Where's Karl?

[Knapper]

Saw Karl's entourage yesterday in Gorham, NH going to Walmart as I was heading to Shaw's for the summits weekly shopping. The RV he is using is wrapped with motto and information. Pretty neat. He is expected to pass by today. The only webcams that might capture something is the west view cam or the north view cam but that is a long shot but you never know. If we see or hear anything, we will try to snap a pic for the comments but no guarantees.

[rockin rex]

Pinkham to Franconia in one day?? I would say he is probably looking to make it down to laffayette campground. That is a big day. Now I am going to get myself in trouble. Will Karl take the extra time and summit or will he slide by on the side. The Appalachian Trail goes around the summits not over them. Yes I know the trail goes over Madison but the rest is around. He should have fun running up the Osgood Trail. Also between Galehead and Greenleaf should be fun after running so many miles. Hard way to finish a day. Once going past 302 what other road besides 93 could he have the Karl camper meet him?? Still don't get this camper thing but oh well.

[Brad]

I was looking at the maps this morning and figure Franconia is a very long day. He is behind from where he wanted to be. There is so much ground to cover with no good stopping places. My bet is he gets to Crawford Notch and then does a long day tomorrow to Franconia and says he is behind a day. I am sure he can make that up.

[rockin rex]

Brad we have all hiked this section many times. I honestly didn't think anyone in one 24 hr period could make it from Pinkham to Route 93. I tried a couple years ago to see what shape I was in and tried doing the Franconia loop from the Wilderness Parking lot in one day. I made it over the Bonds past Galehead and when I got to Garfield I was done. I slept there and in the morning finished up. I didn't want to do Franconia Ridge in the dark. Not worth it. Karl is going to try to almost double this in one day. Will be very interesting day for all us forum folk to see what he does. He is probably running up the Osgood as I write this. Madison hut crew get his folgers coffee ready. He is coming thru.

[Arthur Dent]

Rockin Rex-"...The Appalachian Trail goes around the summits not over them. Yes I know the trail goes over Madison but the rest is around...."

The trail also goes over the Summit of Mount Washington. See the map in post #7.

According to the SPOT tracker info, at 8:21 A.M. Karl was at Edmonds Col and has covered 8 miles this morning in 3.8 hours.

[rockin rex]

So if I am not in error for him to make his goal for today he will have to be on the trail for around 17 hrs straight correct?? This would be averaging 3 miles an hr which he should be able to do with no problem. This would put him into Franconia around midnight. Franconia in the dark?? He would miss SEEING one of the most beautiful parts of the trail. This will be a long day for Karl.

[Steve M]

It seems like too much, even for someone who has trained like crazy to accomplish this. I guess there will be no autographs on Mt. Washington.

[rockin rex]

Big question is will he even stop on Washington or run across and onward South. Will they let the camper drive up the auto road?? This is a huge public location so will be interesting to see what happens here. He has a huge day planned and if he does stop this will be precious time lost. He should be there right about now.

[rockin rex]

From what I see with Spot tracker Karl has taken a break on the rock pile. Ryan you see him up there??? He is going to have a hard time making Franconia. Did the camper come up to meet him???

[Arthur Dent]

The above calculations seem to be correct, at 3 MPH, Franconia at midnight. At that speed he should be just beyond Garfield at dark. Even if there was a full moon and clear skies, that section, until you start up the North Peak of Lafayette, is in the woods and will be very dark, plus it's rocky. So from Garfield to I-93, about 10 miles, will be even slower than the 3 MPH estimate during the day. Of those 10 miles, about 5 miles from Little Haystack to I-93 is also in the woods and will be slower. The forecast for the higher summits today isn't that bad with temps in the 50s, winds 5-25MPH, in and out of the clouds. If storms do hit, and that is possible, that will further complicate matters.

If Karl can pull this day off I will be surprised, actually amazed and shocked would better describe it. Today could show if he can deliver or if he has totally underestimated the mountains in NH. To say he is confident is an understatement.

They will not let the RV up the Auto Road.

A 9:20 A.M. update shows him west of the summit so either he has incorrect information about where the Appalachian Trail goes, the map is slightly off registration, or he chose to bypass the summit. He did the last 3 miles in 1 hour.
Karl Washington.jpg