Late for work, apparently, in 2024 a young woman named Tara Dower hiked (ran) the ~2,197 mile Appalachian Trail (AT) in a mind-blowing 40 days, 18 hours, and 5 minutes. She averaged an astonishing 54+ miles per day. Doing so she surpassed all previous records for both men and women, in any direction, supported or unsupported.
Tara’s trail name is not Turtle. In fact she hiked it so fast she didn’t have time to even acquire a trail name.
But there is one hiker out there who does answer to that moniker and we’re super proud to call her our guest. She’d been at it for 26 years and in part we played a tiny role in this significant accomplishment. Specifically Redline Guide Arlette “Apple Pie” Laan did. A few days ago the pair finished the journey atop Baxter Peak on Mt Katahdin — the tallest mountain in the State of Maine and the northern terminus of the AT
Turtle summed up this accomplishment with this:
After 26 years of trying to get to the end of the Appalachian Trail, the ‘Turtle’ has slowly and steadily won the race! 2,197 miles come to an end with the hardest hike I’ve ever done, the grueling rock scrambling climb up Mt Katahdin to the beautiful payoff at the top. —Turtle
