ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DAILY PROGRESS
With corporate sponsors behind him and a pack of computer gadgets on his back, Waldo Jaquith set forth this week on his high-tech hike of the Appalachian Trail.
Jaquith, an 18-year-old Charlottesville resident, expects the journey from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahadin, Maine, to last six months.
Between 1,200 and 1,500 people begin the 2,159.1-mile trip every year, but only about 200 make it all the way, Jaquith said.
But Jaquith might be the first to attempt daily teleconferencing from the trail.
``If you have the will to make it to Maine, you can do it,'' he said.
For the past few weeks, Jaquith has been making final plans for the journey and firming up deals with his corporate sponsors.
360 Communications has donated a cellular phone for Jaquith to use on the hike. The Outdoor Store pitched in with more than $700 worth of equipment.
And Jaquith was negotiating at the last minute for a deal on a four-pound laptop computer he and another sponsor, local Internet provider Comet.Net, ordered for the trip.
With a pingpong-ball-sized video camera linked to the computer and the cell phone, Jaquith plans to beam back daily images and meditations from the trail to his own World Wide Web site.
Jaquith got lucky in finding a sponsor who shares his hiker-hacker sensibility, said Paul Marx, owner of the Outdoor Store.
``It is very ambitious. We'll see how he does,'' Marx said. ``I think he'll have some rude awakenings along the way.''
Marx applauded Jaquith's efforts to educate viewers about the trail as he goes about the hike. Jaquith said he hopes to meet schoolchildren along the way to talk about the importance of the trail. If nothing else, his web site will contain daily images and messages about surrounding wildlife.
``I think it's pretty interesting to sit here and look at a picture someone has just taken of a sunset on the Appalachian Trail,'' Marx said.
When World Wide Web users tune in to Jaquith's home page, they will be greeted by insignias from corporate sponsors that have donated equipment or supplies for Jaquith's journey.
Jaquith tested his equipment last week during a demonstration hike.
``It's all Waldo-proof,'' he said.
Jaquith will pick up supplies along the way at post offices. He will mail ahead batches of batteries, to power the phone and computer, and bits of food, to power the walker.
``It's hard to plan ahead for meals six months from now. I have enough trouble thinking about what's for dinner tonight,'' he said.
Two years ago, Jaquith heard a presentation from a man who hiked the trail and thought to himself, ``If other people can do that, I should do it.''
The longest hike he's taken so far was a 120-mile journey in Northern Virginia with the Boy Scouts.
Jaquith has finished his studies at a private school in Charlottesville. When he returns from the journey in October, he will work for a year before going to college.
Life on the trail will be challenging, he said.
``It's a long walk and a lot of things can happen,'' he said. ``I'm used to the social-butterfly approach to life. This will be six months of social meditation.''
Jaquith has refused to give out the number to his cellular phone, but he has made informal plans to meet other hikers along the trail.
To complete the hike, Jaquith said he must have the right ``psychology.'' Explaining how he prepared mentally, Jaquith said: ``I've been telling myself, `I can walk. I've been walking for years.'''
But he hasn't been carrying a computer on his back most of those years. And he certainly hasn't felt the weight of eyes potentially from across the globe following his daily steps simply by logging in at his web address.
``I know that if I have enough people out there watching me hike, I'll say to myself, `I can't quit, I'll look like a dork.'''
Jaquith's web address is: http://www.comet.net/apptrail.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: color photo ran on C1.by CNB