Andrew Skurka's Incredible Journeys

Andrew Skurka impresses me, big time. He has completed several massive "hiking" journeys, including the one he just completed in November 2007: the Great Western Loop. This loop is 6875 miles long, yes, that's right. He did it in 208 straight days, averaging *33 miles per day*. Granted he is not explicitly running, but he is practically race walking those 33 miles each day (I believe he said he usually walks about 15 hours a day), but that's like doing 1.25 marathons a day. Nutter. Two interesting tidbits from this journey... He blows through massive calories each day, but can't eat enough to replace them. So, he lives on energy bars and the like for several days during the hike, then when he hits a town, he binge eats to make up for it, and then repeats this cycle. I don't think I could do it, but in this journey, he ate 1200 Balance Bars! Second, and just kind of a fun fact: he went through 17 pairs of shoes to complete the journey. The physical aspects of this are very impressive of course, but I'm also impressed with his demeanor, psche, or general outlook. National Geographic Adventure magazine had a good article on him, since they named him 2007 Adventurer of the Year. He seems like a no-nonsense, friendly guy, who loves to be outdoors, loves the solitude (but isn't a hermit or anti-social), and just purely enjoys these adventures. From what I've read, and the podcasts of his that I've listened to, I just don't feel he's one of these folks who "must conquer Everest", or prove something to anyone. Sure, it's a feat, there is no doubt, but he just seems like he is heavily motivated by the sheer love of the adventure. Finally, the other thing I love is that he is a proponent of going lite, but he isn't insane about it. He does it, in my observation, partly out of necessity, and partly simply because he can, but not for the sake of it, if that makes sense. Check out the Gear Talk section of his website for some recommendations and general info. p.s. here's an article on an even longer trip he did in 2004, the transcontinental sea-to-sea route (7700 miles).