5,300 mile Pacific Crest Trail Yoyo - Introduction

hey guys I just wanted to take a little bit of time here to kind of explain what I'm doing this year this year I'm hiking the Pacific Crest Trail but I'm doing it twice I'm gonna do it twice continuously or back-to-back I'm gonna start at the Mexican border in Southern California hike all the way up through California through Oregon Washington to the Canadian border then all the way back down the same exact way I first came back to where I started at the Mexican border again for a total of five thousand three hundred miles my first hike was the 4,800 mile eastern Continental trail so I kind of feel like this is more or less a continuation of that a continuation of what I've learned that I really enjoy you know in 2016 on the ECT averaged about 24 miles a day by the time I got to the southern section the southern like 1,400 miles or so I have ridged 39 miles a day for I like to finish it up and set a record on the Florida Trail in the process I'm actually wearing all my Florida Trail swag head-to-toe and that's great it was beautiful that's ultimately I'm obviously I'm happy I did that I had a great time I very much enjoyed it and I learned a lot you know that was what I needed at the time and that was something I prepared for and look forward to you and you know just really like thrown myself at four years prior just dreaming about that thing this here the Pacific Crest Trail and it's gonna be a lot more difficult so I'd like to talk about why it's going to be a bit more difficult first of all only three people ever have done this before you have to average a ridiculous amount of miles today I think my goal is like 30 miles a day for six months straight and that is to beat weather you know I I don't want to start in the desert too late when it's too hot you don't want to get to the Sierras when it's too cold and there's way too much snow causing like just arduous travel and beyond that too you know this everyone worries about the Sierra but like beyond that there can be a ton of snow there too you know making not just like travel difficult but navigation and so it's kind of a fine balance of speed and timing and I think it's interesting that the three people that have all done it before have all started and finished their hikes at relatively the same times you know give or take a week it's been done four times but Scott Williams and done it twice it's very interesting that each one of these people have also started at basically the same time have all hit the halfway point at Canada and basically the same time like very early August and then all finished right around the same time in like 190 to 205 days like a 15 day difference for a 5,000 plus mile hike I think that's incredible I also think that's very telling of like kind of what you have to do what one train of thought is that like Oh to do this thing like instead of going really fast why don't you just start like a lot earlier you know and kind of get to the Sierras like much slower but at the same time that you want to and you know then you can get to like Canada a little bit earlier before August because the even August is like pushing it you know you have to average that pace before you get back down south and get snowed out potentially like 4,500 miles in or something that will work one day for someone but I think just the chances of burning yourself out are so much higher by doing that because you know it's a long hike it's a long hike and to be out there to know you're gonna be out there for like nine or ten months instead of six or seven I feel like you would you would just have this thought that you're getting nowhere no whereas going on faster it's right on the edge of like what your body is gonna be like happy doing while also being on the edge of like you know your own sanity of being out there for so long and also going slower it would mean more money you know more money spend and just I feel like you even you would burn yourself out if it didn't sound counterintuitive you'd think like you you'd be hurting yourself going so much faster but I think that's a lot better and a lot easier so some other things that are really difficult about this hike is just like the conditions starting off in the desert in early May there's not a whole lot of like really really reliable water sources like I'm only starting out with three liters capacity and just gonna see how that goes the first 20 miles of the hike is waterless stretch because I'm starting off in the desert when it is pretty hot it's before things get like extremely hot unbearably hot but at the same time it's certainly a big challenge you know in just that arid dry dusty climate I'm really gonna have to pay a lot attention to my body my feet my ankles my stomach you know my nutrition so I'm just really gonna have to be on my game to like not hurt myself within that first 700 miles and then after that I kind of feel like my body will be back into the game you know and back in shape and just ready to kind of like knock it out I'm starting off as I say 30 miles today I'm starting off a little bit slower at like 27 miles a day and just kind of throw in the 30s in there inherently the Pacific Crest Trail at least is much easier terrain than the Appalachian Trail was and I didn't really find much trouble doing really big mile days out there I'm actually really excited to be able to push out some miles because I do love that you know I love taking down the miles and a really arduous foot traffic of the Appalachian Trail was kind of tough because you just going so slow going so slow and you just feel like you're getting knowing but uh say yeah you're starting off in the desert and that's its own difficulty then you're immediately or thrown way up in AI elevations and the Sierras you know where there is a chance and caution for a lot of snow travel and that can make things really difficult I'm not carrying an ice axe or crampons this here is actually like a really really low snow year so that bodes well for me because again through there I'm gonna be doing 30s and you know but for a Floridian like myself of being thrown up to like 13,000 feet or close to 14,000 feet at Forester pass is definitely something you know and having to make miles when you're just gaining so much elevation every single day and losing and then gaining again if I'm doing like multiple passes and day so this heroes are gonna be very difficult the biggest challenge there is the stream crossings or maybe not the biggest challenge but the biggest concern on like a typical year I mean last year two people died two people died in the Sierras crossing these rivers you know so there's the possibility of getting sucked away but I'm like 6 foot 3 and I'm a pretty big guy yes so I'm not like too worried about that but it's definitely something to be said you know and getting through the Sierras Northern California is again very hot and pretty darn dry I believe there's the Hat Creek Rim section is up there that's like a 30 mile dry stretch and you know it's no piece of cake up there either elevation gain and loss system ridiculous and yeah so kind of heading into Oregon now everyone says Orion is very easy I'm not sure about that I haven't really done that before but I'm excited to see that I think also just the fact that most people they've been hiking so far at that point and like the pole to get to Canada is weighing on them so they're just doing like much bigger miles by the time they get to Oregon but we'll find out for ourselves you know one comes one big concern for me I'm traveling so light I'm only carrying a five pound bass weight five pounds of gear you know I'm just using the tarp I don't have a bivy this year since it's like you know it's so dry out there like rain isn't the biggest of deals so I'm just shipping myself like a one ounce head net and I'm actually like really concerned about mosquitoes just like being such a nuisance I've seen videos where like the mosquitoes are absolutely insane through like Oregon maybe not like Alaska backcountry insane but still very crazy and all I'm from Florida mosquitoes don't even affect me I don't I don't get itchy I don't get the lumps but I still feel them biting me and if that's very annoying so I'm just gonna have my little head net and kind of hope that I'll be all right Oregon I guess is there's like a lot of volcanic areas through there so I think maybe the ground is more compact the rocks are harder volcanic rock and that might hurt your feet but uh anyway heading into Washington Washington is another one of those like most difficult sections of the trail I think it is like steepest of the grades the steepest of the mountains and again really high elevations so my mileage is probably gonna slow down through Washington the beauty of doing a yo-yo hike is that I get to see it twice so I'm really hoping that I get those incredible views and the Cascades and just I'm so excited for that but anyway hitting Canada I know my body is gonna be telling me that like you know you need to stop doing this this is the end of a trail you know you've done it you fight the Pacific Crest Trail but that's not what I'm gonna do I'm going to turn around and do it all over again I know there's one guy that actually quit a yo-yo attempt in Washington or maybe it was just after getting into Oregon and that was the mental aspect of having to do the same exact trail over again one more time you know you've just seen all of this stuff you've literally like I'll be stopping in the same towns going to that same post office that like a week after I was just there two weeks after I was just there and all the way back down basically the same exact resupply and I think that'll be strange and interesting and that will really be when the mental aspect of doing this thing kicks in that will no longer be a physical feat and it will become just very in my own head and kind of like you know still enjoying it it's gonna be so lonely going south because all the behind all the southbound through hikers they all start a little bit earlier like a month earlier two months earlier and so I'm just gonna be like alone for basically the next three months of the hike and behind everyone and racing the seasons because the most difficult aspect of this entire hike is the southbound and that is because you have to get to get through the Sierras going south again which is like 700 miles before finishing or 800 miles or however you want to look at that but uh that's that's the crux you know that is if a big snowstorm comes in and they're just a little bit late for it I'm either forced to risk my life and try and cross these exceedingly dangerous snow fields and try and get through or get stuck or die or whatever or call it quits you know call it quits more than four thousand miles into this thing so that's one reason why pace is just so important because come October you know that that first snowstorm could hit at any moment and your height could be over basically so you know but after that if you do get through the Sierra though uh 700 miles is just the desert again and at that point there's nothing really bar you know some really stupid decision there's some really stupid movement would stop you so a lot of 700 miles will hopefully be and I like a victory margin but this hike I leave in like three days from now or four days from now I start on May 10th and yeah a bit nervous a bit excited I feel like I just need to get walking you know just all this sitting here and all this like preparing and you know I feel ready I feel like I'm as ready as I'm gonna be you could always be more ready like in the future there's gonna be someone harder than me stronger than me and faster than me but you know for now this is this is the deal but uh I really think people are gonna be like stepping it up and really doing some crazier things in the future I'm excited for what everyone else is doing I'm so happy to see people so many people out there getting out on these trails and through hiking that was like absolutely a life-changing event for me and I I don't know any through hikers that couldn't say that I know some that would definitely say that for the worse this was like not something they should have done but uh for the vast majority is it's definitely a good thing you know it kind of shows you what life could be if you know you just follow your dreams all the time so here I am following another dream and I'm so happy you guys are coming along with me I'll be posting video from the trail I'll be posted on my Instagram lots of photos and little short stories I'll be writing on my blog when I get the chance probably shorter stuff you know I don't want to spend like six hours to tap in out of some like giant story on my blog but I'm so excited for this year and I was so happy you guys started joining me for it and following along and either taking inspiration from me here maybe learning from my mistakes whatever it may be man you know I'm happy for you I'm happy for me and yeah this will certainly be a good showing thirty miles a day for six months up and down the west coast so thank you guys very much I had loved hiking

Channel: JupiterHikes

Views: 9,856

Rating: 4.9896102 out of 5

Keywords: pacific crest trail yoyo, pct yoyo, scott williamson, olive mcgloin, john zahorian, fastpacking, fastest known time, sub 90 day thru hike, 100 day thru hike, sierra high route, super ultralight, xul, extreme ultralight, how to hike long distance, manning park, pacific crest trail southbound, heather anderson, anish, francis tapon, andrew skurka, fkt, krudmeister, lint hikes, speed hiking, fast thru hike

Id: GXlXohjXQEs

Length: 15min 31sec (931 seconds)

Published: Sat May 05 2018