PDA

View Full Version : A new type of hike?



Harpy
02-03-2018, 15:59
Has anyone heard of someone going nobo from start to finish, then going sobo, back to where they started? Doubling their time and miles? I've been considering doing this and wondered if anyone has done it!

4eyedbuzzard
02-03-2018, 16:11
Yo-yo's aren't common, but aren't anything new.

Wyoming
02-03-2018, 16:25
On the AT it has probably been done several dozen times.

On the CDT only once I believe.

On the PCT once that I know of but likely a few times at least.

On the AZT once.

I'm out of knowledge at that point.

Durunner
02-03-2018, 17:51
I was recently wondering the same. I would love to hear someone that has done it chime in.

JPritch
02-03-2018, 19:14
A lady named Wildcard Ninja did it a couple years back. ;-)

KCNC
02-03-2018, 19:26
IIRC someone did a YoYo last year. What I haven't heard is a YoYo starting SoBo. Would be a logistical challenge, but doable.

rocketsocks
02-03-2018, 19:34
A lady named Wildcard Ninja did it a couple years back. ;-)No, that’s a true story, I saw it on the internet!

JC13
02-03-2018, 20:11
If I ever thru, the plan is to start on the Pinhoti, connect to the BMT, jump on the AT, hit Katahdin and then walk back home SOBO.

Sarcasm the elf
02-03-2018, 20:23
As others have said, it's been done a number of times on the A.T. It should however be noted that each year a decent number of hikers set off from Springer intent on doing a yo-yo, those that make it to Katahdin usually experience this moment. :cool:

http://m.quickmeme.com/img/b0/b031dfe88dbab45e4dade0ec360b958d1311efd061a2c78ceb bdc7326259abb9.jpg

evyck da fleet
02-03-2018, 22:32
Or you could turn around and look behind you every now and then. You won’t miss half the views and will have months to hike a different trail(s).

Heliotrope
02-04-2018, 00:21
Or you could turn around and look behind you every now and then. You won’t miss half the views and will have months to hike a different trail(s).

Or simply hike backwards killing two birds. [emoji3]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dogwood
02-04-2018, 01:04
Don't you mean halving your time and doubling your miles?

Singto
02-04-2018, 01:11
Has anyone heard of someone going nobo from start to finish, then going sobo, back to where they started? Doubling their time and miles? I've been considering doing this and wondered if anyone has done it!

What about people turning around and going SOBO for some more hiking and a better place, logistically, to depart from for home??? Id there is such a place, where would be the best place to hike south to in order to have better options to get home?

4eyedbuzzard
02-04-2018, 01:28
What about people turning around and going SOBO for some more hiking and a better place, logistically, to depart from for home??? Id there is such a place, where would be the best place to hike south to in order to have better options to get home?You would pretty much have to hike all the way back to Gorham, NH to get any better access to bus service than you already have at Baxter State Park where you can hitch to Medway to catch the Cyr Bus to Bangor, ME and then connect to Boston. Gorham, NH has bus service to Boston, as does Lincoln/Woodstock (both on Concord Coach I believe), and Hanover/West Lebanon, NH have bus service (Boston or NYC via Dartmouth Coach) and Cape Air flights to Boston/Logan. There is also Amtrak (to NYC) at White River Junction, VT in the same general area and Greyhound in WRJ as well.

Rain Man
02-04-2018, 01:38
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.

LIhikers
02-04-2018, 07:18
What about people turning around and going SOBO for some more hiking and a better place, logistically, to depart from for home??? Id there is such a place, where would be the best place to hike south to in order to have better options to get home?

Well, if you hike back to New York and go into New York City you'll have planes, trains, and buses to get you to anyplace in the world.

ldsailor
02-04-2018, 14:36
I met a guy who hiked the entire AT NOBO. He then turned around at Katahdin and headed SOBO with the intent to finish at Springer. He called himself a "Yo-Yo hiker." I met him at the Birch Run Shelter on his SOBO leg (mile 1091.9 NOBO) on September 19, 2017. I remember thinking the guy was completely crazy.

MuddyWaters
02-04-2018, 14:56
If a hiker takes two steps forward and one step back at every step, does he complete 2 nobos and one Sobo in one trip if he starts from Springer? Or 3 nobos?

Wyoming
02-04-2018, 15:33
If a hiker takes two steps forward and one step back at every step, does he complete 2 nobos and one Sobo in one trip if he starts from Springer? Or 3 nobos?

Hey!

That sort of describes my hiking. I may have hiked more than anyone in history come to think of it that way.

Wyoming
02-04-2018, 15:34
Do face plants get extra credit too?

Feral Bill
02-04-2018, 15:35
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
02-05-2018, 11:18
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
02-05-2018, 11:43
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
02-05-2018, 12:32
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
02-05-2018, 13:27
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
02-05-2018, 13:31
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
02-05-2018, 13:45
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
02-05-2018, 13:47
The OP speaks of a SOBO-NOBO YoYo. Thus the early June start. Oops. I misread.

Dogwood
02-05-2018, 14:10
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
02-05-2018, 16:05
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
02-05-2018, 16:16
I met the later. Didn't remember his name though. I'm strongly recalling he didn't do a full yo yo.

JJ505
02-05-2018, 23:03
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
02-06-2018, 09:45
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
02-06-2018, 12:21
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
02-06-2018, 13:27
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
02-06-2018, 19:46
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
02-07-2018, 10:36
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
02-07-2018, 18:05
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
02-07-2018, 19:48
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.
:-?:D:confused:;)

LittleRock
02-12-2018, 10:26
YO-YO starting SOBO seems no more difficult than starting NOBO. Start in August, make it to Springer mid-winter, finish in June.

nsherry61
02-12-2018, 10:48
I think yo-yo's are more common than most of us are aware of. There are a lot of people out there hiking (most actually) that aren't an active part of the on-line community, heck, they're on the trail. They are out there hiking their own hike without a time-line they have to keep and the trail is their home of a while. I've met a yo-yo hiker on both the PCT and the AT, and given the amount of time I have spent on either trail (a few days here and there over the years - I tend to hike more remote areas), if I've met two, it seems likely that there may be more than a few.

Of course, to yo-yo you'd need to be fast as heck or one way would have a lot of winter.