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| Nathaniel Klumb at Cliff Tops, early in his 51.7-mile jaunt |
Congratulations to Nathaniel Klumb from Louisiana for completing a jumbo version of the Tour de Le Conte.
Nathaniel, a computer programmer from Baton Rouge, hiked and biked 51.7 miles in 19 hours and 18 minutes on Oct. 13-14, not only covering all six trails to Mount Le Conte but also including all the spur trails. He even pre-positioned a bike at Newfound Gap and rode it down to the Alum Cave trailhead—a 4.4-mile interval where many hikers catch a car. "Pedaled just once to start rolling," he said.
Click here to visualize his route.
He started at 3:15 p.m. on Sunday Oct. 13 in Greenbrier, climbed the Brushy Mountain Trail, visited Cliff Tops for sunset, and descended Bullhead as night fell. At Cherokee Orchard, he backtracked for a mile for a Gatorade resupply, climbed Trillium Gap in the dark and descended on the Boulevard, with side trips to Myrtle Point and the Jumpoff.
After the bike segment, Nathaniel climbed Alum Cave trail at daybreak and finished the Rainbow Falls trail at 10:33 a.m. on Monday Oct. 14.
Nathaniel's extra mileage matches the route taken by John Northrup in 2010, who included the side trails on the first of his four successful Tours, completing 50 miles in 16:48.
Big congrats to Nathaniel! I have been corresponding with him a bit since he finished the challenge, and he's such a kind and thoughtful person! I am so impressed at his stamina, coming from the flatlands of Louisiana, especially considering he completed it solo, biked between trailheads, AND added on all the extra mileage. Super impressive! :-)
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