Thread: 40 miles in less than 24 hours, 4 states

The Appalachian trail crosses 4 states in 40 miles, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and into Pennsylvania. A large part of this is known as the Roller Coaster and there is a big warning sign saying the trail is very strenuous do not attempt unless you are in good physical condition.

It is a challenge for thur hikers to do the "40 mile challenge". My daughter is thru hiking and my wife thought this would be a fun challenge. So July 4 off she went to hike 40 miles in less than 24 hours with our daughter.

They did not make it, only about half way and they called it quits and went back to town (Harper's Ferry) Next day my wife collapses in the lobby getting coffee. Curled up in a ball crying out in pain. They take her to ER thinking kidney stone. Do CT scan, nothing. They medicate her and send her home. After MRI's, waiting, doc visits several specialist she has spine surgery. They shaved L4 and L5 and removed many bone spurs. 45 min procedure turned into 3.5 hours. 6 weeks initial recovery and then 1 year for bones to completely mend.
Moral to the story is read the sign and heed the warnings!

So I am playing go-fer for a few days, go fer this and go fer that.

Daughter is in New Hampshire, only 400 more miles to finish. 4 pair of boots and 3 back packs so far!

Yikes! That's not good. Hope your wife recovers fully.

My sister and her husband decided to hike the Appalachian trail for a week during their vacation. This was about 20 years ago and they were in their early 30's and in pretty good shape (not overweight or anything) and both had physical jobs working with animals at a local zoo in Florida. Anyways, they planned and got backpacks and practiced at home (keep in mind they lived in Florida which is very flat) and packed as light as possible. Then they drove up to NC for vacation and parked their vehicle and hiked away up an entrance to the trail. They made it one night, came back down, got in their vehicle, drove to a motel, passed out flat on the beds and stayed in the motel the rest of the week.

I guess it's not as easy as it sounds even if you think you are in pretty good shape.

Ginny