The previous record, held by Ward Leonard of Concord, Massachusetts, set the record for the fastest self-supported thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 1990, when he hiked the trail in 60.5 days.
Jennifer Pharr Davis, who holds the record for the fastest supported hike (when she hiked the trail in 46.5 days in 2011), was at Springer Mountain when Matt completed his quest. She has an excellent write-up on her blog, which includes several photos.
The photo on the right is from Matt's 2007 thru-hike. You can see more photos on his blog.
Congrats to Matt!
Jeff
Hiking in the Smokies
1 comment
Matt is an amazing hiker with a larger dose of humility than most record-setters. I finished the MST the same year as Matt did (very different methods, of course) and we both spoke about the MST experience at the Carolina Mountain Club's annual dinner after that. Matt was shy about speaking and brief with his remarks, seemed he would rather be hiking than public speaking. I am very glad to hear he will be a voice for conservation.
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