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J.J. King is one of our ten P3 Hikers on the trail this summer. Currently around Agua Dulce, J.J. recently sent us these initial impressions of his thru-hike. A retired captain in the Navy Medical Corps, J.J. is also a seasonal ranger with the National Park Service. Read more about ... Read more
This article by Mike Zawaski originally appeared in the Winter 2013 edition of the PCT Communicator magazine. It has been edited again, and we are republishing it because we think the information is relevant to today’s conditions in the PCT high country. Please be safe out there.
If it has ... Read more
If you’re hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, there’s no doubt you’ll run into some wet weather. And nothing puts a damper on a backpacking trip like being (and staying) wet. Rain, mist, snow or even just high humidity can make some days on the PCT soggy and even a little ... Read more
By Mary Anne Chute Lynch
If you do not want to be one of those first-time thru-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail who quits or must be rescued within the first 20 miles, talk to Thomas Claiborne at the southern terminus.
A 2014 thru-hiker—trail name “Dr. Camel”—Thomas will be a ... Read more
By Logan “Unitic” McCulloch
Hiking the Appalachian Trail was high on my bucket list. And it might have remained there indefinitely but for a life-altering experience I had beginning in May 2011.
Several months after a backpacking trip in Mammoth Cave National Park, I developed a case of disseminated borreliosis ... Read more
By Ben Echt and Roger Sweet
Coming from backgrounds of all shapes and sizes, it’s safe to say we were mostly prepared for being unprepared. Our 11-person team, Gold 4 of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, set off on an amazing adventure, not through space and time, but to the ... Read more
It was a wool hiking sock with a safety pin poked through the toe, stuck to a bush hanging over the trail near Milk Creek in the middle of Glacier Peak Wilderness. The sock ... Read more
By Emmanuel Forge
This time last year I was sitting on a bit of a secret. I was planning to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. But I couldn’t exactly shout it from the rooftops. I had a job to keep through March.
Some days after work I’d slap on my ... Read more
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