Andrew Skurka has finished hiking the great western loop thru six states in less than six months averaging 33 miles per day
http://www.andrewskurka.com/
I e mailed Andy to find out what his total elevation gain was, and he replied that he did not know. He estimated that if he did 150 feet per mile, it would be over 1 million feet gain, or climbing Everest every other week (minus the thin air) - Cool