A new type of hike?

[Feral Bill]

I think you would have to be really fast. The window would be early June to mid October 5 1/2 months round trip. 137 days. 32 miles per day with no zeros.

If you did a combined flip flop and through starting south from Harpers Ferry you'd have way more time. Maybe optimal weather, too.

[JJ505]

There is PJ Wetzel (don't know his trail name) did the whole AT by day hikes, parked his car and hiked then hiked back to his car, slept in his car, and then moved to the point he last stopped off at. Never slept outside ever. He did the whole thing in one calendar year, starting in January. AFAIk, the only person to do this but there have been other sorts of YOYOs.

[Seatbelt]

but there have been other sorts of YOYOs.

Yessir there are lots of yoyo's on the trail but most of them are not hiking a yoyo.

[putts]

Giuseppe tried a YO-YO-YO in 15/16 SoboNoboSobo. Hurt his knee in VA winter of 16 and I don't think completed the final YO.

[Wyoming]

I think you would have to be really fast. The window would be early June to mid October 5 1/2 months round trip. 137 days. 32 miles per day with no zeros.

If you did a combined flip flop and through starting south from Harpers Ferry you'd have way more time. Maybe optimal weather, too.

I don't understand your dates. Were you responding to someone other than the OP?

A normal yoyo of the AT would have someone leaving Springer early (say sometime in late Feb or up to 1 March). To complete the round trip they would have to get back to Springer sometime late in the year (say by 1 Dec).

This would give them at least 275 days and a pace of only about 16 miles per day. One could even stretch the dates beyond that without too much trouble. So even average hikers (in terms of mpd) can do this.

Doing a yoyo is not really bounded by time on the AT like it is on the PCT/CDT. It is finding the money and having that much free time.

Now if one were talking about a yoyo of the PCT/CDT there are huge weather constraints and to accomplish such a feat requires that one be an elite hiker in terms of being able to handle very high miles per day over a long period of time.

[Berserker]

There is PJ Wetzel (don't know his trail name) did the whole AT by day hikes, parked his car and hiked then hiked back to his car, slept in his car, and then moved to the point he last stopped off at. Never slept outside ever. He did the whole thing in one calendar year, starting in January. AFAIk, the only person to do this but there have been other sorts of YOYOs.

I think the trail name of the guy you are talking about is Seeks It, and he documented his whole hike on Trail Journals (http://www.trailjournals.com/2012seeksit). It's a great read with tons of detail on all the logistics, and something I think I'd like to potentially try at some point.

[Feral Bill]

I don't understand your dates. Were you responding to someone other than the OP?

A normal yoyo of the AT would have someone leaving Springer early (say sometime in late Feb or up to 1 March). To complete the round trip they would have to get back to Springer sometime late in the year (say by 1 Dec).

This would give them at least 275 days and a pace of only about 16 miles per day. One could even stretch the dates beyond that without too much trouble. So even average hikers (in terms of mpd) can do this.

Doing a yoyo is not really bounded by time on the AT like it is on the PCT/CDT. It is finding the money and having that much free time.

Now if one were talking about a yoyo of the PCT/CDT there are huge weather constraints and to accomplish such a feat requires that one be an elite hiker in terms of being able to handle very high miles per day over a long period of time.

The OP speaks of a SOBO-NOBO YoYo. Thus the early June start.

[Feral Bill]

The OP speaks of a SOBO-NOBO YoYo. Thus the early June start.

Oops. I misread.

[Dogwood]

Giuseppe tried a YO-YO-YO in 15/16 SoboNoboSobo. Hurt his knee in VA winter of 16 and I don't think completed the final YO.

Bet he had a dog named Toto.

[Gambit McCrae]

I have met 2 yo-yos. And do not know of either of their success.
1- Trouble. Met both times in TN, first time when he was nobo and second going sobo back home to GA

2- A fella name flint in Front royal VA, he was from Kentucky and was then headed sobo. He wore all camo and had carved a wooden spoon from a moose bone in Maine lol he was quite a character.

[Dogwood]

I met the later. Didn't remember his name though. I'm strongly recalling he didn't do a full yo yo.

[JJ505]

Yes that's the guy. He also has a FB page (will friend if you ask) and blog. He's done a lot of fascinating things, many of which require tricky logistics. Brilliant dude.

I think the trail name of the guy you are talking about is Seeks It, and he documented his whole hike on Trail Journals (http://www.trailjournals.com/2012seeksit). It's a great read with tons of detail on all the logistics, and something I think I'd like to potentially try at some point.

[Alleghanian Orogeny]

PJ's journals were fun to follow. His method of "out and back" of course meant he'd through-hiked the entire AT twice in a single year. He started on New Year's Day in a somewhat (at the time) temperate area--I think maybe northernmost VA or perhaps MD--low elevation and lots of road crossings--and he moved north and south hitting sections with good weather. I think he finished in late October/early November and I think it's a correct statement that he did not spend a single night on the trail. He managed the Smokies with epic 18-20 hour days out and back from Fontana, Clingman's Dome, US 441, and Davenport Gap. He used side trails to access some of the more remote segments in the Whites, and his Maine/100 Mile Wilderness employed the network of NMW logging roads for access in his van.

Not everybody's cup of tea, but an interesting story about a well thought-out approach to enjoying the AT.

AO

[JJ505]

PJ's journals were fun to follow. His method of "out and back" of course meant he'd through-hiked the entire AT twice in a single year. He started on New Year's Day in a somewhat (at the time) temperate area--I think maybe northernmost VA or perhaps MD--low elevation and lots of road crossings--and he moved north and south hitting sections with good weather. I think he finished in late October/early November and I think it's a correct statement that he did not spend a single night on the trail. He managed the Smokies with epic 18-20 hour days out and back from Fontana, Clingman's Dome, US 441, and Davenport Gap. He used side trails to access some of the more remote segments in the Whites, and his Maine/100 Mile Wilderness employed the network of NMW logging roads for access in his van.

Not everybody's cup of tea, but an interesting story about a well thought-out approach to enjoying the AT.

AO

His comments on the 100 Mile Wilderness are particularly interesting. I've read about the logging roads and they sound scary with logging trucks filled with lumber going as fast as possible. He's did (at least parts of the Ice Age trail, and that's been fun to follow as well.)

[gpburdelljr]

The Barefoot Sisters wrote TWO books about their yo-yo. One titled "Southbound" and the other titled "Northbound."

I met a hiker last year in Vermont I believe, who told me he had completed NOBO and was on his way back SOBO. No idea if he made it.

Their second book, for the second half of their yo-yo, was “Walking Home”, not “Northbound”. (They were from Maine).

[Emerson Bigills]

I could be wrong, but I recall hearing that Ward Leonard, an AT legend, once started at HF southbound. When he hit Springer he turned around, hiked to Katahdin, then back to Springer and finished back at HF. Three thru hikes in a single year. If half the stuff I have heard about "Spooky Boy" is true, there should be a film made about him. Sounds like the guy was a beast on the trail. At one time he held the unsupported record at 58 days.

[Seatbelt]

I could be wrong, but I recall hearing that Ward Leonard, an AT legend, once started at HF southbound. When he hit Springer he turned around, hiked to Katahdin, then back to Springer and finished back at HF. Three thru hikes in a single year. If half the stuff I have heard about "Spooky Boy" is true, there should be a film made about him. Sounds like the guy was a beast on the trail. At one time he held the unsupported record at 58 days.

I've heard and read a lot about this also and have talked to a few hikers who knew him personally back then. From all accounts what you said is true except that his fastest record was 60-1/2 days instead of 58.

[Alleghanian Orogeny]

His comments on the 100 Mile Wilderness are particularly interesting. I've read about the logging roads and they sound scary with logging trucks filled with lumber going as fast as possible. He's did (at least parts of the Ice Age trail, and that's been fun to follow as well.)

What we should remember about the North Woods timberlands management consortium is that the roads are built and maintained at their sole expense, so we're out there in "their office". The log truck drivers take this to heart and prove it to visitors by blasting down the road squarely in the middle. Visitors beware!

AO

[illabelle]

I have met 2 yo-yos. And do not know of either of their success.
1- Trouble. Met both times in TN, first time when he was nobo and second going sobo back home to GA

2- A fella name flint in Front royal VA, he was from Kentucky and was then headed sobo. He wore all camo and had carved a wooden spoon from a moose bone in Maine lol he was quite a character.

Amazing the things you learn on WB! I didn't know moose had wooden bones.

[LittleRock]

YO-YO starting SOBO seems no more difficult than starting NOBO. Start in August, make it to Springer mid-winter, finish in June.