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Sites that reference the Nimblewill Nomad |
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 Site located at
http://outdoors.mainetoday.com/trailhead/004507.html |
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January 23, 2006
The amazing hiking feats of
Nimblewill Nomad
For my birthday last week a friend got me a copy of Where Less the Path is Worn, the hefty trail journal of M.J. Eberhart ("Nimblewill Nomad") and his incredible trek the entire length of the Eastern Continental Trail. Huh? The Eastern Continental Trail is a contrived long distance hiking route that connects Key West, Florida to the tip of Newfoundland. You're kidding, right? Nope. 5,000 miles and some change. And Eberhart made the super-human trek over the course of 347 days in 2000-2001. Wow! He began on the International Appalachian Trail (IAT) at Cap Gaspe in Quebec. Hiked south to Maine and picked up the Appalachian Trail. Thru-hiked the entire 2,150-mile AT to Georgia. Then proceeded to follow the Benton McKaye Trail and Georgia-Pinhoti Trail into Alabama. Onto the Alabama Trail to connect up with the 1,000 mile long Florida Trail. And then completed this montrous hike by walking the length of the Florida Keys to Key West. He returned north to Newfoundland the following year to complete the Appalachian Mountain range through Newfoundland. Unbelievable. I'm out of breath simply typing it all out! Amazing. Not only is Eberhart is an extraordinary hiker (this is his second such hike, this time including Newfoundland and the Florida Keys, too), he's quite a character and tells a pretty damn good story too. I've only gone a short distance (and a few pages) down the trail with him, but I just know it's going to be a fun and pleasant journey. But this is not my first exposure to M.J. "Eb" Eberhart. I've had the pleasure of meeting Eb face-to-face twice now. First, by arrangement, here in Portland in 1998. And a couple of years later, in 2001, a chance meeting to the great surprise of both of us, at remote Gooch Gap shelter along the AT in northern Georgia. I just love the guy, and very much admire and respect him not only for what he's accomplished, but for the style in which he's done it. He is a gracious and modest man. I can't wait to get on with the book and follow his trail travels the length of the Eastern Seaboard. Hope you'll pick up a copy and join
me! Just for yucks, I dug up my impressions of that first meeting with Eb in Portland in late October 1998, immediately after he completed his first big hike. I thought you might enjoy it: I got a call the other day from Dick Anderson, former Maine Conservation Commissioner and now President of the Maine Chapter of the International Appalachian Trail. "We're having a get together downtown after work on Friday," he says. "Going to have a little celebration for a guy who just finished thru-hiking the IAT." Sounds great, I think to myself. "And we're going to have an international selection of beers from Maine, New Brunswick, and Quebec." Even better. "I'll be there!" While we wait in Dick's office for our guest of honor to arrive, a small crowd begins to gather. Dick regales us with news of the International Appalachian Trail—a big picture of the IAT is projected onto the wall—and of the accomplishments of one M. J. Eberhart, the second person ever to have hiked the entire IAT. I learn that not only did Eberhart hike the IAT, but all of the Appalachian Trail, and the Florida Trail to boot. Yes, that's right. "Eb" started on January 1, 1998 in the Florida Everglades and hiked north through the Appalachian Mountains to Mount Katahdin, then on to Land's End at the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. He finished the third week of October—after 287 days and more than 4,200 miles of hiking. Whew! The story got even better when I learned that Eb is 60 years old! Amazing. Still awaiting our guest, and trying to comprehend this grand human feat, I feel compelled to sample ales from both sides of the border. Can't offend our Canadian neighbors, after all. Finally, Eb appears through the door, fully clad in hiking garb, pack on his back, hiking sticks in hand. He has that lean and mean thru-hiker build, earned through months of sweat and toil up and over hundreds of mountains. His hair is gray and shoulder length, his beard long and shaggy. A broad smile beams across his face. He looks every bit a man who has seen and experienced things that only a long distance hiker can. At once he is right there among us, talking with us, reciting woodsy poetry, and preaching the glories of journeying along the IAT, the AT, the Appalachians—hands waving, fingers pointing and feet stomping. I notice a familiar look in Eb's eyes. I know that look. I have seen it in the faces of other thru-hikers, have seen it in my own mirror. It is a look of distance—of far away summits, lonely trails, deep forests. He is back from the trail, yes, but he will never fully return. Changed forever by an experience that is almost unfathomable to most of us, he cannot return entirely. It is the direct result of great adventure, and both a curse and a blessing. My hat is off to you Nimblewill
Nomad (his trail name). Thank you
for sharing your incredible odyssey with
us. Thank you for your inspiration. You
are living proof that life is, indeed,
the greatest adventure. The summit of ol' Sagamook, From here, to turn and look, and
gaze, Now from this lofty firmament, And as I part this sanctity, Eb, you rock!
Posted by
Carey Kish at 06:42 PM
Comments
Nice.
Posted by
BB 
Hello Cary, Nimblewill Nomad is truly a
long-distance hiking legend. I have
hiked with him, traveled with him and
even shared a few "longnecks" with him.
His book should be read a few pages at a
time, to fully enjoy the trials of each
day on-the-trail. You can get his book
from his web site He is the person who
helped make the IAT/SIA what it is
today. Yes that was a good event at
Barton&Gingold. I had forgotten that
event until I read your blog.We, at the
IAT/SIA, are in the process of
convincing Nova Scotian hikers to add
their section of the Appalachian
Mountains to the IAT/SIA. We will be
doing presentations in Halifax and
Inverness next month. If we are
successful, that will mean a new hike
for the old Nomad.Nopack
Posted by
nopack
Carey, Nopack...
To you two, indeed, to all dear friends along the SIA/IAT, thanks so much for your kindness, your friendship. I will remember and cherish our times together, forever. God Bless, Eb www.nimblewillnomad.com Posted by
Nimblewill Nomad |
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| December 17, 2006
Article Located at http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/SPORTS05/612170323/1002/SPORTS The lure of long
distances Eb Eberhart of Titusville wasn't much different from a lot of retirees when he took up walking as a pastime nine years ago. Only thing is, he's rarely stopped since. The 68-year-old who goes by the trail name of Nimblewill Nomad has walked 17,000 miles since 1998. Throwing out two years when he didn't walk much, Eberhart has averaged about 2,400 miles a year, equivalent to doing the Appalachian Trail each year -- and then some. He started his ultra-hiking on the Florida Trail and didn't stop
until he got to Quebec. Two years later, he hiked from Newfoundland
to Key West. More recently, he hiked 1,500 miles in the Rockies and
the modern 2,800-mile version of the Lewis and Clark trail from
Missouri to Oregon -- and back again. In former epochs, such a wanderer might induce a religious following. These days, more than one backpacker has referred to Nomad as "a crazy old coot," but they do so with a jab of humor and a depth of awe. Eberhart published a detailed daily journal of his original Eastern Continental Trail hike in "Ten Million Steps," but offered little in the way of explaining why he keeps walking. "Unquestionably, we each possess that instinctive, deep-down drive called 'wanderlust,' " he wrote on his Web site, www.nimblewill.com. "Few of us, however, have given in to it. "Most assuredly, I'm but a nomad . . . looking for who knows what." The closest Eberhart comes to putting his finger on that 'what' has to do with freedom. "Ahh, but you see, life on the move is the ultimate life of freedom," he wrote. As impressive as Eberhart's hiking resume is, there are many hikers who make his adventures look like mere strolls. One Englishman named Karl Bushby is doing a 12-year, 36,000-mile hike around the world. Coincidentally, he started the same year Eberhart started hiking, in 1998, and has done the same number of miles so far -- 17,000. But that includes a harrowing crossing of the frozen Bering Strait. And he still has 19,000 miles to go. Most adventurers seem to feel one long journey of a few thousand miles is enough for a lifetime. But while they often define such experiences as "life-changing," they, too, have difficulty explaining why they're willing to push themselves through the pain and boredom that comes with the satisfaction of meeting such challenges. However, an increasing number of people have found new reasons to push themselves long distances under their own power in the form of causes to which they want to draw attention. That was the case for Brian Callahan of Burlington, Vt., who cycled from the Canadian border at Calais, Maine, to Key West in five weeks this fall to draw attention to cystic fibrosis, a disease he has battled since he was a child. Along the way, Callahan "talked to everybody I could" about the disease and sought donations for the fight against it. But he also rode to show fellow cystic fibrosis sufferers that they shouldn't shy away from hard physical effort. "The heavy breathing and coughing brought on by exercise helps clear my lungs," he explained. "And I want to let teens know they shouldn't let CF stop them from doing anything." Still, Callahan hadn't done much cycling before his epic trip, so he had some painful moments where he almost gave up. However, not even the hurricane that hit Brevard County when he got here could stop him. Fortunately, Callahan had planned on staying at the Merritt Island condominium of a friend's family when he and Hurricane Ernesto arrived from opposite directions just before Labor Day weekend. And his forced two-day layover here only served to rejuvenate him. After going through such life-altering challenges, long-distance trekkers seem to be struck by a sensation some might describe as withdrawal. For Eberhart, who celebrated his 60th birthday when he finished his first long hike northward in 1998, there was a letdown because he wasn't planning on doing more hikes. Referring to both the planning and anticipation that went into the journey, Eberhart wrote sadly, "I prepared for the going of it. But, somehow, I never prepared for the finish of it." Miller, who has returned to the Appalachian Trail for some short hikes, also said there's now something missing for him there. "I'll be walking on the trail, but I won't feel the same because I don't have a goal to reach," he said. "I feel less sure why I'm there." |
