May 2012
14 posts
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Day 21: The Things They Carried
Tim O’Brien’s critically acclaimed retrospective on the Vietnam War has influenced the titles of two recent posts (see also the May 11 story). I love Dorothy’s (aka Bacon Bit) concluding comment that we all have non-functional items that really don’t count against the base pack weight of life. Bacon Bit is thru-hiking in 2012 and you can follow her journey...
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The Palm of God
There is just something about the spectacular but totally exposed ridge walk south of Sonora Pass that lives on indelibly in a hiker’s memory … where your only cover is the windswept, beleaguered whitebark pines that cling to the slopes. Sometimes it is remembered simply for the incredible views. But more often than not it is made memorable because of the afternoon thunderstorm, the...
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The Pearl Girls - Snakes on the Plain
The Pearl Girls continued their quest north from Mt. Laguna in this third installment of their story. Aside from the cold spring weather, the next big challenge is in the San Jacintos. It was not so much a snow-bound Fuller Ridge, but a chance encounter with rattlesnakes on the endless descent down to Snow Creek Canyon. A recent discussion on the PCT-L suggested that thru-hikers encounter...
Love These Letters
I am so enjoying the Trailside Reader! I have begun the California volume, and when I got to the excerpt from Charles Bergman’s “Wild Echos” I was totally delighted to see my dear friend Jesse Grantham’s contribution to condor recovery mentioned. Jesse has been a neighbor of mine since the 80’s and I am privileged on occasion to go birding with him on our local Ojai...
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The Things They Carried
By Rees Hughes
I find that some of the best trail stories are people stories. Who are the people who choose to walk the PCT? How is it that they end up walking the trail? What motivates them to make the commitment to walk the whole trail let alone a section or two?
As my friend Harvey and I walked from Paradise Cafe south to Kick Off, swimming upstream against the current of northbound...
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The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of De Feet
There are as many opinions among hikers about the best way to prevent or minimize blisters as there are hikers on the PCT. Low miles to start. Rub your feet with vaseline. Use a liner. Always ensure you are walking in dry socks. Wear trail runners. Wear boots. Pray. Blisters and foot problems conclude more thru-hikes prematurely than bears, lightning, exhaustion, injury or falls, and...
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April 2012
6 posts
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A Pass to Remember
By Kit ‘Chinchilla’ and Jacob ‘Pyrite’
Kit (Chinchilla) and Jacob (Pyrite) completed a honeymoon thru-hike on the PCT in 2011. They shared their photos and essays at thehungryhoneymoon.wordpress.com.
It is interesting just how much difference a year can make in the level of difficulty of hiking the PCT. When I crossed Dick’s Pass in July, 2009, the summit was...
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The Pearl Girls Reach Mt. Laguna - How 'Guardian...
About a month ago we posted “Starting on the Trail – Introducing the Pearl Girls”, the first of several installments about the early journey of narrator, Ann “Guardian Angel” Urick, and her companions Linda “One Step” Rostad, and Linda “Blue Butterfly” Bakkar. This, the second, begins a bit farther north from Campo … in the Lagunas, which rise to more than 6,000 feet above sea level and, in...
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March 2012
10 posts
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Independence Day
Cody at the Muir Pass Hut (top) and looking north from Muir Pass (bottom)
There are several aspects of Jo’s story that I really like. First, it captures in words a familiar obstacle that virtually all backpackers confront — fear. I will be the first to admit that my overactive imagination is particularly energized when I am hiking alone. Second, I love the special relationship...
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Meeting Llamas on the PCT
By Ed Anderson/Mendo Rider
Mendo Rider and Primo at Buck Creek
It happened to us. My horse, Primo, and I came around a bend on the PCT in Washington - and there they were. Three llamas. They were heading south, while I was riding north. They were about 125’ away. The trail at that point, fortunately, was essentially level, and contoured around a broad slope of about 15 degrees. Primo stopped,...
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Lion Tamer
(Richard Hunt … OK, we know he’s not out on the trail or pursuing the elusive wildlife photo.)
Many PCT hikers can identify with going to great lengths to secure a special wildlife photograph. Mountain lions are exceedingly rare along the trail and such a shot would be special indeed. Hunt was day hiking in the area of Bishop Pass, just off the PCT north of Mather Pass and near...
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The Hidden Side of Trail Maintenance - Forest...
By John Welch
I was the inspector of 22 miles of Pacific Crest Trail that ran through the Trinity Alps Wilderness. I also had trail maintenance contracts and a Forest Service Trail crew working the the trail. Sometimes there were complexities that might surprise contemporary backpackers. They had little to do with shortages of materials, a complex terrain, or unreliable workers.
One...
February 2012
11 posts
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A Return to the Trail
Photo: Will Dane and his wife, Teri
Will Dane touches on many of the themes that we see in the stories in The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader — our inclination toward hubris and overconfidence, the challenge of managing career and family in order to return to the trail, and the siren call of the PCT. There is a reason why trail demographics seem to be weighted toward people without...
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Training for the Long Walk
By Linda “Blue Butterfly” Bakkar
Author of “Climbing a Ridge in Wind” in The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: California, “Blue Butterfly” writes about preparing for a PCT thru-hike by doing a 175 mile shake-down hike from Stevens Pass to White Pass in ten days of walking. Her story also introduces Monte Dodge, another contributor to The Reader, and another...
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A Snake and a Bear . . . and so much more
By Sue Kettles
After seeing Sue Kettles’ rattlesnake and bear story on the PCT-L, I approached her about expanding upon her initial entry. Not only is it a wonderful animal story but, as it turns out, part of a touching human story as well. Sue’s perseverance is a remarkable testimony to her and to the siren call of the PCT.
I have been a section hiker for 20 years and presently...
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Under the Wing of Sonora Peak
By Poem and Art by Krystal Rogers
My nose is dry and stuffy,
my shoulders tight & strained.
My feet are covered in mosquito bites
and my lips, chapped from the sun.
Yet I lie in the wonder & beauty of our planet;
contemplate the vast, intricate universe that we are part of—
and can’t help but feel overwhelmed with happiness and gratitude
for being a witness of this...
Consider Adding a Comment or Sending Us Your PCT...
We want to encourage you to add a comment if you like a story (the author’s appreciate it immensely). And please consider sending us a PCT photo from your own archives. Or a story that you may have written. Or artwork or poetry related to the PCT. You can reach us at pcttrailsidereader@gmail.com
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Snakes on the Trail
by John Welch
Aside from bears, snakes are the animal that generate the greatest amount of discussion along the PCT … particularly as it passes through the arid Southern California landscape. John Welch, a retired forest service professional, shares a few rattlesnake memories. John, like David Kolb whose story appears in the Oregon/Washington volume of The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader,...
January 2012
9 posts
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Interlude: Uncertainties
Mt. Hood (photo credit: Chisa Hughes)
By Hermann Gucinski
The PCT north of Timberline Lodge leaves the view-filled high country and crosses the forested ridge lines before dropping to the Columbia Gorge, the lowest elevation along the entire PCT. Gucinski describes his short late summer outing, with his wife Barbara, that takes them through huckleberry patches, across open slopes, and...
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Bear or Not-a-Bear? That is the Question!
The imagination is very powerful. In the Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: Oregon/Washington, Keith Liker shares his story of a toad who activated all of his “fear-amones” much like this fellow camper did for “Special K”, trail angel and backpacker Karen Shackelford Keller. This is short but sweet … we are delighted that Karen sent it in.
From the time I left...
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Life-threatening Dramas and Role Reversals: Sequel...
by Jim Rea
In 2008 I was suddenly stricken with an excruciating abdominal pain while hiking on the PCT near Mt. Jefferson in Oregon. While I waited for the National Guard helicopter to rescue me, “Lakota John” Freeman stayed with me to provide assistance in case I needed it. He fulfilled the role called for by the sheriff in charge of the search and rescue operation. John and I had met one...
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Legend of the Bridge of the Gods →
While the contemporary Bridge of the Gods is just one half mile of the 2,650 mile total of the PCT, it may be one of the most indispensable man-made features of the trail. Without it, crossing the Columbia River would be virtually impossible. It may have been as recently as 1550 - 1750 that an immense land slide damned the Columbia creating a massive lake to the east and a relatively brief...
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Oregon Boys Scouts on the PCT in 1955 →
This article reports on an event where hundreds of Boy Scouts from many different troops across the United States divided up the PCT and AT into sections; each group of scouts walked a section at roughly the same time covering the entirety of the two trails. Among the things that this article talks about is a Portland group that sent messages back daily by “Homing Pigeon” (which they...
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