After reading in an old BWJ about Stu Osthoff hiking the entire length of the Kekekebic trail in 18 hours it got me hankering for some adventure, and some record breakin'. I will be heading out with a buddy on the Gunflint side heading West at about 430am on Thursday. We are definetely going to try and break Stu's record, which is the only one ive heard of. Im willing to give one virtual "double high-five" to the closest guess on elapsed time. Of course there are the long shot bets, i.e: not making it at all, search and rescue, and any other disastrous outcome.

Also if anybody does know of someone traversing the Kek in less than 18 hours I would love to hear about it.

I dont know anything about hiking the kek or the time,But Id love to read a trip report when you get back!

17 hours 20 mins

I thought the Kek used to be more well-maintained than it is now. I also seem to remember reading that it's pretty easy to lose the trail in the recently burned areas. My bet is you're gonna wish you brought sleeping gear. ;-)

There are better times of the year to hike those trails. Like spring when the vegetation is low and when the weather isn't as hot.

Good luck though it should be a great hike. Wish I was up there to cheer you both on. I sure couldn't hike that trail in twice that time.

Keep your packs tight and watch your step.

Sorry but you will not break that time record. I have no doubt that you will complete the trip though.

OK, 4 miles per hour for 10 hours and a bear eats you 2 miles from the end.

you lose...

Good luck on this. I love seeing people take on challenges. What time of year did Stu accomplish the 18 hours? If it's really hot and humid with lots of vegetation it could be tougher. I'll bet you to break it but have no idea what to guess.

Let us know how it went down.

A few years ago I ran into a group of hikers on Strup doing the kek. It had taken them a very long time because the trail was so over-grown and not marked well. Some trail markers were found on trees that had fallen. Some of the trail was hit hard by the 1999 wind storm.

At that time, unlike when Stu did it, the trail was not maintained. The hardest part was finding and following the "trail". The second hardest part was climbing over and under all the blowdowns.

This may be good or extremely bad news, since that time there has been at least two major fires on the kek. The last I knew the trail was closed, though it could be re-opened now. The fire may have burned up some of the blowdown, but then again, it may have added more.

In any case, this is not the trail that Stu hiked. What is it, like 40 miles? I'll guess 48 hours.

I'm with Bannock on the 48 hour guess. I hate to short change you but Stu is a legend when it comes to making tracks on land and in a canoe. Congrats in advance if you break his record but I'm betting against it.

Before I make any bets, I would like pictures posted of the hikers and would also like to know their age and smoking/drinking habits!

The other consideration is that they are trying this tomorrow. I'm guessing, cause I don't know for sure, that there is less than 18 hours of daylight. Couple that with a new moon on Friday. After dark the trail is going to be real hard to follow ... even with a powerful flashlight.

If they don't finish before dark the best bet may be to lay down and sleep. They could get seriously lost trying to continue.

Well, if things are going as planned, the boys are 3.5 hours into their adventure. They are probably through the easy part. I wonder how they are doing. To make their goal, they should have covered at least 8 miles by now.

Hats off to the boys! I agree that I don't think they will break the 18 hour mark, especially at this time of year. I'll say a little prayer for safety, protection, and wisdom. It'll make a great trip report though.

14.5 hrs. into it. Bet their having a blast. Wonder if they have a GPS. I wouldn't consider this to be cheating since it sounds like the trail is nonexistant these days.

Official GPS Time: 20 hours 15 minutes 36 seconds
Official GPS Distance: 43.78 Miles

Great trip! Hellish, but a great trip. The death march commenced at 5am on Thursday morning, with the need for headlamps only lasting 15 minutes. It was a cool and cloudy morning, great for long distance hiking, but we didnt get a sunrise. The first three miles were the easiest we would encounter all day. It was clear right away the blow-down and burn area was going to create some serious issues. The trail would appear and disappear every 25 yards. It was treacherous hiking, through knee high brush with pointy pines scattered underneath. Rarely could I see my feet through these 8 miles from hell. We probably hiked on the Kek for 4 miles out of the first 11. The one plus side was we could see where we were heading and figured we could hook up with the trail at the tree line. Our pace was slowed to a crawl through the burn area and I blame those 7 trail-less miles on our failed attempt to break the record. We ended up finding the trail again on the north side of Gabimichigami just east of Mueller Falls. We were standing on the bridge over the falls at Noon. It took us 7 hours to traverse 11 miles. I was worried to say the least. The trail from there was no more than a game trail, but it was nice having trees on both sides to create a more noticeable trail. We made great time in the afternoon, but by the time we reached the portage from Kekekabic to Strup at 3:30pm I was feeling exhausted. We must have climbed over a dozen 1800 foot hills. At least thats what it seemed like at the time. Our pace really slowed at this point, mainly from fatigue, but I must say I underestimated the "chaffing" potential of a 40 some mile hike, because I was in some serious pain for the last 8 hours or so. The 5 miles between Kekekabic and Ima lakes was an epic struggle. With the water being so high and the abundance of beaver dams in this area I was cursing every @#$% step for 3 hours. I am still doubtful we were anywhere near the actual trail in this section, if it werent for GPS I probably wouldve curled in a ball and excepted my death. We ended up running right into the east shore of Hatchet Lake, where we followed the shore south the creek running out of it. We got a bit turned around on the portages here, but ended up finding the trail again where we followed it until it got dark, right around the time it hooked up with the snowbank trail. We let our eyes adjust for as long as possible, but with no moon it got real dark, real quick. The headlamp did help but what made the difference was the powerful LED flashlights we both had. It was a slow game of pointing the flashlight in every direction before making a safe step forward. I'm only going to use one word to describe the bugs at this point on the trail: deafening. Also at this point the mind games started in. Tedium was also setting in. At midnight we new we were close but still were not sure about where the trail came out, on Fernberg Trail or Snowbank Lake Road. I put my legs through some serious sh** that day and the last hour was a mental battle just to keep them moving, no matter how much water I drank they just kept cramping up. By the time we stepped out on Snowbank Lake road my legs were in a "perma-cramped" condition and didnt subside for an hour or so, and my legs are about as sore as they have ever been in my life still today.

So hats off to Stu, but I still cant help but think what could have been if we had a trail the first 11 miles.
I also was amazed at what the human body can endure, I was pretty much shot after the mess in the ponds south of Kek Lake, but knew I had to keep going. That was my previous maxed out level of exhaustion, I now know a completely different level of fatigue, that I am still figuring out just how we managed those last awful miles.

We are already talking about trying next year on the solstice.

Congratulations! Can't imagine why you wanted to do it, but glad to hear that you made it safely and that you will (probably) recover from the aftereffects. :-)

As much as I want to be up there, and making a canoe trip, I don't envy you that hike! Not even if I WERE young and fit! :-)

But again, congratulations on the accomplishment.

Outstanding effort, congratulations is definitely in order. Your battle with limits is fun when it ends safely. You both were prepared to keep it that way.

Stu may have the record, but he also walked a different trail.

Boppa

Way to go man! Sounds like it was an epic journey. I'm sure the trail Stu took was a much easier one than the one you traveled. Any pics?

Hats off to you guys! What is that saying? Whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Seems like you "hit the wall" yet refused to quit. Great effort and interesting read on your report.

Yes! Would love to see some pics of the whole trip. Include the hazardous and treacherous as well as the beautiful.

Absolutely awesome!! Congrats, way to man up!!!!! Would love to see the GPS track on this one.

Congrats!!!! That is truly amazing. I NEVER thought anyone could do that in 20 hours. Stu may have the record but you certainly get a footnote for the conditions.

Thank goodness for GPS. I never thought of those in my previous posts.

Quite the accomplishment!!!

Congrats!!!

Way to go guys! I'm proud of you to go that distance in one long day. Sounds like you have a story for a great motivational speaker about perseverance. I'm glad all are safe and relatively sound. Sore muscles will heal with time, but the memory will keep getting better and better with age.

What a walk! I would never imagine myself being able to walk 40+ miles in one day; I am going to sell my cars now! Great achievement for the family history and scrapbook. Just curious, how many paddlers/hikers were encountered out there?

Bud

Myself and one other foolish fool.

Congrats!