Cape Alava, Washington, July 5th, 2005 — When Andrew Skurka reaches Cape Alava, Washington on Sunday, July 10, he will be the first person to walk the 7,700-mile transcontinental Sea-to-Sea Route (C2C), completing the journey in around 11 months. Averaging 36 miles per day, Andrew started his epic journey on August 6th, 2004 at Cape Gaspe, Quebec and has since traversed a network of existing long-distance trails that almost continuously span the continent between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Skurka, 24, of Seekonk, Massachusetts, will finish his hike at the westernmost point in the contiguous United States at 12:00 PST on Sunday, July 10th at a remote beach on Cape Alava, Washington, located in Olympic National Park.
Skurka's objective hiking the C2C route include: establishing a transcontinental pathway for ambitious hikers, increasing awareness of long-distance hiking trails in our nation, and inspiring others to simply get outside. "It's easy for anyone to get out and walk," Skurka said recently by phone, highlighting his belief that outdoor experiences are more simply achieved than is commonly thought.
Skurka has crossed the continent in all seasons and in all conditions. He's encountered the sub-0 temps and deep snow in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota in winter. He's been greeted, accompanied, hosted and fed along the way by farm families and hikers who tapped into Andrew's passion to talk about his journey and help promote the cause of their local trail. He's slept in pole barns and been given a real bed by trail angels. He has frequented stores along the way to re-supply his pack and found pay phones to call his parents, who updated his travel logs, which can be found at andrewskurka.com. The web site details the C2C route and history as well as Skurka's itinerary.
Lightweight gear from GoLite and footwear from Montrail have been critical to Skurka's success, as has been the financial support Skurka has received from Balance Bar, who provided compact nutritional bars that helped fuel his dawn-to-dusk days on the trail. Along the way, Skurka carried a minimum of gear in a daypack that sometimes weighed just 9 pounds, excluding food and water.
The 7,700-mile C2C is a network of trails, including the International Appalachian Trail, Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Long Trail, North Country National Scenic Trail, Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, and the Pacific Northwest Trail. The trails offer diverse landscapes and local cultures as they pass through every state that borders Canada, plus Ohio, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick.
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