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If
you're a PCT enthusiast, you might know that the trail…
- Passes through three states (California, Oregon and Washington)
- Climbs nearly 60 major mountain passes
- Descends into 19 major canyons and
- Ambles past more than 1,000 lakes and tarns.
You may also know that the PCT traverses…
- 3 national monuments
- 7 national parks
- 24 national forests and
- 33 federally mandated wildernesses.
But did you know that…
- It was recently pointed out that fewer people have thru-hiked
the PCT than have climbed Mt. Everest! Could it be that
a thru-hike is tougher than climbing the tallest mountain
on Earth?
- The trail doesn't actually end at the Canadian border
but continues for another 9 miles into Manning Provincial
Park, British Columbia.
- In spring 2003, the Travel Channel chose the Seiad Valley
Cafe (in Seiad Valley, near Calif./Ore. border) as the third
best location in the world to "pig out." They
were referring, of course, to the cafe's great "pancake
challenge" which tempts hungry thru-hikers to finish
a mammoth stack of pancakes in one sitting. Few have succeeded.
The Seiad Valley Cafe appeared on the Travel Channel's "Gross
Outs: The World's Best Places to Pig Out" program.
- The PCT crosses the world-famous San Andreas Fault three
times!
-
As the crow flies the distance between Mexico and Canada
is just over 1,000 miles. The PCT is two and a half times
that.
-
The PCT passes the three deepest lakes in the nation;
Lake Tahoe (1,645 feet), Crater Lake (1,932 feet) and
Lake Chelan (1,149 feet)
-
Clinton C. Clarke, popularly known as "the father" of
the California PCT was an avid Boy Scout, a graduate of
Harvard University (with a degree in literature) and a
successful oilman.
-
Eric Ryback, popularly known as the first person to hike
the length of the PCT, carried an 80-pound pack on his
1970 thru-hike. He had only five resupply packages on
the entire trip, and was loaded with 40 pounds of food
at the start of each leg. He often ran out of food and
foraged or went hungry.
-
Brian Robinson hiked the PCT, the Appalachian Trail and
the Continental Divide Trail in 2001 (the first person
to complete a calendar-year Triple Crown). His pack weight
averaged 19 pounds in winter conditions and less than
13 pounds in warmer conditions, plus food. He resupplied
almost every four days
-
In California, hikers and riders on the PCT often must
cover 20 to 30 miles of trail between water sources. The
longest waterless stretch on the trail is 35.5 miles,
north of Tehachapi.
-
Some geologists argue that the highest point in the contiguous
lower 48 states is not Mt. Whitney, but White Mountain
Peak, just to the east across the Owens Valley.
- Susie Burns and her Father Frank McCubbins (age 72) hiked
the Oregon PCT without ever shouldering packs. They hiked
the 486 miles in four segments, with four different kinds
of animals. First llamas, then pack goats, then a giant
Bactrain camel (two humps), then finally mules. All the
animals did well but the goats were the favorites. Although
with the camel, it was great fun hearing the PCT hikers
behind them wondering what in the world was making those
strange tracks down the trail.
- John Muir made the first ascent of Mt. Ritter, a beacon
along the PCT in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. He described
his climb thus:
"After scanning its face again and again, I began to
scale it, picking my holds with intense caution. About
halfway to the top, I was suddenly brought to a dead
stop, with arms outspread clinging close to the face
of the rock unable to move hand or foot either up or
down. My doom appeared fixed. I MUST fall. There would
be a moment of bewilderment, and then, a lifeless rumble
down the cliff to the glacier below. My mind seemed
to fill with a stifling smoke. This terrible eclipse
lasted only a moment, when life blazed forth again with
preternatural clearness. I seemed suddenly to become
possessed of a new sense. My trembling muscles became
firm again, every rift and flaw in the rock was seen
as through a microscope, my limbs moved with a positiveness
and precision with which I seemed to have nothing at
all to do."
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