Podcast: Scott Williamson and Yo-Yo-ing the Pacific Crest Trail

I need to apologize to Miles. I gave him a little friendly grief about being picky about the sound quality of this podcast.

I actually got around to listening to it on my Ipod Shuffle while I was working out this morning before work and there is a lot of background noise from the show that does make it a little difficult to listen to while you're trying to multi-task.

It was a great podcast by the way.

I'm a little envious of folks that can take that much time away from the rest of the world and do something like that.

Steve

I had the honor of meeting Scott this summer on my South bound section hike of the PCT. Section J (Stevens to Snoquamie Wa) and what tipped me off was that I I.D.'ed his pack at a distance and when he got up to me (I was heading S he was heading N) I said quimsikly "hey nice pack" And that instantly started our conversation. We talked about a half an hour and I was able to give him a trail report of what was ahead. I was totally blown away by him, and what he was trying to accomplish. I never got around to asking what he did for a living but what ever it is It must be nice to have the money and time to take off and do the PCT 9 times...But that is a side issue. Scott was a very down to earth and pleasent man to talk with, and he made me/everyone feel a part of his journey just be talking with you.

oh and the pod casts SOUND FINE...I would rather spend good money on a tarp or what ever and drop my pack a few more ounces than worry about the quality of a podcast...Keep up the good work BPL and don't those who would rather listen to electronics instead of nature bug you :-)

Edited by dmccoy on 02/26/2007 20:43:30 MST.

[Dale cups his hands at his mouth and shouts] GEAR LIST PLEASE! I'm really interested in his clothing/layering scheme.

I downloaded the MP3 and it accomplishes the task for me. It is a voice interview, not a musical performance. I've heard a lot worse! The speakers on my laptop aren't going to reflect much difference.

Scott must be one tough cookie. 1000 miles with a toe infection! I too wonder how to pull these trips off financially. One of those "if I won the lottery" wishes for me to is to be able to do unfrettered travel.

Edited by dwambaugh on 02/27/2007 09:26:29 MST.

First off, congrats to Scott Williamson and interviewer Ryan Jordan for a great listen.
He is a magician on the trail.

Listening to this brings an enormous number of questions to mind especially to this novice light backpacker.

Is this more of a survival hike, and athletic accomplishment as opposed to what the rest of us do on the week end.
Little water
No stove. Ie. No hot coffee, no hot breakfast, no hot dinner. What did Scott eat? 6 months of energy bars?
500 miles to the life of a trail shoe which means 9 pair to this Yo Yo hike?
Only a home made quilt for the most part (Scott bought a low degree bag just in case?)

A 9 lb pack and 7.5 if you don’t count the video equipment. Can I assume this is dry weight before food and some water?

So… who knows about this stuff? Not that I’ll ever come close to doing any of this, but my vicarious life will go on with some answers.

For those interested, motivated by Scott's story of his nasty infection, I created a thread under the title of "Fighting Infection in the Field" under the General Lightweight forum.

It's good knowledge to have, even if you never need it on the trail. Go to:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?bo=watch&forum_thread_id=06600

Edited by rcohlers on 02/28/2007 22:01:09 MST.

Although many have viable opinions, because someone describes himself as picky does not discount the opinion. "dont throw baby out w/ bathwater". What is definition of picky? Paying attention to the minute sensations upon ones body might lead you to pick nits, as in nitpicking. This could be considered "detail oriented". This could lead to improvements that many would appreciate if not benefit from, but always garner commentary - sweet and sour - from those who offer little (the majority). Squeeky wheel gets the grease? Sometimes this is a good thing. I believe that the majority of technical detail that Mr. J. Shannon offers is not really understood by the majority of BPL members. I am a long time professional musician and aspiring renaissance man who agrees with everything Mr. J Shannon comments on. As one example: the background noise (;ambient sound) on the Glen Peski podcast should have been a consideration, and on top of that, Glen sounds like he's on a speakerphone. This has nothing to do w/ a higher bit rate, microphones, bandwidth or recording format yet if these simple problems had been addressed the listening experience would prove much improved.
IGOTTARUN.

Maintain,
G. Kent Degler

Edited by gregdegler on 03/01/2007 19:42:57 MST.

So, who is the singer that we hear during the intros and exitos during the podcast?

I believe most of the podcast music on BPL is from the Bozeman, MT / St. Paul, MN duo, Storyhill which is comprised of Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson.

View the Storyhill Web site