Another YouTube rabbit hole Mrs. Irish and I have gone down. We have been watching some of these various hiking and adventure videos. Of course that leads to some of the Appalachian Trail videos and this one came up on our feed yesterday afternoon while we were enjoying a few cocktails.

At first I thought these people were absolutely out of their minds, taking a family of 7 (Including a 2 year old, yes a 2 year old little boy) the full length of the Appalachian Trail. Plus I thought the dad was a straight up wiener head goof ball, but the more I watched it the more respect I had for the entire family. Then about halfway through they took a long weekend, drove back to their home town and all of them (Except the 2 year old) ran a marathon together. Absolutely amazing. The little girl was the youngest person to ever hike the trail.

It took them 6 months and they averaged about 13.5 miles a day including their "zero" days. Amazing family.

Sorry for posting something positive amidst all the turmoil...

That's crazy...

Yes, it is.

Who the hell can take off work for 6 months?

Bet they didn't catch the Covid out in the wilds of Appalachia .

Meh. I'd have been impressed if the 2 year old had run a marathon.

Of course I'm being ridiculous. That is quite a feat for a family to have completed the whole thing. Not many adults that set out to do it complete it.

Some one who can make enough money in 6 months to last them a year or longer.

That's what I was thinking.

It's got me wanting to do it when I retire. Mrs. Irish and I talked about it last night after the show she said she would even drive up and meet me a various stops to bring food, beer and for conjugal visits.

I might could do it if I had a support team!

If you watch the full video (Which is pretty good.) they hike for a while with a 67 year old guy who finished it shortly after they did. If a 67 year old guy can do it I certainly can. I'm decently fit for 59.

If you watch it you realize that all of them are pretty squared away and motivated people, especially the Mom and Dad. So I imagine the Dad and Mom both bring home some pretty decent salaries. I think there is another companion video explaining how they afforded to do it all.

About 3/4th of the way through the marathon they put the camera on the little girl that looks to be 7. They had just passed by one of the tables where they are giving everyone candy and she's smiling and say's, "This is fun, they have snacks!"

MrsGomer, the kids and I hiked the Appalachian Trail




(from the Newfound Gap parking area, about a half mile East down the trail, and back)

Thanks, IG. I love these kinds of stories and will have to check this out!!

I'm sure you could. But I bet it would be a psychological beat-down. It's extremely tough. And hiking 2,100 miles is flat-out crazy

I followed their channel. They did have help as a family of eight would need. They hired people at major stops make their meals and help transport gear from stop to stop. Still an amazing feat.

Hell, I bet he would turn back in 12 hours. Unless somebody was dropping a gourmet meal every half mile. 😉

They have a video describing the enitre budgeting process and how their actual spend compared to plan. They also had companies send them free gear as their channel rose in popularity.

Not to derail this thread, but I was just looking at Newfound Gap on Google Maps and notice there appears to be a planted green field ESE of the Newfound Gap parking area......wonder what that's all about, in the middle of the National Park??

Chaz/chop 2

yeah... The freeze dried food would kind of be a deal breaker for me.

There was the 100 miles in the middle of nowhere (Vermont or Maine) and one of the "Trail Angel" guys kind of shadowed them the whole way making meals for them at their overnight stops. That 100 miles stretch is supposed to be a booger for most hikers, but that guy helped them out a lot.

Speaking of the food, even though they ate every carbohydrate and fatty meal they could scarf down it was interesting to see the before and after pictures they took of themselves. They were lean to say the least after they finished.