In 2004 Scott Williamson became the first person to “yo-yo” the Pacific Crest Trail in one year. That is, 2650 miles hiking from the the southern tip of California through Oregon and Washington to Canada, and 2650 miles back. Last spring, Steve Friedman wrote “The Unbearable Lightness of Being Scott Williamson”. It’s not so much about the nuts and bolts of hiking, but the emptiness and obsession. Good stuff. From what I hear, Williamson is one of the most humble people out in the hiking world. I believe he’s also attempting a repeat this year.
- Comment
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Mark Larson 
[…] BackpackingLight has a podcast with Scott Williamson, who was the first hiker to yo-yo the Pacific Crest Trail. A PCT yo-yo entails walking from the Mexico-California border northward to the Washington-Canada border, and back south to Mexico again, 2650 miles each way. He was also the first to yo-yo the PCT a second time—that one only took 191 days. Last fall I linked to an interesting, melodramatic essay on his several unsuccessful attempts before completing his first yo-yo. He has now hiked the PCT 9 times. I wish the words “truly inspirational” didn’t sound so clich?, because those are the best ones I can think of right now. Amazing. […]