Milt Kenney, “The Mayor of the PCT”.
Known by many as the “Mayor of the PCT”, Milt Kenney died of natural causes on October 11, 1996 in Mt. Shasta, CA. He was 87 years young, and had helped the last of the PCT thru-hikers on their way to Canada just a few weeks before his death.
In 1990, Mayor Milt was honored with the dedication of a trail in his name from the PCT to the hikers campsite at Castle Crags State Park where he had befriended hundreds of thru-hikers and assisted them with rides to the Laundromat or grocery store at Dunsmuir. He always made sure to have a car with a big trunk so he had room for hiker’s packs.
The following note was sent to PCT hikers via the Association’s magazine, PCT Communicator, by Milt’s daughter, Adele Kenney:
To the Hikers of the World,
Much has been written about how much my father did for PCT hikers. I would like to thank the hundreds of hikers from all over the world for what they did for him. After my mother passed away in October of 1976, I wasn’t certain he would survive her for a year. All the joy and purpose had gone out of his life. She was the only woman for him. He was lost!
Then a wonderful thing happened. He started meeting PCT hikers. The sparkle came back to his eyes and he started to smile again. He’d found a new reason for living. He enjoyed swapping stories with you, eating with you, driving you to Dunsmuir, Mt. Shasta, and up on the mountain. He loved the cards and letters you sent him, and the phone calls, too. . . Each spring, he’d start saying, The hikers should be leaving Campo now. Then he would anxiously await the arrival of the first hiker. Each fall, he mourned the departure of the last hiker, and spent the winter anticipating the arrival of the hikers again.
You shared so much of yourselves with him. You listened to him, you spent time with him, you returned his love — and you remembered him. I owe all of you my thanks and my love. He was so right. He always said that PCT hikers were a special breed of people.
Again, thank you for all that you did for my father. And as you hike the trail, think of him. He will always be with you in spirit.
With all my love,
Adele Kenney