Pacific Crest Trail

Pacific Crest Trail

Pacific Crest Trail logo

The Pacific Crest Trail (also known as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail) is a long-distance mountain hiking and equestrian trail that runs in Washington, Oregon, and California between Mexico and Canada.

The trail follows the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range, which parallel the Pacific Ocean by 100 to 150 miles (160 to 240 km). The Pacific Crest Trail is 2,650 miles (4,260 km) long and ranges in elevation from just above sea level at the Oregon-Washington border to 13,153 feet (4,009 m) at Forester Pass in the Sierra Nevada.

It was designated a National Scenic Trail in 1968, although it was not officially completed until 1993. The Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail form the Triple Crown of long distance hiking in the United States. The PCT was conceived by Clinton C. Clarke in 1932; however it was not given official status until the National Trails System Act of 1968.

Route

PCT overview from Forest Service brochure

The route is mostly through National Forest and—where possible—protected wilderness. It avoids civilization preferring instead scenic and pristine mountainous terrain with few roads. It passes through the Laguna, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, San Gabriel, Liebre, Tehachapi, Sierra Nevada, and Klamath ranges in California, and the Cascade Range in California, Oregon, and Washington states.

Thru-hiking

Each year, about 300 people, commonly called thru-hikers, attempt to hike the entire trail from end-to-end. The trip usually takes between four and six months. Around 180 complete the hike each year. Most thru-hikers start from the Mexican border and reach the north end of the trail before the first hard snow. Picking up supplies along the way, usually packages sent to them via mail, most hikers cover about 20 miles (32 km) per day.

In 1970, Eric Ryback, a 17-year-old student, was credited as the first thru-hiker on the trail and his 1971 book The High Adventure of Eric Ryback: Canada to Mexico on Foot focused public attention on the PCT. Wilderness Press, publisher of guide books "The Pacific Crest Trail: Volume One and Volume Two", raised in those books specific doubts about Ryback's claim and produced evidence that he accepted rides for some of the journey. Ryback and Chronicle Publishers sued Wilderness Press but the suits were dropped in 1974. The truth of Ryback's claim is still debated.

In 1959, Don and June Mulford made the first verifiable equestrian Thru-Ride of the PCT. The year was 1959, and the Pacific Crest Trail stretched a poorly marked 2,400 miles from Mexico to Canada. More concept than footpath, the trail was an oft-broken, high-ridge track disappearing regularly from map and terrain. On April 19, 1959, on an empty scrub sage plain seven miles east of Tijuana, with four horses, Don and June Mulford began their journey north to the Washington/Canadian border.
The Mulfords went to Hollywood for three months immediately after the ride and were featured on network television. June's old press book yields a half-dozen TV-Guide pages, and she recalls, "Art Linkletter was such a nice man. We appeared on his 'House Party' show and he had coffee with us afterward." "High Road to Danger," a syndicated TV show, made an episode on their ride. Even after returning home to the Northwest, there was continued TV coverage. A January 1961 TV Guide records their appearance on Portland's KOIN Red Dunning Show. The Mulfords even made a 90-minute movie and showed it around 12 western states for 10 years.

The Murray family—Barry, Bernice, Barry Jr. and Bernadette—completed the trek on horseback on October 7, 1970.

The first person confirmed to have thru-hiked the entire PCT, as well as the first person to hike from south to north, was Richard Watson, who completed the trail on September 1, 1972. The first woman was Mary Carstens, who completed the journey later in 1972 accompanied by Jeff Smukler.

The first person to thru-hike the entire PCT both ways in a single continuous round-trip was Scott Williamson, who completed the "yo-yo" circuit on his fourth attempt in November 2004. Williamson traveled a total of 5,300 miles (8,530 km) in 197 days, covering an average of 35 to 40 miles (56 to 64 km) per day when not in snow—an overall average of 27 miles (43 km) per day—wearing an extremely ultra-lightweight pack, which "without food, weighed about 8.5 pounds (3.9 kg)". Williamson then went on to complete a second round trip on November 28 2006, cutting two weeks off his 2004 time.

The youngest person to successfully thru-hike the trail is Mary Chambers, who hiked the route from April-October 2004 at the age of 10. She completed the trek with her parents, Barbara Egbert and Gary Chambers. Egbert authored a book about their experiences on the trail, entitled Zero Days. It was published in January 2008 by Wilderness Press.

Notable locations

The following notable locations are found along or adjacent to the route of the Pacific Crest Trail. They are listed from south to north to correspond with the itinerary typically followed by thru-hikers to take advantage of the best seasonal weather conditions. The numbers in parenthesis correspond to the numbers on the PCT overview map above.

File:Olancha peak.jpg Golden Trout Wilderness	Vasquez Rocks
South Sierra Wilderness	Kings Canyon National Park
John Muir Wilderness	Ansel Adams Wilderness
Devils Postpile National Monument	Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park	Castle Crags Wilderness
Crater Lake National Park	File:Oregon jefferson park 20060805-0940.jpeg Mount Jefferson and Jefferson Park
Mount Hood Wilderness	Bridge of the Gods
Glacier Peak Wilderness	North Cascades National Park

California

• Campo, California, near the trail's southern terminus at the U.S.-Mexico border
• Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (41)
• Cleveland National Forest (40)
• Big Bear Lake
• Cajon Pass
• Angeles National Forest (35)
• Vasquez Rocks
• Agua Dulce, California
• Walker Pass
• Owens Peak Wilderness (34)
• South Sierra Wilderness (34)
• Golden Trout Wilderness (34)
• Kings Canyon National Park (33)
  • Forester Pass, highest point on the trail
• John Muir Wilderness (31)
• Ansel Adams Wilderness (30)
  • Devils Postpile National Monument
• Yosemite National Park (29)
  • Tuolumne Meadows
• Sonora Pass, Ebbetts Pass, Carson Pass
• Desolation Wilderness
• Lassen National Forest (22)
  • Lassen Volcanic National Park (23)
• McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park (21)
• Shasta-Trinity National Forest (19)
  • Castle Crags Wilderness (20)
• Klamath Mountains

Oregon

• Cascade–Siskiyou National Monument (17)
• Rogue River National Forest (16) and Winema National Forest (14)
  • Sky Lakes Wilderness
• Crater Lake National Park (15)
  • Crater Lake
• Umpqua National Forest (13)
  • Mount Thielsen
• Willamette National Forest (11) and Deschutes National Forest (12)
  • Diamond Peak Wilderness
  • Waldo Lake
  • Three Sisters Wilderness
    • McKenzie River
  • Mount Washington Wilderness
  • Mount Jefferson Wilderness
• Mount Hood National Forest (9)
  • Olallie Scenic Area
  • Warm Springs Indian Reservation (10)
  • Timberline Lodge
  • Mount Hood Wilderness
    • Lolo Pass
• Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (8)
  • Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness (formerly the Columbia Wilderness)
  • Cascade Locks, Oregon, lowest point on the trail
  • Bridge of the Gods (links Oregon and Washington, crossing the Columbia River)

Washington

• Gifford Pinchot National Forest (7)
  • Indian Heaven Wilderness
  • Mount Adams
• Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (5)
  • Goat Rocks Wilderness
  • Norse Peak Wilderness
  • Alpine Lakes Wilderness
  • Henry M. Jackson Wilderness
  • Glacier Peak Wilderness
• Mount Rainier National Park (6)
  • Chinook Pass
• Snoqualmie Pass
• Stevens Pass
• Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
  • Stehekin, Washington, last town along the trail, 10 miles (16 km) from PCT by NPS bus
• North Cascades National Park (2)
• Boundary Monument 78, at the Canada – United States border

British Columbia, Canada

• E.C. Manning Provincial Park, the northern terminus of the trail. (1)

Future

Portland, Oregon's 40 Mile Loop proposes to extend the Springwater Corridor hiking and bicycling spur trail to connect to the Pacific Crest Trail.

External links

• Pacific Crest Trail Association — Non-profit that maintains and promotes the trail, and provides advice to hikers
• Sacramento Valley Hiking Association — Non-profit which provides detailed maps for 1/7 of the trail
• Mailing list for prospective thru-hikers
• Google Map of PCT High Resolution Google Map of PCT
• The PCT Resource Journals/Maps/Snow/Forums
• PCT Elevation Profiles Interactive Elevation Profiles
• PCT Records and record attempts PCT planning information
• PCT Forums Online forums for trip planning
• Pacific Crest Trail wiki
• PCT2007 Complete GPS log of walking the trail in 2007. Also geotagged photos and videos
• Pacific Crest Trail guides— Complete hiking guides for the entire Pacific Crest Trail.
• PCTMap Free topo maps and GPS data for the Pacific Crest Trail.
• Collection of PCT Photos