With BOK's 4-hour score (an event I look forward to every year) at Birkhead, I decided to take a peek at what geocaches exist in the wilderness. That's when I fell into the worm hole of the Birkhead Hiking Challenge. I decided to give it a go. A brief report with results is posted here.
Many thanks to Ranger Fox for putting together this challenge. I believe his statement that it would take someone at least 24 hours to finish is pretty accurate. For his part, Carl doesn't agree:
The fact that my old fat slow butt got half way thru birkhead in daylight means the whole thing in daylight would be possible for a strong Barkley runner.
As cool as it would've been to become the first person to do it in one push, I too quit half way. The main reason: in order to continue through the night, I knew that I would've had to resort to using GPS. This would've meant breaking from the unplugged aesthetic. It was a pretty easy choice.
This is not to put down the accomplishments of those challengers who do use GPS. They still have to trek 40-50 miles and find each cache within the ground zeroes. To me, BHC unplugged in one day would be very impressive. For those who try: beware the temptation of the crutch!
I'm grateful for Carl's company and his proclivity for the pure line. After investing 3+ hours worth of blunders to this dang aesthetic, you better be sure that I'm now committed to finishing it this way. Part 2 coming soon to a wilderness near you...
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