Originally Posted by
max patch
To make sure there is no confusion.
A YoYo starts in GA, hikes to Maine, turns around and hikes back to GA. Or vice-versa.
What Wetzel did, greatly simplified, was to park his van at (for example) a trailhead at mile marker 10, hike south to springer and then turn around and hike back to his van where he spent the nite. The next day he would hike to a trailhead at mile marker 20, and then turn around and hike to his van at mile marker 10 where he spent the nite. The next day he would drive the van to a trailhead a mile marker 30 and repeat the process until he finished the entire trail. I believe he called this a "double thru hike".
Again, the above is greatly simplified. He spent every nite in his van, it was important for him to not spend a single night camping outside. He also did not hopscotch up the entire trail this way from terminus to terminus, he bounced around some. In the Whites I believe he had to return to his van using other trails on occasion.
I hope it did not sound like I was denigrating Wetzels hike in any way as that was not my intent. I just wanted to point out that this deserves it own term, as "YoYo" does not describe IMO what he did.