PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Clackamas County grandmother is about to achieve what is called the “Triple Crown of Hiking.”
Carol Wilson, 64, has always loved the outdoors but she didn’t start hiking until she moved to the United States from New Zealand in the 1990s.
“When I went on my first hike on the Clackamas River Trail I couldn’t believe how amazing it was,” Wilson said.
She kept hiking and near Mt. Hood, she met people on the Pacific Crest Trail. They inspired her to make that 2,650-mile trek.
“And so one day I just said to my husband, ‘I’m going to do it,'” she said “And I guess it was from that moment, saying it, that I was going to do it really made it come alive.”
Molalla Pioneer: Colton woman conquers Appalachian Trail
Wilson completed the PCT in two trips — in 2012 and 2013. Four years later, she set out on the Appalachian Trail, a 2,200-mile span from Georgia to Maine.
“There are beautiful parts of the trail but then you’ll get parts of the trail that all of sudden you’re climbing up tree roots rocks and going in a general direction that’s pretty steep and you can’t keep an actual flow for the whole way,” Wilson said.
She went through three pairs of shoes and her backpack weighed 26 pounds. Eventually her knees gave out.
“I didn’t listen to what my body was saying,” she said.
While she had to quit at the time, she didn’t give up.
“I believed I could do it but I actually did it,” Wilson said. “That’s pretty amazing.”
Four months ago, Wilson finally finished the Appalachian Trail and already has her sights set on her next conquest.
Wilson hopes to start the 3,100-mile Continental Divide — from Mexico to Canada — sometime next year. She plans to split it in half but if she finishes it, she’ll have hiked nearly 8,000 miles in all.
The American Long Distance Hikers Association has recognized 396 Triple Crown finishers since 1994. The group honors the achievement at an annual ceremony.
“If there’s a desire that anybody has to do anything,” she said. “I think if they make it their goal to choose to do it that’s the first step.
