Joshua M. Powell - The Pacific Crest Trail

SOMEWHERE IN THE Glacier Peak Wilderness I recorded in my journal the following thoughts:

Im excited about creating a PCT book and feel like I need to make it happen. No matter how hard it is or how long it takes. Ive got to be as committed to it as I have been to hiking the trail itself.

I made it a goal to create a book about the Pacific Crest Trail at nearly the same time I decided to walk from Mexico to Canada. I had been working as a bookseller and a book designer and other than hiking, books were the main focus of my life. It only made sense to combine the two passions.

It turns out that creating this book has proven more difficult than walking to Canada, though no less enjoyable. Throughout the experience I often thought what a gift it was to continually relive my time on the trail and that even if the book was never published, the process alone was more than worth it. Its surprising for me to consider that the PCT has been a consistent focus of my life for nearly a decade.

I committed to thru-hiking in the fall of 2012 as I stood along the trail in the Goat Rocks Wilderness in Southern Washington. I stared out at the Knifes Edge and Mount Rainier, one of the most iconic views of the PCT, and made a pact with myself to return to that point, having walked there from Mexico. It was a gorgeous October day, part of a wonderful backpacking trip during that Indian Summer. I had met several thru-hikers on the tripat the ass end of their cohort, as they put it. Summer ended soon enough and some of them made it to Canada and some did not. One of them, in fact, ended up spending a week lost in the snow north of Stevens Pass and was lucky to survive.

I made it back to that point in 2014, but the only thing I saw was the silhouettes of my thru-hiking companions as they disappeared into the fog ahead of me. The previous day had brought the worst rain of my entire thru-hike, leaving the beautiful scenery of the Goat Rocks to my memory and replacing it with the cold, wet discomfort of life on the trail. It was one of many difficult days I experienced over the course of that summer. When my hike was over, however, I often claimed that I never had a bad day on the trail. Bad minutes and bad hours, sure, but never a bad day.

THIS BOOK HAS been created from a northbound thru-hikers perspective and from the perspective of someone who hiked the trail in 2014. It was that year, two years after the publication of Wild by Cheryl Strayed, that the PCT was really on its way to becoming a popular trail. If you are thru-hiking in 2021, your experience will be much different than mine, just as my experience may sound vastly different to someone who hiked the trail in 2007.

My experience is also that of a white male. All thru-hikers worry about the heat, lack of water, or inclement weather. There are, however, a great number of worries that I was unburdened by during my hike. Worries that a woman or person of color carries with them on the trail. Worries that may surface when they meet a stranger, hitchhike, or enter an unfamiliar town. When I walked past a Confederate flag in Sierra City, California, I took offense, yet continued on feeling safe and unthreatened.

There are significant historical and systemic reasons why people of color have been unable to establish a tradition of outdoor recreation, while Indigenous people have been forcibly removed from their land to create national parks and wilderness. As I recall, I met very few people of color on my entire thru-hike. It is important that the trail community grow to reflect our greater society. To that end, let us all seek out and promote the stories of those who are not in the majority.

I HOPE THIS BOOK inspires people to hike the PCT, whether for a day or an entire summer, but as the trail becomes increasingly crowded, it is imperative to preserve it for those who will feel inspired to hike it years down the road. Respect the trail towns you visit and the people who call them home. Be a good ambassador for the trail. While hiking, leave those Sharpies in your pocket and refrain from writing on signs. Take only photos and leave behind the flowers, bird feathers, and animal bones for others to enjoy. Respect wildlife and forgo building a campfire. Bury your waste properly and pack out your toilet paper. Camp only in established sites. I regret falling short of these rules on a few occasions during my hike. I encourage you to educate yourself and follow Leave No Trace ethics. If not, we risk loving this trail to death.