NEW YORK, May 23, 2000 -- For nine intrepid travelers, the dream of walking away from it all has become a reality. For the next few months GORP.com, the leading Internet site dedicated to outdoor recreation and adventure travel, will sponsor six teams of hikers as they step out of the ordinary and instead, traverse America's most notable wilderness hiking trails.

The teams will spend the summer hiking the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, or the Continental Divide Trails. Each team will chronicle their journey in real time on GORP.com by submitting journal entries via hand-held email devices. The hikers also will respond to questions posed in the GORPforum, the interactive discussion board where GORP community members share their views. Their stories can be found at http://www.gorp.com/thruhike.htm.

"It gives us a chance to live vicariously through their great endeavors," said Bill Greer, Editor-in-Chief of GORP.com. "Experiencing these wilderness areas is a transforming event. Our goal is to inspire people who may not be able to have this first-hand experience with the journal entries and photos the hikers send to us."

Most of the thru-hikers will be deep into their journey by June 3, designated by the Millennium Trails Organization as National Trails Day. The Organization, a partnership among the White House Millennium Council, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Rails to Trails Conservancy, will mark the day by bestowing more than 2,000 trails with the Millennium Trails distinction. The Appalachian Trail will be honored as one of only 16 "National Millennium Trails."

The National Scenic Trails System, established by Congress in 1968, recognizes the scenic and recreational values of superb backcountry trails. Each year millions of hikers enjoy short hikes on these long trails. "About 2,000 people a year try to thru-hike one of these three trails," says Karen Berger, GORP.com's hiking expert. "In a typical year, only a few hundred finish. During their journeys, hikers can expect to encounter rattlesnakes, lightning storms, grizzly bears, snow and ice, days of rain, desert heat, hundreds of thousands of feet of elevation gain and loss - and some of the most spectacular scenery America has to offer."

The hikers will each attempt to complete one of three long-distance national scenic trails: the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail, the 2,150-mile Pacific Crest Trail, or the 3,000-mile Continental Divide Trail. Most of the thru-hikers will spend between 150 and 180 days on the trail, walking an average of 14 to 20 miles a day. They will re-supply in small towns along the way as they walk the six million - or more - steps of these rigorous journeys.

The stories will augment GORP's extensive coverage of hiking worldwide and the newly-introduced trails database, a searchable and interactive database that provides maps, ratings and descriptions of more than 3,500 trails nationwide. This new application can be found at http://trailfinder.gorp.com.

Thru-hikers were chosen to represent a variety of age and experience levels, which reflects the diversity in the thru-hiking community. Some of them have through-hiked a major trail before, some have extensive outdoor experience, and some are beginners. They have all done thorough planning.

GORP (a.k.a. Great Outdoor Recreation Pages) is the largest and most trafficked Web site dedicated to outdoor recreation and adventure travel. With more than 100,000 pages of content, GORP offers a complete package of authoritative, award-winning content, a large, active community of outdoor enthusiasts and a full-range of e-commerce offerings drawing nearly 11 million pages views per month. Started in 1995, GORP offers a full-service adventure travel booking feature, accessible via the Web or telephone, with more than 35,000 departures in addition to a gear store with more than 180 brands of clothing, footwear and equipment. GORP has been cited by Yahoo!, US News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and many others, as the leader in this category and a "Best of the Web" site.

Biographies of the thru-hikers:

Appalachian Trail
http://www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/us_trail/appalach.htm

Meredith J. Eberhart

Meredith, age 62, goes by the trail name "Nimblewill Nomad." In 1998, he became the first person to walk what is now being informally referred to as the "Eastern Continental Trail," a more than 4,000-mile odyssey from Key West to Cape Gaspe, Quebec. This year, he is starting at Cape Gaspe, and plans to repeat the hike southbound. He will start on the new "International Appalachian Trail," which connects the Canadian portion of the Appalachian Mountain range with Katahdin, in Maine, the traditional northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. He will then follow the AT 2,160 miles to its southern terminus at Springer Mountain in Georgia, after which he will continue on to the true end of the Appalachian Mountain chain in Alabama. From Alabama, he heads east into Florida, and then south, to reach land's end in Key West. He lectures and gives slide shows frequently at major trail events. He follows an ultra-light hiking philosophy. "Nomad" starts his southbound hike on May 24.

Nina Baxley, of Plaquemine, LA

Nina, age 30, is a technical writer who has dreamed of hiking the AT for several years. This is her first long-distance hike. Her training regime included a nine-day hike during which she was caught in a flash flood, lost her tent, and had to build a shelter. She returned more enthused and confident than ever about taking on the AT. Nina is starting her journey on June 20.

Duffy Ballard and Angela Walker, Philadelphia, PA
http://www.gorp.com/gorp/activity/hiking/thruhike/duff_pct.htm

Duffy is a medical student who has taken a leave of absence to hike the Pacific Crest Trail; Angela is a writer. They hope to produce a book on their journey. They are both new backpackers who have done thorough research about the trail. Duffy and Angela began their northbound hike on May 8.

Jennifer Whitcomb, Hanover, NH
http://www.gorp.com/gorp/activity/hiking/thruhike/jenw_pct.htm

A recent journalism graduate of Dartmouth College, Jennifer thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail at the age of 18 and is an active member of the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers' Association. Upon completion of the trail in Canada, she will pick up her bicycle for a month-long encore trip down the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route to San Diego. Jennifer started hiking northbound on the PCT on May 16.

Sarah Heidenreich, Vermont, and Adrianne Gass, Massachusetts
http://www.gorp.com/gorp/activity/hiking/thruhike/shag_cdt.htm

Sarah and Adrianne met while working in the White Mountains last summer. When they both realized that each wanted to hike the Continental Divide, a partnership was born. To test it, the two women attempted a White Mountain endurance challenge: To hike more than 50 miles to all the huts in the White Mountain system in less than 24 hours. They covered 49 of those arduous miles. (A White Mountain mile is considered by experienced hikers to be the equivalent of two miles almost anywhere else!) Soon after, they decided to challenge the Continental Divide together. Both have extensive outdoor experience. Sarah and Adrianne started northbound on the CDT on April 22.

Simon Dyer, England, and Darryl Riches, Australia; both living in Athabasca, Alberta
http://www.gorp.com/gorp/activity/hiking/thruhike/dyer_cdt.htm

Simon has just earned a master's degree in wildlife biology and is working as a biologist for a forestry company. Darryl is enrolled in a masters program in sports psychology. This is the first long-distance hike for both men. They have been planning for more than two years. Simon and Darryl started northbound on the CDT on May 1.

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