View Full Version : To "Yo-Yo" or not to "Yo-Yo," that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind...
LoufromFWB
11-12-2013, 16:42
Ok, enough of the Shakespeare! ---I thought it would be an interesting thread to start and get other aspiring "lunatics, crazies, etc" (as they are often called) who are contemplating an A.T. "Yo-Yo" for 2014, and those who have opposing viewpoints, to explain the "whys" and "why-nots" of such a plan. Some questions may even be answered, such as:
Is there anything to be gained from such an accomplishment?---And I'm sure many more will be answered,especially if previous "Yo-Yo'ers" chime in.
"YO-YO" THRU-HIKE: A THRU-HIKE, WHETHER NOBO OR SOBO, FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY TURNING AROUND AND COMPLETING THE THRU-HIKE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.
Let me be the first to input (yes, I'm one of those lunies contemplating this). I guess the first question is, "Why?"--Well, simply put, because I can. In other words I have the time (most likely; unless certain personal events occur). The second reason is that it just seems logical to me. Yeah sure it's easier to simply catch a ride home after a thru-hike, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that (indeed I may end up doing it), but as far as an adventure nothing is better than undertaking an expedition (which the thru-hike is) to a certain location, pursuing it for 4-6 months, then returning home the way it all began. Let me put it this way: compare it to Lewis and Clarke! And for those mountaineers out there: climbing Mt. Everest, then returning down to Base Camp and home; and NOT taking a helicopter ride from the top!--Now this does not take anything away from a successful thru-hike, be it NOBO or SOBO, or even doing it in sections (or even climbing Everest!)----afterall, we all have to hike what is possible for us. But indeed, if it is possible for us, why not? As far as getting anything from it, well 'there's the rub' isn't it? Some would say nothing, others would see a true adventure of over 4,000 miles!
Again, this is just to get some views on the matter, positive or negative. Contemplating it is far from doing it, so keep that in mind when commenting. Thanks to all for any input.:-?:cool:
max patch
11-12-2013, 16:46
More power to ya if thats what ya wanna do.
I was considering having my bike shipped to me and pedaling home to GA, but when I finished my thru I was tired, missed my family, and was ready to be home. So I kept the bike at home and hopped on Amtrac.
HYOH, right? For me, I would rather spend the time and money hiking somewhere different, than spend it on the return trip.
ChinMusic
11-12-2013, 16:56
Get to ME and then make up your mind.
Odd Man Out
11-12-2013, 17:08
The answer to the questions "Why?" is quite obvious. It's because you left your car at Springer Mtn.
I'll admit that I have thought about it, but will also admit that I almost certainly will never have neither the opportunity nor inclination to do so. BUT, if I did, I would think that I would do something to make the second half distinct. Maybe hiking with as few resupply stops as possible, or sleeping every night in your tent, or eating only food from hiker boxes, or walking backwards, or counting white blazes, or something else.
CrumbSnatcher
11-12-2013, 17:10
i have plans to do a yo-yo someday. i think it would be a great trip & 2 totally different hikes even though its the same trail. its not the yo-yo i want to hike that some would call me crazy, its the fact that i would much prefer GA-ME-GA instead of starting at BIG-K and finishing at BIG-K
HYOH and have fun!
max patch
11-12-2013, 17:10
I would not want to do an AT yo-yo via hiking because of the unfavorable weather l would have on the return trip.
Get to ME and then make up your mind.
That was my thought exactly!
hikerboy57
11-12-2013, 17:53
That was my thought exactly!
finish the first 2184 before you plan on hiking 4368 miles.you'll have plenty of time to figure it out.
You will know when you get wherever you get to whether or not you are still enjoying it enough to keep walking a little or a lot. Most likely a great big Not. Fun to contemplate. Fun to do for very few. You won't know til you get up and go.;)
ChinMusic
11-12-2013, 18:03
finish the first 2184 before you plan on hiking 4368 miles.you'll have plenty of time to figure it out.I got 5 miles into my YoYo before changing my mind and heading home.
Continue further north on the Intl Appalachian Trail if you have the time and the inclination.
hikerboy57
11-12-2013, 18:08
I got 5 miles into my YoYo before changing my mind and heading home.
you mean back to ksc?
hows the legs/feet doing, chin?
max patch
11-12-2013, 18:21
Continue further north on the Intl Appalachian Trail if you have the time and the inclination.
As a practical matter, don't you have to prepay and reserve campsites on the IAT? Been a while since I looked.
Slo-go'en
11-12-2013, 18:48
Continue further north on the Intl Appalachian Trail if you have the time and the inclination.
Talk about a logistical nightmare - your mostly on logging roads and a LONG way from any towns with resupply. Heading into Canada from Baxter would take some serious planning and more then a few food catches.
Lou doesn't say if he's done any long distance hiking before, so thinking about doing a yo-yo is a bit premature. The main issue is time, as it relates to weather, assuming one has the cash and the endurance to physically pull it off. You'd have to start pretty early at Springer and be a reasonably fast hiker to get to Kathadin with enough time to turn around and get far enough south so that snow isn't going to stop you. That's probably one of the major factors as to why only a handfull of people have done a yo-yo.
LOL. Wouldn't be surprised if the longest hike you ever did was taking the dog for a walk around the county park. I come to WB for the humor of it all. What's my BPL password again? :) It doesn't stop. Oy vey. :D
max patch
11-12-2013, 19:09
First things first; you need to be part of 1 in 5 who make it the first 2K miles before you can think about the next 2K miles.
Every serious hiker knows the triple lindsey is the only acceptable non traditional thru hike
Don't knock the Triple Lindsey. It broke the diving team's losing streak.
Don't knock the Triple Lindsey. It broke the diving team's losing streak.
It's amazing when done correctly
Talk about a logistical nightmare - your mostly on logging roads and a LONG way from any towns with resupply. Heading into Canada from Baxter would take some serious planning and more then a few food catches.
Quite a few people have done it before without needing caches. It is not the Yukon. :)
The trail does start in Maine and a fair amount of people make Katahdin the start of the IAT hike (the official start is just outside of Baxter State Park) and NOT in Canada.
http://www.internationalatmaine.org/
A little more difficult than a standard AT hike? Sure.
The manly-man Bear Ghrylls Survivor challenge? Hardly.
One quick example:
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=11117
So, again, if you have the time and inclination, hike outside of BSP on trail, go the start of the IAT and have fun. Guidebooks and maps suggested.
susiecruise
11-12-2013, 21:22
I thought it was called a Flip Flop
I thought it was called a Flip Flop
A flip flop is doing part then going to the other end and hiking back to your flip point
kayak karl
11-12-2013, 22:14
i like Yo Yo Ma
Slo-go'en
11-13-2013, 00:55
The trail does start in Maine and a fair amount of people make Katahdin the start of the IAT hike (the official start is just outside of Baxter State Park) and NOT in Canada.
http://www.internationalatmaine.org/
A little more difficult than a standard AT hike? Sure.
Okay, I see. It's only 130 miles to the boarder and fairly easy miles at that. I could see doing that in a week. But why stop there? Bring a passport and hike all the way to New Foundland. The IAT Maine extention really does put you out into the middle of absolutely now where.
Different Socks
11-13-2013, 00:57
I am doing a double yo-yo in 2015-16. No caches but will have over 20 mail drops.
slbirdnerd
11-13-2013, 09:34
Get to ME and then make up your mind.
This, and if you haven't already read both books by The Barefoot Sisters.
slbirdnerd
11-13-2013, 09:38
Continue further north on the Intl Appalachian Trail if you have the time and the inclination.
And, read Ten Million Steps by M.J. "Nimblewill Nomad" Eberhart...
Okay, I see. It's only 130 miles to the boarder and fairly easy miles at that. I could see doing that in a week. But why stop there? Bring a passport and hike all the way to New Foundland. The IAT Maine extention really does put you out into the middle of absolutely now where.
I'd be more inclined to hike to Cape Gaspe' and call it good. It was the original ending of the IAT, the cliffs drop into the ocean (pretty dramatic ending) and no ferry ride needed. Following the Appalachians to their physical end would put you somewhere in the Atlas mountains of North Africa so the cliffs on the Atlantic ocean is good enough for me. ;)
Plus the original ending has this cool plaque honoring the original plaque on Springer.
24843
From the right person, Springer to Cape Gaspe' would be a cool hike.
If I lived close to the middle of the trail, it would be nice to go to one end and back one year, and the other end and back the next.
Not sure what that might be called. So-Yo followed by a No-Yo ???
I am at the opposite extreme from the OP from Florida. As I am about as far beyond Katahdin as he is beyond Springer. I like the idea of doing a trail without relying on any motor transportation. I would like to do Katahdin and back from here in Saint John New Brunswick some day, possible a combination of paddling and hiking. You could do the same from Florida I suppose. To Springer and home again to wherever you live in Florida, without using motor transportation. Maybe a combination of bike, hike, and paddling. Similarly someone off-trail part way up might do a to trail and back one year, then perhaps do a So-Yo or a No-Yo or whatever from there in later years. It would be nice to see a network of trails some day, so we can all hike or paddle from wherever to wherever and make it an integrated part of our lifestyles and not just a once or twice in a lifetime novelty. We could still do a Big One, once or twice, but a lot of little ones in between. Keep the faith.
garlic08
11-13-2013, 10:29
On my first thru hike (the PCT), it was the year Scott Williamson performed the first yo-yo of that trail. I stood at the Canadian border, looked south, and tried to imagine hiking the PCT again, right now. It was beyond comprehension. (At the time, "the experts" said it couldn't be done and Scott was just wasting his time, attempting it again and again.)
Four years later and with a lot more hiking under my belt, I stood atop Katahdin and looked south, and thought, "Maybe...." It wasn't inconceivable at least, and I still think about it.
So I think it all depends on whether you're more like Scott Williamson or the rest of us. But I bet it won't happen the first time.
I've always felt the International Appalachian Trail beyond Katahdin to be somewhat misguided. I think Katahdin to Mt.Carleton makes sense, as both are the highest points in their respective State / Province, but there is no well defined ridgeline between the two, and there are so many traditional paddle/portage routes that are reasonable un-spoiled. The IAT beyond Mt.Carleton to Gaspe makes sense, but from Katahdin to Mt.Carleton should really follow a hiking/paddling route, like down the Penobscot up the old Maliseet Trail to where Fort Meductic was on the St.John River, then on up the St. John river and the up the Tobique to some point, then on foot from there. So you could take a canoe from some point on the Penobscot and paddle/portage mostly paddling all the way to some pont on the Tobique and then hike from there.
It would be a great enterprise for the Penobscot in Old Town and the Maliseet in Tobique, instead of all these anti-scenic walking trails along highways that make no historic or geographic or logical sense other than to connect a great trail in Maine to a great trail in Gaspe with some ridiculous trails in Maine and New Brunswick where trails don't belong. Both Maine and New Brunswick have a shared heritage of the best traditional canoes and canoe trails. The reasons for this are geographic. It only makes sense that this section of the International Trail Incorporate this tradition, and logic.
A good link...
http://www.maliseettrail.com/maps/index.htm
I am doing a double yo-yo in 2015-16. No caches but will have over 20 mail drops.
yo-yo-yo-yo? It's off to work(hike) we go. You'd get along well in Jarsee. Wait!, that's heigh-ho heigh-ho it's off to hike we go.
I live in Northern VA, I am considering Amtrak to Harpers Ferry, north to ME, south to GA, north back to Harpers, Amtrak home. Not sure how possible that will be for me though. At most, I can only take a 1 year leave of absence from work. Might only be able to do my planned MEGA trip.
full conditions
11-13-2013, 18:21
I live in Northern VA, I am considering Amtrak to Harpers Ferry, north to ME, south to GA, north back to Harpers, Amtrak home. Not sure how possible that will be for me though. At most, I can only take a 1 year leave of absence from work. Might only be able to do my planned MEGA trip.
Good plan - I tend to like non-traditional approaches to long hikes though, depending on which month you start, you might consider going south first to avoid New England during mud and bug season whereas the southern Appalachians are amazing in the spring. Just a thought.
Good plan - I tend to like non-traditional approaches to long hikes though, depending on which month you start, you might consider going south first to avoid New England during mud and bug season whereas the southern Appalachians are amazing in the spring. Just a thought.
That actually might be wiser...Thanks.
Park my ride hike a section, reup my food, hike back to my ride, goto were I got off, reup my food,start next section ---repeat
Its going to be great to have the truck handy
Think this will work?
Park my ride hike a section, reup my food, hike back to my ride, goto were I got off, reup my food,start next section ---repeat
Its going to be great to have the truck handy
Think this will work?
This guy made it work (P.J. Wetzel). He hiked the entire trail twice in 2012 by doing hundreds and hundreds of out-and-backs to his vehicle.
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=365515
AttorneyAtLunch
11-25-2013, 03:56
Park my ride hike a section, reup my food, hike back to my ride, goto were I got off, reup my food,start next section ---repeat
Its going to be great to have the truck handy
Think this will work?
Bill Bryson said he did this for the state of Pennsylvania and it was an bad decision.
Monkeywrench
11-25-2013, 08:43
Park my ride hike a section, reup my food, hike back to my ride, goto were I got off, reup my food,start next section ---repeat
Its going to be great to have the truck handy
Think this will work?
Seems to me this is best done with two vehicles. You'd obviously need help to get them in place initially, but after that it would be simple to move them forward.
Park vehicle 1 at Point A. Drive vehicle 2 forward to Point B. Hike back to point A, get in vehicle 1 and drive it to Point C. Hike back to Point B where vehicle 2 is waiting. Drive vehicle 2 to Point D. Etc., etc.
forrest!
11-25-2013, 10:11
Seems to me this is best done with two vehicles. You'd obviously need help to get them in place initially, but after that it would be simple to move them forward.
Park vehicle 1 at Point A. Drive vehicle 2 forward to Point B. Hike back to point A, get in vehicle 1 and drive it to Point C. Hike back to Point B where vehicle 2 is waiting. Drive vehicle 2 to Point D. Etc., etc.
Seems to me the logistics of this would be a nightmare, trying to keep up with two vehicles. I like P.J. Wetzel's approach better, with only one vehicle, bu doing out and back every day. I followed his blog while he hiked and he was having a lot of fun. He never spent a night on the trail, always going back to his vehicle every night.
Of course, either method would drive me nuts. Keeping up with where to park every day and the details would suck all the fun out of the hike for me. I would much rather walk and camp.
Seems to me the logistics of this would be a nightmare, trying to keep up with two vehicles. I like P.J. Wetzel's approach better, with only one vehicle, bu doing out and back every day. I followed his blog while he hiked and he was having a lot of fun. He never spent a night on the trail, always going back to his vehicle every night.
Of course, either method would drive me nuts. Keeping up with where to park every day and the details would suck all the fun out of the hike for me. I would much rather walk and camp.
parking need not be daily or anything close to it, with vehicles food drops are simple so the cars can easily be 6-9 days apart and non perishable could be stored in the car - with this system logistics are potentially simpler / less time consuming then hitching into / out of town for supplies
the other interesting aspect of this system is you would briefly see nearly every hiker in the area once a week since you would be walking the trail in one direction while progressing along the trail in the other direction
Odd Man Out
11-29-2013, 10:37
parking need not be daily or anything close to it, with vehicles food drops are simple so the cars can easily be 6-9 days apart and non perishable could be stored in the car - with this system logistics are potentially simpler / less time consuming then hitching into / out of town for supplies
the other interesting aspect of this system is you would briefly see nearly every hiker in the area once a week since you would be walking the trail in one direction while progressing along the trail in the other direction
I like this. It's kind of like a 4000 lb bounce box delivered right to the trail.