The Plan of Attack

Superior Hiking Trail

I've been getting a lot of questions to the effect of "You're really going to walk 235 miles?!?!"  But if there's one thing I've learned in running/hiking, and in life in general over the last few years, it's that numbers are a matter of perspective.  There are two ways of looking at this trail:

  1.  I have to do 9 marathons in a row.  Seriously???
  2.  I only have have to walk 1/10th of the Appalachian Trail?  I can do this!!!

A few years ago, if you told me that I would have a beautiful wife, a home and a career in Cincinnati, I would have told you that you're nuts.  A few months ago, if you told me that I'd be able to run 10 miles, let alone 26.2, I would have had you admitted on a three day psychiatric hold.  Yet here I am sharing a glass of wine on my  porch with Heidi, still in recovery mode from running the Flying Pig Marathon.  While I won't lie and say I've completely sold myself on the fact that I can do this, I do know that 235 miles is possible.

So, here's the plan of attack.  The Superior Hiking Trail runs along the north shore of Lake Superior, passing numerous state parks and small towns, with road crossings every 5-10 miles.  While my dad and I had originally planned this as a backpacking trip, thanks to a torn meniscus (ugh) the thruhike is sadly out of the question for my dad right now.  Instead, he'll be acting as my support crew as I "slack-pack" the trail.  With only a small day pack, I'll start at point A in the morning and have my dad pick me up at point B in the evening, and drive me to a cozy camp in a nearby state park.  The next morning, it's drive back to point B, hike to point C, and so on and so forth until we get to Canada.  Hopefully my dad will be able to enjoy some more modest hikes during the day, and maybe even catch a few fish in between his duties as Sherpa extroardinaire!

After explaining to people that yes, I really am planning to walk 235 miles, the next question that I usually get is "How long is that gonna take you?!?!"  And while it's easy for me to set an ambitious itinerary while I'm sitting here drinking a glass of wine, I learned from Jeff Alt's book A Walk for Sunshine (great book by a Cincinnatian which I highly recommend) that the more you share your goals with others, the more likely you are to achieve them.  So with that, here's my goal:

Superior Hiking Trail - 235 miles - 10 days

Yes, that means hiking nearly a marathon a day.  But with a light load and the promise of a cold beer, a warm fire and dear old dad at the end of the trail, I think I can hack it.  And to put this in perspective, the speed record on the Superior Hiking Trail is just over four days!!!

Will I achieve this goal?  Who knows!  But I can certainly tell you I'll give it my very best shot, knowing that my friends and family are pulling for me all the way.

Matt