The 243.0-mile Trans Adirondack Route connects 192.8 miles (79 percent) of trails, 39.8 miles (17) of roads, and 10.4 miles (4) of cross-country travel. If you're interested in this challenge, purchase the second edition of Blue Line to Blue Line and updated route maps when they're published in 2025. For now, print and bring route updates at the bottom of this page with you. In recognition of thru-hikers, a certificate, patch, and rocker patch are available. Contact me for details.
Reported attempted non-winter thru-hikes = 58
Reported successful non-winter thru-hikes = 33
Reported attempted winter thru-hikes = 3
Reported successful winter thru-hikes = 1
Reported thru-hiker success rate = 56 percent
* The real world thru-hiker success rate is estimated at 45 percent due to the simple fact that prospective thru-hikers are likely to report successes yet unlikely to report failures.
2010: Erik Schlimmer (1)
2011: no thru-hikers – route in development stage
2012: two failed attempts
2013: Emma Gibson (2), Molly Gibson (3), Tim Shmigel (4), plus at least two failed attempts
2014: at least three failed attempts
2015: Marilyne Marchand-Gouin (5), Natti Nassiff (6), David Rothrock (7), CJ Smith (8)
2016: Dave Giese (9), Matthew Hess (10), Chip Moeser (11)
2017: Hannah Seacord (12)
2018: Erik Schlimmer (13, second thru-hike) plus at least two failed attempts
2019: at least three failed attempts
2020: Shaun Rowe (14), Shane Stringfellow (15), Yuliya Semenova (16), Zack Kerr (17), Natalie Parker (18), Jonathan Korte (19), Andrew Kulikowski (20), Craig Miles (21), Blaine Vossler (22), plus at least five failed attempts
2021: Thaddeus Merriman (23, winter thru-hike), Jeff Sargent (24), Jeremy Marble (25), Mike LeMay (26), Michael Green (27), Jake Zehnder (28), Tony Oehler (29), plus at least two failed attempts
2022: at least two failed attempts
2023: Jeff Love (30), Kyle Nicholas (31), plus at least six failed attempts
2024: Ruth Larkin (32), Shaun Rowe (33, second thru-hike), Stephen Russell (34)
Fastest Known Time
In adventure sports parlance, a fastest known time, often shortened to "FKT," is a record of who traversed what the fastest. Friends of the Trans Adirondack Route recognizes FKTs that adhere to four rules.
1) Follow the entire route and carry your own gear
2) Resupply yourself or be resupplied up to two times
3) Stay in accommodations (motels, hostels, camper vans, etc.) up to two nights
4) Navigate with map and compass only (no use of GPS, phone, satellite devices, etc.)
Erik Schlimmer (2010): 12 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes
Marilyne Marchand Gouin (2015): 10 days, 6 hours, 46 minutes
Shaun Rowe (2024): 10 days, 3 hours, 0 minutes
The 267.9-mile High Peaks Wilderness Area hiking challenge demands hikers cover every foot of the 79 hiking trails within this 192,000-acre wilderness area. It is no easy task, proving that a literal walk in the park is not always a figurative walk in the park. If you're interested in this challenge, purchase Among the Cloud Splitters. This book contains the official list of trails. In recognition of completers, a certificate and patch are available. Contact me for details.
2016: Erik Schlimmer (1)
2017: no completers
2018: Jared Whalen (2)
2019: no completers
2020: Colleen Porter (3), Loring Porter (4), Kyle Edele (5), Amanda Riggs (6), Nancy LaBaff (7)
2021: Lois Swears (8), Charles Langlois (9), Jonathan Zaharek (10), Andrew Puckey (11)
2022: Thomas Penders (12), Duane Martin (13)
2023: Chad Wilkes (14), Troy Tetreault (15)
2024: Phil Arnold (16)
* In 2018, 192,000-acre High Peaks Wilderness Area was expanded to 275,000 acres and dubbed High Peaks Wilderness Complex. This expansion added approximately 35 miles of trails, but there's no need to hike these "new" trails. Anyone who started or finished their High Peaks Wilderness Area hiking challenge prior to 2019 will be grandfathered in.