PCTA Blog

Heavy snow year could present challenges for PCT maintenance

PCTA volunteers work together to move a rock in the snow

This winter’s extreme snowfall in California has everyone talking. While thru-hikers wonder about the closures in Southern California and traveling through the Sierra in high snow, and residents of trail towns scramble to shovel out, PCTA reckons with the impact of a historic winter on the upcoming season of trail ... Read more

You Share the Trail, But the Path is Your Own

By Tristan Oliver

I recently finished reading Falling Upward by the ecumenical teacher Richard Rohr and it resonated deeply with me. I was struck by his passage,

We are here to give back fully and freely what was first given to us—but now writ personally—by us! It is probably the

... Read more

The People Behind the PCTA: Galen Keily, GIS Specialist

For Galen Keily, PCTA’s first full-time staff geographic information systems specialist, connection is a prominent theme. Once an enthusiast for high-adrenaline sports like mountaineering and mountain biking, Galen now appreciates a calmer presence in the outdoors.

“I just like being outside,” he said. “It’s a time for reflection. I think ... Read more