Math

on 05 May 2009

These past 4 days were horrible. It rained pretty much the whole time and since we were at high elevations it's been cold and really windy. I can't seem to get a cell phone signal either. All I want to do is update the blog once a day and make a few uninterrupted calls home. Its been really hard trying to keep a positive attitude in these conditions and I've almost snapped a few times..and for some reason I can't seem to get Christmas music out of my head while I hike. Here was last night's situation. We hiked 18 miles and set up our tent in the rain. In the tent we had 2 guys who hadn't showered in 4 days, a wet dog (that must have rolled in something earlier in the day), wet dirty socks and other ripe laundry, and the byproducts of digesting trail food. Everything is soaked! Even the clothes in my dry sack are damp! Well anyway, we finally got to a hostel tonight outside of Hampton, TN. I received the care package from Groton Elementary! I can't wait to open it.

So here is a little math challenge for you. Today is my one month anniversary on the trail (Thanks Mrs. Watson's class!). I've hike 411 miles in those 31 days. What is my average per day? If I maintain that average will I get the 2,100 mile long trail done before September 1st?? What average would we have to maintain if we want to finish by August 15? They say the first 400 miles and the last 400 miles are the hardest. I'm sure glad we've conquered the first 400! Hope all is well.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You had better get the move on Bucko!

Miss Coffey said...

I've been thinking about this and I didn't know if you had thought about it too. Not to be pessimistic and not that I don't believe in you 100%, but I am a little worried... I have a hunch that realistically you guys are going to be like 1-2 weeks short of finishing, and I feel bad that you're going to go most of the distance and have to stop! It might be frustrating and disappointing for that to happen, but I know that you are doing well with that because you're already thinking about the fact that this might happen and you're mentally preparing for that. We can go back and finish next summer!

Anonymous said...

Hey Chad,

Sounds awesome so far! I know you probably wanted one of your students to figure this out...but they should double check my calculations :) Here is the math breakdown:

There are 102 days between May 5 (date of your post) and August 15 and 118 days between May 5 and September 1st. If you have covered 411 miles in 31 days so far, that means you have averaged 13.25 miles/day.

If you maintain that average, you will be 337 miles short of finishing on August 15th and 125.5 miles short of finishing on September 1st.

The average that you need to maintain to complete the trail by August 15th is 16.5 miles/day. To finish by September 1st, you need to average 14.3 miles/day.

Now, taking into account the facts that your elevation climbs are over and the trail flattens out, you are in better shape, and the weather should improve, this is completely do-able! Keep it up!!!

Steep and long ascents/descents influence average mileage while backpacking A LOT! When I did the Grand Canyon last month (which was awesome - I'll share pics sometime) we averaged only about 5-6 miles/day!

Keep the posts coming, Chad. FYI - The Alps Sweet Shop is AWESOME! From Fishkill, NY :) My hometown!

~ Caroline Wheadon

Anonymous said...

On the first round of calcs I used 2100 total miles...this time I'll use 2175...

Avg needed to finish by 8/15: 17/3 miles/day

Avg needed to finish by 9/1: 15 miles/day

Pretty close...just a fraction of a mile more a day! Good luck!

~ Caroline

Anonymous said...

HI THIS is Ben and Cody from Miss Coffeys class your average is 13.258064 miles per day. The average you've been hiking you will hike 2001 miles by september 1. We know you can hike those 199 extra miles. Good luck!!In order to finish by August 15 you have to hike 22.009523 miles a day for the rest of the 105 days by August 15. Thats a lot!!!!

look at the last guy!
:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):0

Peace,
Ben and Cody

Anonymous said...

HI!!!! Im Casper. That is a huge Hellbender. bye-bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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