Former Vienna resident shares hiking adventures

PARKERSBURG - Since 2002, Mike Benedetti has logged thousands of miles on foot on three of the longest north-south hiking trails in the United States: the Appalachian Trail in 2002, the Pacific Crest Trail in 2003 and the Continental Divide Trail in 2004.

"I've hiked these trails over the past few years; it was an incredible experience," Benedetti said to a gathering at the Parkersburg/Wood County Public Library Thursday night. "Part of the reason I'm here it to encourage you if you've ever thought of hiking the Appalachian Trail, if you've ever thought of taking a few months off for a backpacking trip, you can absolutely do this.

"You don't have to be a Superman to do this. Look at me. I'm hardly a Superman."

Benedetti has the distinction of being one of only 50 people believed to have hiked the length of all three trails. His talk at the library was one of two he will give titled "Tales from the Triple Crown," covering about 8,000 miles of hiking between 2002 and 2004.

Benedetti, the son of Jon and Judy Benedetti of Vienna, lives in Worchester, Mass., where he works at a homeless shelter and is active in social justice issues. He graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1992 and the California Institute of Technology in 1996 with a degree in physics. He then worked for a computer software company.

Benedetti said on the trails you can meet people of all experience levels and all walks of life

The first trail he hiked was the Appalachian, which runs from the top of Katahdin Mountain in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia. It crosses West Virginia at one of its narrowest points at Harpers Ferry.

"It's sort of a spiritual mid-point of the trail; it's almost the geographic center of the trail," he said.

Benedetti said the Appalachian Trail is one of the best marked trails and is the most heavily traveled.

"There's a lot of people out there," he said. "Everybody has heard about this trail. About 10 times more people hike the Appalachian Trail than the Pacific Crest Trail and about 100 times more than the Continental Divide Trail."

On the trail, Benedetti said, most people burn 4,000 to 6,000 calories a day and eat 3,000 to 4,000 calories daily.

"You are constantly running a deficit," he said. "One way many people survive on the trail is when you go to a town to resupply, you go to the nearest buffet and eat all you can; you go to the supermarket and eat as much as you can."

Benedetti said he is known as "Nameless Mike" by other trail hikers.

While in Virginia he and three others hikers stopped in the town of Catawba to pick up supplies and to eat at a buffet. While there they stayed to listen to a bluegrass band. They wound up performing with them for one song.

Benedetti talked about his experiences with the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.

He said the hike on the Pacific Crest was almost called off because of an early snowfall in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and park rangers telling people to stay off the trail. However, they learned it was melting faster than usual and they went ahead on their hike.

Benedetti said the Continental Divide Trail in the dividing line between the Atlantic and Pacific watersheds.

"If you're heading north and pour some water to your right, theoretically that water could go to the Atlantic and on your left it could go the Pacific," he said. "There might not be a lot of people on the trail, but there is a lot of interesting wildlife along the way."

Benedetti experienced snow on the trail near the end. He started in June and finished in November.

In Silverton, Colo., he and a companion experienced whiteout conditions.

"In a whiteout you lose all depth perception," he said. "At one point I thought there was a boulder ahead, then it moved and as we got closer it looked like a fox and then we realized it was a small bird."

One thing that helped them move along was they found a trail left by a heard of elk.

During his hiking, Bendetti said, he never used hiking boots, but simple tennis shoes. He said he used socks that were made of a material used for divers' wet suits that kept his feet warm even when they were wet.

While on the longer trails he did not use a tent for shelter but rather a tarp, to keep his backpack light. On his hike across the state, he used a tent. He said the drawbacks to the tent are that it tends to be more humid and in cold weather it is less comfortable.

Contact Jeffrey Saulton at jsaulton@newsandsentinel.com