FRENCHVILLE – There are many triple crowns in the world of sports. There’s the triple crown in horse racing, which comprises the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. There’s also the triple crown for a hitter in Major League Baseball (MLB) in which a batter will lead either the American League (AL) or National League (NL) in batting average, home runs, and runs-batted-in (RBI). In MLB, there’s even a triple crown for pitchers if they lead either league in earned-run average (ERA) strikeouts, and wins. However, there’s a less spoken about and well-known triple crown in American sports which deserves recognition; The Triple Crown of Hiking.
Over the last seven years, Clearfield County native, Scotty McKenzie, had set out to become one of less than 700 people since these statistics became tracked in the mid 1990s, to complete the nearly 8,000 total miles on the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. In all likelihood, it would have taken McKenzie less time if it were not for the challenges COVID-19 presented in two of those years and also deciding to double-up and complete the Appalachian Trail twice. Next year, he will request a Triple Crown certificate and plaque after submitting photographs from his adventures, a childhood photo of himself, and essays covering stories from his hikes and why he began hiking.
McKenzie completed his third and final hike, a tenacious, hot, and buggy adventure through the Pacific Crest Trail, this summer in the middle of August. However, he acknowledged that because of wildfires on the west coast, there are still around 400 miles, much of which is in California, that he plans to tackle next summer to fully complete the entire trail. McKenzie purchased a five-month permit for the trail, but ended up needing just three months, or 93 total days, because of bypassing some of the territory and averaging an astounding 24 miles per day; an average that even considered some of his days off to restock and resupply. On his best day, McKenzie walked nearly 39 miles.
Unfortunately, this 39 mile day of walking was not part of the plan and was done out of necessity to get closer to his next supply reloading zone and also because camping was not permitted in a dozen mile stretch he was walking through in the middle of this day. To make matters worse, by the time he got to a place he could set up camp for the night, there were limited places to station himself. But finally, he saw one small campsite for a single person. “The trail will always provide,” McKenzie said. “I’ve always believed this because of my faith. Whether it be hikers who I joined up with or finding a place to rest, it’s always worked out; even in tough moments.”
There have certainly been some difficult moments in each of these journeys. McKenzie thought he may have broken his leg when finishing the Appalachian Trail in Maine when navigating snow on top of rocks. He fell and was pretty badly injured. However, he was hiking with people who could get him to safety to recover for a few weeks. On the Pacific Crest Trail,
In total, he walked over 2,200 miles over four months through deserts, mountains, rain, sun, and even through snowfall that remained on the ground. He even did so on a torn meniscus, which he is now rehabbing in order to get ready for a return to the west coast next summer.
On his voyage, McKenzie encountered just one black bear, but nine rattlesnakes. One rattlesnake he came just inches away from stepping on, in fact. There was a two-week stretch on the voyage in the Mojave Desert in which temperatures reached over 100 degrees each day. Fortunately, his conditioning was excellent, and he’s felt temperatures even warmer during his days serving the United States military in Iraq. Because of these boiling temperatures, there were 10 nights in which McKenzie decided to “cowboy camp”, which is to sleep on his sleeping pad, with no covering and just a light sheet over him underneath the stars. The only problem with this was the concern of a snake, scorpion, or other wild animal cuddling up with him or paying him a visit during the night. However, God answered his nightly prayers to keep him safe during these nights of “cowboy camping”. No animals bothered him during his rest.
McKenzie’s voyage began in May along the Mexico and California border. He strategically picked May based on his research and understanding that this is when the temperatures in California will be much cooler and also will still give time for the snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to melt in the middle of the summer when he would reach them. The first 700 miles of this hike was spent by himself, but part of the way through, he met a pair of hikers by the names of Trevor and “Blackhole”. Fortunately, meeting these hikers was a necessity for each of them. At one point during the adventure, McKenzie was out of food and was many, many miles away from civilization. Luckily, these two hikers were willing to ration food to make sure they all made it to restock.
However, McKenzie had lost around 30 pounds and his muscle mass had been severely compensated. With little to eat and his body not adjusting well to the sudden changes it was going through, it was his hiking friends who continued to help push him and even help him take a bit of weight off of his knee at points during the voyage. However, it was not for the long haul that the trio stuck together. Unfortunately, Blackhole’s health called him to stop, so Trevor and Scotty continued on their way. After some time, Trevor sustained a serious injury that is requiring reconstructive surgery. The priority became to find a “trail angel” to get Trevor to an airport so he could fly back to Europe where he’s from. “Hikers help each other,” said McKenzie. “To me, it feels a bit like the military. Those are your brothers and sisters. You have to rely on one another to accomplish your goals and stay safe. The trail hiking community is an amazing community to be a part of. These are just a few of the amazing people I’ve met on these hikes. I keep in contact with several of the people I’ve met to this day.”
Though it was a painful part of the journey, McKenzie’s favorite part was seeing the Sierra Nevada mountains for himself. He didn’t enjoy them to the extent he hoped because of his knee pain and from dropping so much weight because of a lack of food. Once he could resupply and finish his time in the Sierra Mountains, he enjoyed the challenge and the landscape. The 12,000 to 14,000 feet of elevation made for amazing views and also the trails were incredibly defined in these parts and in many other parts of the trail. The Pacific Crest Trail is marked well and is wide so that horses can be ridden on many of these trails for local riders. He averaged around 30 miles per day through these parts mostly because of necessity, but the 300 plus miles in this range still made for a lot of time to enjoy his favorite part of the hike.
Now that he’s completed the triple crown, there are a few goals McKenzie has for himself. He wants to finish the 400-plus miles, 434.1 to be exact, he did not cover on the Pacific Crest Trail, recover from his knee injury, give his time to the Clearfield Lady Bison Wrestling program as a coach, become a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) instructor once again, complete two abroad hikes in Europe, and complete an Ultra Beast Spartan Race in the coming years. McKenzie turns 60 next year, but is hopeful to not slow down soon. “I really started hiking and taking fitness even more seriously when I came back from the military to civilian life,” he said. “I hiked some growing up, but never seriously. Hiking has become therapeutic for me and has helped me in my recovery from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It’s helped me to be taken off my medications and thru-hiking has truly changed my life. Back home, I enjoy being able to hike the Quehanna Trail a few days per week.”
He continued, “I can’t thank all my friends and family who took care of everything while I was gone. I am also so grateful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for all these opportunities and blessings in this great life he has given me. During these adventures, I always lean on my favorite Bible verse, especially. It is that ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ in Philippians 4:13.”
Each one of the triple crown hikes provides for amazing memories, beautiful landscapes and wildlife, and also overcoming the adversity that comes with injury and notable weight loss. But through it all, Frenchville’s Scotty McKenzie has conquered these gigantic trails in the United States. The only question that remains is what will he do next?
