I don't think Tim told the guy without knowing him and his abilities personally that hiking 10-15 miles was "Average" on the OHT.

I'm not sure where exactly he started or was found, if I knew I'd like to do an elevation profile with my National Geographic Topo software to see what he was up against.

I hiked a nearby trail from Hemmed-in-Hollow to Compton twice, It's around 5-6 miles with a 1200 foot gain and it wore me out good. Now, I'm not in great shape so that did not surprise me, but I don't think that any of the other 3 people with me would have said "Let's do another 8-10 miles today" after packing out of that hollow.

If Tim is right, the guy hiked one day and passed on. Then he wasn't found for several more. That could be right and it could have led to the cause of death. Sweating, hypothermia, exhaustion... Sounds plausible to me.

Bill.