Adventurer tackles new challenge.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

If ever a guy had earned the right to put his feet up and kick back for a while, Ted "Cave Dog" Keizer has.

In the past year, the 32-year-old Coos Bay speed hiker set five new records for climbing farther and faster than anybody else.

His most recent success was a grueling 303-mile hike in the Southern Appalachians that took him almost five days of continuous hiking in mostly rainy weather with only brief stops for food, water, a change of clothes and the occasional nap of 90 minutes or so.

He came off the trail June 20, his feet swollen and blistered, exhausted but game for another round.

This time, he's tackling the Long Trail in Vermont's Green Mountains. The 272- mile route through mostly deciduous forest starts near the Canadian border and ends slightly north of Massachusetts. The current record, set three years ago, stands at four days, 15 hours and 19 minutes.

Cave Dog - so dubbed by his friends when he spent the winter in Colorado living in a snow cave - hits the trail at dawn Thursday, but he won't do it alone.

About 18 friends and family members - the Dog Team - will set up two base camps to resupply him along the route and record his progress on the group's Web site.

On this trail, the key will be keeping his feet dry. With rain forecast for much of the weekend, Keizer's looking at a repeat of the conditions on the Appalachian hike. Wet shoes and socks made his life miserable, forming blisters that Dog Team members lanced and bandaged at almost every resupply point on the path.

"There was a fair bit of pain, but I find it comes and goes. If I stop, as soon as I start, it feels like, boy, you're ripping my feet apart," he said.

Keizer's got about 30 pairs of shoes - 10 donated by Nike - and hopes that'll be enough.

But it isn't just food, water and gear that Keizer gets from his crew. They provide an incalculable boost to his spirits, which sag when the going gets tough.

"This is a sport where 98 percent of the time you're out there by yourself in the middle of the wilderness," he said.

When a fellow Dog meets him on the trail, it spurs him on, he said.

"You have some of the highest and lowest moments of your life out here, and you want to share it with the people that are close to you," he said.

Dog Team members will regularly update Keizer's Web site, so people can track his progress.

"We'll get somebody following our progress on the Web site, then come out on the trail and yell, 'Go, Cave Dog!' When you get that, it's a huge boost to the morale," he said.

RACKING UP RECORDS

Ted "Cave Dog" Keizer's feats:

South Beyond 6,000: 40 peaks that top 6,000 feet in the Southern Appalachians of North Carolina and Tennessee, 303 miles in four days, 23 hours, 28 minutes, finishing June 20.

Barkley Marathon: Frozen Head State Park near Knoxville, Tenn., A 20-mile loop repeated five times over terrain so rough only four people have completed the course in 15 years, two days, eight hours and 57 minutes, finishing March 21.

Crazed Catskills Ultramarathon: 35 peaks topping 3,500 feet in New York, 133 miles in two days, 15 hours, 24 minutes, finishing on Sept. 13, 2002.

Wild Whites Ultramarathon: 48 peaks topping 4,000 feet in New Hampshire, 180 miles in three days, 15 hours, 21 minutes, finishing on Aug. 12, 2002. (New record set by Tim Seaver in July.)

Marshall Mountain Madness Ultramarathon: 46 peaks that top 4,000 feet in New York's Adirondacks: 142 miles in three days, 18 hours, 14 minutes, finishing on June 27, 2002.

Mighty Mountain Megamarathon: 55 peaks that top 14,000 feet in Colorado, 315 miles in 10 days, 20 hours, 26 minutes, finishing on Sept. 14, 2000.

Online updates: Keizer's support team will post his progress on The Long Trail in Vermont about every 10 miles beginning Thursday morning at www.thecavedog.com