02] you know, Phoenicia, I could have gotten an entire burger going through Phoenicia.

[02:01:06] Right.

[02:01:06] Like there was plenty of times to resupply period.

[02:01:09] So it's like, there's a, there's a bit of integrity that you have to have in order to

[02:01:12] have one of these records.

[02:01:14] And I'm like, do I ask them to open it for me?

[02:01:17] I don't think I'm allowed to.

[02:01:18] And so unfortunately I missed the cutoff.

[02:01:21] Um, I guess it was 12, like 30 some odd in the morning.

[02:01:23] And I think they lock it at 12.

[02:01:25] And so I just got to wait till 6am.

[02:01:28] So I just sleep just right next to a loft gate.

[02:01:31] It really smells like poop.

[02:01:33] I think I might've got a poop on my backpack because I'm an Amtrak back.

[02:01:38] Jesus Christ.

[02:01:39] The Amtrak lady at one point goes like, there is something wrong up here, just during to

[02:01:44] where my backpack is, which might've just been the general smell of it.

[02:01:47] And, uh, when the guy unlocks it, he's like, did you spend the night out here?

[02:01:52] And I was like, I mean, I called and you guys said it was locked.

[02:01:55] And he's like, if you had told us you were stuck here, we would have unlocked it.

[02:01:59] I'm like, but I don't know if it would have been okay for me.

[02:02:02] So, um, yeah, I jogged across the bridge the last two miles and nine hours and, uh, 30

[02:02:07] some odd minutes, um, from the start we finished, but man, that last day was a, it was a, it was

[02:02:15] never been so angry as I was when I saw that lock.

[02:02:19] I could only imagine.

[02:02:20] Yeah.

[02:02:22] That's unbelievable.

[02:02:23] That's pretty harsh, man.

[02:02:25] And then what happened when you, when you finished, like what it's like, your car was

[02:02:31] down there and you just went home.

[02:02:33] Uh, you know, I am tracked up.

[02:02:34] So, uh, I had a, a day in New York.

[02:02:37] Like I think it's, I've, one of my dreams has always been to go to Las Vegas and just

[02:02:41] go buffet crazy after a long trail.

[02:02:44] And so what better place to go food crazy than New York city?

[02:02:48] Like, that's honestly the reason I wanted to hike southbound was to end a trail in New

[02:02:53] York city.

[02:02:53] So I could just go food crazy.

[02:02:56] And so that was, uh, chicken fat, chicken fats, pizza day.

[02:03:00] And, uh, I went to seven or eight different pizza restaurants, got one slice each.

[02:03:04] And then just kept on riding around the city and eating pizza for, uh, an entire, you know,

[02:03:09] 18.

[02:03:10] Well, I went to sleep when I showed up there, but, uh, it feels really weird to have to keep

[02:03:17] on moving after an FKT.

[02:03:19] Like all you want to do is relax, but I'm like, when else am I going to be able to eat

[02:03:22] this much New York pizza in one day?

[02:03:24] So yeah, I got a lot of pizza in about 20 hours.

[02:03:28] So how was that pizza?

[02:03:30] Um, very good.

[02:03:31] Yeah.

[02:03:32] I mean, I have no negatives.

[02:03:33] I I've been looking forward to just like hitting as many pizza places as I possibly could in

[02:03:37] New York for years.

[02:03:38] And so I'm glad that I finally did it.

[02:03:40] My dream was to walk from pizza place to pizza place.

[02:03:43] So you burn off the calories, but I think I was okay.

[02:03:45] Yeah.

[02:03:46] Having previously burnt off a calorie or two, I think I lost like five, maybe 10 pounds

[02:03:51] on the trail.

[02:03:51] And, uh, that's what you do with teaching.

[02:03:53] I bulk up in the teaching year and I slimmed down there in the summer.

[02:03:57] Wow.

[02:03:58] Now, uh, so how did the, the long path compared to the other trails that you have done?

[02:04:04] Of course you've done the triple crown and stuff like that.

[02:04:07] What, what, what can you say about the long path?

[02:04:09] Oh, I mean, it's, it's really interesting.

[02:04:14] I, I think part of it for me, I mean, I've even done the Northville Placid trail too.

[02:04:20] So I was thinking like of all the States in the, you know, unit United States, I probably

[02:04:25] New York has to be like the fifth most miles of height doing the 80 long path and now Northville

[02:04:30] Placid trail, like of any state in the entire U S. Um, but for me, I think it's a really interesting

[02:04:37] trail in the sense that like those cats skills really do present themselves as like the gem

[02:04:47] of the trail.

[02:04:48] And then the rest of it felt almost like similar to other trails where there's a lot of road

[02:04:55] walking.

[02:04:56] And I mean, you get to be in the woods too, but like every time you pass literally through

[02:05:01] a town, it kind of like eliminates the spot of trail.

[02:05:03] Um, but like what made it unique and very interesting for me was like that cat skill portion, which

[02:05:11] I wish I had been able to enjoy, but I did not as much as I wanted to come back up here

[02:05:18] when there's views and you'll get to enjoy it.

[02:05:21] I mean, I, that, that sucks.

[02:05:22] I got to admit, like going through the whole devil's path without a view and, and then up

[02:05:33] you know, to look at that.

[02:05:35] I mean, I don't know if you got to see them when coming from the Antraic, but they, they,

[02:05:39] they look like just little Hills.

[02:05:42] They're not like huge mountains, but then once you get to them, you're like, holy shit,

[02:05:46] this packs a punch.

[02:05:47] I mean, I, I, when I was on the high point trail at Minnewaka state park preserve, I remember

[02:05:52] like looking and I was like, Oh man, that would have been so nice if only, but you can't, you

[02:05:59] can't, if only hiking, you know, you only get what you get.

[02:06:01] And so that's how it was when I was in the whites in new England, doing that one really

[02:06:05] long, like a ridge walk in new England on the AT that I can't remember, like Grafton

[02:06:11] or whatever.

[02:06:12] I can't remember what it's called, but like, uh, yeah, I think that Lafayette and other

[02:06:16] included things.

[02:06:18] I did not get any views that day too.

[02:06:21] I was, that was the other day I was in a torrential downpour that felt like I was walking

[02:06:25] up a waterfall.

[02:06:26] So I have no clue.

[02:06:27] Same.

[02:06:28] Wow.

[02:06:28] We had a similar experience.

[02:06:30] You know, when you, you talk about, you know, going up, uh, the Woodland Valley area, you

[02:06:35] know, Wittenberg slide Cornell, I had the same experience going up the Pemi Gossett loop.

[02:06:39] And, uh, I did not know about those, the socks and I got like at least eight to nine blisters

[02:06:46] and it was absolutely horrible.

[02:06:49] So, uh, you get what you get.

[02:06:51] And, uh, that's, that's the beauty of hiking.

[02:06:53] You live and learn.

[02:06:54] You fricking live and learn.

[02:06:56] Mm-hmm.

[02:06:57] And that's it.

[02:06:58] That's what you got.

[02:06:59] So Ted, anything else, buddy?

[02:07:01] Uh, I don't know.

[02:07:02] I mean, Chris, how do you do it?

[02:07:03] I mean, it sounds like.

[02:07:04] Yeah.

[02:07:04] Jesus Christ.

[02:07:05] Doing one of these fastest known times completely unsupported is miserable.

[02:07:16] Yes.

[02:07:17] We just spent the last two hours with you.

[02:07:20] You seem like a fun, upbeat guy.

[02:07:22] You get it.

[02:07:23] You get it.

[02:07:24] No, I don't get it at all.

[02:07:25] Yeah.

[02:07:26] I'm kind of weird.

[02:07:27] And like I said to my kids.

[02:07:28] You're really twisted and you shouldn't be teaching high schoolers or, or there's something

[02:07:34] about this that you're just not telling us that makes the fun, upbeat Chris want to

[02:07:42] subject himself to just like a after day of cold, soggy jambalaya and happy.

[02:07:53] Okay.

[02:07:55] The jambalaya is good.

[02:07:56] Wet clothes, no sleep, sleeping, sleeping in.

[02:08:04] It doesn't sound bad.

[02:08:06] Sleeping in port-a-potty.

[02:08:06] But when you sleep in a port-a-potty, which sounds like something that you've done before.

[02:08:10] Yes.

[02:08:10] Where do you actually sleep?

[02:08:12] On the floor?

[02:08:13] You sleep as far away from the toilet as you can.

[02:08:14] On the floor?

[02:08:15] Yes.

[02:08:15] There's not more than a, like an inch away from the toilet.

[02:08:18] Well, it's the one, the one that's near the RV is a, uh, handicapped port-a-potty,

[02:08:25] which maybe you're forgetting.

[02:08:27] Okay.

[02:08:27] And so that is an exception.

[02:08:28] I couldn't sleep in a regular one cause I couldn't stretch out.

[02:08:31] Not worth your time.

[02:08:31] Right.

[02:08:32] But if I could lay down on my pad in a handicapped body, like that's plenty of room.

[02:08:37] Wow.

[02:08:38] Uh, you know, I'm just, yeah, I'm speechless here.

[02:08:41] I'm signing off.

[02:08:42] Okay.

[02:08:43] He's holding his head.

[02:08:44] Yeah.

[02:08:44] This is how he spends his summer, summer vacations.

[02:08:47] He teaches all year long looking forward to going out, walking in the rain, sleeping in port-a-potties.

[02:08:54] And you know what?

[02:08:56] My, my sponsors, my sponsors know what I'm, I'm getting into.

[02:09:00] And I say that's fucked up.

[02:09:01] Yeah.

[02:09:02] Well, 100%.

[02:09:03] I guess, I guess Chris, what you're not telling us is it's all about the pizza at the end of the hike.

[02:09:09] That's, you know, there's a lot of benefits.

[02:09:11] Losing weight is great.

[02:09:13] Um, and just, you know, the, the guy that did the PCT said it, it's just type two fun.

[02:09:18] But like, I, I absolutely hated it when I was doing it.

[02:09:23] Um, but I love a sense of accomplishment.

[02:09:27] Like that's why I wanted the AT at the very beginning of all of it.

[02:09:30] I wanted to feel like I've done something.

[02:09:33] It's not the world's, these aren't the world's hardest records.

[02:09:37] Someone's definitely going to beat this FKT one day.

[02:09:39] Right?

[02:09:40] Like I didn't set it down and be like, if I had gotten the supported one, then that would have been nice.

[02:09:44] But, uh, like someone's going to beat this because there's a lot of wiggle room in here, but you were the first, you were the first to fricking do it.

[02:09:52] So, well, people have done it unsupported.

[02:09:55] Certainly.

[02:09:55] Maybe unsupported.

[02:09:56] Supported.

[02:09:57] Or 390 is a long way to carry your food.

[02:10:00] Let's be real.

[02:10:00] You're right.

[02:10:01] It probably, who knows how many people have done that.

[02:10:03] So, so how, how often did you think about quitting?

[02:10:09] Um, I mean, I got the mindset, you know, it's, it's the hardest day of a hike is the first day.

[02:10:14] Uh, but when you're only out for eight days, I've done, I think I've done too much hiking for, you know, a nine day trip to feel big anymore.

[02:10:21] Um, I, I, uh, at a long trail when I was without my wife for two hours, two months, two months last summer, it's tough on the first day.

[02:10:30] Um, every single time, but nine days is nothing.

[02:10:33] That's a regular work trip for so many people.

[02:10:36] And that's the only reason I'd ever go back.

[02:10:38] It's because I just can't emotionally hang, but physically I feel like I'm able to do that.

[02:10:44] I'm able to do the things that I need to do out there.

[02:10:46] And so it would have to be some sort of mental game.

[02:10:49] And I mean, you heard my mental status was wavering, you know, sleeping in, that's a weak mental state.

[02:10:55] Um, so it was wavering, but eyes on the prize.

[02:11:00] And I knew as a one consolation, since no one's done the unsupported FKT, as long as I finished, it was good.

[02:11:07] Um, at least for setting the record.

[02:11:09] And so, I mean, I was lucky enough to be able to do it in nine days and 36 hours or whatever.

[02:11:16] 36 minutes.

[02:11:17] Yeah.

[02:11:18] I know your stats more than crazy.

[02:11:20] Uh, so once again, thank you for joining us, Chris.

[02:11:24] Uh, last question, you know, you had so many, so much pizza in New York.

[02:11:28] What is your post hike bruising bites suggest?

[02:11:30] And what was your favorite slice of pizza?

[02:11:33] There was that one, I think it's called like D amados in Brooklyn or I don't know, honestly, I just went there.

[02:11:38] But I remember like the story was every single pizza that they had ever made was by the one old dude that was, that made the pizza since the sixties.

[02:11:48] Um, then unfortunately I saw that he died like five years ago.

[02:11:51] And so other people were making the pizzas, even though they had this picture up there.

[02:11:55] Um, so that was my favorite pizza, uh, because I had it five years ago.

[02:12:00] That was my favorite pizza added that other day.

[02:12:03] And well, it was the first pizza I ate because I wanted to enjoy the first one I had.

[02:12:07] Um, so that, that would be my post hike bruising bites after an endless long trail sufferfest.

[02:12:15] Nice.

[02:12:15] Nine hours or nine hours, nine, nine days, 35 minutes.

[02:12:19] Absolutely phenomenal.

[02:12:20] So thank you once again for joining us tonight.

[02:12:23] Uh, really want to appreciate the monthly supporters and monthly sponsors.

[02:12:27] Uh, you guys are doing so much for the show and for the Catskills, uh, let alone, uh, thank you to everybody who's donated yet again, uh, to the one mile challenge and to the show.

[02:12:36] Uh, thank you to everyone who is still listening.

[02:12:39] Of course, uh, you know, Chris listened to 10 episodes, which is insane.

[02:12:44] It's, it's, it's actually, I think attending anybody who's listened to 10 episodes is pretty crazy.

[02:12:49] I'm looking forward to adding this to the background podcast feed on my next hike.

[02:12:55] Like all I do is listen to podcasts all day.

[02:12:57] So I really like you guys like hyper, hyper, uh, uh, area, hyper geographic podcasts, like listening to all this, uh, Catskills stuff.

[02:13:10] It's been really funny to even just hear the weather from a podcast a year ago.

[02:13:14] I'm like, wow, it's funny that you guys do this.

[02:13:16] So I love it.

[02:13:17] Hell yeah.

[02:13:18] So thank you for joining us tonight.

[02:13:20] Uh, Chris, uh, hope to see you again in the future.

[02:13:23] Good luck on, on a setting and some FKTs in the future.

[02:13:26] And we look forward to hearing about your amazing accomplishments later on.

[02:13:31] Cool.

[02:13:32] Thank you very much for having me.

[02:13:33] Take care, Chris.

[02:13:35] Yeah.

[02:13:35] Thanks guys.

[02:13:38] Bye everyone.

[02:13:39] I just want to thank you for listening to the show.

[02:13:41] If you enjoyed the show, subscribe and throw down a smooth review on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or any podcast platform that you use.

[02:13:52] You can also check daily updates of the podcast, hikes, hiking news, and local news on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the official website of the show.

[02:14:05] Remember this, you gotta just keep on living in the Catskills man.

[02:14:11] L-I-V-I-N.

[02:14:14] Wicked, wicked, wicked, wicked.