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Preparing for the Calendar Triple Crown

Brian Robinson

By now, most long distance hikers know I was successful in my bid to become the first person to hike the Calendar Triple Crown. The 7,400 miles on the AT, PCT and CDT in 300 days was an adventure that I'll cherish for a lifetime. What's not so well known is how I prepared.

The challenge began long before I took the first steps on January 1st 2001 at Springer Mountain, Georgia. Such a long distance had never been hiked in so short a time and I had a thousand worries. Chief among them was, "How can I stay healthy?" In 1997 I had hiked the PCT at an average pace of 19 miles per day and come back 15 pounds lighter and very footsore. I'd have to be much better prepared this time if I expected to be able to average 30 miles per day, the pace required to get through the northern PCT and CDT during the snow-free months. Even with proper training, I was worried that my body would break down under the strain of so many miles with so little rest.

Because I had so much to learn, I gave myself three years to get ready. Hiking is the best training, but it takes a lot of time, so I decided running would have to do. I'd never been a serious runner, but I joined a Marathon training group. I found that my thru-hiking experience had developed my endurance, but not my speed. After several speed-related injuries, I migrated to longer, slower runs on hilly trails. This was much more like thru-hiking and I loved it! I became an ultra-marathoner. My running buddies and I did 20-35 mile trail runs nearly every Saturday and 50 miles per week. I began to feel like I was in thru-hiker shape year-round.

This was a major milestone in my training because in '97 I'd learned that my heart, lungs and muscles could adapt during a thru-hike, but my feet, ankles and knees did not. When they got sore, they needed rest. But two years of trail running mixed with adequate rest hardened my legs. I credit the running with keeping me free from serious injury during my hike.

In the meantime, I was also learning about lightening my load. My equipment needed to be able to brave snowstorms, so I did much of my gear testing while snow camping in the Sierra. In the summer of '99 my dad finished the northern PCT during one of the heaviest snow years ever. I joined him for 800 miles to test the gear under real conditions. There were problems, like poor traction on snow, but overall the gear worked well and the 20-mile days seemed easy! I was making good progress.

The spring and summer of 2000 was a very difficult time for me. As other thru-hikers were heading out on the trail, I was stuck indoors planning my trip. I prepared a spreadsheet detailing over 90 resupply stops and the date I needed to be at each. I had hundreds of maps on which I traced my route. The CDT especially took a lot of planning. At my target pace, I could not afford much time to puzzle over the guidebook while on the trail.

In the fall of 2000, I slowly upped my running from 50 miles per week to 90. It felt strange ramping up my training as winter approached. I was paranoid about getting injured, but I needed to average about 140 miles per week on the AT, so it was necessary. Meanwhile, I was packing food boxes, moving out of my house, putting all my belongings into storage, quitting my job of 17 years, saying goodbye to family and friends, and trying to stay sane. The word was getting out about my plans, and many people thought I was crazy, so I had to deal with their doubts as well as my own. AT experts pointed out that I was going to have a tough and dangerous hike through New England in April. If I made it at all, the Whites and other obstacles would slow me down so much that I would get a late start on the PCT. (They were right. I had to change my plans and hike New Mexico in April and come back to New England in the fall.)

More disturbing was the reaction of the most experienced thru-hikers. Triple Crowners knew better than anyone that I was facing too many miles and too few snow-free months to hike them. Month after month of 30 mile days would leave me vulnerable to injury, bad weather delays and the myriad other things that always go wrong on a thru-hike.

But all their doubts had already occurred to me. In those last few days I realized the most important component of my preparation had been mental. I was convinced the nay sayers were wrong. If I was granted good weather and health, I had a chance.

When I finally got on the plane to Atlanta, I felt like the hardest part was over. All the planning was behind me. It was time to enjoy the hike. Successful or not, I was going to have the trip of a lifetime!