‘Fast-packer’ sets record

It’s the destination, not the journey, for Ted “Cave Dog” Keizer. The hiker in a hurry from Coos Bay, Ore., broke the speed record last month for Vermont’s 273-mile Long Trail. Keizer clocked in at four days, 15 hours, and 15 minutes -- two hours faster than Ed Kostak, who had held the record since 2000.

The Long Trail traverses Vermont’s highest peaks, which includes the 4,393-foot Mt. Mansfield. The local Green Mountain Club suggests backpackers figure on 20 to 30 days to complete it. Keizer, who works in the patient world of proofreading at Houghton Mifflin, hiked day and night, mostly by himself, carrying just enough food and water to reach support crew stations.

He attempted the record last summer, but rain and technical difficulties forced him to quit. His crew found him disoriented and hallucinating 17 miles short of the finish line. “You hit some of the highest and lowest moments of your life,” he said.

Keizer’s other “fast-packing” records include climbing all 55 Colorado peaks taller than 14,000 feet in less than 11 days and polishing off 303 miles and 40 peaks in the southern Appalachians in less than five days.

-- Bonnie Obremski