A massive amount of snow fell in the mountains over the winter and into spring. You know that. But what is striking about this year’s snowpack is its persistence. We can’t emphasize enough how dangerous early season travel in the mountains might be this year.
Cornices are hanging over the ... 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
Most bears living in the forests along the PCT are not as habituated as those found in Yosemite and some areas in the Southern Sierra. That may be changing in some places; it definitely has changed in Lassen Volcanic National Park.
In 2016, a bear around Twin Lakes — a ... Read more
“Ugh,” my male hiking companion frowned. “What I don’t get is, why some people bother to bury their poop, and then leave the toilet paper exposed above ground?” I gazed past his shoulder at the umpteenth little “white blossom” we’d seen along this high-use section of trail.
“Silly old bear,”... 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
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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