End-to-end
When it began to be established as a marked trail, the Long Path was not built with an eye toward being "thru-hiked" in one continuous trip, as it was more a backbone for creating hiking opportunities in areas which did not yet have them and thus ideal for day trips or short overnights. The Trail Conference did give out rockers for those who completed a tally sheet of trips made on different dates. The trail, even with the AT/Shawangunk Ridge detour available, was difficult for those from out of the region who would need access to maildrops and places to sleep in the areas where camping is not permitted.
After several dozen hikers had earned these, it was perhaps inevitable that someone would be the Earl Shaffer of the Long Path, and on May 30, 1998, Mary Ann Nissley of Chalfont, Pennsylvania, a woman with experience hiking many long-distance trails, completed the first Long Path thru-hike in 25 days. Several others have followed since. To date all LP thru-hikers have gone from the George Washington Bridge to the Mohawk River; there is no reason not to try the journey southbound, but no one has yet.
The current Long Path guidebook now has information on nearby post offices, motels and other things useful for those contemplating a thru-hike.
On May 24, 2005, trail runner David O’Neill, the founder of Charity Runners Inc., finished the first thru-run of the Long Path, as a benefit for the Trail Conference. He had started on the first of the month; his time of 24 days is the current record for fastest journey up the Long Path (This included five days where he rested and allowed injuries to heal, and one day he did as a normal hike).
On May 13, 2006, O'Neill repeated the benefit thru-run and became the first to complete a thru-run of the Long Path using the AT-SRT detour. He started on the first of the month and completed the 369-mile (594 km) journey in 12 days, 5 hours, and 17 minutes.
In 2009, Jacob Aronson fulfilled Vincent Schaefer's original concept of hiking from the George Washington Bridge to Schaefer Observatory atop Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks. He arrived in Altamont, NY, on July 6 to complete his thru-hike of the Long Path in 27 days. Using a combination of road walks and the Northville-Placid Trail, he made his way from Altamont to Lake Placid, where he climbed nearby Whiteface Mountain on July 25, 46 days after he began hiking.
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