By Heather “River” Porter, 2018 PCTA P3 Hiker
I decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail to meet the person I’d become at the end.
They say an experience like this changes you. You’re cut off from your family and friends and the influence of social media and left to ... Read more
As I look over the jagged Washington mountains, I’m trying to find something profound to say about this photo project that, to be honest, started as a joke.
Hiker Trash Vogue is an editorial style photo project featuring portraits of long-distance hikers pretending ... Read more
By Jonathan B. Grant
Veterans have used nature and hiking to come to terms with their combat experiences since the Revolutionary War, when the primary form of transportation to return home was by foot. The first documented thru-hiker of the Appalachian Trail was Earl Shaffer, who told a friend in ... Read more
By Laura Johnston, PCTA P3 Hiker (2017)
The Pacific Crest Trail’s half-century birthday on Oct. 2 has me thinking about how much the trail means to me, someone born 14 years after it was established. I thru-hiked the trail and fell in love with it, but I also a discovered ... Read more
By Kara Kieffer, PCTA P3 Hiker
2000 miles feels like waking up tired every morning, like eating the same food again and again until it loses all meaning. It feels like wondering with amazement when 20 miles became a short day. Like pushing yourself up the last climb of the ... Read more
By Geolyn Carvin
You’ve probably seen a Boots McFarland cartoon somewhere: online, in a hiking club newsletter or perhaps the black and white comics featured years ago in the PCT Communicator. Where do these cartoons originate and where do the ideas come from?
I’m a nature lover, like you. ... Read more
PCT thru-hikers have always told us how much the trail means to them. Many want to give back somehow. So in the spring of 2017, inspired by this—and by increasing pressure on the trail from its growing popularity—we created the P3 program: ten thru-hikers selected to share their experiences toward ... Read more
By Linda Rose
Over the summer, I had the great opportunity to fulfill one of my long-time goals and hike the Pacific Crest Trail. While the trail runs 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada, I felt that 500 miles would give me an experience I was looking for without taking ... Read more
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A PCT community blog feed.