Guide dog aided trail hiker in 1990
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- Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 22:25:42 -0400
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN, USA
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Guide dog aided trail hiker in 1990
Last update: October 09, 2007 - 4:42 PM
When Mike Hanson sets out to solo-hike the Appalachian Trail in March, he will
begin an expedition many might deem impossible. But in 1990, a blind man from
North Carolina, Bill Irwin, completed that very feat, hiking the entire trail
with his guide dog, Orient.
Irwin averaged 12 miles a day, hiking almost nonstop from March 9 to Nov. 21.
He hiked up to 18 hours straight some days to make a camp, wearing a headlamp
so that his guide dog could see.
"One advantage of being blind is that you can hike at night no problem," Irwin
said.
Irwin did not use a GPS device, relying instead on audio cassette tapes that
described each mile of the trail. The guide dog alerted him to rocks and
low-hanging branches.
Along the route, Irwin battled floods, ice storms and blizzards. He cracked a
rib in a fall. He once was swept downstream while crossing a whitewater river,
losing his dog temporarily.
"I had to pull on the boulders underwater to move my way across," he said. But
the toughest part of the trek was mental: "I tell people the hardest part was 4
inches. I mean that 4 inches between your right ear and your left."
After his expedition, Irwin wrote a book and became a professional speaker, but
not until after a long break. "I literally stayed on a couch eating, drinking
and sleeping for three weeks once it was over," he said.
STEPHEN REGENOLD
http://www.startribune.com/1244/story/1473673.html
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