Jun 1, 2021
Lo Phong La "Lil' Buddha" Kiatoukaysy is an accomplished Hmong American backpacking adventurer, speaker, writer, and outdoor diversity & equity advocate. He has hiked over 45,000 trail miles since 1995. He is best known for his calendar year 2010 6,000 mile Eastern Continental Trail (ECT) route which is considered an ultra long-distance hiking first. In April 2020 he completed his second ECT, making him a Double-Triple Crown Thru-hiker, a distinction bestowed to backpackers who have thru-hiked the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail (AT), 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and 3,300 mile Continental Divide Trail (CDT) in their entirety twice each. With only one more CDT (planned 2021) and AT (planned 2022), he hopes to become a Triple-Triple Crown Thru-hiker. In summer 2021 he is re-hiking the CDT, and has partnered with #stopaapihate co-founding organization the Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), to raise awareness on anti-AAPI racism, bigotry and violence. Follow his adventures on Instagram @lilbuddhahikes